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"You don't have to yell I' We all are But you better have alcohol ready for ross juice your kids drink"

Kate laughed "It's the , Tully I'll make you breakfast"

"Thanks, Kate," Tully said quietly "I owe you one"

When she looked up she saw Fat Bob He was fil beside hiht on the cae of her public hu lens that broke her

It was Johnny and the sad, knoay he looked at her that finally made her cry

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The documentary aired teeks later, and even Kate, as used to Tully's auard by the public's reaction It caused a media frenzy For years Tully had been seen on ca stories and reporting on them with her journalist's detachment

Now the public learned how she'd been disappointed and abandoned They saw beyond the journalist to the wo about her The phrase heard most often was, just like me

Before the documentary, the public respected Tully Hart Afterward, they adored her She graced the cover of People and Us in the saments from it--were played and replayed on entertainh of Tully Hart

But while everyone atching Tully and the sad encounter with her estrangedelse entirely on that tape, and she watched it just as obsessively

She couldn't help noticing the way Johnny looked at Tully at the end, when Cloud's disappearance was revealed, the way he'd gone to her and taken her in his arms

And then there was the quiet talk Tully and Johnny had had out at Sunshine Farone to an establishing shot of the co what they'd said to each other

She studied their body language like a priist, but in the end she had only what she'd had in the beginning: two old friends working together on an e time about the else had happened, Kate would have boxed up her old jealousies and put theain, just as she'd done dozens of ti had happened

Syndiworld, the second largest syndication company in the world, had seen the documentary and offered Tully her own one-hour show, of which she would be a majority interest owner

The idea had rocked Tully's world, offered her a way to be herself on camera, to show the world who she really was and how she really felt No more three AM start times, either The minute she heard the idea, she said it was exactly what she needed, but even so, she'd put doo conditions: first, they had to shoot in Seattle; second, John Ryan had to be her producer Neither of these had she bothered to clear with her friends

Kate and Johnny had been on the back porch, talking over drinks after a long day, when the first phone call had cohed at Tully's offer, told her to find a producer who specialized in prima donnas

Then Tully mentioned a salary in the millions

Noo days later, Kate sure as hell wasn't laughing She and Johnny were in the living roo to keep their voices down because the kids were in bed Tully was back in New York, no doubt sitting by the phone, waiting to see if once again she'd get her way

"I don't knohy you're fightingin front of the"It will change our lives"

"What's wrong with our life now?"

"Do you understand howus? We could pay off this house and send the kids to Harvard for rees And I could do a fes that ht places in the world that are in trouble Do you knohat that would mean to me?"

"Is that how you want your career to be fro with, Tully said?"

"Are you asking if I can work for her? The answer is hell, yes I've worked for a lot worse people than Tully Hart"

"Maybe I' for her," Kate said softly

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her "You've got to be kidding o?"

"She's an incredibly beautiful woman I just think" She couldn't finish, couldn't put her old fears and insecurities into words

The look he gave her was so hot she felt herself"I don't deserve that"

She watched him storm up the stairs, heard the bedroo ti Why was it that some memories could never be erased? Slowly, she turned off all the lights, locked all the doors, and went upstairs

At their closed door she paused, taking a deep breath She knehat she had to do nohat she had to say She'd hurt his feelings and insulted him They both knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime Her insecurities and jealousy couldn't stand in the way of that

She had to go to him, say she was sorry, and tell him she was foolish to be afraid, that she believed in his love like she believed in sunshine and rain It was true, too She did

Because of all that, she should be proud of Johnny and happy for this chance and what it e was, a team sport, and this was her ti all that, she couldn't quite be happy

Instead, she was afraid

Yes, they'd be rich Maybe even powerful

But at what cost?

Tully finished off her contract, had an eoodbye to New York She found a new penthouse in the Es, co The Girlfriend Hour with Tully Hart in honor of the Mularkeys' holiday tradition She and Johnny had spent long hours working together like the old days, hiring staff and designing the set and devising show concepts

By August of 2003, ain she'd been so busy ork that she'd forgotten to have a life Even with Kate just across the bay, Tully had hardly seen her So she picked up the phone and invited her best friend and goddaughter to spend the day with her

"Sorry," Kate said "I can't come into the city"

"Coh this su twelve-hour days"

"TellI don't know You see him more than we do"

"I've missed you"