Scandalous Truth by Monica P. Carter

William had been an admirer ever since.
    â€œSo, what’s going on around here?” Reverend Chance asked. He was tall, well over six foot, nearly 300 pounds, with broad shoulders and wore neatly pressed suits that had to be tailored especially for his large frame.
    â€œWell, the other side just released poll results showing we are behind by a significant margin.” William hated to break the news.
    â€œWell, we’ve fought uphill before,” Reverend Chance said. “That just means we work that much harder to get our message out.”
    â€œWe can order our own poll. I talked to the company yesterday. They are ready to go, if we want,” William said.
    â€œYes, but we don’t have the money for that,” Reverend Chance said. “I think we’ll wait another week or two and run the poll then.”
    â€œWell, we’ve got to know what the public is thinking,” said Olivia, joining the conversation. She was stocky, with freshly permed hair and wore a dark blue suit.
    â€œI know, dear, but we’ll just trust the Lord for the next week or so and find out then,” Reverend Chance said.
    â€œWe can’t just leave this one to trusting the Lord,” Olivia shot back.
    Reverend Chance raised a brow and his tone grew stern. “We don’t talk like that around here, Olivia.”
    She insisted. “Daddy, the general election is only a few months away. And, that’s if we make it that far.”
    â€œI know. But I feel good about this.”
    William wasn’t so sure. Lo Dark’s signs easily outnumbered theirs and the media coverage seemed to favor the incumbent. There were a few other candidates running, but they didn’t bear much mentioning, as they weren’t doing much campaigning. William swallowed before breaking the latest news.
    â€œJimmy Vaughn from The Times just stopped by. I’m surprised you didn’t see him leaving on your way in,” William said. “They are trying to do a story about you and a gambling problem. I told them that was ridiculous, that you didn’t have any such issues, but the guy seemed pretty intent on running something anyway.”
    â€œOkay, well, get them back on the phone.”
    â€œDo what?” William’s eyes shot to Reverend Chance’s face.
    â€œSet a meeting, this afternoon if you can,” Reverend Chance said.
    â€œWhat do you mean, sir? We don’t have to entertain foolishness.”
    â€œIt’s not foolishness.”
    William’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
    â€œI don’t mind talking about it,” Reverend Chance said.
    â€œI did waste a lot of money on the boats in my younger years, maybe ten years ago. But that’s all behind me now. The Lord blessed me to overcome that.”
    Olivia let out a snort. “That’s all we need, more bad stuff in the paper.”
    â€œWell, we can just come clean to the voters,” Reverend Chance said. “Honesty—”
    â€œIs overrated,” Olivia said flatly. She put her hand on her father’s arm. “Daddy, look. I understand that you want to be honest and tell folks about your past, but you and I both know you really don’t want to go there.”
    Reverend Chance kissed Olivia’s cheek. “You worry too much,” he said.
    â€œWell, somebody has to take control of things,” she said.
    Reverend Chance glanced around the campaign office, then back at his daughter. “I do have control.” A slight edge crept into his tone.
    â€œBut, Daddy, you should just let me handle all of this,” she said. “I know how to run your campaign. Don’t mess it up.”
    â€œOlivia,” Reverend Chance said, “This conversation is over. I have made my decision. I will go public and trust the voters to make the right choice.”
    William could tell Olivia wanted to protest, so he jumped in to steer the conversation away from a