Seduction, Lies, and Multiple Housewives

Chapter Six: Meeting the Neighbors

The very next day, Hannah decided that she wanted to wander around the property a little bit and get her bearings. Especially since she was new to the area. It really was quite beautiful, There were trees everywhere and mountains in the backdrop. One of her favorite outdoor activities was to go for long walks. So she put on her sneakers and headed out down the driveway to the private road that led to the main road.

Looking in the distance, she was very surprised to see that there were also two other ladies out walking with their children down the private road the same time as she was. From behind them, she noticed that both ladies were tall and slender. One lady was holding hands with two little children that seemed to be about two or three years old. The other lady was holding hands with another child that was a little bit older, probably about 5 years old. There were also two older children that seemed to be about 7 or 8 years old up ahead of them riding bikes.

Hannah quickly sped up and walked up to the ladies, figuring that this was her chance to meet some new people.

Swiftly, she approached the lady who was holding the hand of the five year old. She seemed to be quite serious, with blonde hair and blue eyes, probably in her early 40s, she noted to herself.

Hannah then extended her hand to greet the lady. "Hi, I'm Hannah. I guess we're neighbors," she announced to the first lady.

"Hello there, I'm Ellen." She greeted Hannah back, but a little standoffish. "I guess you could say we are neighbors. I live just down there on the right, she said sternly."

Hannah then looked down at the five-year-old and smiled.

Noticing Hannah's attention shift, Ellen then followed up by saying, "This is Ella, and my two oldest are up ahead there, Edward, and Elena."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Hannah smiled at Ella and then stood back up and smiled at Ellen herself, who didn't have the warmest disposition!

Hannah then turned her attention to the younger of the two ladies. She was blonde also, had bright blue eyes, and was probably around 35 years old, if Hannah had to guess. She was much more beautiful than Ellen. This could also have to do with the fact that she had a bright smile on her face, where her friend certainly did not.

The second lady extended her hand to Hannah, "Hi there, neighbor, I'm Allison, and these are my two two little princesses, Ali and Ariana," she proudly introduced them!

"It is very much a pleasure to meet you," Hannah said excitedly to Allison.

She then got down on her knees to the level of the two little girls, who were obviously twins. "Aren't you both adorable," she stated!

The little girls gave her the brightest smiles in return. One of them even let go of her mother's hand and gave Hannah a hug, which bother shocked and warmed Hannah's heart!

"I live just ahead on the left," Allison stated excitedly. "Welcome to the neighborhood!"

"Thank you! I am completely new to this area. I don't really know anybody, so it is nice to have a friendly face nearby," she smiled back at Allison and then as a courtesy, over towards Ellen, who didn't much return the sentiment.

Just then, Ellen's older two children who were riding bicycles came over to the group. They were both kind of surprised to see another person on the road.

"I'm Hannah, I'm your new neighbor. Your Mom told me that you are Edward and Elena," Hannah said, friendly.

"Yes, I'm Edward," the boy smiled back. He smiled at her, almost as if he had a crush on her. It was sweet, Hannah thought to herself. She looked at him even more now. He was probably more like 10 years old than the 8 year old child that she perceived from far away.

"I'm ahhhh....Alana, yes," the younger girl stuttered a little. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am!"

Hannah could tell that she was probably around seven years old, which is what she originally thought. But this child was very shy. Hannah almost felt sorry for her.

"Well I live alone out here. I just moved out here from Texas," she explained to everyone. "Are either of you two ladies married, Hannah asked curiously!"

Both Allison and Ellen looked at each other. The smile that was once on Allison's face began to drop a little bit.

"Yes, I'm married. Although I don't know if you'll get a chance to meet my husband, he works a lot," Allison said vaguely.

Hannah then looked over at Ellen. She expected her to respond after Allison, but she didn't.

Instead, Edward responded for his mother. "My Mom's married also," and he left it at that!

Okay, Hannah thought herself. This is kind of awkward. She didn't know how much she could see herself socializing with these two families going forward if they both liked to hang around together. Maybe if Allison wanted to do something one-on-one with her, she would be open to that, Hannah thought.

"Well, okay ladies, I'm going to finish my walk. It was certainly a pleasure meeting all of you," Hannah said goodbye to everyone and then picked up speed and began to jog down the road.

When she got back to the house, Hannah decided that she was going to visit the watchtower that was at the highest point of her house. She figured that she could check out the surrounding area. When she got up there, she found that there was a telescope built into the center of the room. Well, isn't this a neat little feature, she thought to herself. She looked into the telescope and pointed towards the mountains. It was so beautiful. At that moment, she knew that this was a good place to call home.

Hannah then turned toward the front of her house and she could clearly see the two roof tops of her neighbors off into the distance. No other part of their property could be seen over the trees, but it was quite obvious to Hannah that Allison and Ellen have the same home designs as her very own rental house!

What could this mean," she wondered? Does that mean that Victor owns all three houses? Why would he design three of the same houses? He specifically said that this house was special to him and that he wanted his wife to live here. There was one thing for sure that she knew, Hannah was going to find out the answers to these questions!

........

Later that afternoon, Hannah got a surprise that she thought might help her with the mystery of the matching houses. She was sitting on her back porch arranging a vase of her favorite wild flowers that she had picked, when out the corner of her eye, she saw a child riding a bike her way. It was Edward!

"Hi Edward. What a nice surprise," she smiled at him!

He immediately gave her a big grin from ear-to-ear in return.

"How did you get here," she asked?

Edward placed his bike down next to the deck and came up to sit next to her. "See over there," he explained to her as he pointed towards the woods, "there is a bike path between our houses!"

"I see, that is good to know," she stated happily! "I love to go on bicycle rides; maybe we could go on one together sometime!"

"I would love that, Miss Hannah! I would just need to double-check with Mom, though," he added, as his face dropped a little bit.

In that moment, Hannah knew how he was feeling. His Mom wasn't really known for her personality, from what she could tell.

"So Edward, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself," Hannah asked?

"Well, you already know, but I live down the road. You know that I have two younger sisters. I love riding my bike. I really like doing anything outdoors. My favorite thing to do is play sports, but the only person who really plays with me is my younger sister, Elena. My Mom home-schools us, so we don't have a lot of friends around to play with," he added sadly.

"Oh, that is too bad, Buddy," Hannah tried to comfort him. I loved to play sports when I was in school. I might be a little rusty these days, but if you want to try me, you know where to find me!"

Edwards eyes brightened hearing Hannah taken an interest in him.

"What about your Dad though, does he like to play sports with you," Hannah asked?

"Yeah, he plays with me sometimes. He works a lot, though, so it is usually just me and my sister," Edward stated surely.

Hannah went inside for a moment and grabbed some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that she had made earlier that day. She took the plate and put it down next to Edward.

"Help yourself," she told him!

Edward happily took a cookie and then another cookie. In that moment, he looked more like a child of his own age than a young adult that he projects himself as. Hannah could tell that he was an old soul.

"So what does your Dad do for work?"

Edward thought for a moment as he was eating the chocolate chip cookies. You could tell that he was methodically trying to put his words in to play.

"He's a businessman. He owns his own business. Marketing, I think," he added at the last moment!

"Oh wow, that must be an exciting job! It must keep him super busy! How long have you lived here, if you don't mind me asking," Hannah prodded?

"Oh, I've been here all my life," he answered honestly as he reached for another cookie.

"I can't help but notice the house that I rent and your house are very similar," Hannah made note.

Edward stopped eating and began to go pale.

"Do you know if the same guy owns all three houses on this street?"

"Ah yeah, the same guy," he hesitantly responded to Hannah's question.

"What can you tell me about him? Since I did just meet him not long ago," Hannah inquired further.

"Sorry, Miss Hannah. I just remembered that my Mom told me to be back in 15 minutes. I really should be getting home. Thank you so much for the cookies! Is it okay if I come back again another time," he asked kindly?

"Absolutely Edward. You're always welcome to come visit me," Hannah waved goodbye as he got on his bike.

Before he hit the bike path, he turned his head back and waved to her.

He seemed like such a good kid, Hannah thought to herself. It did seem though that he had much more that he wanted to say to her. He was definitely on guard, although it was obvious that he wanted to open up to her. Maybe she would have more luck next time.