Burning Up by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online

now.
    Then Janna’s words sank in, and she scooted closer to her cousin, leaning in to ask in a low voice, “What do you mean, do as you do?”
    Janna shrugged. “When Sean and I divorced, Ilost most of my social circle,” she answered with matter-of-fact equanimity.
    Macy stared. “He screwed around on you with a barely legal bimbo and your friends took his side?”
    “Except for one or two of them, they were never really my friends, anyhow. Sean is a Purcell—I married up in their eyes.”
    “Are you kidding?” An incredulous laugh escaped her. “Someone actually said that?”
    “Nah, it wasn’t that blatant. But the cliques in this town continue long after high school.” She gave an impatient shake of her head. “No. That makes it sound like it’s a Sugarville thing, and it’s not. This sort of social maneuvering goes on everywhere. Everyone was friendly while Sean and I were married—and a few of them I’ve remained friends with. But for the most part, when he dumped me, so did the group we socialized with.”
    Macy blew out a quiet breath. “I’m sorry, Janny. That must have been rough.”
    Janna shrugged again. “Shit happens. You know that better than most.”
    “She’s wearing a damn dog collar,” a woman on the bleachers said loudly. “I’ve never seen anything so stupid.”
    Twisting around, Macy located the speaker and gave her a slow appraisal. “Interesting fashion criticism, sugar, coming from a woman who wears burgundy lip liner with pink lipstick.”
    Angry color scalded the woman’s cheeks. “Bitch.”
    “Yes. I am. Hence the collar.”
    She heard a muffled laugh and turned back around. Charlie’s mother, Shannon, stood nearby with another woman, but if the snicker she’d heard came from either of them she saw no evidence of it now.
    “Hey, ladies.” Shannon greeted them with easy cheer, flashing the ready smile Macy had noticed when she’d dropped the boys off at Charlie’s house earlier. She was a big woman with a big laugh and the same orangy-red hair as her son’s. “Mind if we join you?”
    “Please do.” She patted the blanket next to her.
    “Thanks. You’ve got a primo spot here.” The women settled on the blanket next to her, then Shan non leaned back so Macy could see the quietly pretty brunette on her other side. “Grace, this is Macy O’James. Macy, Grace Burdette.”
    “Hi, nice to meet you.” She reached around Shannon to offer her hand, but froze midshake after the woman accepted it. “Wait. You’re Miss Burdette? As in the fourth-grade teacher?”
    “You’ve heard of me?”
    “I’ll say.” Belatedly, she released the other woman’s hand. And grinned. “My nephew Tyler’s going to be in your class this fall and he talks about it as if he won the lottery in the teacher sweepstakes.”
    Grace’s face pinked up. “Isn’t that nice? Not to mention flattering.” She smiled crookedly. “I mean, it’s not like I’m a famous MTV video star.”
    “No, you’re a teacher with serious word-of-mouth buzz going for her. That’s much cooler.”
    Grace smiled in pleasure, then the game started and their attention focused on the Sugarville Sentinels who, as home team, fielded first.
    Uncle Bud had given Macy the skinny on this league. Apparently, Little League sanctioned teams played in the spring, which tended to be a busy time in the farming communities. So several towns in the county had banded together to form a youth league of its own. The junior and high schools played teams from all over the state, so they had to adhere to the regular schedule. But the younger kids drew their competition from a smaller pool, which gave the parents more leeway to work around planting and harvesting schedules.
    Not that it would have ever occurred to her to question the timing if Uncle Bud hadn’t told her about it last night.
    Watching Tyler, who was out in right field, his baseball mitt atop his cap as he alternated gazing up at the sky and kicking tufts