But what if you wanted them more than you wanted a singular, powerful you? No one ever talked about that. Kate knew that Tully would laugh at such thoughts, say Kate was stuck in the fifties. Even her mother would say she was wrong and bring up that weighted word: regret. She’d parrot the words that filled the pages of Ms. magazine—that being just a mother was a waste of talent. Her mother wouldn’t even notice how sad she looked as she spoke, as if the life she’d chosen had been for nothing.

“Hey, you missed the turn.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Kate turned at the next block and circled back, pulling up in front of Chad’s house. “I’ll wait here. I’ve got The Talisman to finish.”

Tully didn’t open her door. “He’ll understand why I can’t marry him yet. He knows how much this means to me.”

“He certainly knows,” Kate agreed.

“Wish me luck.”

“Don’t I always?”

Tully got out and walked up to the front door.

Kate opened her paperback and dove into the story. It wasn’t until much later that she looked up, noticing it had begun to rain.

Tully should have come back by now, told her to drive on home, that she’d be spending the night with Chad. Kate closed the book and got out of the car. As she walked up the cement path, she had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

She knocked twice, then opened the door.

Tully was in an empty living room, kneeling in front of the fireplace, crying.

Tully handed her a piece of paper that was splotched with tears. “Read it.”

Kate sat back on her heels and looked down at the bold black handwriting.

Dear Tully,

I was the one who recommended you to KLUE, so I know all about the job you’ve come to tell me about, and I’m proud of you, baby. I knew you could do it.

When I took the job at Vanderbilt I knew what it meant for us. I hoped . . . but I knew.

You want a lot from this world, Tully. Me, I just want you.

It ain’t exactly lock-and-key perfect, is it?

Here’s what matters: I’ll always love you.

Light the world on fire.

It was signed simply, C.

“I thought he loved me,” Tully said when Kate handed her back the letter.

“It sounds like he does.”

“Then why would he leave me?”

Kate looked at her friend, hearing the distant echo of all the times Tully had been abandoned by her mother. “Did you ever tell him you loved him?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Maybe you don’t love him, then.”

“Or maybe I do,” Tully said, sighing. “It’s just so damned hard to believe in.”