It Started With A House: Lizzie. Book 1 (The Westport Mysteries)

by Beth Prentice

  “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 a Mum helped Grandma from the car and she shuffled her way towards me. When she was younger, Grandma Mabel was extremely beautiful. I’ve seen old family photos of her and she stood tall with jet black 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 jet black 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,” thought Grandma Mabel. “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 a yes.

  “Well, as much as I’m enjoying this, I really should get back to work. You’re not paying me to sit 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 might just, 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 very wicked smile.

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

  “There’s nothing to be quiet about. He’s just 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 very 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 just 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 is amazing.

  Pulling my laptop out of its bag, I googled the name of the nursing home Allen had given me. It turns out it wasn’t too far from here, so I gave them a ring and set up an appointment for tomorrow to talk to the facility manager about Avis. While I had Google open, I decided to type in Riley’s name and see what I find.

  To my surprise I found one match. It was a photo taken at a society wedding, and he was mentioned as the Best Man and brother of the Groom. Wow, he looked really good in this photo. I should save it and use it as a screen saver. No, that’s probably a bit creepy, I mean, what would happen if Riley saw it one day?

  Thinking about him made me realize I really didn’t know much about him. I knew he lived in a converted church, not too far from here and I knew he loved his Gran. I had also found out he was ex-military and had decided to become a builder when he left the army. He was now running a successful, if not overly profitable, business.

  “Hey Lizzie, I’m finishing early today,” Riley said from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  What’s with him sneaking up on me all the time? I think I’ll have to put a bell on him or something. I quickly shut the lid on my laptop and hoped he hadn’t seen I was Googling him.

  “I have an appointment I have to keep this afternoon so I need to go home and get ready.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said a bit flustered. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for organizing all of the contractors and getting things fixed around here. I know I was supposed to do that and I haven’t been very organized. Sorry.” I gave him my best apologetic grin.

  “That’s fine. I know all these guys anyway, so they’re going to give you a good rate. It’s no problem.” He smiled. Would I ever get immune to that smile? I didn’t think so.

  “I’ve set up an appointment to meet the facility manager at Allora Lodge Nursing Home tomorrow morning at ten to see what I can find out about Avis,” I said, trying to encourage conversation. I may not be immune to his smile but at least now I could put thoughts together after seeing it.

  “Really? Would you mind if I tagged along?”

  Would I mind? Now let me think about that for a moment…“Sure that would be great.” Stupid question. Of course I didn’t mind. “You might think of some questions I wouldn’t have thought of asking.”

  “Ok, it’s a date.”

  Not a real date of course, as I was currently attached to Scott and let’s face it, Riley would never be interested in someone like me, but I was happy to take what I could get and just looking at his gorgeous face made me happy.

  * * * *

  After Riley left, I had a quick tidy up. Not that you would really notice since I still had a heap of unpacked boxes lying around and really the house was old and decrepit still. No amount of cleaning would fix that. Walking into the kitchen, I opened the broom cupboard to put the broom away and as I turned back towards the window, I noticed a shadow pass across it.

  That was strange. I wasn’t expecting anyone.

  Crossing the room, I pulled back the old blinds and looked out to the street. Car still in the driveway, black sedan still parked across the street. No-one was walking around though. I must be imagining thin
gs.

  Turning back to the kitchen cupboard, I finished putting the cleaning products away but my eyes kept darting back to the front window. A strange prickly feeling ran up my spine and, when I saw the face looking back at me through the slats in the blinds, I nearly wet my pants. Strangling a scream, I jumped up and ran over. By the time I got there, whoever it was…was gone. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to open the front door and check to see who was there or not. It was the middle of the afternoon, but it all just felt so creepy. I did check the lock was firmly in place though.

  Why would someone be looking in my windows? Maybe it was my neighbor Helen checking to see what I was up too. It didn’t look like Helen though. The person looking in the window was too tall to be Helen. Rubbing the Goosebumps off my arms, I walked back into the kitchen and checked the lock on the back door as well. Just to be sure.

  With all the cleaning done, I could sit back and wait. Friday night was my night to catch up with Molly, Danny and his partner, Andrew. We had been making Friday nights a bit of a ritual and I loved the nights we went to Danny and Andrew’s. They lived above the salon and we would get all the treatments out and spoil ourselves. But tonight, they were all coming to my place. That was okay with me, Andrew hadn’t had the chance to come over and see the house yet. I really liked Andrew. He’s a lot older than Danny—about seventeen years I think—but he’s a good, grounding influence on my brother, who can tend to be a bit flighty. Tonight also gave me the opportunity to show off all the work that had been done. Riley worked really fast. He’d stripped all the wallpaper off of the walls in the attic and had already started to build the new walls of my storeroom and bathroom we were putting in up there. The panic I had previously felt about not getting the office finished in time, subsided. I wouldn’t have to explain to Scott why I wasn’t ready for his client files. Riley was more than worth every cent I was paying him.

  Checking the alcohol level in my pantry, I soon realized a trip to the local bottle shop was needed. Somehow, I didn’t think the half bottle of cooking wine was going to be sufficient for my siblings. Getting into my car, I reversed out of my drive and screamed off in the direction of the shops. I think you already get the idea I don’t really drive very slowly. I don’t go over the speed limit very often, but I’m more than happy to reach that limit as quickly as possible. I am a safe driver though. I’ve only ever had one accident in my life and it wasn’t my fault the poor cow decided to cross the road as I was tearing around the corner. Anyway, let’s just say the cow came off a lot better than my car did.

  Slowing down as I looked for a parking bay, I just managed to swerve out of the way of the car reversing out of its bay. The car behind me was not so fortunate, though. I heard the smash of metal and plastic as the two collided.

  Thinking I should probably make sure everybody was okay, I pulled into the next available car park and ran back the twenty meters or so to the scene of the accident. By the time I got there, the older man was out of his car and shaking his fist at the driver of the other vehicle. Really looking at the other car for the first time, I realized it was my neighbor, the one who always parked in stupid places.

  I approached the two men, who were now arguing and asked if everyone was okay. My neighbor looked at me and paled slightly.

  “Maybe you should sit down,” I offered. The last thing I wanted was for a large man like himself to pass out in the middle of the street. He looked to be in his forties, was wearing a cap over a shaved head and a gold sleeper in one ear. I thought he looked like he’d be quite scary if you met him in a dark alleyway. I started to think maybe he could park wherever he wanted to. There was something about him that looked familiar though.

  The old guy didn’t seem fazed by his size, just kept shaking his fist and ranting about young drivers these days.

  “No, I’m fine.” He turned back to the old man, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. Handing the older man several hundred dollar notes, he got back in his car and drove away. This obviously appeased the old man as he got back into his car and did the same.

  Ok, from where I was standing it looked like the old man should be paying him but who was I to argue. Left standing alone in the middle of the street, I wondered why the hell I’d bothered. Surely the bald-headed guy had to have realized we were neighbors? You would think manners alone would have stated he at least thank me for caring enough to enquire if he was okay. Huffing, I spun on my heel and headed to the bottle shop.

  * * * *

  I probably should have phoned Danny and got him to bring the wine, as I wasn’t really the most qualified to buy alcohol. Danny always teased me about how half a glass of wine would get me drunk. I mean, as if! I was not that light weight a drinker—a full glass maybe, but definitely not half a glass.

  I wandered around the store until I found the wines. There were bloody hundreds of them. Whenever I went out with Scott, he always picked the wine because all I really know about it is some are red and some are white. I also know you probably shouldn’t pick it by the price, as I’ve tasted some of the cheap ones and the vinegar I have in the pantry at home tastes better. As I was looking at all the labels and thinking I really needed to find an assistant, I noticed a man with his back to me. He was tall with blond hair curling very sexily at the collar of his shirt. I was surprised to see he wore a tuxedo. It was only four o’clock, so I thought it was a bit early to be this dressed up. I did love a man in a tux though. A man in uniform is number one on my list of hottest men, but a man in a tux closely follows. This man seemed a bit familiar though. I wondered how I knew him.

  Casually walking around to the other side of the stack of bottles, I looked up and saw the man was Riley. All the air in my lungs vanished. This man was drop dead gorgeous in jeans and an old t-shirt. In a tux, he was earth shattering.

  As I stood there with my mouth hanging open—very unattractively if I may say so—he looked up and saw me. A look of surprise and then embarrassment crossed his face, but he quickly covered it with a smile.

  “Lizzie, I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.

  Was my speech ever going to return? My heart was racing and my breath was coming out in short, sharp spurts. My God, this man was gorgeous!

  “No, I didn’t either. Um…that is expect to see you here,” I stammered. “I’m here to buy some wine, which I know nothing about, but if Danny and Andrew come over and there’s no wine, they’ll complain all bloody night long.” Great, now I was babbling. He gave me a self-conscious smile.

  “You’re probably wondering why I’m in a tux?”

  “No, no, not at all. What you wear is really none of my business. In fact, you could wear nothing at all and I wouldn’t mind!” I cringed. I really needed a filter between my brain and my mouth. I saw him blush.

  “I have a date,” he smiled shyly.

  For some reason my stomach had started to do this churning thing. That was an emotion I would have to address later…when I was alone.

  “Well, that’s great!” I said over brightly.

  “Actually, she’s out in the car, if you’d like to meet her.”

  No! Shit No! I did not want to meet her.

  Here I was standing in my old denim jeans and thin jumper with my hair just a mass of uncontrollable curls. I did not want to meet some stunningly beautiful woman, with sleek hair; all dressed up to the nines and looking like the perfect partner for Riley.

  “That’s okay, I really should just grab any old bottle and get home. Molly and them will be there waiting for me. I should really get going.” I started to slink towards the exit.

  “No, it will only take a second and you will love her, I’m sure of it.” Riley was smiling and looked quite intent on me meeting his date. Oh well, better to suck it up and get it over with quickly. After picking up the first bottle I could get my hands on, we headed towards the registers. Riley stood behind me and, as he leaned forward to put his wine on the counter, all I could smell was his aftershave - rich, elegant and wood
y. God, he smelt good. I just wanted to turn around and bury my nose in his neck, and stay there forever. I’m sure he already thinks I’m strange so maybe I could get away with just a quick smell. Turning towards him, I gave what I thought was a discreet sniff. He was looking down at me, smiling. He smiled a lot, that’s why he had those totally sexy crinkles around his eyes. He leaned in close and whispered in my ear.

  “Did you just smell me?”

  The feeling of his breath on my neck was totally orgasmic and along with his aftershave, the slight minty smell of his breath and his mouth so close to mine, I wasn’t sure if my brain would ever start functioning again. The burning of my cheeks brought me back to my senses. My eyes left his mouth and moved to catch his. The five o’clock shadow on his jaw and around his mouth seemed to make his eyes look bluer than ever. Damn, he was sexy.

  “Yes. You smell very nice,” I stated breathlessly. With that I turned my back on him, paid for my wine and walked to the door quickly, hoping the fresh air would clear my head.

  Catching up with me, we walked outside together. Feeling really self-conscious, I took a deep breath, smoothed my top down and followed him over to his truck.

  Crap, crap and triple crap. I hated meeting beautiful women. I felt inferior as it was without being presented to a totally gorgeous, sophisticated and, I’m sure, intelligent woman. But as he opened the passenger door, I looked inside and strangled a gasp.

  Sitting on the seat was the most elegant lady I had ever seen. She sat with her hands neatly folded in her lap, holding her purse and was wearing a pretty blue dress with pearls strung around her neck and her white hair pulled back in an elegant bun. When I looked at her face, I was surprised to see the most beautiful blue eyes looking back at me. Riley’s eyes.

  “Gran, I’d like you to meet Lizzie Fuller. Lizzie, this is my Gran, Ruby Thomas. This is the lady I’m doing some work for on the old Victorian over on May Street, Gran,” he explained.