And with that the Porter-Kennard family was no more.  Bette gave Tina her divorce uncontested.  Tina had her own money so the separation did not involve sorting out finances.  Angie continued to reside with Bette because it did not make sense for her to move back and forth with Tina now predominately residing in Toronto. 

The divorce had only been finalized a few months when Tina heard the news about Kit Porter, Bette’s older sister.  No one had told her what had been going on.  She knew there had been a car accident but nothing beyond that.  Tina had pretty much become an outsider, mostly due to her living so far away.  Kit was like a sister to her and her death hit Tina hard.  She could only imagine what Bette had gone through.  Tina talked to Angie daily and it was Angie who called to tell her that Kit had died of an overdose.  Tina had cried in Carrie’s arms the night Angie called and slept very little trying to figure out what to do.  She had talked to Carrie about it trying to get some clarity. 

”You said she was a sister to you and that you had known her for over 20 years.  It seems to me that you were family and you should make your decision based on that.” Carrie had said logically.

”The funeral is a couple days away,” Tina said.  ”I called Alice, she said Bette is a mess, but surprisingly has not touched the Scotch.  Alice said Bette has changed so much, that sometimes she doesn’t even recognize her.  I just don’t know if it is a good idea for me to show up.”  Tina had sighed as the tears welled up in her eyes. 

”I can understand your concern about the divorce being so new, but what about Angie?”  Carrie had said calmly, ”Shouldn’t you be there for her.” 

In the end, Tina decided to stay away.  As hard as it was, she wasn’t ready to deal with Bette.  Tina knew that she was still in love with Bette. She had worked so hard to get out of that situation and she did not want to be drawn back into it.  There was no denying the powerful magnetic chemistry, when they were together everyone could feel it.  It inevitably pulled them together. The day of the funeral, Tina went up into the mountains by herself and cried.  Cried for the loss of Kit and cried for the loss of her relationship with Bette.  She cried because no matter how much she wanted to believe Bette was her family and that she could somehow salvage some sort of relationship with Bette, things had changed and would never be the same again.