Page 98 of The Good Luck Cafe
“No. Where is it?”
“TheDaily Gazette.”
TheDaily Gazettewas one of the bigger newspapers that served the western side of the state. Gil got into his truck. Before cranking the engine, he typed “theDaily Gazette” into a browser on his phone. “How bad is it?” he asked Jake, who was now on the speakerphone.
“For you, not bad at all. For Moira? Not great.”
Gil sighed. The article loaded onto the front page of the digital newspaper with the headlineMAYORAL CANDIDATE WITH A PAST MIGHT NOT BE GOOD FOR SOMERSET’S FUTURE. Gil really didn’t want to read any further, but his eyes lowered just enough to see Felix’s name. “Thanks for alerting me to this, buddy. I need to go,” he said, turning the key and cranking the engine.
“I assume you’re heading to Moira’s house.”
“As fast as I can,” he said before disconnecting the call. Then he texted Moira.
Gil:I’m on my way. Be there in 10.
He waited a minute to see if she’d respond. When she didn’t, he put the truck in drive. Gil had been on the receiving end of bad press a few times in his career, for something stupid he’d said or done in his past. The past had a way of rearing its ugly head. Something told him this would devastate Moira though. She was a private person, just dipping her toe into the public spotlight. This was too much. How had this information been leaked?
Gil pulled up to a stop sign and glanced at his cell phone in his center console. She hadn’t responded to him. Maybe she hadn’t seen the article yet. That would be the best-case scenario. He didn’t want her to be alone when she saw it. If he could be by her side to support her and assure her that this would pass, maybe it wouldn’t sting as much.
He looked both ways. Seeing that the road was clear, he kept driving, pressing the gas pedal a little heavier than he probably should and going a few miles over the speed limit to get to Moira.
When he pulled into her driveway, her car was parked, and she was still sitting in the driver’s seat. Her forehead was lowered to the steering wheel and her body shook softly.
Oh no.
He was too late. Gil’s gut tied itself into knots. She’d already seen what was written about her, and by the looks of it, she was devastated.
***
Moira couldn’t move. She wasn’t even sure she was breathing right now. Or maybe she was breathing too much. Her head was spinning, and the world seemed to be falling away from underneath her.
She heard the vehicle pull in behind her, but she didn’t lift her head to see who it was. Maybe it was Lucy with the ice cream therapy she’d offered. Or Tess. Or Gil. She wasn’t sure whom she was hoping for. Maybe she just wanted to be alone or disappear, never to be seen again.
Her mom had sent the article to her while she was driving. She’d read it once she’d pulled into the driveway, and now she was having what could only be described as a small panic attack. The article had told only half the story.
The lock-in fundraiser at the sheriff’s department was not the first time Ms. Green was thrown in jail. Reports have come in revealing that, when Ms. Green was twenty-one, she was arrested for destruction of property. At the time of her arrest, the targeted apartment was being leased to Gil Ryan, who is now Somerset Lake’s mayor, and his former roommate, Felix Wilkes.
A knock on her window made Moira finally look up.
It was Gil. Tears immediately filled her eyes.Yeah.He was the one she was hoping for. She suddenly needed to melt into his arms. He opened her car door and stepped toward her, embracing her in a hug. “Hey, I’m sorry,” he whispered in her hair. “I know you didn’t want any of that information to become public knowledge.”
“You read the article?” she asked, burying herself in his chest.
“Yeah.”
“It’s not fair. It paints him as the victim and me as the aggressor. When he’s the one who…” She was struggling to manage her breaths. It felt like the cap had come off her bottled-up emotions, and her messy feelings were bursting out of her.
“I know.” Gil’s hand smoothed the hair on the back of her head. “Want to go inside? I’ll make you a cup of tea. Or coffee. I can do whatever you need to make this better.”
Moira sniffled. She pulled away and looked up at him. “Everyone is going to read this article, Gil. Everyone will know what I did. How can I run for mayor now? How can I ever show my face in town again?” More tears welled in her eyes until one slipped down her cheek. She quickly swiped it away with the back of her hand. “I could even lose my job over this.”
“Lose your job? Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little bit?” Gil asked.
Moira shook her head. “Gil, I never told Sheriff Ronnie about my criminal history. When Ronnie hired me, he asked me point-blank if I had ever had any run-ins with the law, and I said no.”
Gil’s face seemed to blanch. “I see.”
“I was never charged with a crime. The charges were dropped because of you. I’m guessing Felix never filed charges because he didn’t want me to tell anyone about what he’d done to make me lash out like that. Not that he would have admitted to anything or that I had any proof.”
