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When the holidays came around, Kate decorated extensively, hoping the sight of their treasured collectibles would somehow knit them all together again and make them the family theyd been before.
During the girlfriend hour, while she sipped her glass of wine and told Aunt Georgia and Mom that she was holding up well, she started to cry.
Mom took her hand. "Its okay, honey. Let it out. "
But she was afraid to do that. "Im fine," she said. "Its been a difficult year, thats all. "
The doorbell rang.
Aunt Georgia got up. "Thats probably Rick and Kelli. "
It was Tully. Standing on the porch, wearing a winter-white three-quarter-length cashmere coat and matching pants, she looked drop-dead gorgeous. There were enough presents in her arms for three families. "Dont tell me you started girlfriend hour without me. If you did, youll have to start it over. "
"You said you had to go to Berlin," Kate said, wishing shed dressed a little better and put on some makeup.
"And miss Christmas? Hardly. " She set the presents down beneath the tree and pulled Kate into a hug.
Kate hadnt realized how much shed missed her friend until right then.
Tully turned the quiet girlfriend hour into a party. At one oclock, long after they were supposed to have put the turkey in the oven, Mom and Aunt Georgia and Tully were still dancing to ABBA and Elton John, singing at the top of their lungs.
Kate stood by the tree. The room seemed lit from within suddenly. How was it that Tully could be the life of any party so easily? Maybe it was because she didnt do any of the scut work—no cleaning or cooking or laundry for Tully.
Johnny came up to Kate. She noticed that he was barely limping. "Hey, you," he said.
"Hey. "
All around them, people were talking and singing. Aunt Georgia was doing "The Time Warp" with Sean, his girlfriend, and Uncle Ralph. Mom and Dad were talking to Tully, who was swaying to the music with Marah in her arms.
Johnny reached down beneath the tree and found a small box, wrapped in silver and gold paper, with Scotch tape showing along the seams and a red foil bow that was too big. He handed it to her.
"You want me to open it now?"
He nodded.
She peeled back the paper, plucked off the bow, and found a blue velvet box inside. Opening it, she gasped. There lay a fine gold necklace and a diamond-encrusted heart-shaped locket. "Johnny . . . "
"Ive done some stupid things in my life, Katie, and for most of them Ive paid the price. Lately, youve paid the price, too. I know how hard its been on you, this past year. And I want you to know this: you are the one thing Ive done right in this life. " He took the necklace out of the box and put it on her. "Ive taken a new job at my old station. You wont have to worry about me anymore. Youre my heart, Katie Scarlett, and Ill always be here for you. I love you. "
Kates throat tightened with emotion. "I love you, too. "
During college, the cherry trees in the Quad had marked the passing of time. Every season came and went on those spindly gray-brown branches. In the eighties, time had been marked by the streetlamps on the cobblestoned street in front of the Public Market. When the first SEASONS GREETINGS flag fluttered beneath the lamps, she knew another year had gone by.
In the nineties it was Tullys hair. Every morning, while Kate fed and bathed Marah, she watched the morning show on TV. Like clockwork, Tullys hairdos changed twice a year. First there had been the Jane Pauley extra-short bangs, then the Meg Ryan messy look, then the pixie cut that made her look impossibly young, and most recently, shed chosen the most talked-about cut in the country—the Rachel.
Every time Kate saw a new hairdo, she winced at how fast time was moving. The years werent just passing, they were flying by. Already it was the last day of August, 1997. In a little more than a week her baby would be starting second grade.
She hated to admit how much shed been looking forward to this day.
For the past seven years, shed been the best mother she knew how to be. Shed diligently recorded every milestone in Marahs baby album and took enough photographs to scientifically document a new life-form. More than that, she enjoyed her daughter so much that she sometimes felt lost in the sea of love that surrounded them. She and Johnny had tried for years to conceive another child, but they had not been so blessed. It had been difficult for Kate to handle; in time, though, shed accepted her small family and poured herself into making every moment perfect. Finally, shed found something she was passionate about: motherhood.
But as the months turned into years, shed begun to feel a tiny itch of dissatisfaction. At first shed kept it bottled inside of her—after all, what did she have to complain about? She loved her life. She spent what spare hours she did have volunteering in the classroom and at Helper House, the local center that provided assistance to women in need. She even took a few art classes.
It wasnt enough, didnt fill the invisible void, but it made her feel productive and useful. And though the people who loved her—Johnny, Tully, and Mom—repeatedly commented that she seemed to be looking for something more, she ignored them all. It was so much easier to focus on the present, on her daughter. There would be plenty of time later on to search for herself.
Now she stood at the living room window, dressed in her flannel pajamas, staring out at the still-dark backyard. Even in the shadows she could see toys strewn about the deck and yard. Barbies. Beanie Babies. A tricycle lying on its side. A pink plastic Corvette was washing back and forth on the incoming tide.
Shaking her head, she turned away from the view and went to the television, turning it on. As soon as Marah woke up, she was going to make her daughter march outside and pick up the toys. A temper tantrum was sure to follow.
