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

  Do you have any idea how inconvenient it is to lose your bag? I did. This wasn’t the first time I’d lost a bag. Admittedly, the last time it wasn’t actually lost. I had just misplaced it but only found out after I had cancelled every debit and credit card I owned, replaced my license and had the huge expense of a new bag, wallet and phone. Doing a quick check, I realized I wasn’t bleeding, so taking Scott’s offer to help me up, I got back on my feet.

  “Well, that was a good way to ruin a perfectly good afternoon,” said Scott, not bothering to check if I was okay. I had actually gathered a bit of a crowd, which I will admit was a bit embarrassing as I had worn a skirt. It had flipped its way up to my waist, showing all and sundry my underwear when I fell. Quickly tugging it back into place, I looked up to see Riley standing in front of me. Of course he was. It seemed that whenever fate had an opportunity for me to embarrass myself, it made sure Riley was there to see it.

  With him was another man who, I assumed must be his brother. Groaning inwardly, I smoothed my skirt down and prayed he had actually missed the sight of my backside in the air.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” Riley asked, concern flashing in his eyes.

  “Someone just snatched her bag!” said Scott with a frustrated sigh.

  What the hell was he frustrated about? I was the one kissing the concrete. I looked at Riley and gave a half smile, trying to cover my embarrassment.

  “Someone ran up behind me and grabbed my bag. No biggie,” I said. I was feeling a bit sick in the stomach and, for a brief second, thought I was going to throw up but managed to take a few deep breaths and steady myself. “What are you doing here?” I asked Riley.

  “We just had some lunch on the other side of the park and were walking back to the station,” said Riley, looking at me concerned. Remembering the man next to him, he turned. “Lizzie, this is my brother Jared. Jared, this is Lizzie.” Jared held out his hand to me. “And this is Scott. Her boyfriend,” Riley added, almost as an afterthought.

  Without looking at Scott, Jared took my hand and held it for a second longer than necessary. I think he was assessing me. I had already taken in every bit of him and must say, these Thomas boys come from exceedingly good stock. Jared was slightly shorter than Riley but not by much. He also had blond hair and a toned body but his lovely blue eyes were just a shade or two less brilliant. All-in-all he was gorgeous, just not as gorgeous as Riley.

  “You should come down to the station with us and report what just happened,” he offered.

  “Yes, that sounds like a good idea to me,” said Scott.

  “Why?” I asked. “There’s nothing they’ll do about it.” I swayed on the spot. Riley reached out and grabbed me around the waist and helped me to a nearby bench.

  “Why is the ground moving?” I whispered. Anything louder than that was starting to hurt my head. I closed my eyes but it seemed to make the dizziness worse. Riley reached out and gently lifted my hair back from my face to take a look at the bump forming on my forehead.

  “Why don’t you come back to the office with me?” asked Scott. “You can get your car and I’ll follow you home.” I’d forgotten to tell Scott I’d got a lift in with Riley.

  “I think she should see a doctor first,” suggested Riley.

  “I think so too,” agreed Jared, who was now kneeling down in front of me and looking quite concerned. “That’s quite a bump you’ve got there. It’s more than possible you’ve got a concussion.”

  “No, I’m fine. I just want to go home.” I stood up quickly, ready to go. Uh-oh, shouldn’t have done that. Quickly turning towards the bin next to me and holding on with two hands, I threw up. I could hear Scott groan as Riley reached over and pulled back my hair. Normally throwing up in public would be particularly embarrassing but right now, I didn’t care.

  “I’ll call an ambulance,” said Jared pulling his phone from his pocket. I was feeling too sick to argue. All I wanted to do was close my eyes, go to sleep and wake up when I was feeling better again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I hate hospitals. I hate the sound of them, I hate the smell of them, I hate the way you have to wait for hours before anybody sees you, but most of all, I hate the anxiety I feel when I’m in them. I wanted everybody there to be better and no longer sick or dying. If a magic genie appeared and granted me three wishes, my first wish would be that hospitals were unnecessary because nobody got sick or injured. I know that’s a stupid unrealistic wish, but there you have it. That’s my wish. My other two wishes involved Riley and a private beach in the Caribbean, but I didn’t think I had any more chance of that coming true than my first wish.

  I was at present lying on a bed in emergency, with Riley and Scott sitting beside me, waiting anxiously. I’d had a scan and a doctor had been to see me a while ago, had looked in my eyes, taken my blood pressure—I’m not sure now is the best time to find out the result of that one—had scribbled on a chart and left, all without telling me a thing. The tension in the cubicle was building. I’d informed Scott I’d driven in with Riley this morning and he didn’t seem too happy about it. I’d had tried to explain car-pooling was great for the environment but since I was slurring my words a little bit, he didn’t seem to be taking me too seriously. Riley glared at Scott and gave the distinct impression there was no love lost there. Ignoring them both, I turned my back and tried to have a nap.

  “Hey…Sleepyhead…wake up.” Riley gently rubbed my shoulder to encourage me to wake up. If he had any idea, he would be around the other side of the bed facing me, and he’d strip naked. That would be about the only reason I would want to wake up about now.

  Not to be outdone, Scott came around to the other side of the bed and rubbed my forehead, attempting to push my hair out of my face.

  “Ouch, that hurts,” I said, pushing his hand away. The nurse had given me something for my headache but with the noise coming from the cubicle next to mine, it didn’t seem to be helping. “What the hell is going on over there?” I snapped, rolling away from Scott.

  “Keep your voice down, Elizabeth,” he scolded.

  “Why? They can’t hear me over all that racket.” My mood wasn’t improving. “And when the hell is the doctor coming back. I just want to get out of here.”

  “There are other people here that need attending to,” said Scott, attempting to soothe me. If the pounding in my head subsided a bit, I might have had some sympathy for the poor woman next to me.

  “I think she’s in labor,” commented Riley.

  Hunph. Well okay. Maybe she has a reason then. But they really needed to give her some drugs that would stop her screeching, though.

  “I’m sorry, she’s just really loud.”

  “At least she’s keeping you awake,” smiled Riley.

  “I can think of better ways to stay awake,” I said, smiling back at him. Oops, did I just say that out loud? Lucky for me, they have no way of knowing what I’m thinking, which is good because Scott would be quite shocked. I heard a curtain pull back and looked up in the hope it would be the doctor coming back to tell me to go home, but I was disappointed when I realized it was the curtain belonging to the lady next to me.

  “Pastor Thornton!” she yelled. “Thank goodness you’re here. I don’t know what to do! It hurts sooo much!”

  “There, there. Why don’t you calm down, Angela, and then I’ll see what I can do,” I heard him say. His voice was very soothing and if I listened to it for very long, it would lull me to sleep.

  She started to cry. “I have no idea what is happening. No one will help me,” she sniffed.

  “You’re having a baby Angela,” he said matter-of-factly.. I have no idea what her response was as it was a mixed up noise of her wailing and speaking.

  Oh please, someone shut her up.

  “God is watching over you, Angela, so let us pray.”

  It went silent for a few minutes and I could visualize them, heads bowed, praying. Gee, praying really shut her up fast. I know I should have mor
e sympathy, but if you had been laying here for the past hour listening to her constant wailing—with a pounding headache I might add—you wouldn’t have much sympathy either, I’m sure.

  Hearing the curtain pull back, I assumed the doctor had returned for her but as much as I was straining to listen, all I could hear was her moaning. Well, at least she’d turned it down a notch from the screaming. After a minute or two the doctor pulled back her curtain, left her cubicle and entered mine.

  “We’ve had a good look at your scan, Ms. Fuller, and there doesn’t appear to be any major trauma,” he said, standing at the end of my bed and looking over my chart. “The injuries to your hand are superficial and will heal nicely if you keep some antiseptic ointment on it. You do have concussion and will need to be monitored for the next twelve hours.” He looked at both Scott and Riley. “Other than that, you are free to go. If anything changes or if you have no improvement in the next twelve hours, you will need to come back for another assessment. Here’s a prescription for some pain medication, which will help with the headache. Don’t take anything for another 8 hours though. What we’ve already given you is quite strong.” Giving me a final smile, he turned and left, closing the curtain behind him.

  “Thank God for that,” I muttered, standing up so I could get dressed. Turning to look at Riley and Scott, I raised my eyebrows. “Well, are you going to let me get dressed in private?”

  “Is that wise?” asked Scott. “You’re not exactly steady on your feet. I’ll stay and help you.”

  He turned and glared at Riley who, understanding he wasn’t being welcome, walked out behind the curtain. Not that it mattered if Riley stayed or not. He’d seen my knickers more times in the last week than Scott had in months.

  I‘d just finished putting my clothes back on when my curtain was pulled back with a flourish. Even though my back was turned, there was only one person I knew who could open a curtain with such drama. Turning around, there stood Danny in all his glory.

  Today his hair was fire engine red, he was wearing the usual skintight black t-shirt—with a huge I love my husband logo on the front—skinny jeans and painted red finger nails to match.

  “Oh.My.God. There you are! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” he yelled, rushing at me and pulling me into a big hug.

  “Danny, keep it down, my head is killing me,” I said. “How the hell did you know I was here anyway?” I asked, confused.

  “Molly told me.”

  “How did Molly know?”

  “Dad told her.”

  “How did Dad know?” I was getting a bit impatient now.

  “Well, Mum told him of course.”

  He looked at me, hand-on-hip as if I was stupid. Did I really care how he found out?.

  “I phoned your mother when you were brought in,” Scott explained.

  “Why did you do that? It’s not like I’ve been admitted,” I said irritably.

  “Well, we didn’t know what was happening did we? So I thought it best for your family to be here. I can’t stay all night and someone should stay with you.”

  “I was here,” stated Riley, who’d walked back in behind Danny.

  “Yes, but you’re not family are you. It would be inappropriate for you to stay here all night,” said Scott, giving Riley a disgusted look.

  “Now, now boys. No fighting,” said Danny, turning his gaze on them, his face quite animated. There was nothing he loved more than watching two grown men fighting over someone. Preferably it would be over him but Danny wasn’t fussy really. “I’m taking her home and Andrew and I are going to get her better again. First though, I think that totally cute doctor over there should check me out. I may have caught something just being here,” said Danny wrinkling his brow and looking towards the ER doctor.

  “I’m not sick, Danny. I’ve just got a slight concussion and need to sleep, and you haven’t been here long enough to catch anything.”

  “Well, alright,” said Danny with a wistful sigh.

  As we walked out, the curtain next to us pulled back and out stepped who I assumed to be Pastor Thornton. He was quite commanding in appearance, dressed in a very expensive cashmere sweater over neatly pressed wool slacks. As he walked past Danny, he turned and stared. I watched as he looked Danny up and down and saw what could only be described as disgust in his eyes. Danny’s overtly gay appearance obviously offended him. His features went hard and cold, and if looks could kill, Danny would be toast. Dead. Gee, what about loving thy neighbor and all that.

  “You’re just lucky I found you. We’ve been here for ages trying to find out where you were,” said Danny, thankfully unaware of the looks he was getting from the good Pastor. Just then, Andrew appeared.

  “Sorry, we had a bit of trouble getting past the nurse,” he said, passing Pastor Thornton on his way. As Andrew tended to dress a bit more conservatively than Danny, he didn’t so much as get a peek. What I wasn’t expecting was Mum, Dad, Grandma Mabel and Molly all following him. Mum came rushing towards me, crying.

  “Oh, Love. I’ve been so worried about you.”

  She pulled me into a hug so tight I thought she might break a rib. I really wish my family were a bit less enthusiastic with the hugging as my head was still pounding.

  “She’s right about that. Do you know how many toilet stops we’ve made getting here? I always forget how sensitive her bowel is to stress,” said Grandma Mabel.

  “It is not! I just had too much to drink before we left home, that’s all,” replied Mum, indignantly.

  “Yes, well, we’re here now,” said Andrew, trying to distract the conversation away from Mum’s bowel habits.

  “Yes, and you’re all about to leave,” I said. Everyone looked at me. “I’m fine, just concussion, no big deal,” I sighed. With that I led the very noisy parade outside into the cool night air.

  “I’ll run and get the car,” said Andrew, racing off in the direction of the car park. I looked over at Riley and smiled. Bless him. With all the chaos that surrounds my family sometimes, he hadn’t run away screaming. He was smiling back at me as I noticed Molly step into his line of vision.

  “We haven’t met yet,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Molly,” she said, quietly assessing him.

  “Pleased to meet you, Molly.” He took her hand and gave it a small squeeze, giving her the megawatt smile.

  Suddenly I felt a bit nauseous. I’m hoping it was the concussion but I actually think it had more to do with Molly and Riley. I get told all the time I’m quite pretty but next to Molly, I’m really beige.

  Scott stepped over to me, took my hand and smiled.

  “Well, I can see you’re in good hands now, so I’ll say goodnight, Elizabeth.” Seriously not even my mother calls me Elizabeth.

  “Yeah, thanks for staying, Scott.” I really needed to appreciate him more but next to Riley he also seems very beige. With that he kissed me on the cheek and turned to leave for his car.

  “Wait a minute, Scott,” Molly called. “My car is parked over there and I don’t want to walk alone. I’ll walk with you. I’m sure you’ll protect me from any bad guys lurking around in the dark,” she said with a small smile. Personally, I thought Scott would probably hand her to the bad guys.

  As I watched them walk away, I saw Andrew driving slowly towards us and pull up at the curb. Mum, Dad and Grandma Mabel all piled into the back. Danny got in the front. I’m left standing on the footpath. They really didn’t think ahead, did they?

  “Oh Love, I’m sorry. We were panicking a bit when we left and didn’t really think it through.” Mum looked really concerned.

  “It’s okay, Mrs. Fuller, I can drive Lizzie home,” offered Riley.

  “Well, if you’re sure. But we don’t want to put you out,” said Mum.

  “Really, it’s no problem. Lizzie got a lift in with me, so it’s really no trouble,” he smiled.

  Danny, ever the matchmaker, was quick to pipe up. “Mum, get back in the car, its fine. Lizzie is in good han
ds.” He looked at me and smiled. Even in this light, I could see the glint in his eye.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I slept pretty soundly that night. Whatever the hospital had given me for painkillers was finally starting to work. My headache was easing to a dull thud. I don’t remember a lot about what happened after I got home, but I woke this morning and nearly stepped on Riley. He’d camped all night on my bedroom floor.

  Looking at my clock I was shocked to see it was already nine thirty. It’s a wonder Cat hadn’t been in here by now demanding breakfast. Riley woke as I was trying to step over him.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, his voice husky from sleep. His hair was all messed and he had a serious five o’clock shadow happening. He looked totally edible. I sighed. Life could be so unfair.

  “Yep, just need the little girls’ room.” I quickly turned my back on him and hurried from the room. He may look edible but I’m almost positive I look anything but. Reaching the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and stifled a scream. I looked horrific. Apart from the usual bad hair and smudged make up, this morning I had a huge green and black lump on my forehead, not far above my left eye. I really hope Riley didn’t get too good a look at me. Looking down I also noticed I was in my nightclothes of pajama pants and camisole - no bra. I really don’t remember getting undressed and whether or not I had any help with it. God, I hope I didn’t embarrass myself.