The Geary Series Boxed Set (39 page)

Lilly stood back from the wall satisfied with what she saw. The picture looked amazing, a three-dimensional version of an 18th-century ball in a highland castle. All the men were in kilts and the ladies wore dresses with matching tartan sashes. It seemed more fitting with the old building, the bar was housed in than a Venetian masquerade ball. She hoped that Elijah loved it, he’d given her free reign and hadn’t checked the progress saying that he wanted to see it only at the end. Lilly had added in Jack and Olivia’s faces to the ball as well as Elijah but didn’t have the courage to add hers. The woman Elijah was dancing with had her face turned away, but she’d painted her own body. After visiting Edinburgh castle she had changed her mind about changing the eras and kept with the one time frame.

She kept gazing and only stopped when she heard his voice, her heart stopped and she felt a rush of excitement at the sound of him and then the fear set in. He was about to see her first commissioned work and she was nervous. She wanted him to like it, needed him to like it. Not only was the mural going to on display for all to see she had a need to please him. She dropped the sheet that covered the wall and turned to walk to where Elijah could be heard.

They had spent the last two days in her apartment getting to know every inch of each other’s body. Once they made love the first time there was no stopping Elijah. He wanted to christen every room in her place and then move onto his place and repeat the process. He had the stamina of an ox, but Lilly was exhausted and gave him a time out after two days of being naked.

She spent the next two days, day and night painting the mural in Blue’s because she wanted it completed before the wedding. Happy with her results she was ready to show him.

Slipping her hand into his while he was talking to Pete warmed her heart. His hands were familiar to her now and she found comfort in holding them. It was always the same, her left hand in his right. It didn’t feel the same the other way around. Elijah broke his conversation with Pete to kiss her quickly in welcome and went back to his conversation pulling her close.

He was discussing plans for when they would be away at the wedding. It was to be held at Jack and Olivia’s house further north of Edinburgh and they would be away for a few days.  Pete was humouring Elijah with the instructions he was giving and paying close attention. He had been helping Elijah run Blue’s right from the start but knew better than to interrupt when Elijah was in full flow. Lilly waited patiently until Elijah was finished and pulled him gently towards the wall at the back of the bar.

“It’s finished, do you want to see?” Lilly asked.

“Very much so, I’ve been looking forward to this for two days, mainly because then I can ravish that body of yours again. You showed me heaven for two days and then made me go cold turkey. You’re a harsh woman, soon to be Mrs Geary, harsh woman.” Elijah said and kissed her soundly to show he was just teasing her.

“Well, if you still want me to reconsider being your wife, you need to ask me again properly after you ruined it the last time with that temper of yours. You can start by loving this mural.” Lilly said.

Lilly nervously went to the makeshift cover sheet and gave it a good yank and it fell away. She waited with her back to him to hear his reaction. She didn’t want to see his face if the first flicker of emotion was distaste.

“Holy hell, that is amazing.”

It wasn’t Elijah’s voice she heard it was Mickey’s, she would accept that response and turned around. Searching Elijah’s face she couldn’t work out if he liked it or not. She had bought some white gloss paint in case he hated it and she could start again. Elijah’s face was blank and expressionless, his eyes roamed over the painting and he started to move forwards to the dancing men and women.

“Where did you get their pictures from?” Elijah asked in a quiet whisper.

“She got them from me, I hope you don’t mind but she wanted to include your family in the dancers.” Mickey answered for Lilly.

Lilly was growing concerned as she still hadn’t heard from him whether he liked it or not.

“Well Elijah, so do you like it or am I painting over it?” Lilly asked.

“Don’t you even think about painting over this wall, but there is just one problem. Where is your face, I can’t find it.” Elijah said.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me in it, it’s my body in your arms just my face is turned away.” Lilly answered.

“You need to change that, immediately, can you do that, you need to fix it, can you fix it?” Elijah said.

Lilly was thrown by the desperation in Elijah’s voice, she needed to placate him but didn’t know what to say to him. Mickey came to her rescue.

“I am sure Lilly can rectify the situation, just tell her you love it and put her out of her anguish, she’s desperate to know if you like what she has done for you?” Mickey said.

Elijah showed her first how much he loved it by his kiss, he showed how grateful he was.

“I’m over the moon with what you’ve done, it’s transformed this area, not many people would come to this part of Blue’s and now they will flock. Thank you so much for doing it.” Elijah said.

“Good job, Elijah, well said. Lilly can I borrow the best man for a second, I have usher questions for him to answer.” Mickey said.

Lilly nodded her agreement and went to retrieve her paint brushes to add her face to the family of dancers.

Everyone had arrived at Jack and Olivia’s house for a dinner party on the eve of their wedding, everyone was seated around the dining table chatting to their nearest neighbour.

Elijah and Lilly had been separated because they couldn’t behave themselves and keep their hands to themselves. Lilly talked with Cecily now that she had arrived in person and not just an image on the screen in a dressing room.

Mickey was the other side of Cecily trying to commandeer her attention, but Lilly was winning the contest at the moment. Elijah had given up trying to get Lilly’s attention hours ago and concentrated on calming his brother.

“How are you feeling brother?” Elijah asked.

“Impatient, why can’t we get this started” Jack answered in a sour, petulant tone.

“One, you’re not even dressed for it, two the guests are not here, the bride is nowhere to be seen and oh, the wedding is not until tomorrow. Do I need to give you any other reasons?” Elijah said.

“Stupid reasons if you ask me, let’s just get her here and start now.” Jack said.

“You have to wait Jack, you’ve spent a small fortune in preparing this wedding, so suck it up.” Elijah said.

“Don’t see why I have to but there you are. Tell me about Lilly to distract me, how are things going with her?” Jack asked.

“She’s wonderful, she knows everything and she still loves me.” Elijah answered.

“Great stuff, so when are you going to marry her?”

“I’d marry her tomorrow if I could.”

“Have you asked her?”

“Yes but, she hates weddings, she agreed to marry me and then I fucked it up and I haven’t asked her again although she has told me I need to. She’ll never agree and we have only been seeing each other matter of weeks.” Elijah said.

“That is a poor excuse, organise the marriage licence and don’t have a wedding, just the ceremony.  I’m sure she hates the fuss and not the wedding itself. She looks like a girl who wants to be loved and share her life. Organise it all and just tell her to turn up.” Jack said.

“That’s not a bad idea brother, not bad at all.”

“What are you two plotting?” Michael asked standing behind the two of them.

He placed a large hand on both other their shoulders and squeezed his fingers firmly to show his greeting. Michael, their father, was a big man, statuesque and commanding, he had spent his life in a government office but he was fit as he was when he was twenty.

“Nothing Dad,” the brothers said in unison.

“That sounds ominous, I hope it involves one of you getting married sober.” Michael asked.

“We were actually talking about planning Elijah’s wedding but its top secret so don’t let on, he has to ask her again as he fucked up the first time. You might have two married sons by the time the month is over.” Jack said.

“I couldn’t be happier, Lilly is a lovely girl, I would be proud to call her my daughter in law. Thank God she is nothing like her mother.” Michael said.

“Oh yes dad, do you have anything you want to share?” Jack asked.

“No, what happened back then stays back then, it’s for the best son.” Michael answered.

“Fair enough, can I get you a drink dad?” Jack asked, always the host and wanting to change the subject. His dad agreed and walked with him to the drinks cabinet and poured themselves a Whisky each.

Elijah’s attention moved to Lilly and saw that she was alone, eyes searching the walls, where Jack’s paintings hung. She was transfixed and he didn’t want to interrupt her but there was something he needed to talk to her about. He had to talk to her now before the plan was put in place.

Moving towards her Elijah caught Mickey’s eye and signalled for him to come over too. They circled the table from opposite directions and met at Lilly’s side. She was still oblivious to her surroundings and Elijah pecked her lips with a kiss to get her to come round.

“Oh, hi honey, Mickey, have you been standing there long, I’m sorry I was in a world of my own.” Lilly said.

“No, love, not long, Mickey and I need to speak with you, can we go out into the garden to talk?” Elijah said.

“Ok, it sounds serious, lead the way.” Lilly replied.

Mickey led Elijah and Lilly through the dining room and out through the French doors to the patio area of the house. It was situated out the rear of the house and overlooked a large lake. The pathway had solar spot lights illuminating the way down to the water. Mickey stopped at the table near the doors and took a seat. Elijah and Lilly followed.

Sitting quietly Lilly waited for one of them to start. The two men were having a silent conversation with their eyes and Elijah nodded once. Lilly could have been forgiven for thinking that they had mind reading skills.

“Lilly, I need to tell you something about your brother, it won’t be easy to hear so I will try to be gentle.” Mickey said.

“Ok, but I think I know what you are going to say, it’s about his drug taking isn’t it.” Lilly said.

“Well yes but there is a little bit more to it and I need your help.” Mickey said.

“Ok, tell me what is going on.” Lilly asked.

“William is not just taking drugs but he is dealing them too. Simon and Steve, the two guys Angie and you met at Blue’s were supplied by your brother. Inadvertently you took the drugs that came from your brother. You haven’t gone to the police yet so that means that he is getting away with it. There is a secondary problem, you recovered from the drug ordeal ok but sadly a woman two days ago was admitted to hospital and is in a coma from taking drugs that I suspect came from your brother. He is severely in debt and is having to conduct shady deals in order to keep his supplier happy. This means he is now dealing dirty drugs. We need to put a stop to it, will you help us?” Mickey asked.

Lilly sat there in silence digesting what she’d heard, a woman could die and it was her brother’s doing. She now blamed herself for not going to the police before. The news was too much and she burst into tears. Hard sobs coming up through her chest, the stress of the knowledge was too much for her. Elijah lifted her onto his lap and hugged her hard until she stopped. It was quite some time until Lilly calmed down but in all that time Elijah and Mickey didn’t utter a word. They knew she would take it to heart and needed her to co-operate with their plan.

Drying her eyes with the handkerchief Elijah gave her, she blew her nose and composed herself.

“What do you need me to do?” Lilly asked with conviction.

“You need to go to the police and make a statement and tell them what you suspect. We can’t get him arrested and get the help he needs unless you do that.” Mickey said.

“I can do that, when do you want me to go, the wedding is tomorrow.” Lilly said.

“Monday morning will be fine when you get back home.” Mickey said, “I think that because your parents will be here, he may return there while they are away. I have someone watching your parent’s house in case and we can hold him until Monday when you make a statement. At least the policemen will know where to find him.” Mickey said.

“Ok, Monday it is, I should have gone before, I hadn’t realised that he’d gone that far. I was so absorbed in my job to notice.” Lilly said.

“This is not your fault Lilly sweetheart, do not blame yourself.” Elijah said kissed her temple.

Lilly sighed heavily, she was sensible enough to know that she can’t control everyone around her and notice everything but Aunt Jane was only here five minutes and she knew what was going on. She should’ve noticed it earlier and she would blame herself until that other woman came out of her coma.

Straightening upon Elijah’s lap Lilly pulled herself together, there were a lot of people here for dinner and she didn’t need to add any drama to the evening. This was Jack and Olivia’s weekend and she could keep her guilt to herself for a while.

“What is going on out here?” A cheery voice called from behind them.

“Angie?” Lilly said and turned in Elijah’s lap to check the voice matched the body.

“Yes, it’s me, that gorgeous boyfriend of yours, hold on fiancé? Boyfriend? Fiancé? Which is it? Anyway, regardless, he arranged to get me picked up from work and flown up here by helicopter no less so that I can be here with you.” Angie said, theatrically and bowed her entrance.

Lilly leaped up and hugged her friend until she thought she heard bones crack.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I thought you couldn’t get the weekend off?” Lilly said.

“Well, it seems one of the hotel’s best customers put a request in that I should have the weekend off to attend his wedding. The General Manager was falling over himself that I knew Jack Geary that he instantly sent me home to get changed to come here.” Angie revealed.

Lilly looked over at Elijah for confirmation and he shrugged his innocence and grinned at her. Mickey clapped his hands in celebration and got up from his seat to introduce himself to Angie. He took her away back into the main house so Lilly and Elijah could have a moment alone.

“Are you ok Lilly? I hope you don’t mind Mickey taking you through that, I asked him to investigate Simon and Steve and it led to William.” Elijah said.

He tenderly held her face in his hands and searched her eyes for an answer not trusting the words she may utter.

“Getting Mickey to tell me was probably best, if I’d heard it from you I may not have believed it, I’m sorry to say that.” Lilly said.

“We guessed as much, I’m glad you’re going to the police, he needs to be stopped and also it may lead to who his supplier is too.” Elijah said.

“Will you come with me to make a statement?” Lilly asked.

“Of course, I will, we’ll go on Monday morning, now let’s go back in and join the merriment. It sounds like the party is just starting, I can hear my dad telling his infamous ghost stories.” Elijah said.

Lilly and Elijah stepped back into the light of the house and took their seat on the sofa and listened to Michael tell his stories. Tomorrow was a big day and she needed to tell her parents about William. It was poor timing, but she needed them to know what she was going to do.