There was a rustling sound and then a new voice spoke into the phone. "Hey, Susie, how's it shakin'?"

Susie laughed. Jeri had obviously hijacked the phone. "Hey, Jeri. How's the restaurant today?" Jeri was Marlee's best friend and the recently graduated center fielder from the Clarksonville softball team.

"I don't know what's up today. We've been swamped, but tips have sucked major big-time. Must be a weather front coming through or something."

"Sorry. That does suck."

"It was crazy here last night, too. Everybody in Clarksonville was starving for Italian."

"Good for business, but more work for you, I bet." Susie didn't really want to hear about D'Amico's Restaurant at that moment. She wanted to talk to Marlee.

"Girl, you're not kidding," Jeri agreed. "Thank God Marlee dropped everything and came in to help us out last night."

Susie fell back against the couch in relief. "That's my Marlee, the girl I'm in love with." So that's why Marlee hadn't returned the call or texts.

The rustling sounds returned and then Marlee was back on the phone. "Sorry about that. Some people can be so rude!" The last was obviously directed at Jeri. "So, where were we?"

"I miss you."

"Me, too," Marlee said low, "but I'll see you Tuesday. Coach Gellar said we have the early game, so we'll have more time after. We could, uh, continue what we started yesterday."

Susie couldn't help the wicked grin on her face. "I'd like that." She felt her cheeks flush and figured that Marlee was probably turning ten shades of red, too. "We have to find a new spot, though."

Marlee laughed. "Yeah and you have two and a half days to figure that one out." Susie laughed, but before she could say anything, Marlee added, "Jobs suck. They get in the way of me seeing you."

"You're preaching to the choir, but it keeps gas in my car, so I can drive all the way to Clarksonville."

"Oh, hey, speaking of cars, my mom said she's going to help me buy a used car. That way she can have her van back."

"Too bad. I kind of like that van."

"Mmm, me too," Marlee purred into the phone. "Oh, hey, Bree called me this morning."

Susie's stomach knotted. "She did? How'd she get your number?"

Marlee laughed. "Same way you did. Phone book."

"What did she want from you?" Oh, Susie knew exactly what Bree wanted. She just hoped Marlee didn't want it back from Bree.

Susie didn't hear Marlee's answer because the sound of breaking glass had her on her feet in an instant. Baby Emma started crying somewhere in the distance. Max's barking added to the mayhem.

"Dammit! Crash and cry. Gotta go." Susie headed toward the sound of the crying, the phone still held up to her ear. She was angry at herself for not keeping a more attentive eye on the baby. "I love you," she blurted into the phone.

"Me, too. Bye."

Susie slammed her phone shut and stashed it into the pocket of her jeans. Bethany stood in the door to her mother's room looking inside wide-eyed.

"What happened?" Susie rushed past her not waiting for the answer. She danced around the hyper dog and squatted in front of the crying Emma. No blood. Thank God. She brushed away the shards of glass from what used to be the lamp on the nightstand. A perverse side of her was happy. Now she wouldn't have to dust that stupid thing anymore.

"Bethany," Susie called to her without looking up, "get that dog out of here." When she didn't move fast enough, Susie barked, "Now!"

"Whatever," Bethany said and called for the dog.

Relieved to have the barking dog gone, she scooped up the baby and continued to brush away possible glass shards.

Susie groaned when she heard the unmistakable sound of a familiar car door slamming shut. "Dios mio," Susie mumbled, "your timing sucks, Mrs. Johnson."

Susie examined the crying baby from head to toe. No cuts, no blood. Oh wait, a bump on her forehead was starting to swell. The lamp must have hit her there.

"C'mon, little one. Let's go get some ice on that."

Susie hoped to get the baby into the kitchen and the ice applied before Mrs. Johnson actually got in the door. No such luck. She was walking by the front door just as it opened.

"What happened?" Mrs. Johnson closed the door behind her. Before Susie could answer, Mrs. Johnson dropped her purse and work bag and held her arms out for Emma. Susie handed her over. Mrs. Johnson rocked the crying baby and shush-shushed her.

Susie stood there feeling like a school kid before the principal. "She's not cut, but somehow the lamp in your bedroom fell on her." She cringed waiting for the rebuke that was sure to follow. There wasn't a week that went by that Susie didn't get reprimanded for one thing or another. When one didn't come, Susie mumbled, "I'll get some ice."

She moved as quickly as she could without breaking into an out and out run. She had just opened the drawer for a plastic bag when Mrs. Johnson called, "Just bring me an ice pop."

"Okay," Susie called back. She flung open the freezer door and mumbled, "Ice pop. Ice pop," as she searched under the frozen vegetables. When she finally found them, she blew out a nervous breath. She truly hoped Emma was okay. She had only been on the phone for a couple of minutes. With a groan, she pulled out two pops--one for Bethany, too. As an afterthought, she grabbed a clean dish towel remembering what Coach Gellar told them about not putting ice bags directly on skin. Susie hoped that would get her extra brownie points from Mrs. Johnson, but she seriously doubted it.

By the time Susie got back to the living room, baby Emma had quieted down and lay in her mother's arms tearfully sucking her thumb. Susie handed the ice pop and towel to Mrs. Johnson and tossed the second pop to Bethany who stood leaning against the wall near the back door.

"Here," Susie reached down for the mound of laundry on the coffee table, "let me get these clothes folded and put away."

"Just leave them."

"Are you sure? I can--"

"I'm sure."

"Well, let me at least clean up the broken lamp."

"Leave it."

Susie felt helpless at that moment, an unusual feeling for her. She nodded her head toward baby Emma now sleeping in her mother's arms. "How is she?"

"Oh, she's okay." Mrs. Johnson's voice softened. "Good thing I'm a nurse, right?"

"Right." Susie wanted to sigh in relief, but kept her nerves in check. She stood there as an awkward silence fell around them. "Uh, well, I guess I'll get going now. The lasagna I made is in the oven on low."

Mrs. Johnson nodded once without looking up. She lifted the ice pop from the baby's head to examine the bump. "You're okay, Pumpkin." She rocked the sleeping baby. Bethany came over and sat on the couch next to her mother, obviously concerned about her little sister.

Susie reached for her car keys on the coffee table and slid them into her pocket. "See you tomorrow, Bethany." Bethany didn't acknowledge her, not even with her usual grunt.

Susie let herself out and hadn't gotten the front door closed when Bethany blurted to her mother, "Susie was on the phone when it happened. She's in love. With a girl!"

Susie groaned and pressed the front door firmly shut behind her. Could her day get any worse? She shuffled to her car, grateful when the engine started on the first twist of the key. According to her father, the starter needed replacing. Maybe she'd talk to him about getting it fixed when she got home, but she was afraid he might make her pay the entire bill herself. She'd turn eighteen in December, the magic age in the Torres household when all of her car expenses, including insurance, would become her responsibility.

She pulled the Toyota onto the street and meandered the back roads toward C.R. 62 which would take her to Christy's house. She'd only be able to spend about an hour there since her mother wanted her back home for Sunday dinner.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket. The dinner rush had probably already hit D'Amico's, so Marlee wouldn't be able to talk. Susie hit the text button instead, and typed, "Crash & Cries suk!" She wanted to continue their conversation about Bree, but that would be hard to do in a text. She looked up at the road. There weren't any cars on the two-lane highway, so she looked back down at her phone and typed, "baby Emma's ok. My nerves fried. Can't wait 2 c u--"

A car horn blared. Susie shot to attention. She was on the wrong side of the road. She jerked the steering wheel to the right, but overcompensated and fishtailed the back end into the other lane. Somehow the other car swerved around her, and they didn't hit. Despite the fact that her heart was in her throat, she got her car headed in the right direction.

With her heart pounding, she looked in the rear-view mirror. The driver of the other car flipped her the bird. Normally that would have sent her blood boiling, but she couldn't react to it. She could only sigh in relief. An agricultural feed and supply place came up on the right, so she pulled into the lot to catch her breath. She rested her head on the steering wheel. Once her jangled nerves were somewhat settled, she sat up and laughed when she noticed that she still held her cell phone in a death grip.

"That's it," she said to the universe. "No more texting in the car." She knew the universe doubted her sincerity, so she repeated her conviction. "I mean it. No more texting and driving. I promise."

She finished the incomplete text to Marlee on the screen, "Can't wait 2 c u Tues. Luv u," and hit the send button. She smiled. Marlee would have a text waiting for her when her shift ended later that night. Susie carefully laid the phone on the passenger seat, took a deep breath, and headed back out onto the two-lane road. She laughed because she'd actually come to a complete stop and signaled out of the parking lot. She usually didn't have time for that sort of thing.

After only two more minutes on the road, Susie's heart leaped again when her phone rang. She remembered her recent vow, but since the vow hadn't included sneaking a peek to see who was calling, she picked it up. If it was Marlee, she'd pull over and answer it. No such luck. It was her mother. She toyed with the idea of letting it go to voicemail, but that was never a good idea when Isabella Maria de Fatima Torres called.

Susie pulled the car over on the shoulder, well off the road. She smirked up at the universe. See? She could keep a promise. She flipped open her phone, "Alo, Mami?"

"What happened at Mrs. Johnson's?"

Susie flopped her head back against the headrest. Yeah, the day had just gotten much worse.

Chapter Six.

Going, Going, Gone SUSIE HELD THE cell phone away from her ear. Her mother finished her tirade about the baby Emma incident and hung up before Susie could seriously defend herself. She stared at the silent phone wondering how much trouble she'd be in when she got home. She flipped her phone shut as gently as she could as if not wanting to rile her mother any further. What she really wanted to do was hurl the phone into the ditch alongside C.R. 62 where she sat in her car. She closed her eyes for a minute knowing she would have to defend herself again when she got home, but she had one thing she needed to do first.

She flipped the phone back open and said, "Christy," into the voice dial. After a couple of rings, Christy picked up.

"Where are you?" Christy obviously knew it was Susie.

"Nowhere. Isabella wants me to come home instead of going to your house."

"Since when does your mother care if you come to my house? You can't catch clinical depression." Christy grunted into the phone, half serious.

"Aay, no. I'm afraid I messed up at Mrs. Johnson's." Susie relayed the whole unfortunate incident. "I feel bad that baby Emma got hurt, but Dios mio, Mrs. Johnson's making a mountain out of it."

"It was big to her, I guess."

"I wish that brat, Bethany, hadn't ratted on me for being on the phone." Her car shook as a cement truck rumbled past her on the highway.

Christy grunted on her end of the phone. "Hang on a sec." She grunted again, this time with satisfaction.

"What are you doing?" Susie frowned. Christy always had a way of not quite listening whenever Susie wanted to talk about her troubles.

"I was trying to fit way too many clothes into this suitcase. I finally got it closed."

Susie laughed. "You can always buy more clothes once you get there, muchacha."

"Oh, believe me, I will." Christy laughed. "You should see it in here. Wall to wall boxes and suitcases. I didn't realize I had so much stuff."

Susie felt her chest tighten. Her best friend was moving away.

"Are you taking everything? Are you moving away for good?"

Christy didn't answer right away. She was probably trying to find a way to break the news gently. Eventually she sighed into the phone. "I don't know. I'm gonna miss you. I definitely want you to visit me, but I have to start myself over, you know?"

"I get that." Susie stayed quiet letting Christy direct the conversation.

"I used to resent you, you know."

"Why?"

"Because you were the one that found me and didn't let me--"

"Yeah," Susie interrupted so Christy didn't have to say the word die out loud.

"Yeah."

They were silent together, each lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't something Susie ever liked to think about, but she remembered the time when they were fourteen and fifteen respectively and she had gone to Christy's house. Christy's parents weren't home, but they never were. Susie let herself in when there was no answer at the front door and eventually found Christy in the upstairs bathroom. There was a lot of blood. Christy apparently hadn't had the nerve to cut her wrist too deeply, so Susie managed to stop the bleeding and nursed Christy through the entire weekend. Christy still bore the scar on her left wrist, but lately wore it like a badge of strength showing the world that she had bounced back from one of her lowest points.

"So, uh," Christy began, "thanks for breaking up with Marlee that time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, not many people would break up with somebody they so obviously loved just to keep me calm."

"I was lucky." Susie shrugged even though Christy wouldn't be able to see it. "She took me back."

"And you got me help. Not that I was happy about it at first."

"I know, but you're working through stuff with your therapist, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Christy said. "So how's Marlee?"

Susie welcomed the change in conversation. "She's good. She's working at D'Amico's today with Jeri."

"I love that."

"What? Marlee working at a restaurant?"

Christy laughed. "No, dork. I love when your voice lights up when you talk about her. You've got it bad, girl."

Susie's heart warmed over. "I know."