“So I’ve been told. But I promise to be good. Yes, I remember you mentioning the hot woman.”

Reagan glared again. “Anyway. She’s the catering gig. Well, her mother is really the client. Or her husband. It’s for his birthday.”

“Wait. The mom’s husband or the daughter’s?”

“The mom’s husband. Daughter’s stepfather, I guess,” Reagan replied with a shrug. “But the daughter, Jillian, is basically in charge of it.”

“How’s that been? Is she as snobby and jerkish as she was the first time?”

Reagan tilted her head. “A little. We’ve only had one meeting so far and she definitely had her moments. You should’ve seen her surprise when I laid out perfect options for her for table settings and linens. I know she assumed I was a server when we had lunch. Then I showed her I know my shit. I think I almost made her head explode.”

Her mom chuckled. “When do—”

“Kathy,” Betty called as she entered the room, “I’m not trying to panic you, but I’ve just called an ambulance for Conor. His breathing is labored and—”

Her mom jumped off her stool and rushed down the hallway.

Reagan made her way around the counter when Betty gripped her arm. She wanted to pull away, but Betty’s voice stopped her.

“Reagan, honey. Please wait outside for the ambulance. Can you do that for me?”

“No. I need to see him.” She fought against Betty’s firm grasp, but she hadn’t moved an inch.

“Reagan.”

She stopped and looked at Betty, already feeling hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Please. I need to go check on him. They’ll be here soon. Can you do that for me?”

Reagan mutely nodded. When Betty was out of sight, she wept silently against the counter. “Not yet. Not yet,” she whispered. She lifted her head when she heard the faint sounds of sirens. She stepped outside, hugging herself tightly and begging the universe to just let her dad be all right.

Two paramedics stepped out of the ambulance and hurried into the house with large bags slung over their shoulders. Silently, she led them down the hallway and into her father’s room. They immediately began to work on her dad, asking him questions he couldn’t answer, putting an oxygen mask on him, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around his arm. While Reagan sensed their movements, the only thing that registered was that this could be the last time she saw her father alive.