and tried to stop it, but she said it already went to print. It’s too late.”
“Oh, damn.” Hope closed her eyes and sat back in her chair. “How bad is it?”
“It’s bad,” he breathed and let his head drop back. “I feel really shitty right now.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Gigi said, trying to soothe him. But Hope was certain nothing was going to help at that point. She could almost feel the guilt seeping off of him.
“What is the article going to say?” she asked, realizing that they just needed to rip the bandage off.
“Peggy Pitsman had an affair with the girls’ basketball coach when we were in high school. The story is about how she slept with him in order to convince him to start Whitley instead of Lex.”
Hope was speechless for a few seconds, her mouth working as if she were going to say something but no words came out.
“You can’t be serious,” Joy said, her eyes wide. “Peggy Pitsman slept with Mr. Gale? The same Mr. Gale who was married to Brenda, the one who brought homemade cupcakes to all the booster meetings and was just about the sweetest person who ever lived?”
He nodded, looking miserable. “I’m just glad she won’t have to see the story tomorrow. She didn’t deserve how he treated her.”
Brenda had passed away a couple of years ago after suffering a massive heart attack.
“This isn’t just a rumor is it? Do you have proof?” Hope finally asked.
“I have proof. I promised you I would.” He pulled out his phone, tapped a few buttons, and then showed her a picture that was clearly Peggy and Mr. Gale wrapped up in a compromising position in his office. There was a whiteboard behind him that had West Coast Tournament Champs and the year scrawled across it. “I took this photo myself when we were still in school. Afterward, Lex and I spied on them a lot. We both heard her offer him a roll in the sack as long as Whitley started in the next game. And sure enough, despite having a horrible season, Whitley started instead of Lex.”
Joy let out a gasp and covered her mouth. Then she narrowed her eyes in pure anger. “I remember that. Lex was so upset. And then when the team was down twenty points, he put her in, and she nearly killed herself to get them back in the lead. That happened a number of times that season. We never understood why. Mr. Gale is getting a piece of my mind tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Hope stared at her friend and almost laughed. It wasn’t as if Lex was her daughter. Though they all loved her. Lex was family, and it was no surprise Joy was protective. Hope just couldn’t believe she’d remembered all of that. “I didn’t know you were such a basketball fan, Joy. Did you go to all the games?”
“Yes. I met Grace there and we watched Lex’s game and then Kyle’s which was right afterward. I’ve been a huge fan ever since, though I prefer the college games to the pros. It’s just more interesting.”
“Huh. How come I never knew that?” Hope asked.
“Basketball wasn’t your thing. You were busy building your business.” Joy smiled at her.
“I guess so.” Hope cleared her throat and turned to Jackson. “Thanks for letting me know. I don’t love that this is coming out tomorrow. But it can’t be helped, so try not to stress about it, okay?”
“I’ll try.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I just feel so petty right now.”
“Don’t. She started this by spreading untrue rumors about me.” Hope shook her head in disgust. “And isn’t it just so predictable that she projected her immorality on me.”
“That’s always the way it goes down, isn’t it?” Gigi said. “They’re never original.”
The was a murmur of agreement, and then Jackson slipped out the back door to say goodnight to Lex.
The three witches stared at each other.
“Now what?” Joy asked. “Should we be doing more interviews around town? Or do we just sit back and wait for Jackson to talk to the two other people who overdosed?”
“I think we wait. Tomorrow’s going to be ugly when that article comes out. I think it’s better to lay low,” Hope said.
“Got it.” Joy turned her attention to her coffee mug.
Gigi sat back in her chair and said, “Well, that was one hell of an initiation into the coven. But when do we get to start hexing people?”
Hope and Joy stared at her.
She started