Jill laughed. “I’ll try.”

Sam kissed her on the cheek. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

Sam stood and put on her coat as she walked to the door.

Jill called out, “Hey, Sammy?”

Sam turned around. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, quietly shutting the door behind her.

Jill relaxed into the couch, wiping the last of the tears from her cheeks. She replayed the conversation she had with Sam over and over. It was hard to admit that she had ever been or would ever be worthy of Reagan’s love. Not after what she’d done.

She had promised Sam she would think about talking to Reagan, but at the moment she didn’t have the strength to figure out what that entailed. Instead, she did what she did best—buried herself in work.

She grabbed a stack of mail from a side table as she passed by. She couldn’t remember when she had last gone through it, and judging by the tall stack, it had been a while. She flipped through each piece and divided it between piles to look at later, recycle, or open immediately. When she came across an envelope that had “SECOND NOTICE” written in red on the outside, she dropped the rest of the stack onto the counter. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the familiar initials of TMG in the top left corner.

“What the hell?” she muttered. She ripped open the envelope and unfolded the piece of paper, which had a sticky note attached to it.

I left your mother a copy of this the night of the party and sent an additional reminder. I’ve received no reply. Please pay upon receipt.

No signature but she easily recognized Reagan’s handwriting. She skimmed her finger along the words as if she could feel Reagan’s presence through the note.

What should I do? She could pay it and forget about it. Send a check in and be done with it. But the last time she sent a check in for something, it ruined the best thing in her life. Taking the bill to her mother didn’t hold much appeal either, but it was probably the best option.

Jill glanced at her watch, noting it was a little before nine p.m. Not too late to stop by her mother’s house, especially if she was entertaining. “Time to get this over with.”