Sam frowned. "I got your back, Sus. You know that. You'd have mine."

"Yeah, I would." Susie drank some of the cool water. "I wish Mrs. Johnson had come home five minutes earlier or five minutes later. But, no, she had to come home at just the wrong moment. She probably thought I was beating her kids."

Sam laughed. "I doubt that."

Susie shrugged without smiling.

"Hey," Sam said, "you never liked that job anyway."

"So?"

"So, the universe is helping you move on."

"Yeah, but--"

"You're the one that's always talking about the universe." Sam clicked her tongue in disapproval. "How much was she paying you, anyway?"

"Fifty bucks."

"That's not too bad. Fifty bucks a day--"

"A week."

Sam's jaw dropped.

"You're, uh, mouth is open."

"Susie." Sam's voice was disapproving.

"What?"

"Fifty dollars a week is way below minimum wage. For the hours you spent there, that's, like, slave wages." Sam shook her head obviously appalled.

"I never wanted to babysit for Mrs. Johnson. My mother negotiated everything. She's my mother's boss." Susie took another long drink from the water bottle.

"Oh, I forgot about that. I see why your mom's so crazy about all of this."

"I swear I looked away from baby Emma for a second. It was an accident." Susie pulled her knees up and hugged them tight.

"I know." Sam smiled sympathetically. "And the baby's fine, so you need to let yourself off the hook about it."

"I guess." Susie regarded her friend and attempted a smile. She was lucky to have Sam in her life. With Christy moving away, maybe Sam would step into the best friend role. Could an ex-girlfriend turn into a best friend? What about Marlee? Could a girlfriend be a best friend, too?

"So, how're things with Marlee?" Sam asked as if reading Susie's mind.

Susie smiled. "Great. I like her so much. I just wish--"

"What?"

"I wish we lived closer. I wish I wasn't grounded. I wish my stupid car worked." She glanced at her old rusting Toyota looking pitiful next to Sam's shiny red Sebring convertible.

Sam followed her gaze. "Is your car still giving you problems?"

"Yeah, my dad thinks it's the starter." Susie sighed. "Whatever.

I'll get it fixed soon. But to answer your question, Marlee's magnifica. I can't believe the way I feel when I look at her."

"Oh, God."

"Don't make fun."

Sam smirked. "I'm not. It's just that I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Lisa. She's so tall and strong. And you don't even understand what goes through me when I undo her long braid and run my fingers through her hair." Sam closed her eyes and titled her face toward the sky as if in rapture at the thought.

"You've got it bad, Sam."

Sam opened her eyes and grinned. "I can't help it. I've had a crush on her for a year and a half. Try and live with that kind of desperation."

"Aay, Santo. How about trying my stupidity? Breaking up with the girl you're in love with and then begging her to take you back."

"Why'd you break up with her like that, anyway?"

"Because I'm muy loca." She twirled her finger in a circle near her ear.

"Yeah, I agree."

"Oh, shut up." Susie swatted her friend playfully. "If I had any strength at all, I'd punch you."

Sam smiled. "Well, I'm glad you came to your senses and begged Marlee to take you back. Christy clung to you way too much. I mean, c'mon, you finally found somebody who loved you for all the right reasons. Your best friend shouldn't try to take that away from you. She shouldn't have gotten between you and Marlee."

"That still pisses you off, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Sam snorted derisively. "I watched her slap you in the dugout. I guess I'm still a little protective of you."

Susie's heart warmed. "Being best friends with Christy meant being there for her all the time. All the time. I don't think she understood my need to, my need for..."

Sam put a hand on Susie's wrist. "I know."

They exchanged a knowing look and sat alone in their own thoughts for a moment. Susie hoped that Christy would find the happiness in sunny California that she never managed to find in upstate New York.

"I think my mother suspects something about me and Marlee, though."

"Ooh." Sam took a sharp intake of breath. "That's gonna be rough."

Susie chuckled and gestured toward the window cleaning equipment spread around them. "It already is. You know how she always takes things to the extreme."

"No kidding. Like the time she supported that Republican running for the school board? What was his name?"

"Dios, how can you forget?" Susie rolled her eyes. "Joe Wilson."

"Oh, right. Your lawn was plastered with those 'Elect Joe Wilson' signs."

"She made me hand out leaflets to kids at school to give to their parents."

Sam laughed. "There was no way I was going to wear that button you gave me."

"I didn't expect you to, but, Dios, I had to give it to you, or she'd know I didn't."

"True that." Sam nodded. "She's a mind reader."

"But she changes her mind on things, too. Remember when she learned that grand and mighty Joe Wilson wanted to cut funding to the nursing classes in the BOCES program?"

"Yeah, I remember that. She did a complete 180 on him and supported the Democratic candidate with just as much, if not more, fervor."

"That's my mami." Susie laughed. "She goes full force with everything. Those 'Elect Joe Wilson' signs on the lawn were yanked out so fast, it made my head spin."

"So do you think she grounded you because of Marlee?"

Susie nodded. "Partly. Well, supposedly I'm grounded for being irresponsible at Mrs. Johnson's." She made air quotes around the word irresponsible.

"But you think it's more than that?"

"Yeah, if she grounds me then I can't see Marlee at softball or in Clarksonville. Thank God Isabella didn't take my phone away. At least Marlee and I get to talk every day."

"She probably didn't think of it," Sam said. "Have your parents even met Marlee? She's nice. She's cute. She's charming. What's not to like?"

"I'm scared to death to introduce them. She's pushing though."

"Marlee?"

"Yeah." Susie scratched her knee absently. "She wants to meet them. You know her dad passed away a while ago, right?"

"Yeah, Lisa filled me in."

"So now that I've met her mom, Marlee thinks it's only fair that she meet my folks, too. Aay, Dios mio, that's going to be a tough day."

"Tell me about it. Lisa's bugging to meet my parents, too. She met Helene, though."

"Your nanny?" Susie teased.

"Shut up. You know Helene's not my nanny anymore."

Susie raised an eyebrow.

"Not really. Okay, whatever." Sam's cheeks turned a slight shade of crimson. "Do you think your parents ever knew about us?"

"What? That we were seeing each other for two minutes last summer?"

"Hey! It was two whole months."

Susie grinned. "No, I don't think they knew. They'd never suspect Samantha Rose Payton of such depravity."

"Oh, please."

"C'mon. You're Samantha Rose Payton of the East Valley Paytons. You own most of East Valley and half of Clarksonville County. You're above reproach."

"And you know how much I hate that shit."

Susie softened her gaze. "I know."

"So why do you think they know about you and Marlee?"

"I don't know. They just do." Susie looked down. She really didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"All right. Forget I asked. C'mon," Sam said with a tap on Susie's knee and stood up. "We have seven more windows to go."

Susie wanted to confide in Sam that Bree was sniffing around Marlee, but was too tired to even think about it. She reluctantly got to her feet and stretched. "Thanks for helping me. I think I'd still be doing the windows on the first floor if you hadn't come over."

"Anytime, Sus. You know that."

"Why don't you go home. I can finish up on my own."

"No way. I told you last year when we broke up--"

"We didn't break up. You broke up with me."

"Yeah, you're right. Last year when I broke up with you," Sam amended, "I told you we'd still be friends and that I'd always be there for you. I meant it."

Susie regarded her friend for a moment. "Me, too."

"Good, and since I already have a thousand hours logged in today, I need to see this job through." Sam headed toward the ladder. "C'mon. Let's finish this puppy."

Susie's heart swelled. Sam had once told her that they made better friends than girlfriends, and she was right. She was lucky to have such a supportive ex-girlfriend.

SUSIE TOWEL DRIED her hair and tossed the wet towel on her bed. She should have hung it up, but was too tired to care. She grabbed her car keys and phone off the dresser, plunked her wallet in her back pocket, and lumbered down the stairs. After three days of solid work, she was sore in spots she hadn't known she had.

She stepped inside the mud room of the main house, but didn't bother to take her crocs off. She leaned in the door and called, "Abuelita? Esta lista?"

"Si, si." Her grandmother shuffled toward the front door, her enormous purse slung over one wrist, struggling with an equally enormous box in both hands. Susie relieved her of the box, and one whiff told her that her grandmother's famous mantecaditos cookies were inside.

"Abuelita, can I steal one?" Susie grinned at her grandmother as she made a show of sniffing the box.

"Aay, no." Her grandmother swatted her hand. She reached inside her purse and pulled out a plastic bag stuffed with the treasured butter cookies. "For you."

Susie's eyes grew wide at the sight. She tucked the box under her arm and snatched the bag from her grandmother's hand. She pulled one out and stuffed it in her mouth. "Mmm, muchas gracias, Abuelita." Next to flan, mantecaditos were her favorite dessert. It was at that moment she realized her grandmother had spoken English, something she never did.

Susie held the outside mudroom door open for her grandmother, and they headed toward the car. Even though she was only driving her grandmother to her weekly card game, it felt good to get out of the house after three solid days of confinement. The mantecaditos didn't hurt either.

Susie turned the key in the ignition. The car engine made a high pitched whine, but didn't catch. Susie turned the key off and prayed that the starter would catch the next time. With eyes closed, she turned the key gently and was rewarded when the engine roared to life. "All right," she patted the front dash. "Good girl."