Page 4 of His Curvy Happiness
“Ugh!” Natalie cried. “We’ve been through hell already. Why can’t they just leave us alone?”
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault for proposing something. I just thought it would be a good article. Something residents would enjoy.”
“I don’t blame you. I would love to read a story about the mayor getting married. If I weren’t the one he was marrying.” Natalie smiled sheepishly. “There’s nothing special about us except his job. We’re just two people who ended up falling in love.”
“What about his first wife? Or your summer camp? I know the funding was all above board, but did working together change things? Maybe I can talk about how that factored in?”
Natalie exchanged a look with Amelia that I didn’t understand. Amelia shrugged.
“What?” I asked.
“I was the woman in the picture with him,” Natalie confessed.
I nodded. “Um, yeah. I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I think Melody told me. I never told anyone else, though. But my editor knows. I don’t know how, but she mentioned it. She wanted to know if you traded favors after that picture or what the deal was with it.”
“Favors? No. It was taken out of context, but that scandal brought us together. He was protecting me. The night that picture was taken, we weren’t together. He chased down the photographer to try to get it back, but the guy refused. I thought it was going to tank the summer camp project, but they were only after Omar.”
“I can pitch it. See what she thinks,” I said. “Will it hurt you, though?”
Natalie shrugged. “I don’t think so. The summer camp is growing every year. We’re taking as many kids as we can. And the wedding is coming up. The picture wasn’t what it looked like, but I still get people asking me if I know who the woman was and if I’m worried she’ll try to stop the wedding.”
“If they only knew,” I said.
Natalie chuckled. “Right? If you run with this as an article, they will.”
“I don’t know if it’ll be enough for Gretchen. She seems pretty set on there being more to a story.”
“She has a job to do,” Amelia said. “Her job is to sell newspapers. It makes sense she’s going to look for something juicy that would help with that.”
“But why does it have to be about me?” Natalie asked. Her whine was well-earned.
“Again, I’m sorry about that. I’ll talk to her about doing something leading up to you being the woman in the picture, and I’ll let you know what she says.” I hoped it would be enough. If not, I was afraid Mike would take over and make things really uncomfortable for Natalie and Omar.
“If she approves it, you can have full access to everything for the wedding. All the ugly behind-the-scenes stuff. Whatever you want to see,” Natalie said, shuddering. “I think Omar is more excited that I am.”
“You’re going to have a great day,” Amelia said.
“I hope so. The best part for me will be when it’s all over and I can sneak away with my husband.” Natalie’s cheeks flamed red. “I mean… That sounded bad. I didn’t mean it like that.”
I snickered. “I know what you meant. It’s one day. What really matters is the marriage, not the wedding.”
“Yes, that’s what I meant. Jeez. I feel like I need an editor to sit in my brain and change the words before they come out of my mouth.”
“That would be handy,” Amelia teased her.
Natalie laughed again. “Let me know what your editor says, and we’ll figure it all out. Thanks, Casey.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”
I let myself out of the Community Center feeling a little better. Hopefully, Gretchen went for it, and Natalie and Omar didn’t have any dark secrets dug up before the wedding.
And if I were really lucky, maybe this article would seal a future for me at the paper. And give me the opportunity to have only one job and more time with my daughter.
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