Page 66 of Her Forever Daddies

“Sorry to interrupt, Dad, but were there peanuts in the bruschetta?” she asked, her throat feeling scratchy as she spoke.

He looked at her with an uninterested look.

“Your mother planned all the food, Ruby,” he said before turning back toward the two men he’d been talking to.

Turning away from her dad, she scanned the room again and found her mother speaking with several women. Walking as calmly as she could manage, she tapped her mom on the shoulder.

“Mom, I need to talk to you,” she said.

Each swallow felt more difficult and she was starting to panic.

“What is it, dear? I’m speaking with Margaret and Jill at the moment,” Evelyn said tightly.

Pulling her mom away by her elbow, Ruby gave the other women an apologetic look.

“I just need her for one minute,” she told the women.

“Ruby, what are you doing? That was rude!” Evelyn snapped.

“Mom, were there peanuts in the bruschetta?”

Giving her an irritated expression, her mom looked her up and down again. “You’re all red and your skin is blotchy. You need to go to the bathroom and apply some coverup. It looks like you haven’t applied lotion or something.”

“Mom!” she snapped.

Evelyn’s eyes widened and then turned into a glare. “You need to be quiet. Are you trying to embarrass me?”

Taking in the deepest breath she could manage, which wasn’t much, Ruby closed her eyes, feeling tears welling up inside.

“I think I’m having an allergic reaction and I need to know if there were peanuts in the bruschetta or not. I need to know how seriously I’m going to react,” Ruby said in a pleading voice.

“Yes, there were peanuts in it. They were ground up and sprinkled on top. Any idiot would have seen that,” her mom answered.

Except she hadn’t seen anything ground up on top because she would have questioned it if she had.

“You know I’m allergic to peanuts. Why would you order something with peanuts, or at least not warn me?” she asked.

“Oh, like I’m supposed to remember that you’re allergic to something? You’re a grown woman, Ruby,” her mom hissed.

Okay, arguing about it was going to get her nowhere and with each passing minute, she could feel her air becoming more and more restricted.

“I need to get to the hospital. I don’t have my epi-pen with me because I don’t have my normal purse. Can you take me?”

Her mom let out an exasperated sound. “You’re being dramatic, Ruby. We can’t leave our own party. Have one of the security guards order a car for you.”

Looking up at her mom’s cold expression, Ruby backed away and practically ran toward the foyer. How could she have forgotten to bring an epi-pen?

As she walked down the marble hallway toward the front entrance, her foot slipped and she fell to the ground.

“Ruby?” Nash called out.

Looking up, she saw him running toward her.

“Ruby, baby, what’s wrong? Your lips are swollen. What’s going on?” he asked worriedly.

“I need . . . my Daddies . . . I’m h-having an allergic r-reaction and I don’t have my epi-pen. I n-need to g-go to the emergency room.”

Before she could even finish what she was saying, Nash had his phone up to his ear.

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