"C'mon, galena." Susie clucked like a chicken. "I'd wait in here with you, but Isabella can out-wait anybody. "

"You can't stay in here, anyway," Lisa added.

"Why not?" Marlee stuck out her lower lip.

"Bree's team is waiting for this dugout."

Marlee stood up so fast that Susie, Sam, and Lisa laughed.

"Let's get this over with." Marlee led the way out of the dugout.

Coach Gellar fell in line behind Susie and Marlee as they exited the dugout. Sam and Lisa were stuck behind their coach as they all headed toward the bleachers.

"Another fine pitching performance, McAllister," Coach Gellar said. "Any way I can get you to transfer to East Valley?"

Marlee flashed Coach Gellar a look that said hell would have to freeze over first.

"Okay, okay, McAllister. Just don't tell Dottie I asked. She'll have my head for trying to steal her New York State MVP pitcher."

"Okay, Coach. I won't."

With their attention diverted to their coach, Susie didn't realize that Bree was right in front of them. As they passed each other, Bree slammed her shoulder into Susie's. Susie, not expecting the contact, stumbled backward into her coach. By the time she realized what had happened, Bree had walked on and was out of reach.

"Sorry, Coach." Susie stood her ground and glared after Bree. "Some people don't have any manners."

"How long has this been going on?" Coach Gellar asked, a hand on her hip. When Marlee didn't answer, Susie said, "A couple of weeks."

"Are you still handling it?" She cocked an eyebrow.

Susie shrugged. "Yeah, for now."

Coach Gellar narrowed her eyes at Susie. "Tell me the second it gets out of hand."

Susie was paralyzed under the glare of her coach's piercing eyes.

"You hear me, Torres?" Her coach's question almost sounded like a threat.

Susie nodded. "Yes, Coach."

Coach Gellar reached around Susie and stuck her hand out in greeting. "Mr. Torres."

Susie's father shook Coach Gellar's hand. "Nice to see you, Coach."

Susie almost gagged at her coach's sickening sweet change in personality.

"Mrs. Torres." Coach Gellar didn't offer her hand, but smiled sweetly at Susie's mother.

Susie's mother nodded and smiled back.

"Ah," Coach Gellar continued, "Grandmacita and baby Torres, too." She ruffled Miguel's hair as if he were five years old. "It's so nice to see the whole Torres family out at the fields on such a fine sweltering day." She fanned herself.

Everyone, except Susie, laughed. Susie had never realized what a two-faced fake person her coach was.

Susie's father gave Susie a hug, "We figured we'd come out to see our all-star play."

"Ah, yes," Coach Gellar beamed at Susie. "She's a keeper that one."

Marlee whispered, "I think so, too."

Coach Gellar excused herself and headed toward the parking lot. Susie wondered how her coach was able to fool everyone into thinking she was a nice person. Up until a few weeks before, Susie had thought her coach was cool, too, just like everybody else. Not so much anymore. Susie was just beginning to realize that her coach was as human and imperfect as the rest of them.

Sam gave everybody, except Miguel, a hug in greeting. She bumped fists with him instead. He was, after all, a teenager and way too cool for hugs. Sam then introduced Lisa to Susie's entire family.

Susie couldn't delay anymore. "Mami, Papi, you remember Marlee?" Susie gestured to Marlee who had been hanging back. Susie caught the look on her father's face and knew that she wasn't the only one waiting to see how her mother reacted.

Susie's mother nodded. "It's nice to see you again, Marlee."

"It's nice to see you again, too." Marlee played it so cool, that Susie wondered if she had imagined their pre-Isabella nerves.

Susie's grandmother squeezed Marlee in an overlong hug. Susie almost got jealous when the hug Marlee got was almost twice as long as the one she had gotten.

"Hey, Miguel" Marlee pointed to Susie's brother. "I have something for you."

"Me?" Miguel smiled.

Marlee nodded and unzipped the outer pocket of her softball bag. She reached in and pulled out a stack of baseball cards. "These are for you." She handed him the cards.

"No way," he said thumbing through them. "Look, Susie." He held out a card for her to see.

"Aay, she found a David Wright for you. Very cool."

"What do you say?" Susie's mother said to Miguel.

"Oh, sorry. Thanks, Marlee."

"You're welcome," Marlee said.

Susie beamed at how bright pink Marlee's cheeks had gotten.

"Marlee?" Susie's mother began. "Would you like to come to dinner at our house next Saturday? After your game?"

Susie almost choked.

"Uh, sure. That would be nice," Marlee said.

"Please invite your mother, too. It would be nice to meet her."

"I will. Thanks for inviting us. Is there anything we can bring?"

"Just bring yourselves."

Susie felt kind of numb all over, as if what was happening in front of her was some weird alternate reality that she'd wake up from any second. She snuck a peek at her father, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Her mother's internal switch must be flipping over.

They said their goodbyes to her family, and the four friends headed to the parking lot in a dazed silence.

Sam broke the stillness. "What just happened?"

Susie didn't miss a beat. "I think hell has officially frozen over."

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Hunger MARLEE AND SUSIE sat in the van on their way to Marlee's house. They passed by the Valero gas station just outside of Clarksonville that Susie had walked to the night her car had run out of gas.

"Aay," Susie said watching it go by from the passenger seat, "I'm so glad you and your mom came to get me that night. I don't know what I would have done."

Marlee glanced at Susie. "I'm glad you were okay."

"I'd like to erase that whole night from my memory."

Marlee shot Susie a sympathetic smile. "I was floored when your mom invited me to dinner on Saturday."

"I don't know what's happening." Susie laughed. "My dad must have talked some sense into her. I think maybe she's changed her mind about me. About us."

"That would be nice. By the time dinner's over, your mom will be planning our wedding."

Susie's eyebrows shot up. "Aay, mi vida, you have the best imagination. That's why I love you."

"And I love you, too." Marlee reached for Susie's hand.

As they passed the spot where Susie's car had run out of gas, Susie refused to think of the bad things that could have happened to her on that awful night. From there on out, she decided to try to find something positive in every negative. And that included things like Coach Gellar riding her ass, Bree stalking Marlee, and her mother hating her.

"No, no," Marlee said as she turned into the parking lot of the Aldwell Auto Repair Shop. "No thinking."

Susie was about to protest, but decided against it. "You know me too well, mi vida."

Susie got out of the van and paid for the repairs. She was ecstatic when her car started up on the first twist of the key. She followed Marlee the three or four miles to her house.

Marlee parked her van in front of the garage, and Susie pulled her car in beside it. Marlee's mother's new Cadillac wasn't in the driveway, which was expected because she was showing a commercial property in Northfork. Marlee hopped out of the van and lifted up the back tailgate. Susie grabbed her softball bag and dumped it in her trunk and then pulled out a bag of clothes she was going to put on after showering. They headed into the house. Patches raced toward them and rubbed against Susie's legs.

"Oh, man," Marlee said. "I think I've lost my cat."

Susie grinned at Marlee and reached down to pet the cat. "What can I say? All the McAllister women love me."

"Hmm," Marlee stepped closer, "I think you're right." Marlee called out, "Mom, are you home?" When she got no answer she pushed Susie back against the refrigerator. "I had to be sure." Marlee put her hands on either side of Susie's ears in effect pinning her.

The last time Susie had been at Marlee's house, she had so many things on her mind, that their alone time had been more about making the hurt go away than anything else. This time, though, Susie was hungry. Hungry to feel Marlee's body pressed up against hers. She pulled Marlee to her, and after sending steamy silent messages with her eyes, kissed Marlee like she'd been starving.

They were both out of breath when they broke apart.

Marlee looked dazed. "Wait 'til I get you alone."

"Aren't we alone now?"

Marlee grinned and pointed to Patches on the kitchen table watching them. "No."

Susie laughed.

"Actually," Marlee continued, "I have a new place for us."

"Not Lake Birch?"

Marlee shook her head. "Much more private than Lake Birch."

"Ooh, where are we going?"

"Nope. Showers first, then I'll show you."

Susie let herself be ushered up the stairs to the bathroom where she got out of her uniform, showered, and then changed into shorts and a button-up shirt. She'd specifically chosen a shirt that buttoned up the front in the hopes that at some point Marlee would unbutton it. Thinking about that spurred Susie into dressing faster.

"Hey," Susie called down the stairs, "I'm done. I'm just putting on my shoes." "Okay," Marlee called up. "You have to come down and make sure the chicken doesn't burn."

"Chicken?" Just as she said the word, the wonderful aroma of fried chicken wafted up the stairs. Susie slid her sandals on, shoved her dirty uniform into her bag, and headed down the stairs. "Did you fry chicken?"

"Oh, sure, because I'm that good a cook." Marlee rolled her eyes. "I bought a box of fried chicken at Price Chopper last night, and I'm reheating the pieces in the oven. We're going on a picnic."

"No way."

"Yes, way." Marlee headed up the stairs. "Don't let them burn, okay?"

"Hurry, I'm starving." In more ways than one, mi vida. In more ways than one.

Susie checked the oven. The fried chicken covered an entire cookie sheet and seemed to be fine, so she ran out to her car to throw the bag of dirty clothes in the trunk. She breathed in the sultry summer air and, before heading back inside, took in the patchy blue skies and the acres and acres of meadow surrounding the house. Marlee had told her once that they owned about thirty acres of what used to be farmland. Susie loved living in upstate New York. She had been to Brooklyn a few times to visit her Tio Emilio and his family, but she had hated all the concrete and the fast pace. She'd take the North Country every time.

With a start, she realized she was supposed to be watching the chicken in the oven, and sprinted back into the house. Her heart was pounding when she looked in. Phew. All was well, but the chicken looked done, so she turned the oven off.

Marlee bounded down the steps, her hair still wet. "Man, that smells good, doesn't it?"

Susie nodded. "What can I do to help?"

"You can get the blanket and picnic basket from the top shelf in the hall closet."