Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [40]
Jake, who was busy spreading hay around the stall, stopped what he was doing and looked at the calf thoughtfully. “Yeah, he’s a beauty all right. In a couple of years, he’ll be a real nice piece of T-bone on someone’s dinner plate.”
Diamond gasped. “Jacob!”
Jake shook his head, grinning at the shocked look on Diamond’s face. “You look surprised. I run this ranch for the sole purpose of raising the highest-quality Texas Longhorn cattle for the buying public. I’m sure you’ve appreciated a good steak every now and then.”
Diamond stared down at the calf, then back up at Jacob. “But he’s so precious, Jacob. He’s just a baby. How can you even think of him being a part of anyone’s menu?” She looked back down at the calf.
The smile vanished from Jake’s face when he became fully aware that the knowledge of what would eventually become the calf’s fate bothered Diamond. He dared not tell her that sometime next week his men would take a hot iron to the critter and place Whispering Pines’s brand on the animal’s rump. She would probably see it as unnecessary torture to the poor beast.
He placed the pitchfork aside and walked over to her. Catching her chin, he urged her to meet his gaze. “I’m a rancher, sweetheart. I run a business here at Whispering Pines,” he said, trying to get her to understand. “The day I begin feeling sentimental about my breeding stock is the day I stop being a rancher and become a pet shop owner.”
“I know you’re right, Jacob. I guess I’m making a big deal out of things.”
“Only because you’re a caring person.” A sense of admiration flowed through Jake for her. Although sentimentality was the last thing needed on a cattle ranch, he understood. He’d had to deal with those same feelings from one of his nieces. When Christy had turned ten, she had adopted one of the calves for a pet and named him Shadow. She had carried on something awful when she’d discovered the animal’s fate some years later. To keep his niece from going into early cardiac arrest, he’d let her keep the blasted animal. Now Christy was in her third year of college, and Shadow was still alive and enjoying life. Even today, as far as Christy was concerned, Shadow belonged to her.
He pulled Diamond closer. “It’s past lunchtime. How about going on a picnic? It shouldn’t take Blaylock long to throw something together in a basket for us. How does that sound?”
Diamond’s smile returned. “Wonderful.”
“Are you sure?” Diamond asked as she gave a searching glance around the creek. Although the creek was surrounded by heavily wooded green lands, she wasn’t sure it would be safe for her and Jacob to go swimming. At least not the way he wanted them to.
Jake laughed. “I’m positive. This area is just as private as my secret hideaway.” He saw her flushed face at the mention of his hideaway. He knew the memories were just as vivid for her as they were for him.
“Okay, let’s plan to go swimming another day. How about if we just continue to relax here on the blanket and talk off lunch. I think Blaylock outdid himself, don’t you?”
Diamond bit her lower lip to hide her grin as she lay back down on the blanket next to Jake. Blaylock had packed fried chicken, rolls, a container of potato salad, coleslaw and a couple of large red apples in the basket. And they had consumed all of it.
“Yes. I’m going to have to go on some sort of weight-loss program when I get back to California,” Diamond said, rubbing her stomach.
Jake turned his head and looked at her. Thankfully she had closed her eyes. He was grateful she hadn’t seen the sudden jolt that passed through his body at the reminder that in a week, she would be leaving. For some reason, that was the last thing he wanted to think about.
“Tell me about your life as a movie actress,” he said calmly, forcing