Chapter Twenty-Six
Reagan
I was at the diner early on Friday morning, before the rush came in, talking to Dana. I liked going in at that time. It meant I could talk to her about work and other things without anyone hearing me. Dana’s husband, Drake, was in too, and it was good to see him again. The two of them had the sort of relationship that I had always wanted. After eight years of being together and three years of marriage, they still looked at each other like they had just met. They often joked around with each other and pretended to bicker, but I would always catch sight of the small smile that would pass between them.
“Reagan, you’re here early,” Drake said and handed me a coffee.
I grinned at him. “Yeah, I like getting some time with Dana before people come in and swoop her away from me. This place is always so busy. When are you going to come work here?” I asked. Drake owned the café with Dana, but he didn’t work there. Instead, he ran his own computer business from home. During times when he didn’t have to deal with clients, he would bring his laptop into the café and work there.
“If I worked here, I probably wouldn’t love it so much. And Dana would get sick of me, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think Dana could ever get sick of you. So, how have you been? I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“It’s been busy. I’ve been here, but I think I keep missing you. Although that’s probably because of this crazy time that you get here. From the sound of things you’re just as busy.”
“I don’t think anybody is as busy as Reagan,” Dana interrupted.
I chuckled. “I doubt that. Look at the two you. Non-stop.”
“Times have changed. Back in the day, we used to have so much more time to mess around,” Drake said. “How are things at work, Reagan? From the look of things, you’ve done a great job in the campaign. The last time I checked I saw that Josh’s party was doing well. People seem to love him. And, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve really softened his edges.”
“Oh good. I’m glad you noticed. Has it come across as genuine though? I didn’t want people to think that he has changed just for the votes.”
“It comes across as genuine. He’s better than he was a few months ago. I must say, I didn’t like the guy all that much. But Dana said he seemed like a nice guy when he came in for dinner with you. She said you’re all smiles when you talk about him. But this latest Josh that I’ve seen is definitely a lot more likable. Seeing as though you’ve been working for him for a while now, which is the real Josh?”
I didn’t mind talking about it because there was nobody else in the diner to listen in.
I smiled at him. “This Josh is the real one. He is a bit cocky, that part is all true, but he’s a good guy. The cocky part is mostly for how. He’s actually a real softie underneath it all.”
“Hmm, Dana is right, you do light up when you talk about him.”
I looked at Dana and pulled a face. “No, I don’t.”
“So nothing is going on between the two of you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, he’s just my boss. I like him, but there’s nothing going on.” I could tell them once the campaign was over. For now, it was better if I didn’t say a thing. I was sure that they could see right through it, but there was nothing I could do about that.
“If you say so,” Drake said.
I groaned. “You sound just like your wife. What’s the big deal anyway? Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that there really was something going on between myself and Josh. What would it matter?”
“Well, he’s your boss for one,” Dana said.
“Yeah, so?”
“Does this mean there really is something going on between the two of you? Are you finally admitting it? Because it’s about time you told us the truth.”
I shook my head again. “It was a hypothetical statement. I’m not admitting a thing. Nothing is going on. You know me; I’m still single and not at all ready to mingle.” I knew they didn’t believe me. I could imagine them talking about it at night while lying in bed. The thought made me feel bad but I would tell them eventually, and they would understand.
“That’s not how the saying goes,” Drake said.
“It is when it comes to my life.”
“Anyway, hypothetical or not, you should be careful,” Dana said.
“What do you mean?” I said and frowned at her.
“Well, not so long ago we thought that Josh wasn’t a good guy. I know you always liked what he stood for, but even you said that he looked like a bit of an idiot. You haven’t actually worked for him for that long, and you have no idea if he’s showing you his true colors. Whether you want to admit it or not, the guy likes you. Which means he’s obviously only going to show you the side that he wants to show you. Just be careful. Don’t get sucked into this without knowing what you’re getting yourself into. I don’t want you to fall into a trap with this guy. You barely know him.”
I thought about his lips on mine. I knew him.
“Hey, don’t worry about Reagan,” Drake said. “She’s a smart girl. She knows what she’s doing.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Drake. You really don’t have to worry about me.”
“You’re my best friend,” Dana said. “I will always worry about you.”
“And I love you for it. Anyway, I better go. I need to get to work. Today is going to be a busy one.”
“One week to go until the polls open,” Drake said. He knew a bit more about what was going on than Dana. “Good luck. You guys have this one!”
“Thank you. It was good to see you again. Once this all dies down, we all have to do dinner together.”
“Great idea,” Dana said. “And you can bring your boyfriend along too.”
I groaned. “I’m out of here,” I said. I laughed and quickly ran up to kiss her goodbye before hurrying out to my car before she could say anything else.
I had just gotten into my car and was just about to pull off when my phone rang, and I saw that it was Mack. My heart skipped a beat. He said he’d call if he found anything on Josh and I couldn’t help but feel nervous. I just hoped he was calling to say hello and nothing else.
“Sorry to call you so early. I was hoping to get you before work,” he said.
“I was just about to leave, actually. Is everything okay?” I asked nervously.
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have found something. It’s not too bad, Reagan, but I did find something that I thought you should know about.”
I sighed heavily. “Okay. Lay it on me then.”
“It’s about Josh’s mother. Remember the last time I told you that I couldn’t find anything on her. Well, turns out she was put in jail for extortion.”
“What? His mother is in jail? I don’t understand. How do we not know about this?”
“Josh has gone to great lengths to hide this from the public. Names have been changed, people have been paid, that sort of thing. And, to be fair, he’s done a very good job of it. I do this for a living, and it was still not an easy thing for me to find. I had a lot of suspicions, but he did such a good job of hiding it from everyone.”
“Are you sure though?” The last thing I wanted was to get nervous about something that wasn’t even true. “Did someone maybe not just say that?”
“Reagan, I wouldn’t be calling you about this unless I was sure. I’m definitely sure. Look, it’s no reflection on who he is as a person.”
“I know that. It has absolutely nothing to do with Josh and nothing to do with the fact that he is a senator. It shouldn’t matter one bit. But the public won’t see it that way. Or should I say, the media won’t see it like that. In fact, they will just love something like this. They feed off scandals. And the competitor will easily use this to make Josh look bad. You know, in a way, I’m not sure if he should’ve hidden it.”
“What do you mean? Do you think he should own up to it?”
“Look, I know it’s not a nice thing for someone in his position to have in his family, but sometimes the truth speaks louder than anything else. People would’ve figured out long ago that it had nothing to do with Josh. He should’ve said something from the start.”
“But it’s too late for that now,” Mack said. He was echoing my own thoughts on the situation.
“Yeah, it’s far too late for that now. Now if they found out they’re just going to make a big deal about the fact that he kept it so quiet. They’ll blow the whole thing out of proportion. Ah, this is awful, Mack.”
“I’m sorry, Reagan. But like I said, I had a hard time tracking it down, so I’m almost certain nobody will find it. I almost didn’t phone you, but you said that you wanted to know everything and that you wanted to stay ahead of the game. I just don’t want you to worry about something that might never actually see the light of day.”
“No, I’m glad you called me. I do want to know everything. Thanks, Mack.”
“I’ll fax over the details to you so you can have it all for yourself.”
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you. Hopefully I can figure out what to do with this. That’s if I’m going to do anything at all. Lots to think about. But listen, I better go; I need to get into work. Thanks for letting me know, Mack. Come round to Dana’s sometime so we can catch up over coffee. I’ll let you know when my life isn’t so busy.”
“Do that. It’s been too long. Good luck with everything, Reagan.”
“Thank you,” I said and put the phone down.
I drove to work feeling like I had the world on my shoulders. It wasn’t the end of the world, especially considering it took Mack so long to find the truth. But it also wasn’t great news. My biggest worry was that there was someone out there, Frank and his team perhaps, that were doing just as much digging as Mack was. Frank had already asked me to switch sides, and he had already slammed Josh during his press conference, so I wouldn’t put it past him. If Josh was in the lead then he would do anything to gain back those votes. My biggest problem was that I needed to talk to Josh about it all. That was the only way we could figure this out. But if I told Josh I knew about his mother, he would know that I had hired a private investigator to dig up information on him. Josh was not going to like that. I thought that perhaps I should just stop being so paranoid and ignore it all. After all, there was a big chance that nobody would ever find out. But it was also my job to protect Josh from the public, and that meant talking to him about what I knew. I felt so torn.