Secret Love by Brenda Jackson Page A

without blinking. She hoped they weren’t upset that their lunch had been interrupted. She was sure to these men that after putting in so much time in the saddle, lunch was probably a very important part of their day. Ready to brave the storm that could erupt from the hungry men seated at the long table, she took a deep breath and walked into the room and stood next to Jake.
    “Hi,” she said to the men, who had gone speechless. “I didn’t want to interrupt anything, but I wanted to meet all of you. I know this might not be a good time but I brought you something.”
    When none of the men said anything but just continued to stare at her, she glanced quickly at Jake. His lean features that lighted into a smile gave her encouragement, so she continued. “I baked pies for all of you. Blueberry pies. Ten of them. I checked with Blaylock, and he said it would be all right for me to serve you a piece as lunch dessert.”
    The men still didn’t respond.
    Diamond gave another quick glance in Jake’s direction. He was smiling. In fact, if she didn’t know better she would think he was downright amused. She shrugged and decided to add, “I think I did a pretty good job on the pies, but I’ll let you be the final judge. Would anyone like to help me get them out of the Jeep?”
    Jake saw, before Diamond did, all thirty-plus men jump out of their seats at the same time, nearly knocking over their chairs in the process. “Hold it right there,” he commanded in a loud voice before any one of the men could get within five feet of Diamond. “Sit back down. I’ll get the pies. Blaylock, maintain order until I get back.”
    It was only after he had made the request of Blaylock did Jake remember most people’s reaction to the man upon first seeing him. Jake took in a deep breath as he watched Blaylock hesitate a second before coming forward. He knew that as usual, Blaylock was bracing himself for another person’s cruel response to seeing the scar on his face.
    Jake saw Diamond glance around to take note of the man he’d spoken to. He then watched in astonishment as she flashed the older man a pure, radiant smile. Jake’s eyes then widened when she left his side and walked over to Blaylock and gave him a huge hug like they were old friends.
    “Blaylock, I’m so glad to meet you. Thanks for walking me through the dough part of that recipe. You were right, kneading the dough that way made the cookies taste lighter. You’re going to have to share more of your cooking secrets with me while I’m here.”
    Jake knew that Blaylock was just as taken aback as he was. He looked at Jake with questioning eyes. Jake simply shrugged. Diamond hadn’t even blinked at the sight of Blaylock’s scar. It was as if she hadn’t noticed it, which Jake knew was not the case because it ran the full length of the man’s face.
    Jake shook his head. The woman was something else. That simple act of human kindness she hadbestowed upon the elderly man touched him in a way he couldn’t describe. He also knew it had earned her a special place in Blaylock’s heart for life.
    “I’m glad it worked for you, Miss Diamond,” Blaylock finally found his voice to say.
    “Just Diamond. After helping me out with that new batch of cookies, I feel like we’ve moved to the rank of buddies.”
    She glanced over at the men, who were still staring openmouthed at her before letting her gaze come to rest on Jake. “The pies, Jacob. You forgot to go get the pies.”
    Silence broke among the men when one of them coughed to cover a chuckle and whispered to another. “She called the boss Jacob. Nobody calls him Jacob around here and gets away with it.”
    Jake’s gaze fell on Simon Bellamy, giving the man a hard stare. “She does,” he said before he spun around and walked out of the bunkhouse to fetch the pies.
     
    “Today was a very interesting day,” Diamond said as she got out of the Jeep when Jake opened the door for her.
    That’s an understatement,