The Kristin Hannah Collection: Volume 1 by Kristin Hannah

Author:Kristin Hannah
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

Were.

Gran was gone.

________

Tully stood outside the church, watching the crowd of elderly people stream past her. A few of Gran’s friends recognized her and came over to offer their condolences.

I’m so sorry dear . . .

. . . but she’s in a better place . . .

. . . with her beloved Winston .

. . . wouldn’t want you to cry .

She took as much of it as she could because she knew Gran would have wanted that, but by eleven o’clock, she was ready to scream. Didn’t any of the well-wishers see, didn’t they realize that Tully was a seventeen-year-old girl, dressed in black and all alone in the world?

If only Katie and the Mularkeys were here, but she had no idea how to reach them in Canada, and since they wouldn’t be home for two days, she had to endure this alone. With them beside her, a pretend family, maybe she would have made it through the service.

Without them, she simply couldn’t do it. Instead of sitting through the terrible, heart-wrenching memories of Gran, she got up in the middle of the funeral and walked out.

Outside, in the hot August sunlight, she could breathe again, even though the tears were always near to the surface, as was the pointless query, How could you leave me like this?

Surrounded by dusty old-model land yachts, she tried not to cry. Mostly, she tried not to remember, or to worry about what would happen to her.

Nearby, a twig snapped and Tully looked up. At first all she saw were the haphazardly parked cars.

Then she saw her.

Over by the property’s edge, where a row of towering maple trees delineated the start of the city park, Cloud stood in the shade, smoking a long slim cigarette. Dressed in tattered corduroy bell-bottoms and a dirty peasant blouse, parenthesized by a wall of frizzy brown hair, she looked rail-thin.

Tully couldn’t help the tiny leap of joy her heart took. Finally, she wasn’t alone. Cloud might be a little nuts, but when the chips were down, she came back. Tully ran toward her, smiling. She would forgive her mother for all the missing years, all the abandonments. What mattered was that she was here now, when Tully needed her most. “Thank God you’re here,” she said, coming to a breathless stop. “You knew I’d need you.”

Her mother lurched toward her, laughing when she almost fell. “You’re a beautiful spirit, Tully. All you need is air and to be free.”

Tully’s stomach seemed to drop. “Not again,” she said, pleading for help with her eyes. “Please . . .”

“Always.” There was an edge to Cloud’s voice now, a sharpness that belied the glassy look in her eyes.

“I’m your flesh and blood and I need you now. Otherwise I’ll be alone.” Tully knew she was whispering, but she couldn’t seem to find any volume for her voice.

Cloud took a stumbling step forward. The sadness in her eyes was unmistakable, but Tully didn’t care. Her mother’s pseudo-emotions came and went like the sun in Seattle.

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