She opened her eyes, gasping at the certainty that she wasn’t 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 wasn’t alone, that Kate wasn’t gone. They’d 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.

PREVIEW

Dear Reader,

In the two decades of my writing career, I have never before been tempted to add any kind of postscript or letter to a novel, and truthfully, I tried to avoid it here. As you can plainly see, that plan failed miserably. The problem, it seems, is the book you’ve just read.

As you may or may not be able to tell, the writing of Firefly Lane was a very personal journey for me. I grew up in the late seventies in western Washington, a place and time that felt oh-so-dangerous and turbulent back then and now seems sweetly innocent in comparison to today’s world. I went to the University of Washington and joined a sorority. All of the music mentioned throughout the story reminds me of those long-gone days. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the first album I bought with my own money.

And I lost my mother to breast cancer. Like so many women, I have spent a lifetime being on the lookout for danger signs. I do my self-exams and have my yearly mammograms; I do everything I’m supposed to do.

That’s why inflammatory breast cancer, or IBC, is so frightening. It presents in sly and unexpected ways. Often family physicians overlook or misdiagnose the symptoms, and as we all know, when it comes to cancer, timing is everything. So I want to urge women to add the IBC warning signs to their list of symptoms to look for, and I’d add that if something feels wrong, don’t be afraid to ask questions or get second opinions. We women know our bodies; we know when something doesn’t feel or look right. We need to embrace our knowledge of ourselves and not take no for an answer.

I know it can be scary and difficult, but fear is no excuse to turn away. If you find yourself hesitating, or giving in to your fear, look to a friend for help and support. That’s the best thing about being a woman—we’re always there for each other. As Tully and Kate would say: no matter what.

Thank you for reading.

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