"I can't believe this..."
"Dear it's not too late to go back, I'm sure we can catch a flight back home—-"
"I CANNOT fucking believe this....."
"Edith, Language."

I leaned back against the car next to Ruth who kept using a piece of paper from the cooking book she Carry around as a fan; trying to get us some air. I exhaled deeply and sighed thinking of a way to get to the estate, we have been standing outside the car We rented, in the middle of a deserted road in the killing heat of summer for almost half an hour now.

It turned out that I was wrong and there are no directions that lead to the estate on the GPS, and now I have to come up with something.

"This, this isn't going to work! There are no useful directions here! Ugh.. if only we can—-"
My mouth closed shut at the sight of a car slowing down and stopping next to ours, both Ruth and I glance at each other before looking at the man with the cowboy hat in the driver's seat.

"Ladies, got any trouble there?" The man asked as his window rolled down.

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth and I smiled at the man. "Yes! We are actually—"

"No! No no," Ruth gasped next to me as she jumped and started hushing me.
"What? What do you mean no we— "

She pulled me back and fake-smiled at the man. "Ah haha, no we are good! You can keep going now, thank you." She answered him. My eyes widened at her response as my mouth fell open and before I can say anything else the man gave us a nod and drove off.

"What...what was that! We needed directions! He could've helped us!"
She waited till the man was out of sight and shook her head at me.
"Oh no, dear I've seen enough of those movies and documentaries to know never to trust small town people!" She hissed. "I did not like the look in his eyes." She shook her head.

"He looked like a nice man! You just never like anyone.."I rolled my eyes.

"Can't trust anyone these days! You've heard about the type of people your father went against in court, who would've thought that nice elementary teacher would snap and god, kill her own children! You could never be too careful." She explained.

"Well that is different, and we seriously need help and it's not like we were gonna ride with him or anything..." I announced as I pulled away from the car.
"Come on, we are not gonna get anywhere if we stay here." I opened the passenger seat and got inside with Ruth following and getting into the driver seat.

"And where to? We have no directions." She asked starting the car.
I leaned back into the seat and looked up the directions to the town. "To town, we are gonna ask for directions there...after we find someone trustworthy enough in your eyes."
"Very well." she nodded and started driving.

"You know, you might think I'm exaggerating, however dear,  I assure you that—-"
And so on, as we drove to town I had the pleasure of listening to a whole lecture by Ruth about stranger danger. Although it is true, you can never be too careful and aware, however, you can't keep living in fear as well.

It didn't take us long to reach the small town, which wasn't too small at all. We drove around taking in the different scenery, stores, and shops. As we drove by what looked like a small coffee shop I mentioned to Ruth to pull over. "Look It's a coffee shop! We ask for directions there."

"Oh Let us get some coffee as well." She nodded and pulled over to the side of the road.

The bell above the door ranged as we walked into the small cute coffee shop, with a smile on my face I took a quick look around before walking toward the counter, with Ruth behind.
"Hi! What can I get for you today?~" the smiling young girl behind the register asked me.

After ordering two lattes for me and Ruth, I paid the asked the girl for directions.
"Yes and I have this address," I take out the address I wrote down and handed it to her.
"I tried getting there with GPS directions but it's not showing..."
The girl, who I learned was named Abby from the tag on her shirt, took a look at the address and narrowed her eyes before looking back at me.

"This, this is right next to the Callan's" she titled her head. "but nobody's been there in...over 30 years? I mean this address, this particular ranch it's the——"

"The Beckett?" I interrupted and She nodded. "Yes, I'm actually a Beckett and I'm visiting."

"Oh? Oh okay, um sure I can write you—
actually? You can use the Callan's address on the GPS to get there, it's right next to it."
She suggested and continued to put in the address in my phone.
"There, this is the correct address and it's not far out from here~" she handed me back the phone with a smile and I couldn't help but to smile back at her.

"Thank you, thanks a lot! We are so lost around here." I chuckled a bit.
"Don't about it, I hope you have a nice stay! Welcome to our little town." She beamed at me.

I thanked her again and checked the directions one more time before making my way to Ruth who took a seat at one of the tables.

"We got our directions~"
I tell her as she stood up.
"Oh good, then let us hurry. I'd like to have a chance to clean and unpack before the sun is down." She commented as we walked out.

With the directions in my phone, we made it out of the town and headed to what is known as the Callan's estate, which is key to getting to our destination. As I leaned back in the seat, I tried to remember if it was the same name my father mentioned before, I remember him mentioning growing up with the neighbor's kid but I can't remember his name, it does sound like a Callan so perhaps it is the same neighbors my father grew up with years ago.

"Say Ruth, what do you think so far?~" I glance at her as I take a sip from my coffee.
She kept her eyes on the road.
"I hope we don't find any squatters, how long has it been? Nobody's been in there for years." She said concerned and I chuckled.

"Well, I think the only thing we are gonna find is a lot of dust, besides someone is already taking care of the property," I replied.
"Dad said he hired someone to take care of the property after he left, a man called Beau Alden, he was in contact with him till...last year."

"It has been over 30 years? What could anyone possibly be working on in that land." Ruth mumbled. "Mr.Beckett should have sold it instead of keeping it around for such long...."

"That's what I said.." I mumbled back, agreeing. "But if he did, we wouldn't be here now, and aside from the lack of directions; so far I like it here! Especially those shops we drove by! We need to go back downtown later~" I smile at her.

"Once we are settled down, you can go then and explore, and I need to shop for groceries as well." She responded. As I took another sip from my coffee I jumped all of a sudden in my seat as a thought came into my mind.

"Oh my god!" I cheered, which startled Ruth for a second.
"W-what? What is wrong!?" She shouted concerned and I giggled.
"Do you think there are animals?! Dad mentioned they used to have animals around when he used to live there, do you think they're still around?" I questioned cheerfully.

Ruth sighed deeply and shook her head.
"I don't think so and I hope not, Animals are a lot of work!...they stink too."
"Oh it's not like we are gonna take care of them anyways....maybe that's why dad hired someone to look after it." I shrugged and couldn't help but think about cows and horses now, wondering if there are any around.

After a while of driving, the car slowly rolled past picturesque fields of wildflowers, swaying gently under the warm summer breeze. Looking outside the window, I can see from afar two large farmhouses next to each other, with what I can describe as the size of a whole football field and half between them; and from what I'm seeing on the phone the second one must be the neighbor's house, which means the first on the right is ours.

"We are here! That's it, that's the one!" I clapped excitedly and pointed it out to Ruth.
As I took in the scenery in front of me, I felt my heart skip a beat and I don't know if it's the excitement or because of the beautiful scene. Ruth drove toward a grand entrance gate that stood tall and proud, with a lovely designed ironwork. We stopped in front of the shut gate and before we knew it, a man came jogging toward us. "This must be Beau.." I mumbled.

"Hello!" I greeted as my window rolled down.
The man, who looks to be...well, he was a boy? He looked younger than me, and I can't tell how old he is exactly, probably in his late teen years. The boy who I can see now clearly, had dirty blonde hair under his cowboy hat and dark eyes, he stopped by my window and took a moment to catch his breath before greeting us. "How can I help you?"

"Are you Beau Alden?" I asked.
The boy shook his head. "I'm Billy, Beau's son..and you are?"

I hummed nodding "I'm Edith, Edith Beckett." I answered him with a small smile.
This seem to startle the big a bit and he offered his hand for me to shake.
"M-miss Beckett! we've been told about you ma'am by Mr.Beckett! I—" he said my shaking my hand.
I laugh a bit. "Nice to meet you, this is—-"

"You must Mrs. Molina! Mr.Beckett has told us about you as well!" He said, still shaking my hand. "It's nice to meet you both! I— my father isn't here at the moment but I'm here if you need anything and—-"

"And, how about we go inside first then we can talk? Hm?" I laughed and pulled my hand away as he nodded then rushed to open the gate for us.

As we drove past the gate and toward the house surrounded by green lawns, fields, and towering trees, I can see how big it is.
The two-story big house stood at the end of the land with a beautiful classic design, and I couldn't help but smile at how pretty it looked. I'm glad I kept my window rolled down because the fresh nice air made me feel at ease and welcomed.

We reached a gravel floor that led to the house and parked next to it. I couldn't help but jump out of the car immediately right after parking.

"My god Ruth, are you seeing this? It's so beautiful!" I beamed and took a closer look.

Ruth walked out and stood next to me, taking a look around as well. "Well, it is quite nice, the air smell bit funky but let's wait till we look inside first..it must need a lot of cleaning.." she said.

"You don't have to worry about that!.." Billy, who now caught up to us on foot came jogging toward us. He took out a chain of keys out of his back pocket and walked up to the porch. "We've taken care of that, we try to keep it clean inside as well.." he said as he started unlocking the front door.

"Oh, really? Well, then I guess we don't have much to do now."

"I'll be the judge of that.." I can hear Ruth mumbled behind him as she started taking our bags out of the car. I turn to her chuckling.
"I know you trust in your cleaning only but please remember this is our little vacation! I don't want you overworking yourself.." I tell her.

"My mind will be put to ease after I know we are settled in a clean house, so the faster I get to clean it the better, you don't have to worry about this dear." She argued, as always.

"Let me give you a hand with this!" Billy came back to help with the bags after unlocking the door with us, I was the first to walk in and my eyes scanned the wide house which I wasn't used to since the spaces back in NYC aren't as big or spacious. The big ceilings won my heart before the lovely big living room that stood in the middle of the first floor, with sliding doors; stole it.

As I explored the house, the smile on my lips never left my face. I thought maybe I'd like it here but I'm starting to love it way too much than what I've expected.