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Tully smiled at that, even though it hurt like hell. Of course Kate would know. "Thanks. "
She took the box and walked down the steps and across the parking lot. Across the street, she sat down on an iron park bench.
There, she took a deep breath and opened the box. On top lay a letter. Kates bold, left-slanted handwriting was unmistakable.
Dear Tully—
I know you wont be able to stand my fucking funeral. Youre not the star. I hope you at least had the photos of me airbrushed. There are so many things I should say to you, but in our lifetime weve said them all.
Take care of Johnny and the kids for me, okay? Teach the boys how to be gentlemen and Marah how to be strong. When theyre ready, give them my journal and tell them about me when they ask. The truth, too. I want them to know it all.
Its going to be hard on you, now. Thats one of the things I regret the most. So, heres what I have to say in my beyond-the-grave letter (very dramatic, dont you think?):
I know youll be thinking that I left you, but its not true. All you have to do is remember Firefly Lane, and youll find me.
There will always be a TullyandKate.
It was signed:
BFF
Kate
She pressed the letter to her chest.
Then she looked down in the box again. There were three things left.
A Virginia Slims cigarette with a yellow sticky note on it that read, Smoke me.
An autographed picture of David Cassidy that said, Kiss me, and an iPod with headphones that said, Play me and dance.
Tully laughed through her tears and lit up the cigarette, taking a drag and coughing on the exhale. The smell of smoke immediately made her think of their nights on the banks of the Pilchuck River, lying against fallen logs, staring up at the Milky Way.
She closed her eyes, put her head back, and tilted her face to the cool autumn sun. A breeze touched her face and tangled in her hair, and with it, she thought: Katie.
Suddenly she felt her friend beside her, above her, all around her, inside her. She heard Kate in the whispering of the wind overhead and the skudding of the golden leaves across the pavement.
She opened her eyes, gasping at the certainty that she wasnt alone.
"Hey, Katie," she whispered, then put on the headphones and hit play.
"Dancing Queen" blared out at her, sweeping her back in time.
Young and sweet, only seventeen.
She stood up, unsure of whether she was laughing or crying. All she really knew was that she wasnt alone, that Kate wasnt gone. Theyd had more than three decades of good times and bad times and everything in between, and nothing could take that away. They had the music and the memories, and in those, they would always, always be together.
Best friends forever.
There, standing in the middle of the street, all by herself, she started to dance.
