“I just woke up.” From a dream about Gil. “I’m not thinking much at all.” She looked at the cruiser again. “I need to get dressed.”
“That’s fine, but no coffee,” Gil said. “For some reason, Sheriff Ronnie is pretty adamant about that part. Do you want me to wait out here?”
She hesitated. “You can come in. I’ll just be a few minutes.” She let Gil inside and gestured at the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
She walked back to her bedroom, regretting that she had to give up her Saturday to be woken this early and hauled down to the town’s jail. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, her mind returning to that dream about Gil. Why was she dreaming about him? They’d agreed to play nice in this mayoral election, but that didn’t mean she should be fantasizing about kissing him. He was still planning to shut down her mom’s bakery, and she was still planning to knock him out of office. Mayor Moira Green had a nice ring to it.
Moira brushed her hair and teeth and returned to the living room, where Gil had his eyes closed. He looked like he’d fallen right back to sleep. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
He jerked awake and smiled back at her, making her insides warm. Then he stood and faced her. “You don’t look like a criminal.”
He was teasing, but his words hit her wrong. She had been a criminal once. She’d acted without thinking, and she’d been hauled to jail. She didn’t want to relive that memory, but she kind of was right now. “Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving. You don’t look like someone who’d vote to tear down a woman’s livelihood for the sake of a few votes, and yet…” She trailed off as she walked past him toward the front door. Blame her rudeness on the fact that she hadn’t had her morning caffeine yet.
Turning back, she looked at Gil. “Fair warning. It’s probably best not to make conversation with me until after I’ve had a cup of coffee.”
Gil smiled. “I completely understand.”
And maybe he really did understand. He was one of the few people who knew she’d spent a night in jail.
“I was about to come looking for you two,” Sheriff Ronnie said when they reached the car. “I told Gil you had five minutes, and it’s been six.”
Moira slid into the back seat beside Gil, keeping several inches of distance between them. “You never said anything about coming to our homes while we were still asleep.”
“Or about handcuffs,” Gil added, glad that the sheriff hadn’t put those back on Gil’s wrists upon entering the car. He was glad Moira didn’t have to wear them either.
Ronnie offered a deep, rolling laugh. “I wish I was a fly on the wall to see how Denise is reacting right about now. Miles and I flipped a coin on who got to arrest her.” He flicked his gaze in the rearview mirror and looked at Gil and Moira. “Arresting the town’s mayor and our very own small-town hero is pretty fun too.”
The ride to the sheriff’s department was mainly filled with Sheriff Ronnie talking in between sips of his thermos of coffee. Must be nice.
Gil tapped Moira’s hand on the seat between them. “You okay?” he half mouthed, half whispered.
She nodded. “I was kind of expecting to drive myself to this lock-in this morning.”
“Me too. I’m hoping my friends and family pull through and bail me out pretty quickly.”
They pulled into the sheriff’s parking lot, and Ronnie parked the cruiser. “Let’s go, you two. I’ll get you some jailhouse coffee after I book you.”
“Book us?” Gil said. “You can’t be serious?”
“Mug shots and everything.” Ronnie chuckled. “It’s for charity, Mayor.”
* * *
Two hours after Moira had entered the jail cell with Gil, Denise walked in with a full face of makeup and her hair washed and styled.
“Well, good morning, you two,” she said, sipping from her cup of coffee from Sweetie’s Bakery.
“How’d you get a coffee from Sweetie’s?” Gil asked.
Denise smirked. “I insisted. And whenever I insist, I always get what I want.”
Apparently, she’d insisted on showering and putting her look fully together first too.
Denise sat down on one of the chairs in the cell, making a show of trying to get comfortable. “Oh, this is just awful,” she said with a distasteful expression. “This is one of the worst experiences of my life.”
“You’ve only been here two minutes.” Moira had given up on getting comfortable. She sat on the cot with her back against the cement block wall.
Denise shot her a look. “Deputy Bruno had his lights on when he came to get me. All of my neighbors saw me get into the front seat of his cruiser.”
“Front seat?” Gil asked with a look of disbelief. “We had to take the back. And we didn’t get showers or breakfast from Sweeties.”
“Well, Mayor Gil, as I told you, I know how to get what I want,” Denise said, casting him a pointed look. “That’s why I’ll make a great mayor for this town.”
Moira glanced over at Gil, who seemed to stiffen. He was good at keeping his cool, but she thought she saw the muscles along his jaw slightly clenching.
“And I don’t expect to be here too long before making my bail.” Denise sipped her coffee. “What a horrible, horrible experience,” she said again, shaking her head. Her hairspray helmet didn’t move. “Being treated just like a criminal. Never in my life.”
Moira massaged her forehead. She kind of hoped Denise did make bail sooner than later because she couldn’t imagine staying trapped in a cell with this woman for an entire day. Or perhaps Moira’s crowd would pull through and bail her out, leaving Gil to suffer Denise’s company alone.
“Okay, my favorite inmates.” Sheriff Ronnie stepped up to the other side of the bars. “We’ve got some media attention. Reva is here, and WTI-News is on their way over.” He rubbed his hands together, looking practically giddy for the usually solemn-faced sheriff. “Make sure you look real sad and pitiful so that folks want to donate to your bail.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Denise whined.
“There’s something we can agree on.” Moira shared a glance with Gil, who was grinning. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself in this situation. Knowing him, he probably was.
“Hey, ya’ll!” Reva walked into the room with her camera already raised to her face. “I just need a few pics for my blog. Smile pretty! I’m appealing to those who will be donating to your cause.”
“How about all three of you stand right behind the bars and cling to them?” Sheriff Ronnie asked.
No one moved to strike his suggested pose. Reva took a dozen or more pictures, and then they all posed and smiled for WTI-News.
At noon, Sheriff Ronnie came back to see them, jingling a key in the air. “All right, one of you has already made bail.” He looked between them, his gaze finally sticking on Denise. “It looks like your husband pulled through.”
Denise huffed. “Well, he waited long enough,” she said ungratefully. She stood and headed out of the jail cell without a backward glance.