“Must be a bad signal.” She took a bite of the delicious pancakes. “Yum. I mean…you…can’t…hello.” She clicked off the phone, ready to enjoy her meal with her two bodyguards. “I will pay for that when Stephanie gets here.”
Anna arrived back at their table, carrying the biggest plate of pancakes she’d ever seen. “I saw you on Ellen last year. You told her you were crazy about blueberries.”
“I am.”
“Then I hope you like this.” Anna placed the plate in front of her. “It’s King Cakes with blueberries and whipped cream.”
Gya looked down at the giant meal, covered in white sweetness with blueberries spelling out “Welcome Gya.” She grabbed Anna’s hand. “Thank you so much. I love this.”
The other customers cheered.
How many times had people given her their applause? Thousands of performances. But this wasn’t a performance.
She looked at all the people in the diner and then turned to Aaron and Kyle. This little town was different than any place she’d ever been, and this applause felt different, too.
Wilde felt like something she’d hoped for all her life. Wilde felt like home.
* * * *
The man handed the pilot his fake credentials. “Come on. Give a guy a break. I can stand over there with my camera. One little shot I can take back to my editor.”
“Sorry, fella. My passenger tomorrow isn’t Miss Gaynor.”
“Damn,” he said, though he already knew that. “But isn’t this her plane. Who else would you be taking?” He knew the answer to that question, too.
“Her agent.”
“You know about Scarpelli?”
“Who doesn’t?” the pilot answered.
“The entire country wants to know where Gya Gaynor is.” He pulled out a wad of bills, counting out five hundred dollars.
“I’ve been instructed to keep that private.”
He added another five hundred to the stack and handed it to the pilot. “You’re not telling me where she is. You’re only telling me where her agent is flying to. No harm. No foul.”
The pilot shoved the grand into his pocket. “I’m flying Ms. Parker to Wilde, Nevada.
He smiled and held out his hand.
The pilot shook his hand. “One question.”
He reached into his jacket ready to pull out his gun if the question turned out to be something he couldn’t answer. “Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Isn’t it difficult for you to be a photographer with a patch over your eye?”
“I’ve found that determination overcomes all obstacles. Nice doing business with you.”
“Keep my name out of the paper, okay?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter Twelve
Gya saw Stephanie walk into the Hotel Cactus’s lobby with two suitcases. She ran up to her, wrapping her arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Honey, are you okay?” Stephanie stepped back, her eyes wide.