This is the novel’s ending, with Tully returning from the tundra to spend hours at Kate’s bedside, taking care of her until she passes away. The show will most likely change the details of how the two get to that point, but viewers are pretty sure that, wherever happens, Kate’s funeral will come before the end of the finale.

Um, this would hurt. The show could put a significant twist on the book by letting Kate succumb to cancer before making amends with Tully. It would be crue to deprive Tully of reconciliation, but it would up the sob factor significantly.

One of the significant departures from the book is giving Johnny’s love interest in Lottie. The feelings are more on Lottie’s end, but with Kate and Johnny still technically divorced and Kate most likely headed for the grave, perhaps it’s time for Johnny to consider moving on and settling down with someone else.

Season 2 began with Kate refusing Tully entry to her father’s funeral. While this broke Tully’s heart, it also spurred her to reconcile with Cloud and have a relationship that’s far better than what’s in the novel. With the two in a healthy place, having Cloud pass away before the series ends will remove any support system Tully would have outside of Kate once she’s gone, which would be really hard to watch.

The show has added one other pillar of support for Tully: Danny, the “one who got away.” In the novel, Danny and Tully’s relationship isn’t anything like this, and having him be there for Tully (albeit with a girlfriend) sets up an interesting deviation from the book. Perhaps Tully’s return doesn’t just reconcile her with Kate, but also leads to Tully and Danny getting back together.

The show has altered Tully’s views on Kate as a mom; in the novel, she accused Kate of being overbearing — it’s what wound up being their big break-up fight. In the show, Tully acknowledged Kate was a great mom. But Marah still loves her Aunt Tully, and one could see her deciding, especially if Johnny remarried someone like Lottie, to go live with Tully officially.

The novel (and the sequel Fly Away) never put Johnny and Tully together. But the show, which has largely avoided making the three pals a resentful love triangle, has an opportunity to put Kate’s BFF and husband together since those bitter jealousies have been mostly avoided. Will it, though? That isn’t very likely, but some fans hope for this outcome anyway.

The show version of Tully was shown wanting to be a mom far more than the novel version, suggesting that perhaps there is a different outcome for Tully in the wings. Maybe, having lost Kate, she’ll finally give birth to a daughter of her own, who she’ll name in tribute to the person who helped her grow up after all these years.