"Sam," Susie laughed, "it's okay. Come on in."

"Okay," Sam opened the door, let herself in, and shut it quickly. She smiled at Marlee and then at Susie. "I wish I could have given you more time."

"I'm happy for the time we got." Susie snuggled against Marlee. "Thanks for smuggling in my girlfriend."

"See? I told ya I had your back." Sam sat in the desk chair. "I just couldn't tell you I was bringing Marlee here, because, well, you'd get all goofy and then your mother would know."

"I would not get goofy," Susie protested.

Sam raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Okay, whatever." Susie rolled her eyes for Marlee's benefit. "Isabella has amazing mind-reading skills."

As if to prove Susie's point, they froze when they heard the mudroom door open in the main house. The sound of short quick footsteps on the driveway had Susie on her feet immediately. "Shit! It's my mother. What do we do? What do we do?" She searched her room frantically for somewhere to stash Marlee in case her mother came up the stairs.

The outside garage door opened and the quick steps were on the stairs.

Susie sprang into action and pushed Marlee toward the closet. "Get in," she hissed. Thank God Marlee didn't protest. "Hide behind my clothes in case she opens the door."

Marlee's eyes grew wide in disbelief, but she didn't protest. Susie closed the door just as her mother jerked the bedroom door open and marched past the weight set toward Susie. Susie leaned against the closet door trying desperately not to telepathically give away that the love of her life was hiding in the closet. She casually pushed off the door and headed back to sit on her bed hoping to divert her mother's attention.

As soon as she sat on the bed, she regretted the decision. Did the bed look tumbled, like she'd been rolling around with somebody on it? She resisted the urge to fix her hair, fearful that she had bed head, and totally give herself away.

"Susana, I also need you to get some groceries at Stewart's."

"Stewart's?" Susie had no idea what her mother was talking about.

"Oh," Sam said to Susie's mother, "I didn't get a chance to tell her." She turned toward Susie. "Your dad wants you to take all the garbage from the basement to the Waste Management place."

Her mother threw up her hands. "He insisted you do it today. I told him you weren't done yet, but, you know men." She looked at Sam who was trying not to break out laughing. "They get something in their head, and you can't stop them." She turned back to Susie. "So, as soon as Sam leaves, get the trash out of the basement."

"Si, claro." Susie hated the way her voice sounded so meek. Marlee must think she was a sniveling coward in front of her mother. Which she kind of was.

"Get milk, eggs, and butter."

Susie sprang off the bed and grabbed a pad and pen from her desk. She wrote down the list with a shaking hand. "Anything else?"

Her mother remained quiet for a moment. Susie's heart beat so loudly she was sure everyone could hear it. C'mon, Mami, I can't take this.

"No," her mother said, "that's all I can think of. Bring your cell phone in case I think of anything else."

"Okay."

"And you go nowhere else." She poked the air with a finger to solidify her point. "Just to Waste Management and then to Stewart's."

"Yes, Mami."

Her mother turned on her heels and headed toward the door when the unthinkable happened. There was a noise in the closet. "What was that?" Her mother whirled around.

Sam sprang to her feet and pointed to the ceiling. "Are those squirrels back, Susie?"

"What squirrels? You never told me about squirrels." Her mother looked up where Sam was pointing.

Susie couldn't help the look of panic on her face. She tried to act natural, but saw her life flashing before her eyes as the seconds ticked on.

"Susana," her mother put a hand on her hip. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Mami. I promise." She swallowed guiltily and knew her mother saw it. "The squirrels sometimes--" Susie didn't get to finish her sentence because there was a shout from the driveway.

"Mami, oww!" Miguel's baby-voice called. "I hurt myself."

Susie's mother flew to the door and down the stairs in an instant. Susie raced to the window to see what had happened. Her brother Miguel sat on the driveway clutching his ankle in obvious pain, but when he saw his sister at the window, he flashed her a conspiratorial smile. The downstairs garage door flew open, and his smile was gone instantly.

"Mami," Miguel cried, laying it on thick, "I fell off my skateboard." He pointed to the skateboard lying on its side nearby.

"Dios mio," Susie whispered to Sam, "he's a good actor."

"Is he hurt?" Sam stood by Susie's side watching the events unfold on the driveway.

"No, he's totally faking."

"Why?"

"I think he's helping me." Susie headed to the closet door. "Watch for my mother, okay?"

Sam nodded and looked out the window. "The brat is actually helping you?" She clutched her chest. "Hell must be freezing over."

Susie nodded with a grin. She opened the closet door.

Marlee eased herself out from behind the clothes. "Is she gone?" Susie nodded. "I'm so sorry. Some boxes fell as soon as you shoved me in here, and I was holding them up the whole time, until--"

"It's okay, mi vida. It's okay." Susie stroked Marlee's face. "I'm so sorry I had to put you back in the closet." Susie grinned, hoping Marlee would chuckle at her pun, which she graciously did. Right then, Susie vowed to the universe that she would somehow, someway convince her mother that God wouldn't strike the family down dead if her daughter loved a girl. She didn't know what would be worse--her mother's anger or God's lightning bolt. Susie shivered. Anyone who knew Isabella Maria de Fatima Torres knew the answer.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" Marlee put a protective arm around her.

"Yeah." She almost melted in the compassion she saw in Marlee's eyes, knowing she probably didn't deserve it.

Sam cleared her throat. "Uh, guys, I think this may be our only chance to get Marlee out of here. Your mother is heading into the house with a limping Miguel."

"Okay, let's give them two more minutes."

Marlee and Sam nodded.

"Where am I gonna meet you?" Susie said with a grin. It wasn't a question of if she were going to meet up with them, but where.

"Back at Sandstoner Fields," Sam said. "I left Lisa there watching a little league girls' softball practice. I'll drive her home, okay? That way you two can take your time doing whatever."

"Perfect, but it's gonna take me a few minutes to haul the garbage out of the basement and stuff it in my trunk, so wait for me. Okay?"

They both nodded. Sam looked at her watch and said to Marlee, "Ready?"

Marlee nodded, and she and Sam snuck toward the stairs ready to make a run for it.

Chapter Ten.

For Real MARLEE HELD THE plastic basket over her arm as Susie placed a gallon of milk alongside the eggs and butter.

"Is that too heavy?" Susie asked, ready to relieve Marlee of the basket.

Marlee shook her head, but used her other hand to balance the weight. "C'mon, let's look around the store. I need some chips."

They strolled down the short aisles of the Stewart's convenience store side-by-side. Susie wished they could hold hands or even link arms, but she wasn't brave enough for such public displays of affection. Someday maybe, but not yet.

"You must be starving after the game," Susie said.

Marlee shrugged. "A little, but nothing a good Lay won't cure."

Susie looked at Marlee in disbelief.

Marlee smiled mischievously and reached for a bag of Lay's potato chips.

Susie laughed. "You're crazy." But there it was again. That smile. The one that promised everything would be okay. She could live her entire life waiting for that smile.

Marlee put the potato chips in the basket and looked sidelong at Susie. "I want to do this for real someday."

"Do what for real?"

"Shop. With you. For our home. For us."

Susie melted on the spot. "Aay, Dios mio, me, too. Can you imagine us married in a big old house? Just us?"

"It's possible, now that gay marriages are legal in New York."

"I know. Somebody needs to tell my mother that."

Marlee smiled. Her eyes were sympathetic. "So who's gonna mow the lawn?"

"We'll take turns. Who's gonna cook?"

Marlee laughed. "Uh, well, I'd really like to say we'll take turns, but you'd end up with grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup every night. That or peanut butter and jelly."

"Okay, I'll cook," Susie said firmly. "You'll want a cat, won't you?"

Marlee nodded as if that particular issue would be a deal-breaker. "You?"

"I do now."

"Good. C'mon, let's get out of here."

Susie paid for the groceries, including Marlee's potato chips and two bottles of Stewart's cream soda, one for each of them, and they headed back to the car. She put the groceries in the empty trunk. The trunk had been full when she went to the landfill, but thanks to Marlee's help, she was able to unload it all quickly. She unlocked the passenger door of her car for Marlee and held it open for her. "Thanks for helping me with that stuff at the Waste Management place."

"You mean the dump?" Marlee reached over and unlocked Susie's door.

Susie jumped in. "Oh, c'mon. 'Waste Management' sounds so much nicer than 'dump,' but, yeah, you're right. It's just the dump."

Susie said a little prayer to the universe that her car would start, and it happily did on the first turn of the key. She didn't let on to Marlee that there might have been a chance they'd be stranded. She didn't want anything to ruin the stolen moments they were sharing. With her recent incarceration, she had gained perspective and knew that every moment she had with Marlee and with her friends was to be cherished.

"I'm sorry I have to take you back to your van."

"Me, too."

Susie leaned over and gave Marlee a quick kiss. She put the car in reverse.

Marlee pointed out the driver's side window past Susie. "Look at that lady staring at us."

Susie stepped on the brake. "Where?" Her eyes flew open wide, and she looked away quickly. "Shit!" she muttered under her breath. She backed the car out of the lot as quickly as she dared, threw it into drive, and headed back onto C.R. 62. "That was Mrs. Johnson. And she saw us. She saw me kiss you. And now my mother's gonna find out." Susie pounded the steering wheel. "I'm dead meat."

"Mrs. Johnson? The lady that fired you?"

Susie nodded and let out a sigh that ended with a frustrated groan. When would her life ever be her own? When could she stop worrying about who saw her where and with whom? When could she stop worrying about what other people thought?

"Hey," Marlee reached for Susie's hand and held it tight. "Someday it'll be just you and me, and we won't have to worry about who sees us, or who knows."

Susie let herself be consoled. There wasn't much she could do about it anyway. She glanced at Marlee. "I hope that's true because I can't keep going on like this. Something's gotta give somewhere."

By the time Susie pulled her car into the parking lot at Sandstoner Fields, she had calmed down and decided that she wasn't going to let Mrs. Johnson or anybody else invade her precious time with Marlee. The parking lot was half-full, because of the little league softball practice in progress on the field. Susie smiled at the elementary school-aged girls playing the game she loved. She'd only been grounded for a week so far, but she severely missed playing ball with her friends.

"Hey, look," Marlee pointed, "there's something under my windshield wiper. Oh, man, I hope it's not a parking ticket."

They got out of Susie's car, and Marlee pulled the folded piece of paper out from under the wiper.

"What is it?" Susie regretted the question as soon as the answer came.

"Why look. It's a note from Bree." Marlee read it out loud. "Missed you after the game. I thought we were going to hang out."

Susie cocked an eyebrow at Marlee.

"Hey, I never told her we'd 'hang out.' She was stalking me in the dugout before the game, so I said something like, 'I'll talk to you after the game, okay?' I said that just to get rid of her."

Susie decided to firmly believe that Marlee truly didn't want anything to do with Bree. "Look," Susie pointed to the note, "she left her phone number for you."