The Westport Mysteries Boxed Set

by Beth Prentice

  “Where are we going?” I asked in my most seductive voice, reaching over and running my fingers through his short, dark hair.

  “My place,” he said as he turned to me and smiled.

  Yes. I knew that look. Lucky, here I come.

  * * * *

  Scott lived in a new penthouse apartment with a spectacular view out over the city. It was modern with lots of glass and stainless steel. It helped he had a house cleaner. Personally, the thought of cleaning all that glass and stainless had me coming out in hives. The master bedroom was dark, with lots of black wood, and he had the largest bed I’d ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. I could understand why he didn’t like sleeping over at my place. Even before I moved, he always preferred we stay here. The strange thing was this place didn’t feel like a home. There were no books left lying around, no dirty dishes in the sink, even his toothbrush had a home safely out of sight in the cupboard. It was a lot like Scott, I suppose. Very pristine and never gave away any secrets.

  Loosening his tie, he walked towards me and pulled me into his arms.

  “I’m sorry I was such a jerk earlier. I was wound up about the meeting. It was a success though, don’t you think?”

  “Well, they did say they were phoning Mr. Bradley tomorrow to sign a client contract,” I smiled.

  “Yes, they did. They seemed quite impressed with you actually.” Yeah, particularly Rodney, I thought.

  “Well, I do my best!” I laughed.

  “You do look very beautiful,” Scott whispered in my ear. “You were lucky though.” I heard the warning tone in his voice.

  Looking into his eyes, I quickly realized I was about to lose him here and I really needed an evening of romance.

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. What matters is you were truly amazing and made up for my inabilities.” I smiled, undoing his tie and throwing it on the floor. I noticed a look pass through Scott’s eyes and I had a suspicion it was annoyance. “I love this suit on you. The color brings out the grey in your eyes,” I said, quickly diverting his attention away from the tie. I stood on my tiptoes and lightly kissed his lips as I slipped off his jacket. He still felt a little wound up, but with a bit of coaxing his lips softened. Pulling up for air, he turned away from me and quickly hung the jacket and tie I had thrown on the floor. He then grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in close as his hand moved to the back of my dress. I felt him pull the zipper down—thank Goodness—and my dress fell to the floor as he pushed me back on the bed.

  “It’s okay, you can make it up to me,” he whispered.

  Well…you can guess what happened next.

  * * * *

  I must say my night of passion turned out to be disappointing. Not that Scott had noticed. He’d promptly fallen asleep. When I tried to wake him, asking him to take me home, he mumbled something about an early start and he would drop me home then. Anyway, it turned out early was seven bloody thirty. This meant that as we pulled up outside my house, all my neighbors were out picking up the morning paper, waving the kids off to school or getting in their cars to drive to work. And what was I wearing? Last night’s dress, that’s what.

  Scott leaned over and gave me a kiss on my burning cheek. “I don’t mean to be rude but you need to get out. I have to be at the office by eight. I can’t be late for my meeting.”

  Sighing, I picked up my shoes and started my walk of shame. I noticed the black sedan parked in the street again, this time with the driver in it, but I was too embarrassed to go over and actually ask them if they could please park in a more appropriate spot. Next time, I thought.

  Allowing my hair to fall forward over my face, I almost ran to my front door.

  “Good morning!” called out my neighbor, giving me a smile and a small wave. Great. She was a bit nosy and I could see her mentally picking up the phone and telling all her friends what a slut the lady next door was.

  Opening my front door I almost launched myself inside. If I thought that was where my humiliation would end, I was wrong. Sitting at the kitchen table was Riley.

  Geez, you have one night of what can’t even be described as passion and every man and his dog had to know about it. All I needed now was my mother to turn up and then the whole bloody world would know. Even Cat was giving me the look.

  “Morning,” I mumbled, dropping my bag on a chair.

  “Obviously you had a good night,” remarked Riley with a frown.

  “Yes, thanks. Scott was very successful.” I tried to smile and act casually.

  “Looks like it,” he snapped. Getting up from the table, he walked to the sink and put his cup in it. “If you want me I’ll be in the attic stripping wallpaper,” he scowled.

  Well, someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

  I decided I should stay out of his way for a while, so after showering and putting on jeans and a T-shirt I headed over to introduce myself to the neighbors.

  It turned out my neighbors, Hazel and Adrian, have been here for fifteen years and knew pretty much everything about everybody. The people on the other side of me, Dianne and Roger, were a retired couple who visited their daughter down south once a year. The family opposite had four children, two of whom were teenagers who sneaked out through their bedroom windows so Mum and Dad won’t find out, and Edward, from down the end of the street was a Pastor, in case I needed him.

  “Well, that’s good to know,” I said through slightly gritted teeth. “I was actually wondering if you knew the lady who used to live in my house,” I asked trying to get the subject off me.

  “Oh yes, of course we did!” She laughed, as if my having to ask was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard in a long time. “We knew Avis very well. Adrian used to mow her lawn for her. Of course, after she fell down the stairs the doctors moved her into a nursing home. We didn’t get to visit her very often. We’re very busy you know. Did I mention I’m a primary school teacher and Adrian is the Principal?” She pushed her thick spectacles further up her beaky nose. “Well, now our children have grown up and left home, we spend most of our spare time helping children who don’t get the opportunity of a good education. We do a lot of volunteer work you know and there’s always something to do in the gardens here. That’s what keeps Adrian busy most of the time he’s home.” I was thinking Adrian probably hid out in the garden for peace and quiet. “That’s why our house is the best looking in the street,” she beamed. “Of course, being right next to yours doesn’t help the street appeal that much. But I’m sure now you own it, it will sparkle in no time.” Finally, she stopped for a breath and smiled. She was quite a harsh-looking lady, with short, dyed black hair and bucked teeth. I could imagine what the school kids called her behind her back. Her husband walked towards us and I must say he was not at all what I’d expected. He wasn’t bad looking with bright red hair and he actually looked very fit.

  “Hi Lizzie, I’m Adrian,” he said, extending his hand to shake mine. I could picture him as a Principal; he spoke gently. He had a kind smile and I decided instantly I liked him. Pitied him was probably a more accurate verb, I couldn’t imagine Hazel would be easy to live with.

  “Hazel was just telling me you used to mow the lawn for Avis,” I said pointing towards my house.

  “Yes, I kept mowing it right up until it sold. Then I thought I should probably mind my own business. I didn’t want to upset my new neighbors,” he smiled.

  “Really, you wouldn’t have upset me at all,” I laughed. “In fact mowing it would have put you on the favorite neighbor list,” I joked. The sour look on Hazel’s face told me she obviously didn’t like my sense of humor. “I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about Avis.” I continued, undeterred by her attitude.

  “Well, there’s not much to tell,” said Hazel. “She turned eighty-seven on her last birthday. I, of course, made her a cake and took it over for her. I mean, she never had any visitors and it must have been lonely having a birthday with no one around. We’re very fortunate, aren’t
we Ade, that our children visit us on a regular basis,” she said smugly.

  “Did she have any children?” I asked looking at Adrian, secretly wishing Hazel would shut up.

  “No, she actually never married. She once told me that when she was younger, she looked after her elderly mother. As far as I knew she was an only child and by the time her mother passed away, she felt she was too old to find someone special. She was a sweet lady, if a little lonely,” explained Adrian.

  “She did have a cat,” Hazel added with distaste. “It was quite a large ginger cat. I haven’t seen it in a while, which is a blessing as it always used my garden as a toilet. Didn’t it, Ade?”

  The cat she was talking about was at present sleeping on the window seat in my lounge room.

  “Oh, you don’t by any chance know the name of the Nursing Home Avis went into, do you?” I asked standing, ready to make a fast retreat.

  “Yes, we did visit her once when she first moved there. I’ll write it all down for you,” Adrian said with a smile.

  With the new information I had about Avis, I headed back towards my house taking a shortcut across the lawn. I really did need to mow this grass. It was past my knees already and I was getting green seeds sticking to my jeans.

  Damn, those things are hard to get rid of.

  By the time I got to my front door, I was green from the knees down. Every time I tried to wipe them off, they just stuck to my hands. Flicking my fingers to try to get rid of the bloody things, I thought maybe throwing these jeans away would be a good idea. I didn’t think I’d ever get all those grass seeds off. Now, I know the inside of my house is a mess but I didn’t want grass seeds everywhere, so I decided I would take my jeans off outside and quickly run upstairs to my bedroom for a clean pair. Riley was safely in the attic so I didn’t need to worry about running into him. Checking all the neighbors were safely in their houses, I slipped out of my jeans. I stepped through the open front door and was heading for the stairs when my phone rang.

  Damn, I hated leaving a ringing phone. Thinking I could quickly grab it and run upstairs while I spoke, I went searching for it. Now where did I leave it?

  I could hear it ringing louder as I moved into the kitchen, and that’s when I remembered I had left it in my purse from last night. Picking it up, I saw it was my mother.

  “Hello,” I answered.

  “Hel…are…there…Liz…” Damn signal. I moved out to the hallway to try to get a better reception.

  “Hello. Can you hear me now?” I asked. If I stood near the front door the signal improved.

  “Oh yes. Now I can hear you. Where are you, love?” asked Mum. My mum called everybody Love. She really is the sweetest lady. She’s all of 4’7” tall, a tad plump and has short brown, curly hair she styles in an Afro. However, don’t always be fooled by her exterior—she has a seriously bad temper if you push the right buttons.

  “Hi Mum. What’s up?”

  “Well I was thinking, seeing how we haven’t seen your new house since you’ve moved in, I would bring Grandma Mabel over for a visit.”

  “That would be great.” I actually loved Grandma Mabel. As I mentioned earlier she is a bit of a wild card but you were never bored when she was around. My Grandpop passed away when I was young and she’d lived alone up until last year when she moved in with Mum and Dad.

  I listened as Mum started to tell me about how she and Auntie M were redecorating her lounge room, but I lost concentration when I spotted something under the bottom stair. Kneeling down, I bent over to have a closer look.

  What the hell was that? Squinting into the darkness, trying to get a grasp on what I was looking at, I quickly realized it was a rat. A very large rat—and, as I was on my hands and knees, it was now only inches from my face. So close in fact, I could see its beady little eyes and twitchy little whiskers.

  “Ahhhhhh!” I screamed, jumping up at record speed.

  “What? What is it, love? Are you okay?” Those were the last words I heard from Mum because I think I lost signal when I threw my phone at the rodent hunkered down under the stair.

  “Ahh! Get out, Get out!” I screamed, running in circles, looking for something to stand on. I did not want that furry little thing running over my feet and up my legs, thank you very much. Seconds later, Riley came running down the stairs.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a rat! Under there!” I yelled, pointing to the stair, hopping from one foot to the other. Riley bent down, reached under the stair and pulled out the rat by its tail. It squeaked and squealed but he casually opened the front door and put it outside. Just like that.

  I was hyperventilating at this point and had started to shake. I hate rodents. And where the bloody hell was that cat? I was obviously feeding him too well.

  “Are you okay?” Riley smiled, looking down at me. “And why are your pants outside?”

  Damn. In my panic about the rat I had forgotten all I was wearing were my underpants and a singlet top. Luckily for me though, I had put on my good Victoria Secret panties and not my big old period panties. I’m not sure whether it was seeing me in my underwear or seeing me dance around like a mad woman, but Riley seemed to be in a better mood. Probably it was the latter.

  “I’m fine, thank you.” With that I turned and walked upstairs towards my bedroom with as much dignity as I could muster.

  Chapter Seven

  Mum and Grandma Mabel arrived within the hour. I watched from the door as Mum helped Grandma from the car and she shuffled her way towards me. When she was younger, Grandma Mabel was beautiful. I’ve seen old family photos of her and she stood tall with dark eyes, curly black hair right down her back, and an absolutely killer of a figure. Age had not been kind to Grandma, though. She’d gotten shorter as she got older and she now stood with a hunch. Her dark eyes had lost their shine and become watery. Her once long black hair was grey and short, permed into tight curls and given a purple rinse once a week at Danny’s salon. Her spirit never changed though. She still had fire in those watery eyes.

  Standing in the kitchen, looking at Riley, swishing her false teeth backwards and forwards in her mouth, it wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking.

  “You’re lucky I’m not twenty years younger, young man. I’d be chasing after you, I can tell you that,” she said with a serious look.

  Twenty years? Really? Someone needs to remind her she’s eighty-two. Riley seemed to take this all in his stride though.

  “You’re lucky I’m not twenty years older,” he replied, giving her the killer grin. He actually seemed to be enjoying her. Funny, Scott never liked Mabel that much. He always thought she was a danger to herself and everyone around her.

  “I should take you down the Bingo hall. My, how the girls would like you.” She grinned.

  “I should warn you I’m a shark at Bingo. I used to take my Gran once a week to St Pat’s,” he told Grandma.

  “St Pat’s? You got to watch those girls over there. They cheat!” she stated, crossing her arms over her chest in a movement that obviously said do not mess with me, I know what I’m talking about.

  “Mum! You can’t say that!” My mum looked up from petting Cat. They had made an instant bond the second she walked in the door.

  “I can if it’s true,” glared Grandma. “And you should know Nelle, because you were there.” Grandma always called Mum Nelle—she pronounced it Nelly. When I was younger I never understood why until Mum explained it was her name, Ellen, spelt backwards.

  “Mum, Riley just told you his Gran plays there. That’s like saying she’s a cheat,” scolded my Mum.

  “Oh….well,” Grandma Mabel said. “Maybe I should rephrase that. All the girls except Riley’s gran are cheats. There, that better?” she asked, looking around at us for confirmation.

  We all turned to look at Riley. He was smiling, so we took this as a yes.

  “Well, as much as I’m enjoying this, I really should get back to work. You’re not paying me to si
t on my backside.” This was true. I would much rather see Riley standing where I could see his backside. Riley stood and put his cup in the sink.

  “I’ll see you at St Joey’s tomorrow night then, will I?” asked Grandma with a cheeky grin.

  “You just might, Mabel. Should I ask for you at the door?”

  “Dear God, don’t encourage her,” I said to Riley as he walked past, giving me a wink. Once he was clearly out of earshot, Grandma turned to me and gave me a wicked smile.

  “You kept very quiet about him, girly,” she said.

  “There’s nothing to be quiet about. He’s doing some work for me. I will admit though, I am enjoying his company.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

  “It’s not his company you’re enjoying,” she said, grinning back at me.

  “Well, he seems like a nice man, but let’s not forget you do have a wonderful boyfriend. Even if he is a little slow in asking you to marry him,” said Mum. She was always hoping Scott would propose. Mum’s on a mission to get one of her children married. As Danny is gay and Molly is currently single, all the attention was on me.

  “Mum, I keep telling you Scott and I are happy with the way things are. Anyway, you only want me married for the grandchildren.”

  “That’s not true. I think Scott is a lovely man with a wonderful job. He could provide for you nicely. You could do a lot worse you know, Love.”

  “Yes, I’m well aware of that Mum,” I huffed. Scott told me at every opportunity he had I was lucky to have him. I mean, of course I know that, but did I have to be reminded all the bloody time?

  * * * *

  After they left I decided to do some research on Avis. I now had Internet thanks to a lovely man who had come yesterday afternoon and connected me. It was amazing. Just like magic, contractors arrived and fixed things. Like the man who was on my roof fixing the broken tiles, and the plumber who had arrived and fixed my disgusting water. I somehow think I needed to thank Riley for this. He really was amazing.