His stomach clenched. He’d never been one for popularity contests, which is what running for office felt like. He wanted a second term though. He thought he’d done a lot of good for the town since he’d been elected to office, and there was still more he wanted to do. It was time to start making a concerted effort to secure votes for reelection this fall.
The doorbell rang, and Goldie took off in that direction. Gil set his glass of water down and walked over to open the door.
“Hi, Gilly.” Doug was wearing his usual ball cap that read VOTE GIL RYAN FOR MAYOR in large block font.
“Hey, buddy.” Gil looked down at Doug’s foot. “How’s the ankle feeling?”
“All better. Mom wrapped it and gave me some ibuprofen.”
“Ah. I should have thought of that.”
Doug shrugged. “You’re not as smart as Mom is,” he teased.
Gil shook his head and chuckled. “True enough. Do you think the water will be good for a boat ride tonight?”
“The lake is calm,” Doug said with a nod.
“What do you say? Want to come out with me? An evening ride sounds like just what the doctor ordered.”
Doug adjusted his hat. “Sure. We need to discuss how to make other people like you.”
Gil grabbed his own ball cap from the hook by the door and put it on. “I suppose we can do that on the boat. You think there are folks out there who don’t like me?”
“I made a list,” Doug said without cracking a smile.
Gil matched Doug’s slower pace, guessing his ankle was still achy from his earlier fall. They headed toward the dock where Gil kept his pontoon boat. He also had a sailboat stored in a building off to the side of his house. While his friend Jake loved his small planes, Gil was a boat guy. “A list of people who don’t like me, huh? Is it long?”
Doug blew out a dramatic breath. “Let’s just say we have our work cut out for us.”
Gil hoped his brother was teasing him. If he had to guess who was at the top of that list, though—especially after tomorrow—it would be Moira Green.
* * *
Sheriff Ronnie never called. Moira hoped that meant her job wasn’t on the line. She’d left her post for a good reason. Then again, an argument could be made that there was never a good reason to leave the dispatch when you were one of the few people responsible for responding to emergencies. Each eight-hour shift had two operators, with ten dispatch operators employed in total. That made for a small department that held a great responsibility for the town.
After changing into a pair of cotton pajama pants and a lightweight tank, Moira climbed into bed, begrudging the fact that Gil was still lingering in her thoughts. He was perhaps the nicest guy she knew, and all three times she’d seen him today, she’d treated him like the enemy. There was no excuse for being anything less than friendly, but she couldn’t seem to help herself when he was around. Tomorrow, she’d apologize for acting rudely. Until then, she’d marinate in her guilt and try to get some much-needed sleep.
Moira burrowed under her covers and reached up to turn off her bedside lamp. Then she forced her eyes closed. It seemed like she’d just shut them when her phone’s alarm clock started chirping on the table beside her. Moira squinted at the light splintering through her bedroom window. Morning already? She felt like she had a hangover as she sat up and draped her legs off the edge of her mattress, pulling a deep breath into her lungs. Then she yawned and stretched her arms overhead, feeling her muscles pull taut over her joints. Her shift didn’t begin until nine a.m. Before that time, she wanted to get to Sweetie’s, grab some coffee and a bite with Tess, and hopefully run into Gil.
When had she ever thought that?
Moira stood and walked into the adjoining bathroom to freshen up and get dressed. Working from home meant that she could wear whatever she wanted. Today that was jeans with a stylish rip in one knee and a soft lavender tee.
Moira combed her hair, brushed her teeth, and grabbed her keys on the way out of her house. Sweetie’s was only a couple of miles away. Moira crossed the distance in the span of one song on the radio. She had to park all the way at the end of the street and walk to her destination, which was fine when the weather was nice. When it wasn’t, she either got drenched or stayed home and settled for subpar coffee.
She pulled her keys from the ignition and got out, spotting Gil’s truck nearby. Nerves bound her chest. The history between her and Gil was complicated. He wasn’t like his former roommate. It hadn’t been Gil who’d slipped a drug in Moira’s drink when she was twenty-one with the intention of doing who knows what.
On the contrary, Gil had been the one to stop his friend from following through on his sordid plans. Because of Gil, Moira had been spared what might have been the most traumatic night of her life.
Moira’s thoughts bounced around as she walked. The whole night was a big blur. All she really remembered was waking up at home and finding Gil in her kitchen. He’d explained that he’d driven her home. He told her that she was so intoxicated that he didn’t feel right about leaving her alone, so he’d stayed and slept on the couch. Moira had gone through that day confused about why she’d been so drunk after having only half a beer. She hadn’t wanted to believe Felix would have slipped something in her drink, but as the day went on and her brain tried to make sense of the night before, that was the only explanation.
A little bell tinkled above Moira’s head as she entered Sweetie’s Bakeshop. She waited for her mom’s greeting, but it didn’t come. Her mom wasn’t even behind the counter.
“Oh, Moira. There’s the hero of the hour!” someone said, gaining Moira’s attention.
Moira turned toward Reva Dawson, her guard immediately rising. Friendly or not, Reva was the town’s biggest gossip, and Moira didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. “Hi, Reva. What exactly do you mean by hero?”
“You didn’t read my blog post this morning, did you?” Reva tsked. “That’s okay. As you know, I have eyes and ears all over town. I heard about what you did for Doug.”
Moira felt the blood drain from her face. “Oh? What exactly did you hear?”
“That you saved the day. The local authorities were too caught up in that multiple vehicle accident, so hearsay is that you took it upon yourself to crawl through Mayor Gil’s doggie door and help Doug in his moment of crisis yourself. Bravo, Moira.”
Moira’s lips parted. She couldn’t decide which part of this realization horrified her the most. “You didn’t put that on your blog, did you?” Please say no.
“Of course I did,” Reva said, a proud gleam in her eye. “It’s bullet point number one.”
Reva’s blog consisted of bullet points to offer the most recent gossip in an easy-to-read-and-pass-along format. “You beat out the three-car pileup news.”
“Lucky me. But, Reva, can you please take what I did for Doug down? I wasn’t supposed to leave the dispatch. I could get in trouble for that.” Sheriff Ronnie was a reasonable guy, and Moira thought he liked her, but he was a stickler for rules. Staying on the dispatch during your shift was a biggie.
“Heavens no. Why would I take that down? You’re a local hero around here, dear. The blog has already had nine hundred hits, and it isn’t even eight a.m.” The gossiper was practically glowing.