Page 77 (1/2)

Without Tully, Kates life lost its shape, and like so could ain Her mother told her repeatedly to snap out of her funk and start dating, have some fun, but how could she date when she had no interest in the guys who had interest in her?

Tully did not suffer from the same malaise While she still cried about Chad when they were drinking late at night, she had no proble theuy co to Tully, that was the plan She had, or so she said, no intention of falling in love In retrospect, of course, Tully came to believe that shed loved Chad desperately, so h, as Kate repeatedly pointed out, to call him or move to Tennessee

To be honest, Kate was growing tired of her friends drunken reminiscences about the epic love shed had for Chad

Kate knehat love was, how it could turn you inside out and dry up your heart An unreturned love was a bleak and terrible thing All day long, every day, shehi for him in lonely silence

After that long night spent together in the hospital waiting rooht actually be some hope Shed felt that a door had opened between thes But whatever inroads had beenrooet the look on his face when he learned that Tully would be fine It was more than relief

That hen hed pulled away from her

Now finally it was tiirl fantasies in the sandbox along with other forgotten toys and move on He didnt love her Any dreams to the contrary were simply that

It couldnt go on anymore That was the decision shed made at work today, while she stood in the doorway to his office, waiting for him to notice she was there

As soon as her workday had ended, shed gone to the newsstand in the Public Market and purchased all the local papers While Tully was out bar-hopping with her guy du jour, or working late, Kate intended to rechart the course of her life

Sitting at the kitchen table, with her half-eaten dinner still in cartons around her, she opened the Seattle Times and turned to the classified section There, she saw several interesting choices Reaching for a pen, she was about to circle one when the door behind her opened

She turned around and saw Tully in the doorway; her friend wore her dating clothes—an artfully torn sweatshirt that exposed one bare shoulder, jeans tucked into slouchy ankle boots, and a big low-slung belt Her hair had been puffed up around her face and pulled into a bright banana clip over her left ear An ornate set of crucifixes hung from around her neck

Of course she had a guy with her; she was draped all over him

"Hey, Katie," she said in a slurred Ive-already-had-three-aritas voice "Look who I ran into "

The guy stepped out from behind the door

Johnny