“Of course, but remember I’m advising against this. Take out a small business loan instead, Lauren; your credit is excellent.”

“No, I won’t do that.” It was against her rules. Period. She was not going into debt, nor would she put the store in debt. She’d close the place first. Knowing she sounded as stubborn as her father, she didn’t care. Even though her dad lived in the past, she agreed with him when he’d talked about being debt-free.

“Then I’ll make the arrangements as soon as we’re through,” Roger said.

“Good. And thank you, Roger. I know you don’t agree with me on this, but it’s something I have to do, with or without your approval.”

She ended the call, took her laptop out of her bag, and logged onto the Internet. She really needed to install Wi-Fi at the store. Her father wouldn’t know if she did, and it was a bit embarrassing when she had to use the pharmacy’s account.

She typed the words SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE into the search engine. Hundreds of links came up. She scrolled through several before finding an article from the National Institutes of Health. The article listed several symptoms. Mental decline, difficulty thinking and understanding, confusion in the early-evening hours. That’s odd, she thought. She read on. The inability to create new memories, unable to do simple math. Aggression, agitation, meaningless repetition of words, inability to recognize common things. Anger, depression, and hallucination, loss of appetite. The list was lengthy, yet Lauren could not match a single symptom to her father’s refusal to believe how the world was changing. Just as she’d always thought—he was just stubborn, bullheaded, and insistent upon doing what he wanted in his own way.

Relieved, but still concerned that his behavior could have dire consequences where Razzle Dazzle’s future was concerned, she knew her decision to add to the store’s bank account was the correct one. Lauren would talk with her parents when the time was right. Her plan was to get through the month of December and reassess their finances after January 1.

She checked her e-mail and saw one from Angela Winters, her literary agent. She opened the e-mail and read through it, then read it a second time, and even a third time.

“I’ll be danged,” she said out loud. Before she replied, she read through the entire e-mail once again, hardly believing her eyes.

Angela had asked her to call as soon as she’d read her message. Without another thought, Lauren dialed her agent in New York, knowing she’d be in her office.

“I take it you read my e-mail,” Angela said when she took her call.

“Yes. I read it four times just to make sure I was reading it correctly. ”

“And?” Angela said, never one to waste time on words.

“I’d like details,” Lauren said.

“I don’t need to tell you who John Gerard Giampalo is,” Angela stated.

“Not if it’s the John Gerard Giampalo of Globalgoods.com, the largest online retail operation in the world, no,” Lauren said. “This is the person you’re referring to, right?” she asked, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.