By two o’clock, Danielle had finished her shopping and sat on a bench outside the bookstore waiting for Trey and his sisters.
“Hi, Danielle.” Suzie walked up and sat beside her. “Trey and Tasha will be along in a minute. Listen, I’m sorry about the kerfuffle earlier in Jake’s office. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything.”
“It’s okay.”
“Trey’s a bit overprotective and—oh, here they come.”
Danielle glanced up to see Tasha and Trey talking together as they walked along the tree-lined path across campus. She and Suzie stood up and joined them as they continued to the car. They made the short drive home in silence.
After dinner, Tasha went out to see her friends again. She’d asked to sleep over a couple of days and Suzie had agreed. Danielle made dinner, so Suzie and Trey insisted on doing the dishes. As Danielle sat in the living room reading, she could hear their conversation in the kitchen.
“I would think you’d be happy about me going out with one of your best friends. Isn’t that better than me going out with someone you don’t know anything about?”
Dishes clanked together as she dropped them into the water-filled sink with a little too much exuberance.
“He told you he’s going out with someone.”
“Sure, but he didn’t seem too confident about it.”
More dishes clanked.
“Look, Trey, I’ve been interested in Jake for a long time. He’s a great guy—you’ve said that yourself. He’s intelligent and interesting and sensitive . . . and on top of that, he’s exceptionally good-looking. What more could a girl want?”
What more indeed.
Cutlery clinked on the countertop.
“Suzie, I understand your point, but . . . you just don’t understand the whole situation.”
“Then enlighten me.”
There was a long pause.
“The situation with Jake and this woman is . . . a bit confusing . . . but I know he really cares about her.”
Danielle sucked in a breath at the raw emotions welling up in her. If Trey really believed that, then . . . what did he think of this whole situation?
“Confusing how? I don’t understand.”
“I can’t tell you how. It’s . . . personal stuff, but . . . Look, Suzie, the woman Jake is dating is . . . a friend of mine. If he throws her over for you . . . I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Silence hung in the air. Danielle stared at her book, but couldn’t concentrate on the words. Trey was being protective of her, and that touched her heart.
“You really like this woman?” Suzie asked.
“Yes.”
“More than me?”
Trey chuckled. “You know I don’t like anyone more than you, Suzie-Q.”
Suzie laughed, and from the muffled sound, Danielle bet they were hugging right about now.
“Okay, Trey. I’ll back off. But if he breaks up with this woman, I want you to phone me right away . . . and set us up!”
“I’ll call you, but you set up your own dates!”
“Deal!”
The next day, Danielle, Trey, and Suzie spent the hot sunny afternoon lying around the pool, with an occasional dip in the water to cool off, then enjoyed barbecued burgers and salad for dinner. Danielle enjoyed chatting with Suzie and Trey about the latest TV shows, movies, books, and current events. Suzie showed a great interest in how people felt about things. Their likes and dislikes. Their hopes and dreams. Not that Danielle revealed much about herself, but Suzie’s intense interest made her feel like the woman actually cared. It made her feel even more intensely how she’d love to have a sister.
Finally, once the sun set and the mosquitoes started biting, they gathered up their dishes and moved into the house. After they’d done the dishes, Trey went out back to put the pool cover on to keep the heat in overnight. Danielle and Suzie settled on the couch with a glass of wine.
“Danielle, I hope you don’t mind my asking, but how did you wind up in the foster care system?”
Danielle’s stomach clenched but she just shrugged. “My mother gave me up.”
Suzie sipped her wine. “Have you ever wondered what she was like?”
“No. I know exactly what she was like.” She kept her voice even, despite the turmoil thoughts of her mother elicited.
“You weren’t a baby when she gave you up?”
“No. I know a lot of women—especially teenagers—give up their babies when they have an unexpected pregnancy, but that’s not what happened with me.” A lump formed in her throat. “Those kids are lucky because . . . their mothers cared what happened to them . . . or at least gave some thought to it.” She picked up her glass and took a sip. “In my case, my mother just . . . didn’t care.”
“Honey, that’s probably not true.”
“Oh, it’s true.” She stared at her wine as she swirled it in the glass, not willing to allow Suzie to see the anger and hurt in her eyes. “One night when I was four years old, my mother just got sick of my crying and . . . shoved me outside and locked the door.”
Danielle remembered the absolute terror she’d felt standing outside the house . . . all alone. She had banged on the door and cried, pleading with her mother to let her back in, but the door had remained closed. Later, when she was old enough to understand these things, she’d discovered that her mother was an alcoholic, and if she hadn’t been totally plastered, she might have realized what a bad idea it had been to leave her young daughter outside where people could hear her screaming.
Danielle didn’t know how long she’d been out there, alone and crying. It had felt like forever.
Suzie shook her head in disbelief, staring at Danielle to assure herself this wasn’t some kind of strange joke.
“Oh, Danielle, I’m so sorry.” Suzie moved closer.
Knowing Suzie
