“It’s only ten,”I complained to Remy after we had finished our third trip of the day.
“Elections are a numbers game,” he reminded me, parking the bus in front of the campaign headquarters. Karen was waiting inside with breakfast. She handed me a sandwich from Sadie’s Between Her Biscuits.
“The polls are looking great for us,” she said happily to me. “And since Mace gave his employees time off to go vote, I suspect that our numbers will start looking even better once the lunch crowd votes and those exit-poll results come in. If you win the majority of the votes in this primary, then you’re automatically the mayor. Otherwise, we head into a runoff.”
“You’re not going to win by enough of a margin,” Blade said in a monotone. He was writing something on his tablet. “I already ran the numbers.”
“Are you serious? With the amount of money we’ve spent on this campaign, that is outrageous,” Garrett said, lip curling back. “Especially considering the fact that one of your opponents is running her campaign out of her garage, and the other is financially destitute.”
“To be fair,” Weston added, “I’m sure Walter is giving Meg a bunch of money in exchange for averynice thank-you present after she wins.”
There was a time when all it took to keep my little brothers cowering in fear was a well-placed snarl. Now it seemed like they had forgotten who was boss.
“Meg will not be giving Walter thanks for anything,” I said coldly. “And I’m sure you think that you’re being clever,Weston, but since you clearly have extra brain cells on your hand, you can be in charge of the kids during tonight’s victory party.”
“Seems a bit premature,” Garrett remarked.
“I will win. And I will have Meg. I’m not letting this drag out anymore.”
27
Meghan
“Ican’t believe Hunter beat me,” I said to Kate later that evening as we watched the TV coverage of the vote counts.
“If Ida hadn’t run,” Kate assured me, “you would totally have won this election with over fifty percent and been the mayor.”
“Still,” I said, feeling hurt, “I thought I was doing a good job as mayor, but only”—I checked the screen—“twenty-two percent of the people in town seem to think so. Even Ida won more votes than me. Maybe I should just let Hunter have the job.”
“No,” Kate scolded. “You need to see it through. The most worthwhile actions in life are rarely easy. That doesn’t mean you quit! I know you’ll be a better mayor than Hunter. The question is, do you believe it?”
Did I? I was tired. I was tired of campaigning and tired generally. I still did not have all the information on my full financial state, and with the election, the clock was ticking.
“Maybe I need to look for a different job,” I said, starting to panic. “You know, just in case Hunter wins.”
“Think positive thoughts,” Kate ordered. “If you behave as if you’ve already lost, you will.”
“But I did lose.”
“You didn’t lose,” Kate reminded me. “You just didn’t win.” We watched Karen on the screen smugly addressing the reporter.
“Of course Hunter Svensson was going to win the highest percentage of votes,” she told the news crew. “People are tired of Meghan Loring. They are tired of the overreaching of the mayoral branch in Harrogate. They are tired of her nagging and her bossiness.”
“She’s one to talk, that manipulative, lying bitch,” I yelled at the screen.
“Have some more wine,” Kate said soothingly. “We’ll go to that Italian place you were telling me about.”
“I can’t show my face in town!” I cried.
“We’ll order in.”
“Yoo-hoo!” Ida knocked on the glass door of the converted shipping container and stuck her head inside.
“I just wanted to tell you that I’m dropping out of the race,” the older woman said. “And I’m telling all my supporters to vote for you. We need a woman in this position!”
“Thanks, Ida,” I said dejectedly, “but I’m not sure it’s going to help.”
She peered at me. “Buck up! Back straight and stick those tatas out. You got this!”
