She asked about the station and Sandra and Robbie. He confirmed what Joe had told her. Then he mentioned that Matt Stinson was coming back to town and assured her Matt’s knee would heal. How he knew anything about it wasn’t clear. Matt and her father spoke only if they bumped into each other on the street. But her father was the last word on everything, regardless of his lack of firsthand knowledge. Ironic though it was, he was usually right, too.
“That boy’s not done playing football,” he said.
“I hope not. He loves it.”
“And we love watching him. You know what it’s like around here when the Packers have a game.” She did. Forget the San Francisco 49ers. As long as Matt played for the Packers, Whiskey Creek would be wearing green and gold.
Eventually her father said it was getting late and he had to be up early. At that point, Gail knew she’d waited too long to broach the subject of Simon. With Martin about to hang up, it would be even more awkward to give him her news. But she had no choice.
She cleared her throat. “Before you go I, uh, there’s something I want to tell you.”
This met with silence. No doubt he’d heard the nervousness in her voice.
“Everything okay, Gabby?”
Where he’d gotten that nickname, she had no idea, but he’d used it like an endearment ever since she was a child. “Yeah, of course. I’m fine. It’s just—”
“What the hell?” Joe spoke so loudly in the background that he interrupted their conversation. “Give me the phone.”
“What’s the matter with you?” her father responded, but the phone changed hands, and Joe’s voice came back on the line.
“Tell me it’s not true, Gail! Tell me Simon O’Neal didn’t rape you.”
She bit back a groan. “No, he didn’t. That was… Well, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it didn’t happen and I never said it did.”
“You’re sure? You’d tell us if you’d been hurt....”
And have them attempt to punish Simon? Probably not. She’d let the police handle something like that so her father and brother wouldn’t end up in jail. But she didn’t say so. “Of course. I’d speak up if I had anything to tell. That claim is one hundred percent false.”
He wasn’t completely mollified. “That’s what it says on AOL. But you wouldn’t lie about something like that. If you said it, it’s true.”
“I didn’t say it. One of my employees got drunk and started that rumor.”
There was a slight pause while Joe considered what she’d told him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No.”
“Which employee?”
“It’s been taken care of.”
“Whoever it is should be fired.”
“It’s been handled, like I said.”
“Is the same person responsible for the rest of it, too? Because Dad’s reading the article right now, and it says you and Simon have been secretly seeing each other for several weeks.”
Saying a silent prayer that this would go better than she feared, Gail changed her phone to the other ear. “My employee has nothing to do with that part of it.”
“Which means…what? It can’t be true! I can’t believe you’d go out with a man like Simon O’Neal. Any woman who got involved with him after all his bad press would be asking for trouble.”
“I… He… We’re not… I mean, I’ve been out with him a few times, but it’s not serious.” She told herself to calm down so she could at least speak coherently. “The media is making more of our relationship than it is.”
“There’s a picture with the caption Simon O’Neal’s Love Life Heats Up Again—with PR Maven Who Cried Rape.”
“Like I said, we went on a few dates, that’s all.”
Her father took over again. “Gail? What’s this all about?”
“I mentioned to Joe that Simon and I have gone out a couple of times, Dad. But it’s no big deal.”
“There’s no truth to the rape stuff?”
“None. I didn’t say it, and it didn’t happen. The rumors about Simon are crazy. He can’t do anything without the press making an issue of it.”
He didn’t let her comment about media exposure distract him. “Your brother’s right. Getting involved with someone like Simon is asking for trouble. You don’t want to screw up your life, do you?”
Imagining what he’d have to say when he learned about the marriage, she wrung her hands. “No, of course not. But…he—he’s not as bad as I thought.”
“Don’t you believe it, Gabby,” he warned. “If you have any doubts, all you have to do is ask his ex-wife.”
“It’s not like Bella and I are friends, Dad. Besides, I don’t get the impression that the divorce was entirely his fault.” In reality, she had no idea, but she had to use what she could.
“She’s got a restraining order against him, doesn’t she? That tells you all you need to know right there.”
It looked pretty cut-and-dried from the outside. Simon had been convicted in the court of public opinion. At one time—not long ago—she’d convicted him in her own mind, too. But Ian had suggested there was more to the story, and that made her a bit defensive. America only knew so much—Bella’s side. Not only that but Gail was Simon’s publicist. She was wearing his ruby necklace. And she’d agreed to become his wife. If she didn’t stand up for him, who would? “Does that mean he’s not worth helping through a rough time? That he should never get another chance to straighten out his life?”
“He’s had plenty of chances. You’ve told me that yourself. You don’t want to risk your heart on someone who’s sure to break it.”
She’d expected that response, and yet it bothered her. “I’m thirty-one, Dad. I’m quite capable of deciding who I want to date.”
“Not if you’re talking about a guy who can’t keep his pants zipped, Gail.”
The endearments were gone; she was Gail now. “He’s trying to change his life. Have I not communicated that part?”
Her father snorted. “If he wants to change, more power to him, but keep your distance or you’ll be sorry.”
“He’s fighting to gain custody of his son. That means he cares.”