Diamond (35 page)

She saw the pain, and the doubt, and the love on Jesse’s face and knew that by the grace of God she’d been given a second chance. She wasn’t going to blow it again. She tilted her head, opened her mouth, and began to sing.

But the smiles and lies of a lying lover

go hand in hand like kisses and wine
.

I’ve had my share of one or the other
.

But like the fool I am, can’t get you out of my mind
.

The audience went wild. They knew what they’d just heard: the voice of the woman who was on the hit song with Jesse Eagle.

Jesse couldn’t finish the song for the tears in his eyes and the lump in his throat. Diamond could see the question on his face and the love in his eyes. She sighed and smiled. She’d had the answers all along and had never known it.

She opened her arms and he walked into them. His black hat fell onto the floor behind him as he wrapped her in a tight embrace and buried his face against her neck.

The fans went crazy. The announcer quickly cut to commercial, aware that his radio audience was in the dark as to what was occurring here. It would be the next morning before the papers informed the world that that night, on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, Jesse Eagle had lost his heart to a woman from Tennessee—and had found her again.

“My God,” Jesse whispered, running his hands across her shoulders and then back to touch her face over and over, as if to assure himself that he wasn’t dreaming. “Why did you leave me, darlin’? What did I do to you to make you run so far and hide so long?” He could barely speak through his thick sobs.

Diamond threw her arms around his neck, plastering herself so tightly against him that she could feel his heartbeat against her breasts.

“It wasn’t you…it wasn’t you,” she sobbed. “Leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I’m sorry. There were so many things happening at once I…just didn’t understand.” She shuddered, buried her face beneath his chin, and then inhaled the scent of his cologne and began to cry all over again.

The curtain came down, leaving the frenzied audience with a final glimpse of the tall, dark man and the elegant blonde in blue jeans who were lost in each other’s arms.

“Shit,” Tommy said quietly. He debated whether to run now or wait for the axe to fall.

Diamond and Jesse were ushered offstage as the stage crew quickly went about setting up for the next half-hour. She looked once toward the place where she knew Dooley was sitting and smiled through her tears as she saw him give her a wide grin and a thumbs-up. It would be much later before she learned that he and Jesse had already met.

“Get ready, darlin’,” Jesse said, smiling through tears. “Here comes the band.”

Diamond turned and was instantly engulfed. She was tossed from Mack to Al to Dave and the others and then back again, as they each welcomed her back into the family.

“Enough,” Jesse said. “Don’t maul my lady. Go home and maul your own women.”

“Mine would punch out my lights for tryin’ and then yours for suggestin’ it,” Al drawled. “I think I’ll just go home, period. It’s a lot safer.” He grinned at Diamond, tugged a lock of her hair, and then embarrassed himself when his voice cracked with emotion. “Don’t you go and leave on us, you hear, girl? I’m too old to go through anything like this again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Her voice shook as Jesse’s hand slid up her back and came to rest at the nape of her neck. His fingers kept stroking and testing and feeling, as if he couldn’t assure himself too many times that she was really there.

“Promise?” he whispered behind her ear.

She turned in his arms, and as he kissed her for the first time in more months than she cared to count, she knew she was home.

“Promise,” she said when she could breathe and focus enough to think. Then she looked over Jesse’s shoulder into the eyes of the man who’d started the mess. Tommy was watching them with an almost fatalistic look on his face, as if he were simply waiting for her to point her finger and shout, “Aha!”

Jesse felt her withdrawal, and when he turned around to see who’d caused this reaction, he stepped between them without thinking, unconsciously protecting Diamond from any more harm.

Tommy nodded. “Diamond, you sounded real good. How have you been?”

She didn’t answer. Her lips thinned and her hands fairly itched to slap him until he couldn’t see, but instead she did nothing.

Jesse inhaled sharply. This was what he’d feared. He could almost taste the antagonism between them. And just as he was about to speak, Diamond slid her arm beneath Jesse’s elbow, leaned her head on his shoulder, and hugged him. She wanted to reassure him that whatever needed to be said, she could do it herself.

“Probably better than you can imagine,” she said quietly.

Tommy’s eyes opened wide. For the first time since she’d walked offstage, he began to hope.

“I don’t expect you to believe me,” Tommy said, “but I’m glad. Really glad. Jesse’s happiness means a lot to me, and if it’s you that makes him happy, then that makes me happy, too.”

Diamond smiled, looked up at Jesse and the worry on his face, and back at Tommy and the fear in his.

“All I’ve ever wanted is Jesse’s happiness, too, Tommy. I guess now we have to believe each other, right?”

Tommy shivered at the warning in her eyes and knew that no matter what, he’d never cross this woman again.

“That’s great, then,” Tommy said. “Say! I’ve just had the best idea. You know, Jesse goes on tour later this year. What if you were the opening act? You’d be able to travel together, and it couldn’t hurt your career any to sing nightly with Jesse Eagle and Muddy Road. Want me to set it up?”

Twila Hart came hustling through the crowd of people surrounding them, and it was then that Diamond knew that in one small way, she
would
have her revenge.

“That sounds just fine, Tommy. But you’ll have to talk to my manager.” She pointed to Twila behind him.

Tommy’s face fell. Now that all had been revealed and he’d not been quartered and hung, he’d begun considering the fact that Diamond Houston just might make someone a whole lot of money. Obviously, it wouldn’t be him, and he had only himself to thank.

He turned, and the smile on his face disappeared.
Twila Hart! The hellcat from Texas. The bitch who says no and means it
.

“Twila!” Tommy said, trying to regain his composure and failing miserably as Twila glared down at him. He hated women who were taller than he, and that was a fact.

“Tommy.” Her tone of voice was just as judgmental as the look in her eyes, and Tommy knew that Diamond
had
told someone what had happened. Unfortunately, it was a woman who already hated his guts.

“I understand you’re representing our girl here,” he said.

“She’s not your anything, Tommy Thomas. And don’t you ever forget that I know it,” she said under her breath. “Why, yes I do,” she said loudly, clapped her hand across his shoulder, and led him away. “Let’s talk business.”

Jesse frowned. He knew there had to be more to this than what he’d heard, but it was time to put the past behind them and take the rest of the world on trust—at least for the time being. When Diamond was ready, if ever, she’d tell him what he needed to know. Until then, he’d thank God for the chance to love her.

“Will you come home with me?” Jesse asked.

Diamond knew in that moment that her world would be all right.

“It’s been a long time,” she said softly.

Jesse cupped her face, kissed the tears from her cheeks, and wrapped her in his arms. “You have no idea, darlin’,” he said. “You have no idea.”

A mixture of nerves and need were making Jesse crazy. The long drive home had resulted in Diamond just looking at him while he did all the talking. He was about to run out of conversation and was down to a growing ache he couldn’t ignore.

“The colt has really grown,” Jesse said as they turned into the driveway and parked inside the garage. “You won’t believe it’s the same spindly-legged little—”

“Jesse, take me to bed,” she whispered. “I’ve been alone too long and tired of crying myself to sleep. Tonight, I don’t intend to sleep. I just want to be loved.”

“Oh, God,” he said, and pulled her across the seat and into his arms. “I’ve been afraid to tell you how desperate I am to hold you. I didn’t want to rush you, but I knew that if I didn’t get those damned clothes off you and get inside you soon, it was gonna be too late.”

The impact of his words was enough to set off a hunger inside her that had nothing to do with food. She shivered and traced the line of his lips with the tip of her fingernail, smiling at the response her touch elicited.

“Come with me, darlin’,” Jesse whispered. He pulled her across the seat and out his side of the car.

Hand in hand, they walked into the darkened house, stopping every few feet to touch or to kiss or to wipe an errant tear from one or the other’s cheek. Just when they’d started upstairs, a small white slip of paper taped to the corner post of the staircase caught their eyes.

“What in—” Jesse pulled it off the post and tilted it toward the faint glow of the night light.

Welcome home, Miss Diamond
.

I heard the program tonight. I will be conspicuously absent for the next two days. The answering machine is on. The refrigerator is full. The bed is empty
.

My sincerest regards
,

Henley
.

Jesse laughed, crumpled the note, and had started to toss it when he looked up at Diamond. Tears were running down her face.

“Honey! What’s wrong? Please God, you’re not having second thoughts?” The pain in Jesse’s voice was thick.

“It’s not that,” Diamond said. “It was the note. I really am home…aren’t I?”

“My God!” Jesse lifted her off her feet and into his arms. “You still have no idea, do you?”

He nuzzled her hair as he carried her upstairs, unable to take his lips from her face or his hands from her body. He laid her in the middle of his bed and then stretched out beside her.

“Wherever you are is home for me, lady. Without you, I have nothing, I want nothing.” He leaned forward until their foreheads were touching and then lost himself in her wide, green gaze. “I’m asking…I’m begging…I’m not going to let you out of my bed until you promise me.”

“Promise what, Jesse Eagle?” Diamond said as she slid her arms around his neck.

“To marry me.”

“I do.”

Jesse grinned. “You’re supposed to save those words for the ceremony,” he said.

“I’m not saving anything,” she said. “I’m down to ‘use it or lose it.’ What’ll it be?”

Jesse rolled over on his back and started yanking off his boots and unsnapping snaps. Then Diamond gave a sob and a sigh as Jesse pulled her into his arms.

A long time later, Diamond heard Jesse whisper just before she finally fell asleep.

“Welcome home, shiny girl. Welcome home.”

Epilogue

Jesse buttoned the last button
on his red flannel shirt and tucked its tail into his jeans. Diamond was already downstairs; he could hear Henley’s deep voice and her laughter in response to something he’d said. Jesse inhaled, caught the faint aroma of fresh coffee and the strong, outdoorsy scent of the evergreens Diamond had draped all over the house in honor of the coming holidays. It was two weeks until Christmas.

He bent down until he could see himself clearly in the mirror on Diamond’s dresser and gave his hair a casual swipe with her brush. This Christmas would definitely be better than the last, although Jesse knew that Diamond, on occasion, still quietly grieved the loss of her sisters.

Jesse hurried down the hall, eager to get in on the morning routine. Nowadays, it seemed that he didn’t want to miss a thing. The door to his left was ajar as he headed for the stairs. Unable to resist, he stepped inside, looking around as he often did at the neat, convenient office Diamond had made of what had once been her bedroom.

It was complete with a three-line phone system, a separate desk for Twila when she came out to conduct business, and cabinet upon cabinet filled with an extensive collection of old country music albums as well as a growing number of Diamond’s own works. Already, songs that she’d co-written with Doug Bentin had been recorded by other artists, and one was heading to the top of the charts like a speeding bullet. Not only was his lady becoming a favorite singer, she was gaining quite a reputation as a songwriter.

Everything was perfectly coordinated, right down to the wood paneling—except for the rug on the floor. It was worn in one spot and faded in two. It was cranberry red with a gaudy, Far Eastern pattern that had nothing to do with the rest of the room, and it was Diamond’s proudest possession.

He laughed to himself, remembering the look of shock on Henley’s face when they’d moved Dooley Hopper’s gift into this house. Only Henley’s devotion to Diamond had silenced what would have been massive disapproval. He’d simply chosen to ignore it.

Yet within weeks, the oddest thing had begun to take place. Dooley’s frequent visits to Diamond had resulted in a strange but growing friendship between him and Joe Henley. The two men had become the best of friends.

Jesse stepped out of her office, closed the door, and headed for the kitchen. He had a sudden need for his lady, a good-morning kiss, and a cup of coffee, and in exactly that order.

Diamond looked out the kitchen window, saw the puffs of smoke from the mail carrier’s exhaust as it condensed in the cold winter air, and headed for the hall closet to get her coat.

“I’m going to get the mail,” she told Henley, and disappeared before he could voice his disapproval.

Although she was barely two months pregnant, Henley and Jesse both behaved as if she would break. She sighed, pulling on her coat as she shut the front door behind her. If they didn’t lighten up it was going to be a long seven months.

Her boots crunched in the thin crust of snow that had fallen two days earlier. She inhaled, enjoying the breath of cold, fresh air she took into her lungs, and looked up at the sky with a smile. It might be cold, but the sky was clear, and after Cradle Creek and the constant pall of coal dust, she’d never complain about the weather again.