“Then you’re cheating yourself short. I know Jake’s brothers, all five of them. They are good men and they were all lucky to marry good, decent God-fearing women who gave them, for the most part, good, responsible children. Give yourself a chance to know them.”
He gazed at her thoughtfully. “They will be right proud of the choice Jake made for a wife.”
Diamond ventured a smile with Blaylock’s compliment. “But they may not be too happy to find out our marriage has been a secret for almost a year and a half.”
“Once you explain things to them, they’ll understand. The key is telling them about it.”
The cool night breeze made Diamond shiver as she stood on the porch. Jacob still had not returned and his dinner sat warming in the oven. She was getting worried although a few of the men had mentioned seeing him working on a fence at the end of the north pastures.
She had thought long and hard about what Blaylock had shared with her. She could kick herself for being so stupid and so insensitive. How could she have thought that Jacob was completely satisfied with their arrangements? How could she not have known how he had really felt?
She thought of his beautiful home. She had walked through all the rooms that evening, taking stock of each one and noticing that there was nothing to indicate her presence in his life. Even in his bedroom and study, there weren’t any pictures of her or them together.
And all because of their secret.
Diamond knew that her husband was a proud man who had given her the world—his world. Not only had he shared his home and land with her, he had introduced her to passion the likes of which she had never known before. From the first, he had ignited fire inside of her. It had been something they had shared from the time she had arrived on Whispering Pines. He had always been understanding and supportive when she had needed it most. He had always been there, waiting for her to return and giving her the peace and tranquility she sought, the passion she craved, the love she needed and the closeness she had wanted.
Unhesitantly. Unselfishly.
How could she not love, honor and adore a man such as that? How could she not want to publicly acknowledge her love for him, and then be strong enough to handle the consequences of doing so?
“Diamond?” Jake’s whispered voice touched Diamond like a gentle wave along the ocean shore. “It’s late. What are you doing out here?” he asked.
Diamond inhaled a shaky breath as she turned toward his voice. She had not heard him approach. His face suddenly appeared out of the darkness and into the glow of the starlit sky. She looked up at him. He wore an expression that she had never seen on his features before. Guarded.
She felt his gaze lock on her face and wondered what he was thinking. Staring into the warmth of his dark eyes, she thought that although his features were guarded, the look he gave her was tender.
“I was out here waiting for you, Jacob,” she answered finally.
“Why?”
Why?
Her mind began spinning with his single question. “Because I wanted to see you. You’ve been gone all day and I—”
“I had work to do.”
She nodded. “Yes, I know, and I didn’t expect you to change your schedule for me.”
It was only after she had spoken the words that realization suddenly hit her. In the past he’d always done exactly that. Each and every time she returned to Whispering Pines, he had made changes in his schedule to spend time with her. In essence what she had done was force him to do the very thing she had not wanted—interfere with his work on the ranch.
All the things he had done he did because he loved her. He had loved her enough to make his house feel like a home for her whenever she was here. But far more important, he had done what Samuel had never done. He had trusted her when they were apart. Not once had he questioned her about any of the articles that appeared in certain magazines and tabloids, linking her with other men. She didn’t know too many men who would have been able to handle that. But he had because he knew in his heart that she truly belonged only to him.
“How are you feeling, Diamond?”
Diamond’s thoughts were snatched back into focus with Jacob’s question. Even now he was thinking of her well-being. “I’m fine, Jacob.”
He nodded. “So what’s on your mind? Why were you waiting for me? What’s bothering you?”
She nervously licked her lips. He could decipher her mood so easily. It always surprised her how he could sense when something was bothering her. She cocked her head to examine his features. It was obvious to her that something was bothering him as well.
“I got an idea that I want to run by you.”
“What idea?”
“You haven’t had a party here at the ranch in a while. You’ve mentioned on several occasions that you used to host an annual party for your family and close friends.”
Diamond watched the subtle play of emotions cross Jake’s face. He was slowly letting his guard down, she thought. Knowing that he had felt the need to put it up in the first place tugged at her heart. The knowl
edge of what he had been enduring because of her made regret twist and turn inside of her.
Jake crossed his arms and leaned against the porch’s railing. He gazed at her speculatively. “A party? For my family?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “And just where do you plan on being while this party is going on?”
“Here. I think it’s time for you to introduce me.”
Jake stared at her, searching her face for some sort of explanation. “Introduce you?”
“Yes.”
“As my wife?”
“I hope you don’t think I’ll let you get away with claiming I’m your mistress,” she said lightly, trying to break the tension between them.
Jake shook his head to clear it. He then stared back at her. “Let me get this straight. You want us to come out of the closet?”
She grinned. “More like coming out of the bedroom, don’t you think?”
He stared at her, not knowing what to think. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he reopened them relief shone in their dark depths. He hesitated for just a second before asking, “Are you sure about this, Diamond?”
“Yes.”
Jake nervously rubbed the top of his head when he thought of his nieces—three in particular—Traci, Kattie and Felicia. “I may as well warn you that some of my kinfolk don’t know how to keep secrets. They don’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘silence is golden.’”
Diamond smiled. “It doesn’t matter. I’m prepared for whatever happens now. I can’t continue to let things go on this way. I love you and I’m ready for the entire world to know it. I just hope you’re ready, too.”
Jake took a few steps toward her, closing the distance between them. He pulled her into his arms. “I’ve been ready. We’ll handle things just fine. We love each other and we trust each other. Look at Sterling and Colby. Even with the media constantly trying to get into their business, they’re making out okay. We will, too.”
There was strong confidence in his voice. And when he leaned down to kiss her, a part of Diamond wanted to believe that with their love anything was possible.
D
iamond placed the vase filled with fresh-cut flowers on the only table in the room that wasn’t already adorned with a flower arrangement. She turned a full circle around, admiring her handiwork.
“You don’t think there are too many flowers in here, do you?” she asked Jake as he entered the room.
He came to stand beside her and automatically placed his arms around her waist. “No, this room looks just like you, beautiful.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Nervous?”
“Petrified is more like it.” Diamond chuckled softly. Nearly two weeks had passed since she had approached him about telling his family about their marriage, and now the day of the party had finally arrived.
Jake pulled her closer to him. “Don’t be. My family will love you as much as I do.”
“Are you sure they’ll forgive us for not telling them sooner about our marriage?”
Stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb, he said, “Yeah, they’ll understand. They know how the media harassed Syneda when they got wind of who her father was.”
Diamond nodded. Jacob had told her how the newsbreaking story of wealthy industrialist Syntel Remington’s love child had made national headlines and the media, being insensitive as ever, had milked it for all it was worth without any regard for the feelings of those involved. Syneda had been engaged to marry Jacob’s nephew at the time.
Leaning against Jake’s hard chest, Diamond thought on all the other things he had told her about his family. His niece, Felicia Laverne, the offspring of his brother Robert who had gotten killed in the Vietnam War, and who had only been two years old when her father had died, had grown up pampered and spoiled rotten by her six uncles. Last month on New Year’s Day she had married legendary football great, Trask Maxwell. The uncles were still in a daze over that match since Trask and Felicia had never gotten along. However, to all their amazement, the couple seemed to be doing quite nicely and appeared to have a solid marriage.
He had again told her about Justin, Dex and Clayton, the three nephews with whom he had a very close relationship, and that they were like brothers because of the closeness of their ages. She looked forward to meeting all of his family and some of his close friends she had never met. Invitations had been sent, and the responses they received indicated most of everyone invited would be coming.
“Your presence will definitely be a big surprise, and when they find out that you’re in the family I may have to call 9-1-1 for those who won’t be able to handle the excitement and shock.”
Diamond shook her head, smiling. “Things won’t be that bad.”
“You never know. You’re pretty popular with certain members of my family. Slade, one of my younger nephews even has a huge poster of you in his bedroom.” Jake’s eyes gleamed with amusement when he added, “Just wait until he discovers that his uncle Jake has had the real thing, not only in his bedroom but also in his bed.”
He brought her closer to him and let his hand caress the warmth of her backside. “The real live passionate one.” Memories of her legs wrapped tight around him, holding his body within hers as he made love to her flowed through his mind. The heated thoughts of what they had shared that morning were still fresh and ingrained on his mind.
A shiver passed through Diamond’s body with Jake’s touch. She looked up at him, recalling their intimate moments of that morning as well. She had memories of crying out from the sheer pleasure of having him embedded deep inside her body while they made love. Then later when he had left the bed to begin his day on the ranch, memories of how she had snuggled under the bedcovers so she could smell his scent before falling back to sleep increased her pulse rate.
When he leaned intimately closer to her and she felt his arousal pressing hard against her, she pulled back out of his arms while she had the mind to do so.
“I need to go get dressed, Jacob. Everyone will start arriving soon.”
Jake nodded as he reluctantly released her. If he didn’t let her go now, he would be tempted to make love to her right here in this room. It would be just his luck for a few of his family members to arrive early and walk in on him making love to her on the living room floor. No use giving any of them heart failure anytime too soon. They would go into cardiac arrest soon enough when he announced his marriage.
The plan was for Diamond to stay upstairs until everyone had arrived and until after he had made his announcement. She would then descend the stairs on his brother Jonathan’s arm. He smiled. He couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces when they realized the real purpose of the gathering.
Most of his family believed that he would never marry again. He knew that one particular person would be extremely overjoyed—his mother. At the age of eighty-one, his mother believed all the men in the Madaris family should be married by the time they reached their thirtieth birthday, to guarantee the longevity of the Madaris family. For a long while, she thought he was setting a bad example for his single nephews. The fact that he had been married once before didn’t count.
“Jacob?”
“Mmm.”
“There’s another idea I have that I’d like to run by you.”
He smiled down at her. “Not another party, I hope.”
She returned his smile. “No, helping you plan this one was enough. It’s about my name.”
Jake lifted a brow. “What about your name?”
Diamond’s stomach twisted. Most actresses didn’t use their married name, but she wanted to begin using hers, and wasn’t quite sure how he would feel about it.
“Diamond?” he prompted when she did not say anything. “What’s your idea?”
“I want to start using my married name, Jacob,” she said at last. “But I’d understand if you’d prefer that I didn’t.”
Jake stared down at her before pulling her back into the shelter of his arms. “Oh, sweetheart, why wouldn’t I want you to use my name? I’m touched that you would even consider doing so. I know you didn’t with your last marriage.”
The tension she had felt all that day in discussing this topic with him vanished. “I never thought about using Samuel’s name for some reason. But that’s all I’ve been thinking about since we decided to go public with our marriage. I am proud to be your wife.”
“And I’m proud to be your husband.” A smile tugged at the corners of Jake’s mouth. “Just think. By this time tomorrow, our secret will be out and our troubles will be over.”
Diamond shook her head and thought of how they would have to deal with the media.
Or our troubles will be just beginning,
she couldn’t help but think to herself.
One thing that everyone who knew Jake Madaris would agree on was that whenever he got the inclination to throw a party, he knew how to throw a darn good one. Since it had been a long time since he had
given one, everyone decided the long wait had been well worth it. And since most of the people in attendance were family, they felt his delay in throwing one could be forgiven. After all, being the youngest of the seven Madaris brothers—Laverne Madaris’s baby boy—he could be forgiven for just about anything.
Almost.
Jake discovered that “almost” as he walked around and conversed with his family then suddenly found himself cornered by three of his nephews, Jonathan’s sons—Justin, Dex and Clayton. He wasn’t surprised that Clayton, the youngest and most talkative of the three, had appointed himself a spokesman for the group.
“I hope you’re ready to come clean, Jake, and tell us what’s been going on with you for the past year or so.”
He met the gazes of the three men, who almost equaled him in both height and weight. “I’m surprised you of all people noticed, Clayton, since you’re still a newlywed and all.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed. We all have.” Clayton’s voice then softened. “And we’re concerned.”
Jake nodded. He appreciated their concern. “There’s nothing to be concerned about. I promise to explain things in a little while. Trust me on this one, guys,” he said before walking off.
The three nephews watched as he crossed the room to talk to his friend, movie actor Sterling Hamilton, and his very pregnant wife, Colby.
“So what do you think?” Justin Madaris asked his two brothers.
“I think whatever it is, it has to do with a woman,” Clayton said, smiling,
“You
would
think so,” Dex Madaris said, shaking his head.
Clayton grinned. “Yeah, I would, wouldn’t I?”
Justin and Dex doubted that a woman was the reason their uncle had been acting strange for the past year or so. It had been years—over twenty—since a woman had played any part in Jake’s life. As far as they were concerned, the most important thing to him was the ranch. Although they were certain he didn’t live a totally celibate life, you couldn’t convince them their uncle would have found the time to get wrapped up in anything other than Whispering Pines.
“What makes you think it has anything to do with a woman?” Justin asked his youngest brother curiously.
Clayton shrugged. “Obvious sign.”
Dex raised a brow. “What obvious sign?”
“His walk.”
“His walk? What about his walk?” Dex wanted to know.
“Did either of you notice it?”
Justin frowned. “Walked like he’s always walked to me. I don’t see a difference.”
Clayton shook his head, smiling. “That’s why I’m the attorney in the family. I notice a lot of things the two of you don’t. I’m more observant. It’s ingrained into my makeup to notice detail. Besides, having recently turned in my player’s card, I fully understand all the complexities of the single man. Especially all the physical signs.”
“Really,” Dex said, glaring at his brother. “So tell us, Mr. Know-It-All, what do you see in Jake’s walk?”
Clayton crossed his arms over his chest as he
watched his uncle leave the Hamiltons and walk across the room to speak briefly to their parents. “I see a man who doesn’t appear to have a frustrated bone in his body. Not a single one. He appears to be totally calm, relaxed and satisfied with life in general. That can mean only one thing.”
“What?” Justin asked because he knew that Dex, being the stubborn one, wouldn’t ask although like him, he was dying to know.
Clayton smiled. “He’s getting some…and a lot of it. It’s my guess it’s on a pretty regular basis, too.”
Justin and Dex simultaneously looked over at their uncle. He was leaving their parents’ side and was now walking toward the area where the three of their wives were standing talking to two of their aunts.
“Impossible,” Dex said. He knew how his uncle had always felt about any serious involvement with a woman, and making love on a regular basis with one would constitute a pretty serious involvement in his book.
“Yeah, that’s impossible,” Justin chimed in agreement. “Besides, we have no business standing here discussing Jake’s sex life.”
“Why not?” Clayton asked, grinning. “Seems like a pretty good subject to me. And I don’t happen to agree with the two of you. Impossible as it may seem, we know that miracles do happen in this family.” He chuckled. “And the biggest of all miracles just got here.”
The three Madaris brothers watched as Jake crossed the room to greet the couple who were just arriving, newlyweds Trask Maxwell and Felicia Laverne Madaris Maxwell.
Jake checked his watch. He would give everyone another twenty minutes or so. He had sent his sister-in-law, Marilyn, upstairs to make sure Diamond didn’t need help with anything. So far the party was going smoothly, he thought, as he continued to move around the room, playing out his role as host. It felt good having the people he loved and most cared about in his home.
He saw three of his nieces standing off to the side, carrying on what appeared to be an interesting conversation if the expressions they wore were any indication. Traci was doing all the talking, and her sister Kattie and cousin Felicia were getting an earful as they hung on to her every word.
He smothered a laugh when he noticed his mother, who was sitting on a sofa not far away from the three, trying not to draw attention to the fact that she was deliberately listening to every word of Traci, Kattie and Felicia’s private conversation. There was definitely nothing wrong with his mother’s hearing today.
Jake decided to check things out before his mother became privy to too much of whatever gossip his nieces were spreading.
“Anyway,” Traci was saying as he walked up. She didn’t notice him and kept right on talking. “Leigh Jones told Karen Childs and Karen told Donna and of course, she told Bobbie, who—”
Traci stopped talking when she finally noticed him. “Oh, hi, Uncle Jake. Nice party.”
He lifted a brow. “Thanks. And don’t let me stop you. This is all very interesting, this train of gossip that
you’re spreading. I missed the beginning. Exactly what did Leigh tell Karen that was so important that she told Donna, who then gave the scoop to Bobbie?”
“Nothing important, really.”
“Oh.”
You could have fooled me from where I was standing looking on a few minutes ago,
Jake thought to himself. He looked at the three nieces he loved and adored. But he knew they could not keep secrets no matter how many times they took the “I cross my heart and hope to die” vow.
“So tell us, Uncle Jake, why such a big splash in February?” his niece Kattie asked, smoothly and deliberately changing the subject. “We weren’t expecting a party until the summer.”
“Yeah, not until the Fourth of July,” his niece Felicia added.
He nodded and decided to play his hand at something, which would later prove a point to his family about their inability to keep secrets. “I’ll let you three in on something, but you can’t say a word to anyone. It’s a secret.”
He smiled when the three of them leaned forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother sitting on the sofa leaning likewise. She wasn’t about to get left out of hearing anything either. “In a few minutes, I’ll be making a very important announcement.”
“What kind of an announcement?” Traci asked, whispering. “Are you going to announce that Whispering Pines made an extra-large profit last year?”
Jake grinned. Traci, a compulsive shopper, was anxious to know just how much extra money she would have to spend at the malls.