“To somewhere nice? Maybe cooler?” Scarlett asked.
“No, stayed right here in Royal. Scarlett, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Are you good with this?” Naomi asked. “I mean, me and Toby getting married. You’re okay about it?”
“Absolutely.” Scarlett paused when Amanda Battle walked up to their table. She slid two tall glasses of ice water onto the table, and Scarlett sighed. “Bless you, my child.”
“Thanks, I’ll take it,” Amanda said, laughing. “You two been running around buying out Royal’s shops?”
“Just put a dent in a few of them,” Naomi assured her. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of why they’d come to the diner. And a salad just didn’t sound the least bit appetizing. “Can I get a turkey sandwich? Potato salad?”
“Oh, me too, please,” Scarlett said.
Amanda nodded and hurried off to tend to other customers. So when they were alone again, Scarlett took a long drink of her water, then said, “Anyway, why wouldn’t I want you married to Toby? You’re way better for him than Sasha was.”
“Low bar there, but thanks,” Naomi said drily.
“What’s going on?” Scarlett watched her for a long minute. “You don’t se
em as excited as I thought you’d be over everything. I mean, you’re engaged, pregnant and have Hollywood knocking on your door.”
“It’s complicated,” Naomi said and thought that might be the understatement of the century. She still didn’t know what she was going to do about the offer from Tamara Stiles, and she had to let them know soon.
But if she took it, she would be giving up the kind of control that had made the show hers in the first place. And did she really want to live in Hollywood for weeks at a time? If she did, what about Toby? Would he move there with her? Stay on the ranch? And what about when she had the baby? What then? Would she be dragging the baby from state to state?
“Wow. Judging by your expression, wish I could buy you a beer.”
Naomi sighed. “Me too. Or the most gigantic glass of wine in the state of Texas.” She took a long drink of her ice water, letting it soothe her dry throat. “There’s just so much going on right now, and I’m still getting emails from people about that stupid video—”
“No one who knows you cares about that thing, Naomi,” Scarlett said.
“I know, but millions of people who don’t know me have seen it.” Just thinking of that made her want to cringe. Didn’t matter if she’d managed to turn the tables on Maverick. That she’d taken his vicious attack and made it work for her.
Whoever Maverick was had tried to ruin her life, and knowing that person was still out there made her nervous. He’d wanted to make her life a misery. Wouldn’t it infuriate him to realize that he’d inadvertently helped Naomi rather than hurt her? Wasn’t it likely that he’d try something else in order to make trouble for her?
“Okay, yeah,” Scarlett allowed, “millions of people saw the video, but now they’re tuning in to your show, so hey. Win for you.” She picked up her water glass, waited for Naomi to do the same and then clinked them together in a toast. “Seriously, don’t let that weirdo bother you. I’m sure Sheriff Battle’s going to find out who Maverick is and stop him. Soon.”
“I hope so,” Naomi confessed. “I can’t help wondering if he’s going to be frustrated at how the video worked for me and try something else.”
“I understand why you’d be worried about that, but honestly, I don’t see it happening.” Thoughtful, Scarlett looked at her. “Why would he? There’re still plenty of people in Royal to screw with.”
“Talking about Maverick?”
Both women looked up at Gabe Walsh. He was tall and gorgeous and his hazel eyes always held a gleam of humor. His dark blond hair was militarily short, and he had a lot of intricate tattoos. Formerly FBI, he now owned a private security firm based in Royal.
“Sorry,” he said, mouth curving into an unrepentant smile. “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you talking as I was walking to my table. Maverick the subject of interest?”
“Who else?” Scarlett asked.
“Everyone’s talking about him,” Naomi said. “Especially those of us he’s already attacked.”
Gabe winced. “Yeah, I get that. And I know the guy’s caused a lot of misery around here. But I just left my uncle Dusty, and I swear all the intrigue and mystery surrounding this Maverick guy is really sparking my uncle’s will to live. It’s even making his cancer treatments easier for him to deal with.”
Dale “Dusty” Walsh was in his sixties and used to be a big bear of a man. But Naomi had seen him not so long ago, and the chemo he was undergoing had whittled him down until he hardly looked like himself anymore.
“I’m glad to hear he’s doing better,” Naomi said, knowing nothing she said could make things easier on Dusty’s family.