Diamond, page 29
Diamond started to laugh and began retrieving the mail she’d dropped.
“I don’t want to dance, you goose. My sisters—they’re coming for Christmas. And they said they’re bringing surprises.”
Overwhelming relief spread a wide grin across his face as he nuzzled against the warm spot below her coat collar.
“That’s fantastic, lady. But you get yourself inside—right now!” he said. “Go tell Henley to expect God knows how many more. He’ll be in a constant panic not knowing the head count, but who cares? Besides, we have a little surprise of our own for them, don’t we, darlin’?”
Diamond covered his hand with her own, and the joy in her eyes as she looked up at him would remain forever in his heart.
“I’m on my way.” She looked across the yard and then smiled apologetically at him. “I hope I didn’t miss any letters.”
“I’ll check,” he said, grinning. “Do as I asked—please.”
Jesse watched her long legs flying as they cleared the porch steps. He winced when she jumped and then sighed in relief when the door slammed shut behind her.
“My God,” he muttered as he began to retrace her steps to the mailbox, “I will not survive these next seven months.”
Moments later Diamond stood at the window and watched Jesse’s dark head and broad shoulders as he walked up the path. Once in a while his red shirt would disappear as he bent down to retrieve another piece of mail, and then when she could see it and him again, she would smile through tears of joy.
The scents of cinnamon and fresh-baked bread wrapped around her, a comforting reminder that she was home where she belonged. She leaned her forehead against the cold panes of glass and remembered what a gamble she’d taken by leaving Cradle Creek with a total stranger. Then she smiled, thinking that Johnny would have loved the hand fate had dealt her. It was a winner!
She saw that Jesse had started home and went to the door to meet him.
About the Author
SHARON SALA grew up in rural Oklahoma as a farmer's daughter and then later lived as a farmer's wife. She began her published writing career in 1991. In 1996 she took on a pen name as well, writing as Dinah McCall for HarperCollins; today she continues to write romantic suspense under both names.
While family is her most cherished earthly possession, she feels blessed to be able to share her stories with people who love to read. December 2001 marks the release of her fortieth novel.
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Other Books by
Sharon Sala
CHANCE MCCALL
DEEP IN THE HEART
FINDERS KEEPERS
LUCKY
SECOND CHANCES
QUEEN
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DIAMOND. Copyright © 1994 by Sharon Sala. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition March 2007 ISBN 9780061743252
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Sharon Sala, Diamond
