She swallowed hard, nodded. Her eyes stung, but she refused to draw attention to her tears by wiping them away. “I know.”

He reached out, touched her flat stomach. “But I couldn’t just leave anymore, could I?”

“Because of the baby?”

“Because I love you,” he said simply.

“I love you, too, but I don’t want to—”

He slid off the couch, positioned himself on one knee, and she drew in a sharp breath. “Kathleen Scarlett Mularkey, will you marry me?”

She wanted to say yes, scream it, but she didn’t dare. Fear was still too much a part of how she felt. So she had to say instead, “Are you sure, Johnny?”

And then, finally, she saw his smile. “I’m sure.”

________

Kate had taken Tully’s advice—of course—and gone for timeless elegance. Her wedding dress was an ivory silk gown with a heavily beaded bodice and an off-the-shoulder neckline. Her hair, carefully lightened in a trio of blonds, had been drawn back from her face and coiled into a Grace Kelly twist. The veil, when she put it on, would float over her face and fall down to her shoulders like a sparkling cloud. For the first time in her life she felt movie-star beautiful. Mom thought so, too; she took one look and started to cry. A few moments ago she had hugged Kate fiercely, kissed her cheek, and gone into the church, leaving Kate and Tully alone for the first time all day.

Now, standing in front of a full-length mirror that captured her fairy-tale reflection, Kate glanced over at Tully, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet on this grand poobah of hair and makeup days. Dressed in the pale pink strapless taffeta bridesmaid’s gown, she looked vaguely out of place and fidgety.

“You look like you’re gearing up for a funeral instead of a wedding.”

Tully looked at her, trying to make a smile look real, but they’d been friends too long to pass each other such counterfeit emotions. “Are you sure about getting married? I mean really sure? There’s no—”

“I’m sure.”

Tully appeared unconvinced; more than that, she looked afraid. “Good,” she said, biting her lower lip, nodding stiffly. “ ‘Cause it’s for-ever.”

“You know what else is forever?”

“Dirty diapers.”

Kate reached out for Tully’s hand, noticing how cold her friend’s skin was. How could she convince Tully that this was the Y in their lives, the inevitable separation, but not an abandonment? “Us,” she said pointedly. “We’ll be friends through jobs and kids and marriages.” She grinned. “I’m sure I’ll outlast several of your husbands.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Tully laughed, bumping her shoulder into Kate’s. “You think I won’t be able to stay married.”