Chapter Eleven
The next evening, still a little delightfully sore in all the right places, Aimee blew out a breath before she opened the door. An early dinner with Miz Rose, Katie Faith and the moms was usually a fun event. Especially once the moms started in on the white wine.
Tonight was different though. They had a lot to discuss and most of it didn’t have fun involved at all.
Still, the scent of White Shoulders greeted her as she was pulled into a hug from Miz Rose. “Come on through, sweetheart. Everyone’s in the kitchen.”
The crew in the kitchen was made up of blood relations or those as good as, like Katie Faith and Nadine. Aimee’s mom waved and then gave her a quick hug.
There was a large spread so she filled her plate and settled at the big table as everyone ate for a few minutes.
“Have any of you heard anything official from the wolves?” Miz Rose asked as she joined them all.
Katie Faith said, “The Dooley wolves are duly chastened and apologize profusely for what happened night before last. I’ve also encouraged them to hasten toward a resolution with the Pembrys.”
“I can’t get the mayor to return a call and he wasn’t in his office today. Apparently he’s pretending to be sick instead of a coward,” Miz Rose told them with a sniff.
Man, if Miz Rose came at her with that attitude she’d be hiding under a table. Maybe that was where Dwayne was just then.
“I know Mac is trying to deal with it,” she told them before thinking about how it would make people react.
Everyone turned to look at her and that was when she realized her oops.
“What?” Aimee asked, though she knew exactly what.
“How is it you know what Mac Pembry is or isn’t doing?” her mother asked with a raised brow.
Aimee’s cheeks heated with her blush. “Oh. Well. We’re, uh, dating.” If she counted the makeout session as the first date and the night before as the second, it was fair to say they were dating instead of fucking. An important distinction when one was talking to one’s momma.
“When did this happen?”
“Really recently. Anyway, so he and I had dinner with Katie Faith and Jace last night. I believe he’s genuine about wanting to make things better. I just don’t know if his father will get out of his own way to let that happen. They keep pushing Darrell and if you ask me none of them want him as Patron except his buddies. Makes me question Dwayne’s leadership so much more the longer this goes on.” She shrugged. “But I’m not a wolf. In any case, all this silly ducking of phone calls and the like is weak.” She realized she had to decide whether or not to go to Mac with that.
She cared about it differently because he was more to her than a hot dude she boned. There was a vulnerability about him when it came to his father. A weight he shouldered without complaint, but one she saw nonetheless.
It made her protective of him.
“Is this a serious thing?” her mother asked, totally off the official subject and straight into Aimee’s business.
Aimee sighed, staring back her mom’s way. “It’s very new.”
“I didn’t ask you if it was new or not.” Steel edged her mom’s tone.
Southern mommas did not mess around when they asked you a question. TeeFaye was no different.
“It’s not casual. That much I know.”
“You and me need to take some time later, all right? We didn’t finish our conversation the other night.” Her mother’s narrowed gaze told Aimee she hadn’t forgotten that promise to tell her about the situation with Bob.
Great.
She nodded.
“So we go in tonight and demand to be heard,” Miz Rose said to everyone, getting them back on track.
Aimee said, “We’ve made it clear multiple times that the worsening situation between the wolves is negatively affecting the town and the people who live here and are protected by her magic. Katie Faith, what was that business between JJ and Dwayne?”
Katie Faith rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “He’s pokered up but I’m guessing it’s about Jace’s dad. He’s gone off on a hunting trip. His own version of ducking calls.”
“So this is old business. Personal business and it’s getting in the way of the rest of us.” Nadine’s mouth flattened into a line that spelled trouble.
Aimee added, “But it’s not pack business. I mean, it is because it involves the wolves, but it’s about people. It usually is. So we have a better chance of solving things that way. We just need to know what each one of them needs and find a way to get them close enough to that to solve this.”
“Which is sort of your jam, right?” Katie Faith asked. “You’re the empathic nurturer.”
“I’m not a contract negotiator, for heaven’s sake!” But she was good at figuring out what people needed and then finding ways to deliver.
Katie Faith’s mom interrupted, “Dwayne won’t listen to reason. He won’t listen at all. How can we fix it around him? I like Mac, I always have and I’m not the only person in town glad to see him back. But he’s not even Prime.”
Which meant he’d have to challenge his father or his brother, maybe even both. Dwayne must have known that when he called Mac home. If not, he certainly had to know it by now. And what the hell kind of father did that to his son? He’d stacked the deck against Mac in so many ways and yet in the end, Mac would have to overcome all that and take over to drag the Pembrys out of this trouble.
It made her sick and suddenly she loathed Dwayne more than she ever had. Worse, she had lost all trust and confidence that he could run the town to the benefit of all the citizens.
“Dwayne needs to go. He’s a lousy mayor and he’s holding the rest of us hostage.”
The room went silent as they all looked to Aimee, smiling.
“I agree. And I’ve taken the liberty of going over the town bylaws. We can challenge him and call for an election to be held within thirty days.” Miz Rose pushed a sheet of paper her way. “The relevant information is there.”
“Me? What?”
Miz Rose gave her a look. “You’re going to run for mayor and beat the snot out of Dwayne Pembry, silly.”
“I’ll run your campaign!” Katie Faith told her. Even as Aimee shook her head Katie Faith continued speaking. “Before you start to argue, just stop. You can do this. Didn’t we just say this was your jam?”
“In fact, I think you’d be amazing at it.” Aimee’s mom reached over to squeeze her hand. “You’ve always been a leader. Quiet determination, but the most determined person I’ve ever known. We need to heal after we get this town back on track. You were born for this.”
“I’d be lying if I denied I hadn’t thought about it. But the fact is, I have a full-time job already. How can I fit it all in? I don’t want to ask the people here in Diablo Lake to get rid of one do-nothing and go replacing him with someone just as bad.”
Miz Rose waved that away. “I’m old enough to remember other mayors. Dwayne has everything funneled through him because he’s got control issues. But you wouldn’t have to run it that way. The job isn’t meant to be a full-time position. Most everyone else has worked a day job while holding the mayor’s office too.”
Aimee chewed her lip a moment. “If I delegated to representatives of the different packs and the cats, as well as the witches in the Consort, we could have a much better, more representative form of government. And then the load is redistributed to a larger group, which is more democratic and less overall work. I hope.”
Her mother grinned. “You have been thinking about this.”
“Told you. It makes me really mad, you know? Mad that Dwayne acts like he’s owed that job. And one he pretty much sucks at. The roads aren’t being repaired. The signal as you enter town has been broken for months now. Witches already healed the tree that’d been dying in the town-square park, but we had to do it on our own, without permission because he farted around so long playing games. The school needs the funding for another teacher and he won’t even have a damned committee meeting scheduled to deal with it.” Aimee curled her lip a moment.
“There’s so much antagonism and drama that we can’t even have a city council meeting anymore without having to reschedule for another day. And he’s doing nothing to fix any of this. It’s like he’s frozen in headlights or something. Whatever it is, I’m just totally sick of it. I don’t want to be mayor forever. But I think we need a break from Dwayne. To cleanse the town’s palate before a new leader takes over.”
“This is the part where I play devil’s advocate even though I think you’ll be a great mayor, okay?” Katie Faith asked. At Aimee’s nod, she continued, “He’s going to see this as an attack against Pembry.”
“Maybe.” Aimee shook her head with a snort. “Most likely he will even though it isn’t. I can’t control his feelings. Not that I won’t be careful. I’m not stupid. My aim is to approach this in a way that’s best for everyone when I can.”
“How’s Mac going to feel about this?” Katie Faith went on.
She kept her wince back, but the pressure of her mother’s deepening attention landed on her. “I hope he won’t take it as an insult because that’s not what it is. But I can’t control his feelings either.”
She really liked him. A lot. And she didn’t want to hurt him. She could only hope he’d see what she was doing for what it was. Regardless, she was going forward because she truly felt it was what was best for everyone.
“He should understand politics. Jace did and he’s all superbossy wolf with most everything else. I bet Mac will think it’s hot that you’re doing this. Gonna get his werewolf DNA all riled up.”
“I think not having this discussion right now would be best for me,” she told her best friend.
It then dawned on Katie Faith that Aimee’s momma was sitting right there and perhaps werewolf hotness wasn’t a topic for that time.
She mouthed, “Oops.”
“Moving on. So, we’ll challenge Dwayne tonight and I’m the one who’ll run for the mayor’s office. Is everyone sure about this? We haven’t polled the entire Consort about this.”
“We already discussed this before the last city council meeting. The Consort is in agreement through representatives who all spoke for the witches in this town. You’re well liked. Trusted. Better than that, you’re respected.” Miz Rose smiled. “You’ve taken care of a lot of people in Diablo Lake or their kin so they know you, or feel like they do. Your mother is right, you’d be amazing at being mayor.”
Aimee rapped her knuckles on the tabletop. “All right then. Let’s go make trouble for the man.”
“Hold up, sweetheart,” her mom called out, linking arms with her. “I’ll ride in with you. Makes no sense for me to drive as well. Your dad will meet us there and I can come home with him after.”
“And so I can tell you my story,” she said as they got into the car.
“Well, naturally.”
Despite being embarrassed, she found herself feeling unburdened as she related the situation with Bob to her mother. It also helped that her attention had to be on the road and then finding a good parking space as she told it.
Once she’d parked and turned the car off, she turned, allowing herself to face her mom. “He made me the other woman. I’m just so disgusted with myself. Humiliated that I made such a mistake.”
There was no harsh judgment on her mother’s face. Not for Aimee anyway. The fierce lines on her features were in defense of her child, not against her behavior. “You didn’t do anything bad here so stop being disgusted with anyone but him. He’s in the wrong. He lied to everyone here and now he’s trying to push it off on you.” She made a disgusted sound.
“I’m a witch! I should have known he was hiding something. I can tell with everyone else. Maybe I didn’t want to see it. I dated him for a few years on and off. I never thought he was the one or anything. We had fun. It wasn’t serious. He had kids and a wife that whole time and it never even occurred to me.” Aimee banded her arms over her stomach. Not being able to rely on her magical gifts had really left her off balance.
“Some people are good liars. They’re good liars because they’re deluding themselves too. That’s why you missed it. Also, darling, who on earth does that? He had his own apartment for his dalliances. He lied to everyone including you.”
“He never seemed like a sociopath! He opened my door. His job is helping disabled poor people. He really did seem to care about that.”
“Hitler loved dogs.” Her mother rolled her eyes. “So he’s not entirely evil. Big whoop. He had no reason to tell you at this point except to make himself feel better. It’s like he walked back over to you, punched you in the gut and then walked away again.”
Aimee nodded emphatically. “I wasn’t sad when we broke it off. And I didn’t miss him. But this left me feeling so used. He made me into something I wouldn’t have chosen to be. And he did it without my consent.”
Her mom pulled Aimee into a fierce hug. “I want to head down there and beat the pee-whining shit out of that man. This is not on you.” She gave Aimee’s shoulders a little shake as she pulled away, just to underline that point. “You were raised better. You’re not who he tried to make you into.”
She hadn’t realized just how much she’d needed to hear a pep talk like that until her mom gave it to her.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I love you. Now. The next thing we have to discuss is Mac. You’ll bring him to dinner this Sunday.”
Not a suggestion or a request.
She could have argued that it was too soon to have him over to her parents’. But that would have been a lie. Her mother knew it and she knew it. So she accepted that, like a lot of other ways, Diablo Lake courting was often different than it was elsewhere.
“If he’s still talking to me after I announce in front of God and everyone that I’m out to steal his daddy’s job.”
Her mom snorted and then opened her door. “If the boy’s that weak, leave him be. But I doubt he is or you’d have been bored. Come on then, Ms.Mayor. Let’s get moving.”