This is simply a novel by Georgia Beers, adapted into a Liley. Hopefully you all will enjoy this as much as I do.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hannah Montana or any related characters. Thy Neighbor's Wife is originally by Georgia Beers.
Thy Neighbor's Wife
Chapter One
"WHAT DO YOU think, honey?"
The excitement in Jake Ryan's voice was unmistakable to his wife, Miley. She smiled at the little-boy expression on his face, the twinkling in his brown eyes. It wasn't terribly often that he asked for her opinion on something he was looking to purchase, but for some reason, he really wanted her to be as enamored with the lake house as he was. It was important to him. He waited, studying her.
Miley was completely taken with the house, but she didn't want to let him off the hook too soon, so she pretended to ponder, wandering slowly around. She turned in a casual circle in the great room and then stopped to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a stunning view of Canandaigua Lake. The waves lapped gently at the shores of the yard, which was impeccably landscaped, the grass, a lush green nearly impossible to find this early in the season.
Above her head were wood beams, accentuating the high ceiling and drawing the eyes to the railing of the loft that overlooked the great room. She's been up there already and had been equally impressed with the open design of the master and guest bedrooms, accented in the same wood as the ceiling beams. Ideas for painting and decorating were already bombarding her, colors and patterns spinning in her mind.
She knew that, whether or not she liked the place, Jake did and that they'd probably end up buying it anyway, but she was pleased he seemed so anxious for her opinion. She smiled at him again.
"I think it's beautiful," she pronounced.
Jake let out an audible sigh of relief and hugged her, catching her off guard. He turned to Josh, his cousin and their real estate agent, and grinned. "She thinks it's beautiful."
"Of course she does," Josh replied easily. "Let's take care of the paperwork, shall we?"
As the two men headed for the kitchen where they could use the counter space to write on, Miley slid open the sliding glass doors and stepped out onto the massive back deck. It was empty, so she was sure that was why it seemed so huge. The house had been empty for over a week, following the death of the elderly previous owner. She rested her palms on the railing, closing her eyes and taking a lung full of fresh lake air, so different from that of the city.
So this is going to be our summer home. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Jake had wanted a house on the water for ages and grudgingly admitted to knowing that it was more a status symbol than anything else for him. It would be added to the list of material things he'd acquired, all before the age of thirty: the Mercedes, the boat, the membership at Oak Hill, the most exclusive golf club in the area, a huge house in the heart of Pittsford, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Rochester, New York.
She despised the whole money game. She'd spent all twenty-nine of her years right in the middle of it, but she hated being wealthy. She also knew how snobbish that sounded and she didn't run around telling people how much she abhorred being rich, but it was the truth. The role of high society wife was not one that she treasured, nor was she good at it. She was the first to say so. Her mother, as well as Jake's mother, would be in line right behind her.
Still, the house was gorgeous and she already felt a sense of peace simply standing on the deck. She also reluctantly admitted to herself that she happily anticipated being there alone quite often. Jake's offices were in the city—about forty-five minutes from Canandaigua—and lately he'd been helping set up the new division in Buffalo which was a good two hours away. It would be very inconvenient for him to make such a commute every day during the summer, given the late hours he tended to work, and he would most likely stay at the Pittsford house more often than not. The idea of spending time on the lakeshore alone was very appealing to Miley; she could feel the calm and solitude calling to her on the breeze coming off the shore.
She turned to look up at the house. The exterior was a faded gray, a finish that made it appear more weathered than it actually was. Looking back to the water, she sighed, let the sudden relaxation she felt seep into her very being, and admired the sunset over the water. She heard the children laughing in the distance; a dog barked.
She'd never had a dog growing up, even though she'd always wanted one. Her mother had had a million reasons why she wouldn't allow it. Dogs were messy. Dogs were silly, shedding creatures that didn't belong in a house full of nice things like theirs. Something was bound to get broken or stained or… she'd go on and on and on until her daughter would stop her begging simply to get the woman to shut up. Miley could hear her mother's voice ringing clearly in her head as if it had happened yesterday. She still got a headache any time she thought about Susan Stewart's No Pets and Here's Why speech.
Despite the shrillness and insistence of her mother, Miley's desire for a dog had never gone away. She supposed that childhood want was what made her smile at the little white pooch that she noticed running through her new backyard. He was adorable, all furry with pointy ears, short, stubby legs, and big expressive brown eyes. He was clearly in his glory, running free in the spring grass. Part of an unraveled rope flew unconstrained behind him, clasped to his plaid collar but nothing else. He stopped to pee every few feet, lifting a short back leg with relish, as if his mission in life was to mark everything in sight. Miley chuckled at his antics.
The chuckling died swiftly as she had a sickening vision of a car screeching to a halt to avoid him. She couldn't bear the thought of his broken little body, should he find his way up to the main road, so she headed down into the large yard, squatted, and called to him, clapping her hands and using a playful voice.
"Come here, buddy. Come on. Come here."
He stopped his romping when he heard her and cocked his head as if listening intently. His little black lips were visible on his white-furred face and Miley was sure he was grinning at her.
"Yeah, you." She giggled. "Come here."
Much to her surprise, he trotted right over to her, his tail pointing straight up and wagging slightly as he sniffed the hand she held out to him. After a minute or two, he decided she was safe and allowed her to scratch his head. Soon, she was able to grasp his collar, tug him a little closer, and picked him up in her arms to get a closer look at him.
He immediately set to bathing her face with his pink tongue. He was surprisingly gentle, like a mother with a pup, and it made her smile.
"Oh, I'm dirty, am I? Well, thanks so much for taking care of that."
She was relieved to see that he had an ID tag hanging from his collar. She had picked up enough strays in her life and she was always happy when she had a number to call to return the animal to its owner. A pet with an ID tag was a sign of a glaringly irresponsible owner in her book.
This tag simply said Kinsey and had a local phone number.
"Is Kinsey your name or is that your mommy? Hmm?" He cocked his head as if seriously contemplating the question, but offered her no answer. "Well, what do you say we find out?"
She carried him into the house. She could hear Jake and Josh discussing the details of the purchase of the house, so she decided not to interrupt. Instead, she fished her cell phone out of her shoulder bag and dialed the number on the tag. It was picked up after three rings.
"Hello?" The voice was female, deep and smooth.
"Um, hi. My name is Miley Ryan and I was just wondering if you or somebody there had, by any chance, lost a dog."
"Lost a—hang on a sec…" Miley heard a door slide open, then a muffled curse. The woman came back on the line. "A little white one?" she asked anxiously.
"Yep. His tag says Kinsey. Is that you or him?"
"That's him, the little stinker. I can't believe he broke that rope. I swear he's an escape artist!"
"He's a sweetie." She giggled as Kinsey licked her ear.
"Oh, he's very smooth with the ladies, that's for sure." The woman chuckled warmly. "Listen, I can't thank you enough for grabbing him. Where are you? I'll come right over and get him out of your hair."
"Well, let's see." Miley stepped back out onto the deck to scrutinize her surroundings, which were completely new to her. "I'm on the lake. My house is new… I mean, I don't even live here yet, so I'm not exactly sure how to tell you where I am. Um, I know we're on East Lake Road. I think it might be number seventeen." She felt like a complete dolt, unable to give the voice on the phone a solid address, and she rolled her eyes at herself.
"Number seventeen?" the voice said with surprise. Miley could hear the door slide open again.
"I think so. Do you know where that is?"
The woman laughed. "I believe I do. Take a look to your right."
Miley furrowed her brows in confusion, then looked to her right. Not fifty yards away, a light-haired woman stood on the deck next door, a cordless phone pressed to her ear. She waved.
"Found you."
Miley laughed as she snapped the cell phone shut, set it on the railing of the deck, and walked toward her new neighbor, Kinsey still in her arms.
It was impossible not to notice how attractive the woman was. God, I hope Jake can keep himself from drooling on her, she thought with a smile. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, her bangs ruffling in the lake breeze. She had soft, light eyes framed by almost-black lashes and blonde brows, and an easy smile played at the corners of her mouth. She was dressed casually in jeans and a black, v-neck t-shirt.
How come my jeans don't fit that well? Miley's brain whined enviously. It's so unfair.
The woman was short, several inches under Miley's five foot eight inch frame. Her facial structure was near perfect, as though she'd been carved out of marble, then painstakingly buffed until her skin glowed. She looked visibly relieved to see her dog and smiled an impeccable white smile as she reached out for him.
"Didn't get so far after all, did you, rat boy? I oughta skin you and have you for dinner."
Kinsey set to work bathing his owner's face this time, his tail wagging rapidly. She accepted the treatment for another minute, then set him down inside her sliding glass door and snapped it shut. The dog stood pathetically, looking out through the glass like a doomed prisoner.
The woman turned and held out her hand to Miley. "Lilly Truscott."
Miley placed her hand in Lilly's, feeling both warmth and strength radiating from her. "Miley Ryan. Nice to meet you."
"Thank you so much for grabbing him, Miley. He can't be trusted. He's got a one-track mind and when he puts that nose to the ground, he's off like a shot. He would have just kept going and probably would have ended up a doggie pancake on the main road." She kept her tone light, but the worry in her eyes betrayed her voice. She was obviously attached to the little guy and the prospect of such an accident made her queasy.
"No problem," Miley replied. "I'm glad I saw him. Has he gotten out before?"
"Once or twice, yeah. It's really in his blood, just a characteristic of the breed."
"He's a terrier, right?"
"Yup. He's a Westie—a West Highland White Terrier. He's bred to be a rodent hunter, so like I said, he puts that nose to the ground, trying to sniff up the mice or the chipmunks and nothing else in the world exists for him. Especially now, in the spring, when everything's coming out of hibernation."
Miley smiled at the image of the adorable little pooch pretending not to hear his mommy calling him. "So, I take it walking him on the leash is out of the question?"
"Absolutely. I've tried that." Lilly then added sheepishly, "Three times."
"Three times?"
"What? I thought maybe he was just a slow learner."
"Sounds like the slow learner was you," Miley commented with a smirk.
"Hey! I thought maybe he was just a slow learner."
"Sounds like the slow learner was you," Miley commented with a smirk.
"Hey! You just me me. You can't insult me for at least twenty-four hours." She laughed, taking Miley's ribbing as the fun for which it was meant. "So, you said you just bought the place?" She gestured behind Miley to the house.
"Yeah. My husband, Jake, is inside taking care of the details right now. I'm not sure exactly when we'll move in, but it's ours. I'm pretty excited, so I hope I don't sound like a total goof. Have you been here for long?"
Lilly smiled at the enthusiasm in her new neighbor's voice. "This used to be my aunt's place. I spent a lot of time here as a kid and now I'm living here."
"Well, this is my first time on the lake, so maybe you can show me around sometime?"
"You're got yourself a deal, young lady." She smiled a dazzling white smile and Miley wondered how many men had simply fallen at Lilly's feet.
They stood quietly, but now awkwardly, in easy familiarity for a couple minutes just looking out at the water. Miley was surprised to feel a tiny pang of disappointment when she heard Jake's voice calling for her. She was baffled by the little part of her that didn't really want to introduce Jake to Lilly. It had been so long since she'd had something that was hers and only hers and she was feeling a bit possessive; she wanted to keep Lilly all to herself. Strange, since she'd only known the woman for ten minutes.
—
LILLIAN TRUSCOTT WAS so pleasantly surprised by her new neighbor that she could hardly keep the smile from plastering itself on her face. She had begun to feel a little lonely in her new home and was excited by the prospect of a new friendship… and one with such an attractive woman.
Miley's chocolate brown hair was pulled back into a French braid, a look Lilly found incredibly sexy. Her blue blouse accented her eyes nicely. The beige designer jeans perfectly hugged her lower body and Lilly had trouble keeping her eyes from sliding over the taller woman's backside, not wanting to frighten off her new neighbor before their friendship had time to begin. She chuckled to herself as she had a vision of Miley catching her ogling her, then sprinting back to her house in horror, hoping to prevent the final signatures from making their way onto the contract. Instead, they made small talk and enjoyed one another's company.
Because she found Miley so appealing, Lilly's inner child really wanted to hate Jake Ryan. She was determined to dislike him. He was obviously rich, judging from the house they just bought and the Mercedes in the driveway. He was devastatingly handsome, she could see as he approached, and he was married to Miley. What reason was there not to hate him?
"Making friends already, honey?" he asked with a smile as he reached a hand out to Lilly. "Jake Ryan."
"This is Lilly Truscott. We were just talking about living on the lake." Miley's blue eyes sparkled as she introduced Lilly to her husband.
They shook hands. "You lived her long?" he asked, as Miley noticed his subtle appraisal of Lilly and gave herself a point for predicting his impression of her.
"I spend most of my summers here as a kid."
"This used to be her aunt's house," Miley filled in.
"Were you friends with the previous owners of our place?"
Lilly was barely able to keep from rolling her eyes. "Um, no. Mrs. Cavanaugh wasn't exactly… approachable." She managed to keep herself from going on too long about her ex-neighbor, not wanting to speak ill of the dead. Ethel Cavanaugh had been a rich old biddy who considered herself higher up on the food chain that most of the rest of mankind. She could barely be bothered to give Lilly the time of day, but did favor with her disapproving looks any chance she could. Lilly had not been disappointed when the woman's homophobic heart had given out and the idea of having young neighbors was almost too appealing for words. "You're going to love it here. There's nothing like living on the water."
"I hope I get time to enjoy it," Jake muttered.
"You will," Miley scolded gently as he put his arm around her.
"We should finish up with Josh," he said. "It was nice to meet you, Lilly. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other often."
"Same here," she replied. "And if you need any help with moving or anything, just holler."
Miley seemed to want to linger, but Jake took her hand and tugged her along behind him. Lilly was surprised to feel disappointment at her departure.
"I'll be back in twenty-four hours to deliver a proper insult, okay?" Miley called over her shoulder.
"Don't be late." Lilly laughed. Miley waved goodbye. "Back to high society wife," Lilly said softly.
It was going to be an interesting summer.
She headed back into the house and Kinsey looked up at her expectantly. "What? You think you get some kind of reward for that little escapade of yours?" He cocked his head to one side, the way he always did when his owner scolded him, his ears pointed straight up, his brown eyes wide with the attention he was surely paying her. He looked so damn cute like that and he knew it. Lilly couldn't resist him and he knew that, too. She swooped him up in her arms, let him rain kisses all over her face, and told herself they were surely kisses of apology.
to be continued