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putting its finishing touches on these two teens. Robert emerged from the awkward stage a tall, well-built boy with a face that was appealing. Kristen turned out comely as well, but her real beauty was inside. As she matured, a natural elegance and allure emerged that seemed to suffuse her entire being. A presence that shone through in her delightful voice as she spoke, in her sprightly step as she walked, in her lambent eyes as she laughed, in the way she turned the pages in a book, in everything she did, compelled the admiration of both boys and girls.
    Summer came again, and the Taylors went to their cottage. Jennifer spent all her time at the lake, basking in the sunshine, and in the admiration of every guy who caught sight of her. Jennifer Taylor in a bikini was diverting enough to elicit an involuntary gasp of wide-eyed amazement from any male between puberty and death. When she’d walk along the water’s edge, every male would stop whatever he was doing—playing Frisbee, eating, breathing, drowning, rescuing—and stare until she passed from view. They were constantly intruding themselves upon her only to be cast out with the rest of the flotsam. Only the most attractive would get anywhere with her, and “anywhere” never went beyond kissing.
    One day, after Jennifer had already gone on a stroll with a good-looking guy, a foxy seventeen-year-old came a-courting Kristen. Never before had such a handsome boy been so interested in her. She gave him a warm reception, talking and touching on the sand until her father put his foot down close to his head. Dominic Solano was his name, of the Solano Jewelry chain, “the biggest in southern Ontario,” he boasted to Kristen. Actually, it was the fourth-largest, but who cares? Dominic, of dissolute disposition, had a turn for lying, and it’s nice to be good at something. He offered her an elegant gold chain, but she politely refused. Instead, the next pretty girl down the beach accepted it and him.
    He’ll be back, starring as a key antagonist in our unfolding story.
    Robert had a good summer, too. He was tearing up the house league in baseball for the Komoka-Kilworth squad. Robert should have been playing at the top minor baseball level, but he couldn’t afford the hefty entry fee. But the area’s best coach, who was always in search of talented players to poach, lured Robert away by waiving the fee, and offering proper coaching and a ride to the games and practices.
    He learned a great deal over the balance of the summer, especially about pitching. The seventy-year-old coach, who’d been a pitching coach at the triple A level, taught him how to wind up properly, how to hold various types of pitches, and how to release them.
    “You have to learn how to pitch as opposed to throw. To be successful, you have to be much more than a hard thrower. A good pitcher throws the ball hard, true, but he throws it exactly where he wants it, and he throws the right pitch at the right time. Develop a breaking ball, a lively fastball and a changeup. Mix the pitches, mix your speeds, and mix location, so the batter never knows what’s coming.”
    Robert listened well and, by dint of diligence, began to develop his terrific potential.

Chapter Four
Meet Me at the Corner
    J ennifer hadn’t given Robert much thought since the school bus incident—it was a mistake she preferred to forget—but as the bus rolled up to his stop on the first morning of the tenth grade school year, she did a double take when she saw him. Standing there in a body-hugging white shirt and tight black shorts—not that he would ever think of dressing to entice, he’d simply outgrown his clothes over the summer—he attracted the attention of several girls on the bus. Jennifer decided to try to win him back. There would be no rejection stage the second time.
    Fortunately for Jennifer, Robert resumed his street hockey visits that autumn. “Why don’t you come in for a drink, Bobby?” Jennifer asked one