Free Diamond by Sharon Sala Page B

said made sense. In another way, he’d given her what she’d wanted, a reason to stay. She didn’t want to leave Jesse any more than he wanted her to.
    “Well…okay,” she said. “But just for now, until you have time to help me find something else.”
    “Right,” he said, feeling relieved. “Just for now.” He cupped her face with his hands and swept his thumbs across the tear tracks on her cheeks. “Go wash your face and then come right back,” he said quietly. “Henley will skin us both if we let supper ruin.”
    She clasped her letter and money to her breast and walked away. There would be time enough later to decipher how she’d felt when he’d touched her mouth with his fingers. Time enough later to remember that she’d distinctly felt his body harden as he’d held her against him. But there would never be enough time to face how she’d feel when it came time to leave his home. Leaving Jesse Eagle was going to be nearly as painful as leaving her sisters had been. But it was inevitable, because Jesse didn’t belong to her. He belonged to his music and his fans.

    Three days had come and gone since the day of the letter. That was how Diamond had categorized the second phase of her life with Jesse. There was the day after the funeral . That was when he’d taken her away from Cradle Creek. And then had come the day of the letter . The previous day had been the day of the song .
    She still had a difficult time convincing herself that she’d really sung a song with Jesse Eagle that was going to be on his new album.
    She wished everyone else wasn’t so uptight about it. She walked past the stores in the shopping center without noticing the displays, remembering instead Tommy’s air of practiced martyrdom concerning her part in the new album. Even the band members seemed to have reservations about the way Jesse had thrust her upon them.
    She knew they’d been with Jesse a long time, and she’d come out of nowhere and was getting special treatment right away. It was as if she hadn’t quite earned the rights that had been given to her.
    But earned or not, she was there, by the grace of God and the voice he’d given her. Try as she might, Diamond could think of no place else she’d rather be.
    She glanced down at her watch, noticed the time, and then shifted the packages she was holding to a firmer position. Her shopping spree had taken longer than she’d expected.
    The outfit on the mannequin in the store window was enticing, but the weight of her purchases convinced her that she would be wise to leave more shopping for another day.
    The tall, elegant woman she saw reflected in the store window did not resemble the Diamond Houston from Cradle Creek. This one wore soft gray slacks and a pink cotton sweater, not hand-me-down plaid and worn-out denim. The slim gray slippers on her feet were nothing like her old scuffed Ropers. But the face was still the same, and the look in her eyes was still wary. It was going to take more than a few regular meals and some money in her pocket to convince her that her luck had changed. In fact, Diamond didn’t trust anything to luck. It had been the elusive love of Johnny’s life, and it had gotten him nowhere.
    However, the knowledge that she had a substantial bank account and the possibility of adding to it soon made her feel a little better.
    Tommy kept promising her that they’d cut her demo tape just as soon as Jesse’s album was finished. When he had her demo in hand, he said, then it would be time to start pitching her to the major recording studios.
    The fact that Tommy repeated that promise without looking her in the face did not convince her of his undying sincerity. But Jesse was insistent, and she knew that in the end Tommy would capitulate.
    Diamond hailed a cab and crawled into the back seat, sighing with relief as the driver headed for the studio. She’d walked as far as she could go today, especially in new shoes. Jesse and the band should be about