I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I hope nobody minds.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hannah Montana. Gerri Hill is the original author of One Summer Night. Rated M for sexual content.
"One Summer Night"
Chapter One
It was hot. Much too hot for June, she thought, as she pointed to air conditioning vent toward her face and sped down MoPac in her new black Mazda. Peering out the sunroof she saw nothing but blue skies, not even one puffy white cloud to shield the sun. She grimaced. Summer in Austin had hit with a bang.
Again she wondered why she had let herself be talked into going to the softball tournament. Barbie, her best friend, had been calling all week asking her to come until she had finally relented. Summer was her time. Her time to be alone and catch up on all the things she had missed during the year. With no classes to teach until the fall semester, she wanted to spend the summer going to Lake Travis when the mood hit and catching up on her reading, not sitting in the hot sun watching women run around the bases. But Barbie had argued that if she was ever to meet anyone, she had to get out. Well, Lillian Truscott didn't want to meet anyone, she stubbornly insisted, but Barbie wouldn't hear of it.
"You're only thirty-six. My God, you're acting as if your life is over and you've resigned yourself to being an old maid."
"I'm not an old maid. I'm just not interest in a relationship right now," she told her.
"Who's talking relationship? You never go out, Lilly. I hate to think of you always being by yourself. It's been three years, you know."
"I'm well aware of how long it's been."
"Then come out with us. We'll drink a few beers and cheer them on."
So, she had agreed finally. After all, it had been over three years since Nancy left her to return to New York. A job transfer, she had said. Lillian laughed bitterly to herself. Three years had not squelched her anger. When she found out Nancy had been secretly seeing someone else for nearly six months before she and her new girlfriend had both up and moved, Lillian had been devastated. How could she have been so blind that she hadn't noticed? Had she grown so complacent in their relationship that it just never occurred to her that Nancy had become distant? That Nancy had another lover? They had spent four years together, the last two sharing Lilly's house on Bull Creek, and she had been naïve enough to think things were perfect between them.
She shook her head, not wanting to dredge up those old memories. Instead, she concentrated on driving, hands tight on the wheel as Saturday traffic zoomed by around her. She was still protective of her new car, and had not yet reverted to her usual habit of cutting in and out of traffic. Sporting her exit, she was soon just a few blocks from the large complex of ball fields in South Austin. An acre of cars filled the parking area. Lillian remembered Barbie had said it was the largest women's tournament Austin had ever hosted. Teams from all over Texas, as well as a few from other states, were there.
She finally found a parking space on the back row and opened her door to the heat. She scowled again. Summer in Austin was not her favorite time of year. Oh, she loved going to the lake and floating in her tube on Bull Creek, but each year the summers seemed to last longer and longer. She was thankful she had worn a tank top. The slight breeze was not helping much. She pulled the top away from her breasts, fanning cool air inside. She rarely wore a bra, one benefit to being small-breasted, she thought. Probably the only benefit. Taking her lawn chair and her small cooler of beer from the trunk, she walked to the fields.
There were ten softball fields here. She headed to field number three, where their team was playing. She spotted Barbie and Joannie and made her way through the crowd to them, excusing herself as she bumped into people with her chair and cooler.
"You came!" Barbie exclaimed, standing up and making room for her.
"I told you I would," Lillian said, forcing a smile. She was already crabby as she felt sweat trickle between her shoulder blades.
"Yes, but you're late. It started a half hour ago."
Lillian shrugged, opened her chair and shoved her cooler under it. "Hello, Joannie. Hot enough for you?"
Joannie laughed at Lilly's usual comment and introduced her to the other sitting with them.
"This is Kerry and Shea," she said, pointing to two older women sitting next to her. "I'm sure you've heard me mention them."
"Yes," Lilly said and smiled.
"And that's Mikayla." She motioned toward a younger woman who looked up and smiled, then turned her attention back to the game.
"Mikayla works with Ashley," Joannie explained.
"I haven't seen Ashley in ages," she said, plopping unceremoniously into her chair, her eyes closed against the heat. "God, I could be sitting in the water right now," she murmured.
"Oh, give me a break," Barbie said. "It's not that hot."
"Ninety-five and June's not even half over. What's August going to be like?"
"One hundred, like always," she said. Reaching under Lillian's chair, she took a beer from the ice and handed it to her. "Here, cool off."
"Thanks." Lilly twisted the top off the bottle, drank nearly half of it, then rubbed the cold bottle on her face. "Oh, that's so good," she sighed.
"Yeah."
"So, what's the score?" she asked.
"We're up by one," Joannie replied and yelled at Cindy to get a hit.
Barbie and Joannie never played softball. In fact, Lilly doubted Joannie had every played any sport. Nevertheless, they made every softball game, and Barbie jokingly referred to themselves as the team's mascot. They made an odd duo. Joannie and Barbie, both tall and thin. Barbie with a head full of red curls, Joannie with long dark hair. But they were the happiest couple Lilly had ever met, still going strong after thirteen years.
Lilly turned her attention to the game. She knew nearly everyone on the team. Not that she made that many games, but they had been playing together for years, and since they were all friends of Barbie's, she had been out with them before. A few of the regular members couldn't make the tournament, and Lilly knew Traci had come in from San Antonio to play.
"Is Amber playing?" Lillian asked. Amber was a friend of hers from college who she had introduced to Barbie a few years ago.
"She's playing second today," Barbie said. "Traci brought someone along with her from San Antonio to play third."
Traci was Barbie's cousin and, despite that, they were good friends. Barbie looked at her and frowned. "Didn't you bring a cap?"
"No," she said, squinting her blue eyes against the sun. "I left without sunscreen, too. Do you have any?"
"I do," Joannie offered, reaching into her bag for the sunblock. "God, it's hell getting old. Isn't it?"
Lillian flicked her a wry glance and opened the tube.
"I mean, remember when we would stay out for hours and not worry about wrinkles?"
"Skin cancer, Joannie," Lilly told her. "Not wrinkles."
"There was no such thing as sunscreen when we were young. I'm sure the damage is already done."
"What do you mean, when we were young?" Barbie asked with a laugh.
"I'm nearly forty, if you'll remember. My days of youth are past."
"You've been nearly forty for three years," Lilly teased.
"Yeah, well, this time, it's for real," she said.
Barbie winked at Lillian. "Three more months," she said quietly. "That's how long we'll have to listen to it."
Cindy smacked a fly ball out to center field and the inning was over. Lilly spotted Amber as she headed to second base and waved at her.
"I haven't seen Amber in a while," she said.
"Well, if you would come out with us more, you would," Barbie retorted.
"You know I don't go to the bar during the semester."
"Everyone knows you're gay. What's the big deal?"
"I just would hate to run into one of my students there."
The players ran to their positions, and her eyes followed a woman she didn't know. The woman was tall and lean and very tan. Lilly watched as she jogged to third base. Pulling her cap off, the stranger ran her fingers through her long, dark hair, brushing it away from her face. She was very dark, one of those people who had a tan no matter what time of year it was, one of those people Lillian had always been jealous of. She had to work at her tan, being so blonde and blue-eyed.
The woman pulled the cap back on her head and kicked dirt with her foot. She pounded her glove with her hand, and then crouched in the ready position while Lillian stared at her. God, she's cute, she thought.
"That's Miley Stewart," Barbie said, following her gaze.
"Who?" Lilly asked innocently.
"Third base."
"Oh." She pulled her eyes away, embarrassed. She had never been one to stare.
Sharon, the pitcher, was the youngest member of the team, not yet thirty, and she turned around, making sure her teammates were ready before tossing the first pitch. Lillian watched as it sailed high, then slid her eyes back to third base. The woman yelled something to Sharon, then moved in a little closer on the infield. The next pitch was hit high to the outfield, and the left fielder moved under it, caught it effortlessly and then threw it back to the infield.
Lillian sat back in her chair to watch Sharon pitch but couldn't keep her gaze off third for long. Her eyes followed the ball bouncing up the third base line. Miley Stewart charged it, picked it up smoothly and fired it to third base. The runner was out by three steps. Lilly smiled as Miley turned and walked back to third base. The next hitter flied out, and Lilly's eyes followed the dark woman as she jogged back to the dugout, accepting congratulations from her teammates.
Lillian couldn't see her in the dugout so she purposely kept her eyes on the field. Amber was the first to bat, and Lilly cheered her on when the first pitch was hit over the shortstop's head into the outfield. Then her breath caught as Miley Stewart walked confidently to the plate, taking a few practice swings before stepping into the batter's box.
"Come on, Miley," Amber yelled from first base.
"She hit a home run her first time up," Joannie said.
"Really?" Lilly murmured, trying to sound nonchalant, all the while watching intently as Miley waited for the first pitch. It was low, and she stepped back and took another practice swing. Lillian saw the muscles in Miley's arms stand out as she clutched the bat. She strained to hear as Miley spoke to the catcher, smiling briefly before turning her attention back to the pitcher. The next pitch was perfect, and Miley sent it flying to the outfield. The left fielder turned and ran toward the fence but the ball sailed over her head. Amber was already rounding third. Miley ran past second base and raced for third, diving headfirst to the bag, just beating the throw.
Lilly found herself cheering along with the rest of the crowd, watching with interest as Miley stood up and dusted off her pants and shirt, her hands moving over her breasts and stomach absently as she grinned, teeth white against her tan. Lillian stared at her, unable to look away as Miley chatted with the played from the other team, all the while a smile firmly in place, as if she was surprised at her hit.
"She's quite a player," Barbie said. "Traci said she used to play college ball in California."
Lilly nodded and again forced herself to look away. It was becoming embarrassing, the way she was staring. It was so unlike her to have such an instant attraction to someone, especially someone she had yet to meet. Besides, she doubted she would even like her. Women like her had girls falling over them all the time. Miley probably had a string of women littering the streets of San Antonio at this very moment.
The next two batters struck out, and Miley still stood at third, clapping her hands, urging Ashley to bring her home. Ashley hit the first pitch, and it rolled between first and second, just out of the other team's reach, and Miley trotted home, stepped on the plate and picked up Ashley's discarded bat.
"Way to go, Stewart," someone yelled from the dugout, and Lilly watched as Miley walked in front of them, still smiling. For a second, she looked their way. Lilly froze as dark eyes settled on her briefly. Then Miley went into the dugout, accepting handslaps from her teammates, now out of Lilly's view, who turned her attention, with effort, back to the field.
The game ended twenty minutes later, and Lilly stood to stretch her legs. The heat she hadn't even thought about during the game now settled around her again. Grabbing another beer from her cooler, she took a long swallow and wiped her brow. The teams were on the field shaking hands and talking. She forced her eyes away from Miley Stewart and settled them on Amber, who was walking toward the fence.
"Lilly! Glad you came," Amber called.
"Ho. You had a good game, Amber."
"Thanks. We've got another one at three. Are you staying?"
"Yes," she said immediately.
"Good. I'll talk to you in a minute," Amber said and walked to the dugout.
Lilly waved at Ashley as she walked back to the dugout and realized that she had not spoken to Ashley since Christmas. Or was it New Year's? They had been good friends once, sharing meals and movies. When they had both been single, they'd spent many an evening together. But then Lilly had started seeing Nancy and Ashley had disappeared from her life, except for group holidays, it seemed. She sighed. Wasn't that how it always was? Give up your friends for a lover, and when the lover leaves, your friends are gone, too. Lilly sighed again. It was as if they were strangers now, and Lilly made a mental note to invite her to dinner some night soon.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she realized where she was, looked away from the field, and followed Barbie and Joannie as they went to meet the players. Lillian was acutely aware of her nervousness as her eyes searched for Miley Stewart. She spotted her talking to Traci and knew that Barbie and Joannie were heading that way. She briefly hung back, almost afraid to meet her, but Barbie turned around and motioned for her to follow.
"Are you kidding? I was lucky to make it to third," Miley was saying to Traci with a smile, and Lilly caught her breath as Miley looked around and rested those dark eyes on her again.
"Great game!" Barbie applauded. "A shutout."
"Yeah. They were picked to win the tournament, too," Traci grinned. She turned to Lillian then. "Lilly, this is Miley Stewart, a friend of mine from San Antonio." She turned to Miley and pointed at Lilly. "Lillian Truscott."
"Hi," Miley said and stuck out her hand.
Lilly was forced to take it, to feel Miley's fingers wrap around her hand, to feel her firm grip. She kept her eyes down as their hands clasped, then raised them to meet Miley's deep blue eyes directly.
"Nice to meet you. You had a good game," she said.
Miley released her hand slowly and smiled. "Thanks, but those were lucky hits. My softball days ended years ago."
"Oh, please," Traci groaned. "I had to practically beg her to play and look what she does."
Miley grinned, showing off eve, white teeth. "It's been a lot of years, Traci."
"You're far from the oldest one on this team."
"I think you hold that honor, don't you?" Barbie asked, and they all laughed.
"And you're not too far behind me, cousin," Traci shot back.
Lilly smiled and raised her eyes again, only to find Miley Stewart looking at her. She met her eyes briefly, and then looked away, back toward the field where another team was warming up.
"I've got to get something to drink," Miley said, and to Lillian, "Listen, it was nice to meet you. I hope you hand around for the next game."
"I will," she said and smiled.
"Good." Miley turned to the others. "See you later," she said and left them.
"She's good, Traci," Joannie commented, when Miley had walked off. "Where did you find her?"
"She teaches at St. Peter's. Well, for the last year anyway. She's from California originally and used to play for Stanford when she was in college."
"So where did you meet her?" Barbie asked.
"Out at a party awhile back. She's very nice. I really like her."
Lilly listened to the conversation, her eyes following Miley Stewart as she wlaked toward the parking lot. She was intrigued with her, to say the least. Actually, infatuated with her would be a better word.
They stood in the shade, visiting, and Lilly was glad she had come. Amber came over to catch up, as they had not seen each other in a couple of months. She also got reacquainted with the other players she hadn't seen in awhile, but she couldn't keep herself from scanning the parking lot for Miley, waiting for her to return.
"Lilly?"
Lilly turned around and smiled at Ashley, giving her a quick hug in greeting.
"It's been so long, Ashley. How are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"Fine," she said. "We haven't seen each other in ages. Why did we let that happen?"
"Well, we just sort of lost touch when you started dating Nancy," Ashley said, "and never seemed to connect again after you two broke up."
"It was my fault," Lilly agreed. "Why don't we have dinner some night? Or is that not a good idea?" Lilly looked around to see if someone were watching them. "Are you seeing someone?"
"No, no. You know me, always single," Ashley reassured her. "Dinner sounds good."
"Terrific. We'll get together and catch up," Lilly said.
Ashley left her and Lilly turned around, looking for Barbie, but aware that she was searching for Miley Stewart, as well. Oh, she was acting like a teenager with a huge crush. She purposefully strode to her lawn chair, thinking she really did need to get out more.
Miley did not reappear until just before the start of the next game. The others were already warming up when she hurried on to the field, carrying her bat and glove and a bottle of water.
Despite telling herself how foolish she was being, Lilly watched closely. She stared as Miley picked up a ball and began throwing with Traci, her lean body angling into every throw. She smiled often and chatted with the played next to her as she absently tossed the softball back and forth. Lilly was mesmerized. She couldn't tear her eyes away.
"Hey," Barbie said to her, bringing her around.
"Yeah?"
"What are you looking at?" she asked with a smile.
Lilly blushed and cursed silently to herself. "Nothing."
"Yeah," she said, punching her arm. "Nice to know something's still alive in there."
Lilly ignored her and took another beer from her cooler.
Their team was in the third base dugout this time and although she had a perfect view of the bench, she purposely refrained from staring. Instead, she pretended interest in the other team as they warmed up, trying to find someone to hold her attention as Miley Stewart had done. No one did.
The game started, and her eyes never traveled far from third base. Miley played her position expertly, grabbing every ground ball that came her way and throwing a bullet to first base each time. Lilly was impressed, to say the least. But it was Miley's hitting that won the game. Her first time up, with two runners on, she smashed the ball into center field, and Lilly smiled as it sailed to the fence. Then she watched as Miley ran the bases, her long legs touching each one as she hurried home before the ball ever made it back to the infield.
Miley's grin was huge and contagious as she crossed home plate and hit hands with the others who had crossed in front of her. Lilly watched her with awe all the way to the dugout.
"Wow!" Joannie exclaimed.
"Yeah," Barbie agreed.
After it was over, Lillian stood with the others as they talked about the game, going over each play again. Miley seemed embarrassed at the attention she was getting and once again attributed her hits to sheer luck. Lilly was secretly pleased that someone with her obvious talent wasn't conceited or arrogant about it. Then again, maybe if she was a little more stuck-up, it would quell this attraction Lilly was feeling for Miley Stewart.
Everyone was deciding to go for Mexican food, and Lilly found herself agreeing to dinner before she even realized it.
"Don't be late this time, Lilly," Barbie admonished as they were leaving.
"I won't." She closed her trunk with a bang and settled inside her car, turning the air conditioning on high as she drove home. She refused to acknowledge that she had agreed to dinner simply because Miley Stewart was going to be there. It was high time she went out. Like Barbie keeps saying. Right! With that, she shoved a CD in and listened to Elton John on her way home.
To be continued
Go ahead and review if you feel so inclined.
