Pulling my laptop out of its bag, I put the name of the nursing home Adrian had given me into the online search page. It turned 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 the search page open, I decided to type in Riley’s name and see what I could 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 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 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 searching for him online.
“I have an appointment this afternoon so I need to go home early.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, a bit flustered. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for organizing all 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.”
“Okay, 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. Walking into the kitchen, I opened the broom cupboard to put the broom away and as I turned towards the window, I noticed a shadow pass across it.
That was strange. I wasn’t expecting anyone.
Crossing the room, I pulled 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 things.
Turning 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 a face looking 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 felt creepy. I did check the lock was firmly in place though.
Why would someone be looking in my windows? Maybe it was my neighbor Hazel checking to see what I was up too. It didn’t look like Hazel though. The person looking in the window was too tall. Rubbing the Goosebumps off my arms, I walked 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 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 tended 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 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 got the idea I don’t drive 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.
Slowing down as I looked for a place to park, I 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 at fault driver was out of his car and shaking his fist at the driver of the vehicle that had been following me. Really looking at the car for the first time, I realized the guy that had been hit 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 him 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 other man didn’t seem fazed by his size, just kept shaking his fist and ranting about drivers these days.
“No, I’m fine.” He turned away from me, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. Handing over several hundred dollar notes to the other driver, he got back in his car and drove away.
Okay, from where I was standing it looked like the other driver should be the one paying, but who was I to argue? As he too got into his car and drove away, I was left standing alone in the middle of the street, wondering 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 asked 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 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 but the vinegar I have in the pantry at home tastes better. As I was looking at all the labels and thinking how I needed to find an assistant, I noticed a man with his back to me. H
e 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 followed closely. This man seemed 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 came 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 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. Crap 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 will be there waiting for me.” I started to slink towards the exit.
“No, it will only take a second and you’ll 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 woody. Geez, he smelled good. I wanted to turn around and bury my nose in his neck, and stay there forever. I’m sure he already thought 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, he walked outside by my side. Feeling 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.
So his date was with his Gran?
“Oh how lovely to meet you, Lizzie. I’ve heard so much about you and your house. Riley’s been telling me about the renovations you’re doing over there.” She had his killer smile as well.
“Lovely to meet you too, Mrs. Thomas,” I said, extending my hand to her. She took it in both hers, holding on as if her life depended on it.
“Oh, please, call me Ruby. Oh my, you really are quite beautiful, aren’t you? Riley wasn’t exaggerating when he told me that.” I felt my stomach flip as I turned and saw Riley going pink on the tips of his ears.
So he thinks I’m beautiful? Well, that was interesting.
“I’d like to take credit for the renovation but Riley’s doing all the work.” I smiled. She was still holding my hand, so I moved a step closer to make the stretch a bit less uncomfortable. “So, where are you two going then? Somewhere nice judging by the way you’re both dressed.”
“Yes, Riley takes me dancing every Friday evening over at the dance hall on Elm. My George and I used to go there every week, but now Riley takes me.” I noticed her eyes got a bit watery at the mention of George who I assumed was her husband. “I can’t complain though. I’m the envy of every woman there with Riley on my arm. He’s a pretty good dancer too, if I may say so.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling. She was obviously very proud of her grandson.
“Well, we probably should get going, Gran. You don’t want to be late.” I noticed Riley’s ears were still pink as he stepped away from the truck to allow me to pass.
“It was lovely talking to you, Ruby. I hope you have a fantastic evening.” She gave my hand a squeeze as I attempted to move back.
“Thank you, dear. I hope to meet you again soon,” she said, finally letting go. As I walked past Riley, I looked up and grinned. What a sweetheart.
“See you tomorrow, Lizzie.”
“See you, Riley.”
Chapter Eight
Most mornings I tried to get out for a walk before I started work. Even though I hadn’t officially started work yet, I felt it was time to get back into some sort of routine.
If you followed the river along towards town, it got more commercial with a boardwalk and lots of restaurants and coffee shops. I had my usual walk mapped out and followed the same path every day, finishing at my favorite coffee hangout. I figured after walking for nearly an hour any calories I consumed with my regular Frappuccino and muffin would be void. It’s funny how you see the same regulars every day, both at the coffee shop and on my walk. There’s the man with the glasses who wore his pants too tight and way too high, who always sat with his laptop. He gave me the giggles. He would be sitting there all alone, typing away and suddenly start talking to himself. The first time I saw this, I’d slowly backed away from him thinking he was crazy, but soon realized he was talking on his phone. The elderly are the friendliest as they always smile and say hello. Others use the track to get fit—like the man with tanned skinned. Honestly the leather on my couch looks softer than his skin. And of course, I can’t forget the person who looks asexual. This one had me totally puzzled. He-she is always dressed in shorts and a blue T-shirt, has short hair and is a bit plump. I can’t tell if it’s a man with man boobs or a flat-chested woman. I’ve even said hello hoping the voice would give it away, but no luck there either.
Since buying the house I hadn’t had the chance to get down here, but this morning I got up early—Riley opens the door at 6.30 am anyway—and put my walking clothes on. It felt good to be out and away from all the mess at home. Riley was making good progress in the attic but the rest of the house was still a mess. Even though I couldn’t wait for it to be finished, I knew that when it was, Riley would be out of my life. I was enjoying having him around even though I knew I shouldn’t be enjoying his company quite as much as I was. But still… what harm was a tiny little crush?
After finishing my walk and dark mocha Frappuccino, I headed home to get ready for our meeting at Allora Lodge. Riley was waiting for me when I walked in the door.
“You’re running a bit late,” he said with a smile. I took a moment to enjoy the glow, before hearing what he actually said. Looking at my watch, I realized he was right. Crap. Time gets away from you when you’re on holidays.
After such a relaxing morning I did not need to hear another lecture on how I was always tardy. But Riley was looking at me, leaning backwards against the counter, long legs stretched out in front of him with that casual relaxed stance he has.
“Sorry, it was so beautiful down there this morning I lost track of time.” I started telling Riley about the man in the tight pants. “He must have been hot today because he was in his summer outfit. Usually it’s his black jeans and black turtleneck top with his belt pulled two or three notches too tight so it gives him a big muffin top. The summer outfit is pretty much the same but its black shorts and black T shirt with the belt pulled two or three notches too tight.” I smiled. Riley laughed. I was really going to miss his company when he finished working here.
* * * *
After a super-fast shower, I put on a clean skirt, little camisole top and a lightweight sweater, and headed downstairs.
The Westport Mysteries Boxed Set Page 6