Lucas tucked his letter into a manila envelope and he headed outside. He’d intended to mail it, but dropped it off to Emilio instead, having a brief chat with the man about the work he does for Brandon and what kind of man he was. Much the same information that Vince had given was received, and he thanked Emilio before leaving.
His next stop was to see Jacqueline. He had with him a thumb drive containing all the research held poured himself into over the last week – everything from records to pictures and articles; anything he could find. Pulling in to the Morningstar Ridge community, he headed for Jacqueline’s place, parked in front, and simply sat there for several moments, hoping he had done the right thing in his choice. Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly before getting out of the car. It took a few minutes after his knock, but Jacqueline did answer, surprised to see him.
“Lucas. This is a surprise.”
He rubbed the back of his head with his left hand nervously. “Yeah. Umm…can I come in?”
“Okay, sure.” she stepped aside and let him in, closing the door after. “What brings you by?”
Lucas fished into his pocket, and held out the thumb drive to her.
“It’s a token. Of respect, I mean. I wanted to let you know that I respect you, and the relationship you have with Jett. I don’t want to damage that. I don’t want to make things awkward for anyone either, so I’d like to be on friendly terms with you.”
“And Brandon?”
He nodded. “Yes, Brandon too. I’ve taken steps to talk to him, though I’ve little idea of what to get him as a token. Though Vince suggested something I’m not sure how I’d manage.”
She rubbed her thumb over the drive. “If you tell me, I’d be willing to try and help.”
“Well, Vince said he’s been trying to get Jett into a suit for a while, but Jett’s been refusing.”
She smiled. “Sounds like him. But, I think between you and I we could convince him. Does that sound good?”
Lucas nodded, and then she spoke again. “So should I ask what you’ve brought me, or take a look?”
“Whichever you prefer, though honestly looking at the information will have more impact. I just hope it doesn’t offend you.”
“Offend me? Well now you’ve got me curious.” she went into her downstairs office and came back with a laptop. Sitting down, she set it on her lap and plugged the drive in, and waited a moment before pulling up the information.
“This…this is…oh Lucas what have you done?”
Lucas cringed. He thought for sure he had made her angry, but when he looked over she had tears in her eyes and a hand covering her mouth as she clicked through the family tree and looked at pictures of her descendants, beginning with her daughter Josephine.
“Do you still have this information at home? It’s something Jett should see.”
“I do, but I thought if you thought it a good idea to share it with him, that maybe you’d like to do it, since I started with your and his daughter.”
She nodded, set the laptop down and went over to him and hugged tightly. “Thank you for this, Lucas. I mean that. Umm….there is one more thing I’d like to offer, if you don’t mind?” he asked timidly.
“What’s that?”
“Well, I understand you don’t have a source yet for your feedings. I wanted to offer mine, should you ever need it. I just hope it doesn’t strain whatever relationship we have.”
She smiled. “Lucas, you are a dear. I will keep that in mind, should I need it. Don’t worry about the side effects, however…I’m immune.”
“Bonus for you.”
“Indeed.”
“Well, umm….I should probably go, and leave you to look through all the information. There’s a lot there.”
“Thank you again, Lucas.” she said, kissing him on the cheek. If he could have flushed, he would have. “Feel free to come by more often.”
“Su-Sure.” he said, getting up. She stood up as well, following him to the door and letting him out. Once he was back safely in the car he breathed a sigh of relief before starting the engine and heading home.