Page 12 of Searching for Sadie (Mystic Falls #5)

LUCAS

L ucas watched the look on his sexy little neighbor's face as he drove off. There was something going on with her. He was sure of it.

He'd suspected it when she turned up with nothing but a carload of stuff.

He'd suspected it even more after their time at the carnival.

She'd seemed so guarded, but every now and then he'd catch glimpses of her.

Those little glimmers told him she was hiding from something.

While he still had no idea what she was hiding from, he would wager it had something to do with whoever was blowing up her phone.

The idea that it was someone she was scared of didn't settle well with him. Hopefully if it was someone dangerous, he would be able to keep an eye on things being her neighbor.

It wasn’t long before he pulled up to Smith's Orchard and parked. He was putting an updated electrical system in their kitchen and then running some line out to a new structure. When he was growing up this orchard had been a small roadside stand, but that had changed over the past couple years.

The gravel crunched under his work boots as he got out of the truck and made his way into the upgraded market.

"Hey Lucas," Poppy greeted him.

Her family owned the orchard, but as her and her brother took over the management things had changed.

"I wanted to ask you how long you thought the power might be off. I've moved some stuff to the fridge back at the house, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to empty the freezer."

"No, I only need an hour tops for this upgrade. As long as the freezer stays shut, you'll be fine."

"Awesome, thanks. Sam is back there. I'm sure he knows what he needs you to do," she said with a little smirk.

Poppy ran the bakery and new cafe at the orchard, but Sam was running everything else, and he had plans.

Growing up this orchard had always been an important part of the community, but Sam had all these ideas on how to tweak things, like adding an event center, to make it an attraction for their little town.

"I'll go find him. Thanks, Poppy."

Lucas made his way to the back and sure enough there was Sam looking over some plans.

"Hey man," Lucas said as he walked in.

"Hey! I'm glad you're here. Poppy was worried about how long power would be out."

"I talked to her. This box upgrade won't take long, and the other structure shouldn’t need much more than a few minutes to connect it once I have it all installed."

Without further ado he got to work. He liked his job; he was able to keep to himself for the most part and he got to work with his hands.

He never could have done office stuff like his oldest brother, and he was beyond grateful his other brother wanted to take over Fipp's market.

It was important to his family and the community, but Lucas wasn't very interested in running it.

This way he got to do a job that gave him a sense of connection to his community, and also a sense of pride.

As his day went on, he was looking forward to a beer after work.

"Hey, you about done?" Sam said as he made his way to the structure that was going to be the event center.

"Yeah, I'll come tomorrow and finish the boxes and hook it all up."

"Do you wanna head to Smokey’s tonight? Jackson's working a double so I thought I might head over for some dinner and catch a game."

"Yeah, I can probably meet you there. What time?"

Even as he talked to Sam, all he could do was think about his neighbor.

"I was thinking I'd finish up here around seven."

"Okay, that sounds good. See you then."

That actually worked out, that would give him enough time to get home and check on her car.

When he got home, he saw her car was still in the driveway right where they'd left it, but surely she was home. He walked over and knocked on the door.

He waited for her to come to the door, he would swear she was home, but nothing.