Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane 1)

"Dont be ridiculous. You still want to be a team, dont you?" Tully paused, stared at Kate, who screwed up her courage and opened her mouth. Then Tully laughed. "Of course you do. I knew it. You were just messing with me. Very funny. Ill talk to Mr. Ryan—hes my new boss—just as soon as he cant live without me. Now I gotta run. Chad will want to hear about the interview, but I had to tell you first. " Tully hugged her fiercely and left.

Kate stood there, in the small, ugly room that smelled of stale cigarettes, staring at the open door. "No," she said softly. "I dont want to do that. "

There was no one listening.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Thanksgiving in the Mularkey household was always a spectacle. Aunt Georgia and Uncle Ralph drove over from eastern Washington, bringing enough food with them to feed an entire community. In years past, theyd had their four children with them, but now those kids were adults themselves and sometimes had other families to visit on the holiday. This year, Georgia and Ralph were alone, and looking a little dazed by their situation. Georgia had poured herself a drink before she even bothered saying hello to anyone in the house.

Kate sat on the threadbare arm of the cherry-red sofa that had been the centerpiece of this living room for as long as she could remember. Tully sat cross-legged on the floor at Moms feet. It was her usual spot on holidays. Tully rarely liked to be too far from the woman she considered the perfect mother. Mom, in Dads La-Z-Boy, was across from Georgia, who sat on the sofa.

It was the girlfriend hour—a family tradition. Georgia had devised it years ago—before there were any kids to care about, or so family legend had it. Every holiday, for one hour, while the men were watching football, the women gathered in the living room to have cocktails and catch up on the news. They all knew that soon enough there would be a Herculean amount of work to do in the kitchen, but for sixty minutes, no one cared.

This year, for the first time ever, Mom had poured glasses of white wine for Kate and Tully. It made Kate feel very grown up to sit here on the arm of the sofa, sipping her wine. Already the first Christmas album of the year was on the turntable. Elvis, naturally, singing about the little boy in the ghetto.

It was funny how an album, or even just a song, could remind you of so many moments in your life. Kate didnt think there had ever been any family event—Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, the yearly camping trip—that had been Elvis-free. It just wasnt a Mularkey family moment without him. Mom and Georgia made sure of that. His death hadnt changed the tradition at all, but sometimes, if they drank enough, theyd hug each other and cry for the loss of him.

"You should see what I got to do this week," Tully said, rising to her knees in her excitement. Kate couldnt help noticing that she looked like a supplicant, waiting for Moms blessing. "You know the Spokane rapist case? Well," she said dramatically, luring them in, "the guy they arrested? His mother hired someone to kill the judge and prosecutor. Can you believe it? And Johnny—thats my boss—he let me do a first draft of the copy. They even used a sentence I wrote. It was so cool. Next week hes letting me tag along to an interview with a guy who invented some new kind of computer. "

"Youre really on your way now, Tully," Mom said, smiling down at her.

"Not just me, Mrs. M. ," Tully said. "Its going to work out with Kate, too. Ill get her an internship at the station; youll see. Im already starting to drop hints. Someday youll see us both on TV. The first pair of female anchors on a network news show. "

"Think of it, Margie," Georgia said dreamily.

"Anchors?" Kate said, straightening. "I thought we were going to be reporters. "

Tully grinned. "With our ambition? Are you kidding? Were going straight to the top, Katie. "

Kate had to say something now. This was spinning out of control, and honestly, today was a good time to come clean. A round of drinks had softened everyone. "I should tell you—"

"Well be more famous than Jean Enersen, Mrs. M. ," Tully said, laughing. "And definitely richer. "

"Imagine being rich," Mom said.

Aunt Georgia patted Kates thigh. "Everyone in the family is so proud of you, Katie. Youll make a name for all of us. "

Kate sighed. Once again shed lost her chance. Getting up, she walked across the room, past the corner where soon the Christmas tree would be placed, and stood at the window, looking out over the pasture. A blanket of glittery white coated the field, created sparkly mounds on the fence posts. Moonlight turned everything a beautiful frosty blue and white; with the black velvet sky, it looked like a greeting card. As a girl, shed waited impatiently for this unexpected weather, prayed for it for months, and no wonder. Covered in snow, Firefly Lane looked like something out of a fairy tale. The kind of place where nothing could ever go wrong, where a girl should be able to simply tell her family that shed changed her mind.

The last few months of their senior year were perfection. Although Tully spent more than twenty-five hours a week at the station where she was interning, and Kate spent an equal number of hours working at Starbucks, the new designer coffee shop in the Pike Place Market, they made sure to spend a lot of their weekend time together, playing pool and drinking beer at Goldies or listening to music at the Blue Moon Tavern. Tully spent a lot of her nights at Chads, but Kate didnt say much about that. Truthfully, she was having too much fun dating to hassle Tully about her choices.

The only problem in Kates life—and it was a biggie—was her upcoming graduation. She was going to graduate next month with honors, with a degree in communications/broadcast journalism, and she still hadnt told anyone that it wasnt her dream job.

Now, though, she was going to come clean. She was in one of the third-floor phone rooms, folded up to fit, and shed just dialed home.

Mom answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom. "

"Katie! What a great surprise. I cant remember the last time you called in the middle of the week. You must be psychic: Dad and I just got home from the mall. You should see the dress I got for graduation. Its beautiful. Dont let anyone tell you JC Penney doesnt have great clothes. "

"What does it look like?" Kate was stalling; with half an ear, she listened to her moms description. Mom had just said something about shoulder pads and glitter when Kate jumped in. "I just applied for a job at Nordstrom, Mom. In the advertising department. "

There was a noticeable pause on the other end, then the telltale sound of a cigarette being lit. "I thought you and Tully were going to be—"

"I know. " Kate leaned back against the wall. "A reporting team. World-famous and rich. "

"Whats really going on, Kathleen?"