“Turn off the griddle, Katie,” Mom said without even looking back.

Kate turned off the griddle and then followed them to the living room. She hung back, standing in the curl of the archway that separated the two rooms. Neither of them seemed to care that she was there.

“Did we miss the funeral?” Mom asked gently, holding Tully’s hand.

Tully nodded. “Everyone said they were sorry. I officially hate those words now.”

“People don’t know what to say, that’s all.”

“My favorite part was the ever popular ‘she’s in a better place.’ As if dead is better than being with me.”

“And your mom?”

“Let’s just say she doesn’t call herself Cloud for nothing. She came and went.” Tully glanced at Kate and added quickly, “But she’s here for now. We’re staying across the street.”

“Of course she is,” Mom said. “She knows you need her.”

“Can I spend the night there tonight, Mom?” Kate asked; her heart was beating so hard and fast, she was sure her mom could hear it. She tried to look completely trustworthy, but since she was lying, she expected her mother to see through it.

Mom didn’t even look at Kate. “Of course. You girls need to be together. And you remember this, Tully Hart: You’re the next Jessica Savitch. You will survive this. I promise.”

“You really think so?” Tully asked.

“I know so. You have a rare gift, Tully. And you can be certain that your gran is in Heaven watching out for you.”

Kate felt a sudden urge to butt in, to step forward and ask her mother if she believed she could change the world. She even went so far as to move forward and open her mouth, but before she could form the question, she heard Tully say,

“I’ll make you proud, Mrs. M. I promise I will.”

Kate paused. She had no idea how she could make her mother proud; she wasn’t like Tully. Kate had no rare gift.

The thing was, though, her own mother should think she did and should point it out. Instead, her mother—like everyone else—was caught in the gravitational pull of Tully’s sun.

“We’re both going to be reporters,” Kate said, more harshly than she intended. At their startled looks, she felt like an idiot. “Come on,” she said, forcing a smile this time. “We should eat before everything is ruined.”

________

The party was a bad idea. Taunting-Carrie-at-the-prom bad.

Tully knew it but couldn’t turn back. In the days since Gran’s funeral and Cloud’s encore abandonment, her grief had been slowly replaced by anger. It darted through her blood like a predator, puffing her up with emotions that couldn’t be tamped down or contained. She knew she was being reckless, but she couldn’t change her course. If she slowed down, even for a moment, her fear would catch up with her and the plan was in motion now. They were in her mother’s old bedroom, supposedly getting ready.

“Ohmigod,” Kate said in an awed voice. “You gotta read this.”