It Started With A House: Lizzie. Book 1 (The Westport Mysteries) (13 page)

I got up and
grabbed my bag and rummaged through it looking for my iPhone. Kindle really is
a fantastic invention, isn’t it? I found Avis’s ring first though, so I pulled it
out of my bag, lifted the lid and removed it from its black velvet bed. Placing
it on my finger, I looked at the diamonds sparkling in the light. Even after
years of being hidden, it still sparkled. It felt strange having a ring on my finger
and I allowed myself to think about someone giving me such a gift. I knew for
certain it wouldn’t be Scott.

What about
Riley? Would I like him to give me a ring? Sure he’s amazing to look at, but
would I want to spend the rest of my life with him?

When sleep
finally came I spent the next few hours tossing and turning as strange dreams
filled my mind, but thankfully no dreams of strange men standing over my bed.

* * * *

The
following morning I woke with an imprint of the ring on my cheek. Looking at my
alarm clock I saw it was already 8.15 am. The day had begun without me. I’m
surprised Riley clattering about upstairs didn’t wake me, but all was quiet. Taking
the ring off and putting it safely back in my bag, I rubbed my cheek as I
headed to the bathroom for my usual morning routine of shower, hair and make-up.
This done, I wandered down to look for coffee.

The coffee was
sitting in the pot still hot, so Riley had been here this morning. I wasn’t
sure what was happening with the house today. The carpet was laid in the attic
yesterday and I must say it looks amazing. I’d chosen an off-white shade of
paint for the walls to contrast with the new latte-carpet. With a new blind on the
window, it was all ready for the new office furniture.

Coffee in hand,
I decided to have one more look at it before all the furniture arrived, so I
walked up the two flights of stairs to my new office. What greeted me was a room
that was complete, furniture and all.

My desk was over
near the window, the new bookcase against the new walls with my new printer
ready to go and gorgeous flowers on my desk.

Riley was a
true miracle. He’d done all this while I was asleep this morning. I sat in my
new chair—top of the range leather—and smiled. This was fantastic. Everything
smelled new and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Doing a full 360 in the
chair, I spun around to find Riley leaning against the doorframe of the little
storeroom, smiling at me.

“Do you like
it?” he asked. I stopped spinning to look at him and my heart did a little
flip.

“You are truly
awesome, Riley. I can’t thank you enough,” I smiled. I felt so happy at this
moment, yet I knew it was about to end. My agreed two weeks was up. The house just
hadn’t felt lonely since Riley’d
 
been in it.

“What happens
now?” I asked quietly. Riley still hadn’t broken eye contact with me, which was
causing my heart rate to go into the cardiac arrest zone.

“That’s up to
you. Do you want me to stay?” he asked quietly. This felt like such a loaded
question.

“Of course I
do.” I actually never want him to leave.

“Then how about
Monday morning I start work on the bathroom?” he asked giving me the megawatt
smile.

* * * *

I
spent the rest of the day sorting the files Scott had couriered over and
organizing my new office for Monday. A few times I thought I heard a car pull
up outside, but every time I checked there was no one there. My imagination was
going wild again. By the time I had everything filed and stored, it was
starting to get dark and, as it was Friday night, I had a night out to get
ready for.

Tonight, we
were all meeting at Danny and Andrew’s, so I decided to take the letters and
let the others read them. See what they could make of them. I also wanted to
talk to someone about Riley.

“The house just
feels so alive when he’s in it,” I was explaining to Andrew and Danny, later
that night. “But what about Scott?” I whined.

“What about
him?” asked Danny “He’s a cow’s ass. Dump him, I say.”

“I agree,” said
Molly. “Even though I’ve never set eyes on Riley. You did promise I could come
and perv on your handyman, if I remember rightly.”

Yeah, there was
a reason she’d never seen Riley. If he got one look at Molly, he’d be hooked.

“Besides, Riley
is far nicer to look at,” continued Danny. We were sitting in his salon with
treatments in our hair, facemasks on our faces and glasses of wine in our
hands. Andrew gave me a refill.

“Oh, no thanks
Drew,” I said attempting to cover my glass. “I have to drive home tonight.”

“No you don’t. Why
don’t you stay here? You and Molly can crash on the couch and go home in the
morning,” suggested Danny. “Harper has already made himself at home.” We all
looked at Harper who was laying on the couch, on his back, legs in the air,
snoring.

“Ok, fill me
up,” I smiled. Not hard to talk me into that, I hear you say? Well, you’re
right. The thought of another restless night, alone and lonely did not appeal
to me right now. A night of company was exactly what I needed. “The thing is,”
I continued, getting the conversation back to where I wanted it, “Riley is out
of my league. He could have any woman he wanted and there is no way I could
compete with any of them. I know I’m lucky to have Scott, so I think I should
just be grateful. It’s just with all this stuff about the ring and the letters,
I seem to be spending a lot of time with Riley and he’s so wonderful. Do you
know he holds open the car door for me?” I was now leaning forward, very intent
on what I was saying, the wine already having an effect. “I mean what man does
that these days? And you should see my office. While I was sleeping in this
morning, he carted all the furniture up two flights of stairs and set the whole
room up for me. It was actually very romantic,” I smiled.

“Can I read the
letters?” asked Andrew, ignoring my monologue about Riley.

“Yeah, let me
have a look at that ring again,” said Molly. While Molly and Danny admired the
ring, Drew sat reading the letters. When he’d finished he looked thoughtful.

“Why do you
think they were kept apart?” asked Molly.

“You know, not
all families are as understanding as yours is. You’re very lucky to have them,”
Drew smiled. “I’ve met quite a few parents in my time who couldn’t accept their
sons for the choices they made.”

“But love isn’t
a choice,” I said.

“No, you’re
right, it’s not. But what you do with it is,” said Drew. “You believe in the
fairytale of love, you’re caught up in the romance of it. But what happens when
the honeymoon period is over and you have to live with your choices. Not
everyone can do that.”

“That’s pretty
deep, Drew,” said Molly.

“Yes, well I’ve
been around a bit longer than you,” smiled Drew.

“Look at this
photo. This one is Avis, Right?” asked Danny, pointing to Avis in the photo. I
nodded. “She was wearing this ring then.” Danny was right. Avis had the ring on
her wedding finger.

“Maybe you
should get the ring valued and see if it’s worth anything,” suggested Molly.

That’s actually
a very good idea. “Hey Molly, do you want to come and see
Wicked
with me tomorrow? Scott gave me two tickets to see it and I
thought of you,” I said.

“What happened to
Scott taking you?”

“Not his thing
apparently.”

We spent the rest
of the evening discussing Scott and Riley and what I should do. If only the
choice was mine.

Chapter
Thirteen

Sunday
night dinner with the family came around pretty quickly and this was Harper’s
first time with us all together. It would be interesting to see how he fared. Grandma
Mabel was on fine form tonight, telling us all about her outing with the
seniors club at church. Apparently all the seniors’ clubs at the different
churches took it in turns to host a group day. This month’s turn was at the
Global Ministry.

“I had a
blast!” chuckled Grandma. “Those girls there didn’t stand a chance against me
in the knobbly knee contest.” She lifted her skirt so we could all take a look
at her knees. “Now this here’s a good set of knees, done me proud, they did.” Grandmas’
knees resembled those of a chicken’s. Only I think a chicken’s had more fat on
them. “That Ben Willett couldn’t keep his eyes off of them.” I’m not surprised,
he was probably wondering the same thing we were - How did they hold her up? “I
think I might ask him to sit with me at next week’s gathering,” she smiled.

“Mum, how old
are you? You shouldn’t be looking at men!” My mother looked horrified.

“Why not? I’m
old, not dead.” She was back to swishing her false teeth around again. It was a
habit she had when she was thinking. What she was thinking about, I didn’t want
to know.

“What’s it like
at the church?” asked Molly. “That building is absolutely massive.”

“I remember
when it was a tiny thing. Not too many people attended. We were all a bit more
traditional I suppose back then, but I guess if you like singing then it’s the
place to be,” said Grandma. “I went to school with the son, you know. We all
thought he was a bit weird. He had an older sister but you never saw too much
of her. Kept pretty much to herself. The father was very strict. I remember
Charles being afraid to do the wrong thing or he got a belting. So much for
being a man of God.”

“I heard it’s
the same family who still runs it. I read somewhere David Thornton is the pastor
there now,” said Danny.

“Yes, he’s
Charles son. I think he followed in his Granddad’s footsteps,” explained Mum.

“Molly, what’s
wrong with Harper?” asked Andrew. Harper had been sitting on Grandma Mabel’s
knee and she’d been rubbing his belly but at the moment he seemed to be
squirming in pain. Molly immediately rushed over to him to see what was wrong.

“He was gettin’
a bit excited with me rubbing his belly if you know what I mean. It’s been a
long time since I’ve had a response like that,” said Grandma.

Lifting Harper’s
front legs up, we all got a look at what Grandma meant. Harper had got himself
in a bit of a predicament. His man business had popped out with all the
attention from Grandma and got stuck. It appeared to be hurting him because he’d
started to yelp.

Molly panicked.
“
Oh my God
...what do I do?” she
yelled.

“Calm down, for
a start,” said Danny, even though I could tell he was feeling a bit on edge as
well. It was probably a man thing.

“Try to push it
back in,” suggested Mum.

“How do I do
that?” asked Molly.

“If you have to
ask that, my girl, you need to get out more,” said Grandma. Molly looked at
Grandma.

“I’ve actually
never had the opportunity of putting one back in Grandma,” she said, glaring at
Mabel.

“Try rubbing
it,” said Mum helpfully.

“Won’t that
make it pop out more,” I asked.

“Oh, for
Goodness sake,” said Drew walking over and picking up Harper, who was yelping
quite loudly by now. Handing him to Molly he put his hand on Harper’s man
business and started to rub. Up and down, up and down. Is that how you get it
back in, I wondered.

“I think it
needs some lubrication,” said Danny.

“Put some spit
on it,” suggested Grandma. We all stopped and looked at her.

“Maybe some
Vaseline would be better,” suggested Drew.

Mum ran to the
bathroom and came back with the Vaseline. Opening the bottle, Drew put some on
his fingers and worked his magic on Harper. It did the trick, Harper instantly
stopped yelping and Molly instantly started crying. Drew just walked to the
bathroom to wash his hands.

“It looks like
he’s had some practice at that,” said Grandma.

We all looked
at Danny, who was now bright red.

* * * *

Monday
morning arrived before I knew it. My holidays were officially over. The weather
seemed to feel the same way as I did—overcast and dull. Today was my
official first day back at work and I decided I should dress for the occasion. If
I was working in the city, I would have to wear a business suit to work every
day, which consisted of straight fitting knee length skirt, business blouse and
short, fitted jacket—all very professional-like. I had put a lot of
thought into what I was going to be wearing now I was working from home. The
right outfit might make me feel more motivated to actually do some work. With
this in mind, I decided my very best, Juicy Couture sweat pants and sparkly
pink t-shirt were the right garments for the occasion. Start as you mean to
proceed is my motto.

Sitting at my
new desk, I looked around the room and gave a deep, contented sigh. Even though
I had to work in here, this office was my favourite room in the whole house. Not
just because it’s finished, but I love the little dormer window that looks out
over the yard and down the street, and I love the slanted ceiling. It has a
really safe, cozy feel. It is so lovely sitting here in my very comfy chair,
with the breeze blowing in through the window, Cat—sorry Mister—curled
up asleep on the window seat and my beautiful lavender candle burning. It was
all very relaxing. I could almost have a nap.

After about an
hour of thinking about everything but work—and maybe a five minute cat
nap—I decided that working from home might not be a good idea. Maybe I
should pop downstairs and grab a cup of coffee. That would get me going.

Walking down
the first flight of stairs, I saw Riley in the bathroom. He’d started pulling
the old toilet and vanity out. Looks like I’d be doing the midnight dash up
stairs for a while.

“Do you want a
cup of coffee?” I asked. He looked up from what he was doing and smiled.

“Sounds great. I’ll
be down in a minute.”

Pouring two
cups of coffee, I sat at the kitchen table and waited for Riley to join me.

“I’ve been
thinking maybe we should pay a visit to the cemetery and put some flowers on
Avis’s grave,” I said when he walked in. He sat down opposite me at the table
and picked up his cup.

“Okay, sounds
like a good idea. Do you want to go today or are you too busy working?” He
grinned. He knew not much had been happening up there.

“Smart Ass,” I
smiled. “Whenever you’re free. I assume you want to come as well.”

“I just want to
fit off all the plumbing and then I can take a break. How about after lunch?”

* * * *

We
made the fifteen-minute drive to the only cemetery in town. It was very old and
was divided into two sections—the old gravesites and the new. The old
graves had lots of big stone headstones and monuments, a lot of which were
crumbling with age. Some of the richer people even had crypts, which even
though I respect each to their own, I found a bit creepy. Actually I found them
a lot creepy. Riley was close and it was broad daylight, so I figured I would be
safe from any ghosts today.

The new section
of the cemetery was more like a garden, with lots of grass. Many of the
gravesites had small stones, about the size of a house brick, stating who they
belonged to and all were numbered. We’d been given the site number from
administration, so we walked over to where Avis lay, being very careful where
we walked. She had no headstone, no flowers, nothing to mark she was there. Just
a number.

It was so quiet.
Even though a major road ran right past, it was almost as if the entrance gates
protected everyone in here from the noise of the outside world. A few people walked
around, heads bowed in respect. But then again, maybe they were looking for a
number too. I noticed one family standing together with their arms around each
other for support. An elderly lady and a woman I assumed was her daughter placed
flowers on another grave. I noticed a lone man walking closer, his head tucked
low under his hat, the collar on his jacket lifted up against the wind.. I felt
overwhelmed by sadness. Bending down, I placed the flowers we had brought on
the grass.

“Hi Avis. I
know you don’t know me, but I bought your house.” I looked at Riley. He
probably thought I was crazy talking to the ground but then, he thinks I’m
crazy anyway. “Riley and I found some old letters of yours and a ring. We’ve
been trying to find out who the ring belonged to before you. We thought it was
important someone who cared about you should have it.” I stood up. The lone man
had stopped at a grave two down from us and knelt down, seemingly praying. I
looked at Riley.

“Maybe we
should say a prayer for Avis,” I suggested. He shrugged, but stepped up beside
me.

“Dear Lord, please
look after Avis in Heaven and make sure she has a lovely place to sit. Her
garden here was pretty appalling, so maybe she’ll have a lovely one up there
amongst the clouds. I hope one day she’ll be able to be with Will. I don’t know
if he’s there yet, we’re trying to find out, but if he is then I hope they are
together. Amen.” I could feel Riley smile next to me.

“Oh, and Avis,”
I said, trying my hardest to sniff discreetly, “Mister has moved in with me. Well
I suppose technically,
 
I moved in
with him, but either way, he seems happy.”

Wiping the
tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, I felt Riley put his arm around
my waist and pull me closer. This place was just so sad. I couldn’t help it. Turning,
I put my face to his chest and allowed the tears to flow freely. I don’t really
know who I was crying for. Maybe some tears were for Avis, dying alone, without
the one person who truly loved her, and maybe some were for me. I was extremely
lucky to have a wonderful family, but I still felt a loneliness that could only
be filled by a true love.

If anything,
our journey to find Will had made me realize what I was missing in my life. Riley
held me tight against him, both arms around me and I felt so protected, I never
wanted to move. In fact, I would melt into his skin if I could. But
nevertheless, it was time to pull myself together and grow up.
Be grateful for what you have, Lizzie
, I
kept telling myself.

Pulling myself
away, I looked in my handbag and found some tissues.

“I’m sorry I
lost it there,” I sniffed.

“That’s okay. I
understand. Have you lost someone you loved?” he asked.

“Only my
Grandpa, but he died 30 years ago.” I saw the amusement in Riley’s eyes.

“Do you mind if
we make another stop before we leave? I want to visit my Grandpop,” Riley asked,
all amusement disappearing.

“Really? Why
didn’t you say earlier? I would have bought some more flowers.”

Following
Riley, I walked to the opposite side of the grassed area. The weather seemed to
be getting worse, with the wind picking up even more and the clouds looking
like they were about to burst. Riley didn’t need to look for numbers here. He
knew exactly where he was going. Stopping in front of a grave with many flowers
on it and a small granite headstone, I read:

George Joseph
Thomas

5
^th
January 1925 – 13
^th
April 2010

Loved and missed by everyone

“Heart attack.”
Riley looked at me.. “I miss him every day, but it’s been especially hard on
Gran. She was devastated. They were married for sixty four years,” Riley said
quietly. I saw the cloud darken his eyes. He obviously loved his grandfather as
much as he did his gran. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

“What was he
like, your grandfather?” I asked. “I never knew either of mine.” I felt Riley’s
grip on my hand tighten as he smiled at the memories.

“He was amazing.
Totally devoted to Gran. I remember, when I was about fifteen, I had this big
fight with Mum and Dad and I ran away to live with Gran and Pop. I only stayed
there a week and then Gran talked me into to realizing I had a pretty good Mum
and that I should go home,” he said fondly. “But I remember my Pop used to
leave Gran these messages. Every day, he would leave them somewhere for her to
find. They were always little love notes. As a fifteen year old, I thought this
was a bit gross. I mean they were really old, you know?” He laughed that
wonderful throaty laugh I’d heard a lot of since knowing Riley. “He left them
in the strangest places. Sometimes in steam on the bathroom mirror, sometimes
in the ashes of the fire. This particular day he had written it in the butter. It
just said
I Love You
. Gran looked so
happy when she found it. She told me how lucky she was she had someone in her
life who loved her that much, and how much it meant to her that—even
after years of marriage—he still took the time to find new ways to tell
her.” Riley smiled. “I decided there and then
that
was the kind of love I wanted in my life one day. When I find it,
I will never let it go,” he said so quietly it was almost a whisper. He looked
down to me through those beautiful lashes. I could see the vulnerability in his
eyes and felt my heart squeeze. The stillness surrounded us and it felt like we
were the only people left in the world. He still had hold of my hand and
squeezing it tighter, he looked straight into my eyes. I’m sure he could see
right into my soul.