A Texas-Sized Secret
“There are many, many points to be made, but the main one is, I’m not your responsibility,” she said, keeping her voice calm and firm.
“Never said you were,” he said. “You are my friend, though.”
“Best friend,” she corrected, still looking at his profile. “Absolutely.”
“Then accept that as your friend I want to help you.”
“Toby, I can’t let you do that.”
“You’re not letting me, I’m just doing it.” He stopped at a four-way intersection and, when it was clear, drove on toward Royal. “It makes sense, Naomi. For all of us, the baby included. You really want to be all alone in that snazzy condo in Royal? Or would you rather be with me out at the ranch? If we’re living together, that baby has two parents to look out for it. And, big plus, you can stop tying yourself into knots over your folks.”
“So you’re trying to save me.” Just as she’d suspected. “This is all some grand gesture for my sake.”
“And my own,” he said, then muttered something under his breath and pulled the truck over to the side of the road. He parked, turned off the engine, then shifted in his seat to face her.
His eyes, the clear, cool aqua of a tropical sea, fixed on her, and Naomi read steely determination in that stare. She’d seen him this way before. Whenever he had an idea for one of his inventions, he got that I will not be stopped look on his face, in his eyes. If someone told him no about something, he took it as a personal challenge. Once Toby decided on a course of action, it was nearly impossible to get him to change his mind. This time, she told herself, it had to be different.
“I’m not a saint, and I’m not trying to rescue you.”
“Could have fooled me,” she murmured.
He sighed heavily, turned his gaze out on the road stretched out in front of them for a long second or two, then looked back at her. “Hell, Naomi, we’re best friends. We’re both single, and we can raise the baby together. Helping each other. This could work, if you’ll let it.”
A part of her, she was ashamed to admit, wanted to say yes and accept the offer he shouldn’t be making. But he was her friend, so she couldn’t take advantage of him like that. “I don’t need a husband, Toby. I can raise my child on my own.”
Now he sent her a cool, hard stare. “You forget, my mother was a single mom after my dad died. I watched how hard it was for her to be mother and father to me and my sister. To work and take care of the house. To run around after me and Scarlett with no one to help out. You really think I want to sit by and watch you go through the same damn thing?”
She bit her lip. She had forgotten about Toby’s family. His mother, Joyce, was a smart, capable, lovely woman who had worked hard to raise her kids on her own. Now Toby was not just a successful rancher, but a wealthy inventor, and his younger sister, Scarlett, was a veterinarian. “Your mother did a great job with both of you.”
His features evened out, and he gave her a smile. “And we thank you. But my point is, you don’t have to do it the hard way like my mom did. Mom didn’t have anyone to help her. You have me.”
“I know,” she said, taking a breath to calm the anger bubbling inside. “I really do know. But you don’t have to marry me, Toby.”
“Who said anything about have to?” he asked. “I want to. We’re good together, Naomi. There’s plenty of room at the ranch. You can take over one of the bedrooms for an office. It’s not far from the studio where you film your show...”
True. All true. There was a small studio at the edge of Royal where her cable TV show, Fashion Sense, was recorded once a week. And to be honest, being at the ranch would get her away from most of the gossiping tongues in town, and once Maverick’s video hit, she’d be grateful for that.
“It’s a great idea, Naomi. Hell, even your parents liked it.”
She choked out a laugh. “Of course they did. Toby McKittrick—inventor, rancher, wealthy. I’m surprised my mother didn’t squeal.”
He gave her a half smile and a slow shake of his head. “You’re being too hard on her. On both of them.”
“I know that, too,” she said with a sigh. She smoothed her fingertips over her knees. “They’re not evil people. They’re not even really mean. They just live in a very narrow world and it’s never had room for me.”
He reached out and took her hand, stilling nervous fingers. “There’s room for you with me.”
“Toby...” Naomi didn’t know what to think. Or feel. He was right in that they were good together. They were already friends, and maybe a marriage of convenience would be good for both of them. But was it fair to him? “If we’re married, you can’t find someone for real.”
“Not interested,” he said firmly with a shake of his head. “Been there already, and it didn’t end well.”
Naomi sighed again. She couldn’t blame him for feeling burned in the love department. She could, however, blame the woman who’d hurt him enough that Toby had built a wall around his heart that was so tall and thick it had taken Naomi months to reach past it.
“Fine. You’re not looking for love. Neither am I,” she added in a mutter. “But that doesn’t mean...”
“Think about it.”
“But no one will believe it.”
“Your parents did.”
She waved that aside. “That’s because they don’t know me. My friends—”
“Are so wrapped up in their own happily-ever-afters they won’t question it.”
“Your family—”
He scowled thoughtfully, but a moment later, his expression cleared. Those amazing eyes fixed on her, he said, “Okay, I’ll tell my family the truth. Don’t want to lie to them anyway. Does that work for you?”
“They won’t like it,” she said, and silently added, they’ll blame me.
“Mom and Scarlett both like you already, so what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know if I want to be married,” she said simply. “You’re my best friend, Toby. It’ll be...weird.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Doesn’t have to be. Think of it as a marriage of convenience. We’re together because of the baby. No sex. Just friends who live together.”
No sex. Well, it wasn’t as if she was a wildly sexual person anyway. In fact, until that single night with Gio, she hadn’t been with anyone in more than a year. And since Gio, she’d avoided all men except for Toby. So going without sex wouldn’t be that terrible, would it? Oh, God.
“I’m not saying we become monks,” Toby pointed out as though he could read her thoughts. “If one of us meets someone, we’ll work that out then. In the meantime, we’re together.”
* * *
Toby watched her and wondered what the hell she was arguing about. Anyone could see this was a good idea. Though he could admit that he hadn’t come up with it until that moment when Vanessa Price gave her daughter the cool look of disappointment at news of the baby. Damned if he could just stand there while Naomi tried to explain about the baby’s father and how he was a worthless player. So, before he’d really considered it, he’d blurted out the lie. And it had felt...right.
Why not get married to his best friend? Whether she knew it or not, she was going to need help with the baby. And as long as they kept things between them platonic, everything would work out fine. Yeah, he was attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be? But he wasn’t going to act on that attraction, so a marriage of convenience was the best solution here.
“Well?” he asked, gaze fixed on hers. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy,” she said on a half laugh.
“That’s been said before,” he reminded her. “People have been talking about crazy Toby and his weird inventions for years.”
Nervously, she pushed her hair back from her face, and the early-afternoon sunlight caught a few threads of copper, making them gleam. “If we do this, we’ll both be crazy.”
“Worse things to be, Naomi.”
She smiled. “Are you sure about this?”
He tipped his head to one side and gave her a look. “When have you ever known me to say something without meaning every damn word?”
“Never,” she said, nodding. “It’s one of the things I like best about you. I always know what you’re thinking, because you don’t play games.”
“Games are for kids, Naomi. Neither one of us is a kid.”
“No, we’re not.” She met his gaze squarely and took a deep breath. “I’m a city girl. What’ll I do on a ranch?”
“Whatever needs doing,” he said.
She laughed shortly. “We really must be crazy. Okay. I’ll marry you and not have sex with you.”
He grinned and winked. “Now, how many people can say that?” Turning in his seat, he fired up the truck, put it in gear and steered out onto the road again, headed for town. “We’ll go get lunch, and then we’ll go ring shopping.”
“No.”
“No?” He glanced at her, surprised.
“No ring,” she said, shaking her head. “We don’t need an engagement ring, Toby, and I don’t want you buying one for me when it wouldn’t really mean what it should. You know?”
He understood and couldn’t say he disagreed. Their marriage would be a joining of friends, not some celebration of love, after all. “What’s your mama going to say?”
Smiling sadly, Naomi said, “Even if we’d gotten one, she’d have found something wrong with it anyway.”
They slipped into silence. Toby took her hand for the rest of the drive but left her to her thoughts.
Three
Toby opened the door to the Royal Diner, steered Naomi inside and stopped. Every person in the place turned to look at them, and he knew. Maverick had done as promised. That stupid video was on the internet, and it seemed clear that it was the hot topic in Royal.
The welcoming scents of coffee, French fries and burgers greeted them. Classic rock played on the old-fashioned jukebox in the corner, and noise from the kitchen drifted out of the pass-through, but other than that, the silence was telling.
“Let’s go,” Naomi said, and tugged at his hand.
“Not a chance,” Toby countered. Then, bending his head down to hers, he whispered, “Do you really want them to think you’re scared?”
He knew it was just the right note to take when she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and stood there like a queen before peasants. Toby hid a smile, because in just a second or two the woman he knew so well had reemerged, squashing the part of her that wanted to run and hide.
A couple of seconds ticked past and then the diner customers returned to their meals, though most of them looked to be having hushed conversations. It didn’t take a genius to guess what they were talking about.
He gave Naomi’s hand a squeeze, then took off his hat and smiled at Amanda Battle as she hurried over. Married to Sheriff Nathan Battle, who was doing everything he could to find out who this Maverick person was, Amanda owned the diner, along with her sister, Pam.
“Well, hi, you two,” she said with a deliberately bright smile. “Booth or table?”
“Booth if you’ve got it,” Toby said quickly, knowing Naomi wouldn’t want to be seated in the middle of the room. Hell, he still half expected her to make a break for the door.
“Right. Down there along the window’s good.” Amanda gave Naomi a pat on the shoulder and said, “I’ll get you some water and menus.”
They walked past groups of friends and neighbors, nodding as they went, and Toby felt Naomi stiffening alongside him. She was maintaining, but it was costing her. She wasn’t happy, and he couldn’t blame her. Hell, he hated this whole mess for her.
The familiarity of the diner did nothing to ease the tension in Naomi’s shoulders. The Royal Diner hadn’t changed much over the years. Oh, it had all been updated, but Amanda and Pam had kept the basics the same, just freshening it all up. The floor was still black-and-white squares, the booths and counter stools were still bright red vinyl, and chrome was the accent of choice. The white walls held pictures of Royal through the years, and it was still the place to go if you wanted the best burger anywhere.
Once they were seated, Amanda came back quickly, set water glasses in front of them and handed out menus. Smiling down at them, she said, “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Oh, God,” Naomi murmured, and her shoulders slumped, as if all the air had been let out of her body. “You’ve seen the video.”
Amanda gave her a friendly pat and said, “I’m not talking about the video, honey. Don’t worry about that. That nosy bastard has been poking into too many lives, so everyone here knows they could be next. Looks like this Maverick is moving around pretty quick, so he’ll be onto someone new before you know it and you’ll be old news.”
Toby could have kissed her. “She’s right.”
Naomi looked at him, and he read resignation and worry in her eyes. “Doesn’t help much, though. The whole town knows I’m pregnant now.”
“Naomi, most of us guessed anyway,” Amanda said. At Naomi’s stunned expression, Amanda added, “You’ve never worn loose shirts and long cover-ups in your life.”
Toby grinned. “She’s got a point.”
Naomi blew out a breath and gave him a rueful smile. “So much for my brilliant disguises.”
“Oh—” Amanda waved one hand “—it probably fooled the men.” She gave Toby an amused glance. “You guys don’t really notice much. But women know a baby bump when they see one being hidden.”
Naomi nodded. “Right.”
“But I wasn’t congratulating you on the baby anyway,” Amanda continued. “Though sure, best wishes. I was talking about your engagement to Toby here.”
Now it was his turn to be stunned. “How did you find out about that already?”
“Remember where we live, honey,” Amanda said with a shake of her head that sent her dark blond ponytail swinging behind her. “Naomi’s mother called one of her friends, who called somebody else, who called Pam’s sister-in-law, who called Pam, who told me.”
Naomi just blinked at her. Toby felt the same way. He had always known that gossip flew in Royal as fast as the tornadoes that occasionally swept across Texas. But this had to be a record.
“We just left my parents’ house twenty minutes ago,” Naomi complained.
“What’s your point?” Amanda asked, grinning.
Helplessly shaking her head, Naomi said, “I guess I don’t have one.”
“There you go,” Amanda said. “And so you know, most everybody’s talking more about the engagement than that video. I mean, really.” She laughed a little. “Maverick thought he was being funny, I guess, but him mocking you like that? Didn’t make sense. People in Royal know Naomi Price has got style. So making that woman look so big and sloppy just didn’t have the smack he probably thought it would.”
Toby saw how those words hit Naomi, and once again, he could have kissed Amanda for saying just the right thing. She was right, of course. Naomi, even with her pregnancy showing, would be just as stylish as ever. That video was meant to hurt her, humiliate her, but he knew Naomi well enough to know that after the initial embarrassment passed, she’d rise above it and come out the winner.
“But you two engaged,” Amanda said with a wink. “Now, that’s news worth chewing on.”
“I hate being gossiped about,” Naomi muttered.
“In a small town,” Amanda pointed out, “we all take our turn at the top of the rumor mill eventually.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier,” she said.
“Suppose not, but at least people are pleased for you,” Amanda said.
“Well, it’s good the news is out.” Toby spoke up, getting both women’s attention. “And to celebrate our engagement, I’ll have the cowboy burger with fries and some sweet tea.”
“Got it. Naomi?”
“Small salad, please,” she said. “Dressing on the side. And unsweetened tea.”
“That’s no way to feed a baby,” Amanda muttered, but nodded. “And not even close to a celebration, but okay. Be out in a few minutes.”
When she was gone, Toby took a drink of water, set the glass down and said, “She’s right. That baby needs more than dry lettuce.”
“Don’t start,” she warned, and turned her gaze on the street beyond the window. “I’m not going to end up waddling through the last of this pregnancy, Toby.”
Irritation spiked, but he swallowed it back. Naomi had been on a damn diet the whole time he’d known her. In fact, he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he’d seen her actually enjoy eating. She was so determined to stave off any reminders of the chubby little girl she’d once been, she counted every calorie as if it meant her life.
But it wasn’t just her now. That baby was going to need protein. And once she was living with him on the ranch, he’d make sure she ate more than a damn rabbit did. But that battle was for later. Not today.
“Fine.”
“I can’t believe people already know about the engagement,” Naomi said, looking back at him. Reaching out, she grabbed her paper napkin and began tearing at the edges with nervous fingers.
“At least they’re talking about us, not the video,” Toby pointed out and took another sip of water. His gaze was fixed on hers, and he didn’t like that haunted look that still colored her eyes.
Scowling, she muttered, “I don’t want them talking about me at all.”
Toby laughed, and laughed even harder when she glared at him.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded.
Scrubbing one hand across his face, he did his best to wipe away the amusement still tickling him. Keeping his voice low, he said, “You, honey. You love being talked about. Always have.”
When she would have argued, he shook his head and leaned across the table toward her. “You were homecoming queen and a cheerleader—at college you were the president of your sorority. Now? You still love it. Why else would you have your own TV show? You like being the center of attention, Naomi, and why shouldn’t you?”
“I didn’t do all that just to be talked about,” she argued.
“I know that,” he said and slid one hand across the table to cover hers. “You did all of it because you liked it. Because you wanted to.” And because it was the attention you never got at home and that fed something in you that’s still hungry today.
“I did. And I like doing my show, knowing people watch and talk about it.” She leaned toward him, too, even as she pulled her hand from beneath his. “But there’s a difference, Toby, between people talking about my work and talking about my life.”
“Not by much, there isn’t,” he said and leaned back, laying one arm along the top of the booth bench. “Naomi, we live in a tiny town in Texas. People talk. Always have. Always will. What matters is how you deal with it.”
“I’m dealing,” she grumbled, and he wanted to smile again but was half-worried she might kick him under the table if he did.
“No, you’re not.” He tipped his head to one side and gave her a look that said be honest. “You’re nearly five months along with that baby, and you just now told your folks.”
“That’s different.” Her fingers tore at the napkin again until she had quite the pile of confetti going.
“And when we walked in here and people turned to look, you would have walked right back out if I hadn’t gotten in your way.”
She frowned at him, and the flash in her eyes told him he was lucky she hadn’t kicked him. “I don’t like it when you’re a know-it-all.”
“Sure you do.” She lifted one eyebrow again, and he had to admire it. Never had been able to do it himself. “Look, either you can let this Maverick win, by curling up and hiding out...or you can hold your head up like the tough woman I know you are and not let some mystery creep dictate how your life goes.”
“Using logic isn’t fair.”
“Yeah, I know.”
She sat back in the booth and continued to fiddle with the paper napkin in front of her. It was nearly gone now, and he told himself to remember to ask Amanda for more.
“Toby, I don’t want to let Maverick win. To run my decisions. But isn’t that what I’m doing by agreeing to marry you?”
“No.” He straightened up now, leaned toward her and met her gaze dead-on. “If you were doing what he wanted, you’d be locked in a closet crying somewhere. Do you think that bastard wants you to be with me and happy? Do you think he wants you turning the whole town on its ear so they don’t even think about his stupid video?”
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