Johnny stood there, holding a bouquet of pink roses. With his newly cropped hair and stonewashed jeans and his white Adidas tennis shoes with the tongues hanging out, he looked about twenty years old. In all the years she’d known him, he’d never looked so sad and ruined.

“Hey,” he said, putting the flowers on the coffee table.

“You look like you could use a drink.”

“How about an IV drip?” He tried to smile. “She asleep?”

“Yeah.” Tully grabbed a bottle of scotch from the counter and made him a stiff drink, then she poured herself a glass of wine and went to him.

“Let’s sit on the dock,” he said, taking the glass from her. “I don’t want to wake her up.”

Tully got her coat and followed him outside. They sat side by side on the dock, as if they were kids, hanging their legs out over the black waters of Lake Union.

It was still and peaceful out here. A full moon hung in the sky, illuminating the rooflines and reflecting in various windows. The distant hum of cars on the bridge was syncopated by the water slapping against the pilings.

“How are you doing, really?” Tully asked.

“It’s Katie I’m worried about.”

“I know,” she answered, “but I asked about you.”

“I’ve been better.” He sipped his drink.

Tully leaned against him. “You’re lucky,” she said. “She loves you, and when a Mularkey falls in love, it’s for life.” The minute she said the words, she felt that strange sense of unraveling again. Of loneliness that was somehow just out of view, but moving toward her. For the first time, she wondered what her life could have been like if she’d been like Kate and chosen love. Would she then know how it felt to truly belong somewhere, with someone? She stared out across the water.

“What is it, Tully?”

“I guess I’m jealous of Kate and you.”

“You don’t want this life.”

“What life do I want?”

He put an arm around her. “That’s one thing you’ve always known. You want the networks.”

“Does that make me shallow?”

He laughed. “I’m hardly the one to ask. I’ll tell you what: I’ll start making some calls. Sooner or later we’ll find you a network job.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course. But you’ll have to be patient. These things take time.”

She twisted around and hugged him, whispering, “Thanks, Johnny.” He knew her so well. Somehow he’d already known what she’d only just discovered: it was time for her to move on.

As tired as Kate was, she couldn’t fall asleep. She lay in bed, staring up at the peaked ceiling, and waited for her husband.