Page 37 of The Good Luck Cafe
She flitted her gaze toward him. “Mayor Gil,” she said, sounding too polite and stiff to her own ears. “Excuse me. I have to get a coffee and then get to my shift.” She hurried past, walking to the counter, where her mom was watching.
“I hope you were nice to Mayor Gil,” Darla said.
Moira rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you were nice enough for both of us.”
“I like him. And he likes you. You should be nicer.”
“I am nice,” Moira protested. “If you must know, we actually had a little truce the other night.”
“Yeah?” Darla turned and prepared Moira’s coffee.
Moira leaned against the counter and sighed. “That was when I thought he was going to help us though.”
“Gil is just doing his job, Moira.” Darla turned back to her and slid a coffee in her direction. “Tess isn’t joining you today?”
“No, she got some new inventory in. She’s unboxing and shelving this morning,” Moira said, reaching for her drink. “I’ll see her at book club tonight. Thanks, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too. Be nice to the mayor,” she said again. “I told you how I feel about things.”
“You did, and I don’t understand it.” She felt someone step up behind her in line. “But you have customers, and I have a dispatch shift. Talk to you later, Mom.”
Moira turned and walked out of the store. Or tried to.
“Moira Green?” Vi called from her table. She was seated across from Reva Dawson this morning.
Moira turned toward the women. “Good morning.” She looked between them. “Do you need something?”
“We just wanted to tell you how proud we are of you, standing up for the small businesses here. I’m a small business owner myself,” Vi said.
“And I am, too, in a way,” Reva added.
“It was inspiring watching you go up against the council last night,” Vi told her.
“You were fearless,” Reva said. “I should have written that on my blog. I might have to edit it.”
“No, that’s okay.” Moira wished Reva would just leave her out of the blog from now on.
“Have you ever thought of running for office?” Vi asked. “You would be great at it. You were so passionate up there.”
“Well, I am passionate. Sweetie’s is my mom’s business.”
“Even so, you were take-charge.”
Moira looked between the women. “Thank you. That’s nice of you to say.”
“And we support you one hundred percent,” Vi said.
“In keeping the bakery open?” Moira asked. She really needed to get that petition going. The more signatures, the better her chances.
“No. In running for office,” Vi said matter-of-factly.
“A woman mayor. Imagine that,” Reva said, as if it were a novel idea.
Moira hated to break it to Reva that women were occupying all kinds of offices these days. But she wasn’t one of them. “Oh, no I’m not…” She trailed off. She’d never even considered running for a public office before. “I have a job. I work dispatch.” And she was good at it.
“Well, being mayor in Somerset Lake doesn’t have to be a full-time job, you know? You can still work at the dispatch. Change keeps us young,” Vi told her.
“Well, she is young,” Reva pointed out. “But change keeps things interesting for sure. You should consider it.”
