Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [17]
Jake frowned as he walked into the cabin. “You actually did bake them?”
Diamond chuckled. “I told you I would.”
Jake glanced around. A huge vase of roses sat on a nearby coffee table. He frowned when seeing the roses brought back memories.
Diamond saw his frown and didn’t understand the reason for it. “I picked them yesterday,” she said, explaining. “I would have gotten your permission first had I known that picking them would upset you. There were so many of them, and they were so beautiful. It was strange seeing them growing all around. I first noticed them when I went out picking berries a few days ago.”
Jake nodded. “I don’t have a problem with you picking them. Sorry if I gave you that impression. My ex-wife took a notion to plant over a thousand rosebushes on this land right after we got married. She was used to seeing roses where she came from and said Whispering Pines looked dreary without them.”
Now it was Diamond’s time to frown. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing dreary about Whispering Pines. “I happen to disagree with her. This land of yours of beautiful, Jacob,” she said, leading him to the kitchen. She then motioned to the clean and spotless kitchen. “No mess this time. No fight with flour.”
Jake smiled. “I’m impressed.” In all actuality, he was. It seemed everything about Diamond was beginning to impress him, especially when she had defended the beauty of his land. All Jessie had ever done was to put Whispering Pines down. She had hated it here. And she sure as heck would never have given thought to doing anything nice for his men. She had told him on more than one occasion how she detested them. She saw them as a group of men who barely had a high school education. She thought they were irresponsible men without any goals in life other than to play cowboys without the benefit of Indians. Jessie never had a word, kind or otherwise, to say to any of them. She had placed herself on a higher level than they were. But Diamond was a well-known movie star, who was known worldwide, and whose film credits were remarkably impressive. Yet she had taken the time not to bake just one pie, but ten of them for his men.
“I talked to Blaylock to be sure it would be okay since I didn’t know what type of menu he had planned for them today. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries since he’s their cook.”
Jake nodded. That was another thoughtful gesture on her part. He was beginning to realize that Diamond Swain was a very unique woman.
“He’s really a nice man.”
Jake frowned. “Who?”
“Blaylock. I talked to him on the phone for over an hour. He gave me a recipe for vegetable soup. I’m going to make some tonight.”
Diamond felt a fluttering in her heart when Jake smiled. “Well, once you get the pies in your Jeep, we’ll be ready to go,” she said, as she began placing the pies inside a huge cardboard box.
“You’re coming?” Jake asked her in surprise.
She glanced up at him. “Sure. Remember I told you that I wanted to meet them.” She studied his features closely. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”
Jake saw the worried look on her face. Her expression indicated she wasn’t sure if she would be doing something wrong or against his wishes.
“No, that won’t be a problem, and I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of it.” And I won’t be able to get a lick of work out of them for the rest of the day after they meet you, he thought further to himself.
He watched her features soften into a relaxed smile. “Good.”
“Do you know anything about cows?”
Diamond glanced over at Jake, wondering about the question he had asked out of the clear blue sky. They had been riding in his Jeep for the last few minutes or so without much conversation. She tried not to concentrate on the large work-hardened hands that gripped the steering wheel and wondered how those same hands would feel on her.
Her brows furrowed. The middle part of her body reacted to that particular thought. “I guess I know the same thing about them as everyone else,” she replied, deliberately turning