Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane 1)

Mrs. Mularkey leaned back in her chair. Taking a drag on her cigarette, she exhaled smoke and said quietly, "She wants you to live with us. "

Just hearing it was like a blow to the heart. She knew shed spend a long time trying to forget it. "Yeah, right. "

It was a moment before Mrs. Mularkey said, "A girl who lived in our house would have to do chores and follow the rules. Mr. Mularkey and I wouldnt stand for any funny business. "

Tully looked up sharply. "What are you saying?" She couldnt even put this sudden hope into words.

"And there would definitely be no smoking. "

Tully stared at her, feeling tears sting her eyes, but that pain was nothing compared to what was going on deep inside her. It felt suddenly as if she were about to fall. "Are you saying I can live with you?"

Mrs. M. leaned forward and touched Tullys jawline. "I know how hard your life has been up to now, Tully, and I cant stand for you to go back to that. "

The falling turned into flying, and suddenly Tully was crying for all of it—Gran, the foster family, Cloud. Her relief was the biggest emotion shed ever felt. With shaking hands, she pulled the crumpled, half-empty pack of cigarettes out of her purse and handed them over.

"Welcome to our family, Tully," Mrs. M. finally said into the silence, pulling Tully into her arms and letting her cry.

Through all the decades of Tullys life, she would remember that moment as the beginning of something new for her; the becoming of someone new. While she lived with the loud, crazy, loving Mularkey family, she found a whole new person inside her. She didnt keep secrets or tell lies or pretend that she was someone else, and never once did they act as if she were unwanted or not good enough. No matter where she went in her later years, or what she did or whom she was with, she would always remember this moment and those words: Welcome to our family, Tully. Always and forever, she would think of that senior year of high school, when she was inseparable from Kate and a part of the family, as the single best year of her life.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Girls! Quit lollygagging. Were going to hit traffic if we dont leave now. "

In the creaky attic bedroom, Kate stood at the edge of her twin bed, staring down at the open suitcase that contained all of her prized belongings. A framed picture of her grandparents lay on top, wedged between her ribbon-wrapped packet of long-ago letters from Tully and a photo of her and Tully taken at graduation.

Although shed been looking forward to this moment for months (she and Tully had spun endless late-night dreams, all of which began with the words when were in college), now that it was here, she felt reluctant to leave home.

Over the course of their senior year in high school, theyd become a pair. TullyandKate. Everyone at school said their two names as one. When Tully became editor of the school paper, Kate was right beside her, helping her to edit the stories. She lived vicariously through her friends achievements, rode the wave of her popularity, but all of that had taken place in a world she knew, in a place where she felt safe.

"What if I forgot something?"

Tully crossed the room and came up beside Kate. She closed the suitcase and clamped it shut. "Youre ready. "

"No. Youre ready. Youre always ready," Kate said, trying not to sound as afraid as she was. It occurred to her suddenly, sharply, how much shed miss her parents and even her little brother.

Tully stared at her. "Were a team, arent we? The Firefly Lane girls. "

"We have been, but—"

"No buts. Were going to college together, were pledging the same sorority, and well be hired by the same TV station. Period. Thats it. We can do it. "

Kate knew what was expected of her, by Tully and everyone else: she was supposed to be strong and courageous. If only she felt it more deeply. But since she didnt feel it, she did what she often did lately around Tully. She smiled and faked it. "Youre right. Lets go. "

The drive from Snohomish to downtown Seattle, which usually took about thirty-five minutes, seemed to pass in a blink. Kate barely spoke, couldnt seem to find her voice, even as Tully and her mom chattered on about the upcoming Rush Week at the sororities. Her mother, it seemed, was more excited about their college adventure than Kate was.

In the towering high-rise of Haggett Hall, they made their way through the loud, crowded corridors to a small, dingy dorm room on the tenth floor. Here was where theyd stay during Rush. When it was over, theyd move into their sorority.

"Well. This is it," Mr. Mularkey said.

Kate went to her parents and threw her arms around them, forming the famous Mularkey family hug.

Tully stood back, looking oddly left out.

"Geez, Tully, get over here," Mom called out.

Tully rushed forward and let them all embrace her.

For the next hour they unpacked and talked and took pictures. Then, finally, Dad said, "Well, Margie, its time. We dont want to get caught in traffic. " There was one last round of hugs.