Diamond (29 page)

She turned north toward Jefferson Street with trepidation. The last place she wanted to be was back in that part of town. But it was the only place she was going to get answers.

Diamond was nearly finished packing. Her few belongings fit easily into the six boxes sitting in the middle of her living room floor. She looked around, checking to make sure she’d left nothing behind. When she was certain that everything that mattered had been packed away she dropped down onto the bed with a sigh.

In a strange way, this shabby, two-room apartment on the wrong side of town had become home as Jesse’s place had never been. This was where she’d learned that she could depend on herself and survive—where she’d come to terms with the fact that she was never going to get over Jesse, but if she was careful, she just might be able to live without him.

Diamond kicked her toe against the brightly patterned rug beneath the bed and smiled. She could just imagine the expression on Twila’s face when she learned she wasn’t leaving Dooley’s gift behind. The drapes would have to stay, though. Diamond was certain that wherever Twila took her, the windows would already be covered.

A series of sharp knocks on her door sent her running to answer. She didn’t have to open it to know that it was Twila, because she could hear her grumbling clear out in the hall.

“About time,” Twila said as Diamond opened the door. She looked around and smiled with satisfaction as she realized Diamond was already packed. “Didn’t waste any time, did you?” she asked.

“Didn’t have any to waste,” Diamond said.

Twila grinned. “From the start I knew we were going to get along, I love it when I’m right. Let’s go apartment hunting. We can send for this stuff later.”

Diamond shrugged into her coat and slung her purse over her shoulder. “After you.”

They hadn’t gone far when Twila began to talk. It was such a subtle interrogation that at first, Diamond wasn’t even aware of it. The questions seemed innocent, natural things that new friends or partners would discuss. But it soon became apparent to Diamond that Twila was in possession of certain information and was determined to get it verified.

“So…how long had you been in Nashville when Dooley hired you?” Twila asked.

Diamond shrugged, and what she said wasn’t actually a lie. “Not long. Maybe a few weeks.”

Twila frowned as she negotiated a turn. “So you came straight from—where was it?—Cradle Creek to Nashville?”

“Almost,” Diamond said.
Give or take a few months
.

“Ever sing anyplace else before you started at Dooley’s?”

“Not for pay,” Diamond said. The album was making a fortune, but not for her. “Back in Cradle Creek, I sang at Whitelaw’s Bar for tips. But that was only on weekends. The rest of the time I was slinging drinks to miners who should have spent their pay on something else besides Morton’s watered-down booze.”

Twila grinned. “You were just paying your dues like every other singer in town before they hit it big. They’ve either done the same or wound up washing dishes somewhere to keep from starving to death. You were on the right track and didn’t even know it, girl.”

Diamond returned the smile. “I guess.”

“Well, we need to think about cutting a demo, and then I’ll start pitching it. I have a feeling it won’t take long to get some interesting feedback.” Twila held her breath, waiting to see how Diamond would react to her announcement.

Diamond shook her head. “Don’t be so sure. I already cut one demo and no one seemed to be—” She caught herself, but it wasn’t in time to stop Twila from jumping on the information.

Twila’s resolve deepened. What Dooley told her had been right! She was determined to find out as much as she could. “Did you set it up all by yourself?” she asked.

Diamond sighed. There were some things Twila needed to know. After all, she
was
her manager.

“Not entirely,” she said.

“Care to tell me who did?”

“Not particularly.”

“Dammit! How am I going to help you if you don’t talk?” Twila’s anger was all-consuming. She slammed on her brakes, pulled off the street into the first parking space available, and then killed the engine. She turned in the seat and fixed a pointed stare on Diamond.

“All right! I’ve had about enough. Something’s wrong, and you and I both know it. You hardly ever laugh when you’re not on stage. You passed out holding that damned black hat and then came to as closemouthed as a nun doing penance. You tell me you cut a demo, but you don’t want to tell me what happened to it. That’s it, girl. Talk, and I mean now.”

“What do you want me to say?” Diamond yelled. “That I was a fool for trusting a man when I should have trusted my instincts instead? That I loved him too much to see past the end of his arms, and that I’m going to pay for that for the rest of my life?”

Tears were streaming down Diamond’s face as Twila watched and listened. She was sorry that her outburst had caused Diamond misery, but it was better now than later.

“No, honey,” Twila said, reaching out and patting her hand. “But you’ve got to see I need to know more than you’ve been willing to tell. Don’t you?”

Diamond shuddered. She leaned against the headrest and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God. I don’t know anything anymore,” she said. “All I know is, I’m trying to live without him and I can’t find a way.”

Twila nodded. “That’s why you have me,” she said. “Between the two of us, we will. Now, time’s wasting. Let’s go find you a new place to live. We’ll worry about the elusive man in your life later.”

Diamond sat silently as Twila chauffeured her across Nashville. She didn’t have the strength to do anything more. Three hours later Twila was on the phone, hiring a mover to bring Diamond’s meager belongings to her new home.

“You’re going to love it here,” Twila said. “It’s close to a mall and close to me.”

Diamond looked around at the large, airy room and into the adjoining kitchen, wiggled her toes in the soft blue carpeting, and then ran her fingers lightly along the heavy white drapes. “It’s fine,” she said. “But I’m not real crazy about the carpet in the bedroom. I think I’ll put down the rug Dooley gave me instead.”

Twila rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what you do with that thing, as long as it’s out of sight. In the bedroom will be fine. No one will see it except you.” Then she grinned. “And, knowing men as I do, if one makes it that far, he won’t be looking at the floor coverings. He’ll be looking at you.”

The smile disappeared from Diamond’s face. There was only one man she wanted in her bed, and that was about as likely to happen as world peace.

Twila bit her lip, wishing she could take back what she’d said, but as usual it was too late. “So, now that we have you settled, let’s go to dinner. My treat. We’ll celebrate your new place, your new life…” Some instinct made her add, “…and old memories. Especially the ones worth keeping.”

Diamond smiled through tears. “Thanks for understanding,” she said. “Where are we going? How do I dress?”

“Dress up or down. Where we’re going, it won’t matter. Ever been to The Stockyards?”

“No. I thought we were going to eat, not sell cattle.”

Twila laughed. “Your stuff will be here in about an hour. When you’ve gotten changed, give me a call and I’ll pick you up. And you better be good and hungry. They put out a spread there you wouldn’t believe.”

“I don’t have a phone,” Diamond reminded her.

“You do now,” Twila said, handing her a small, black, cellular model with the antenna already extended. “Your own will be installed tomorrow. Use mine for now, and just bring it with you tonight.”

Diamond grinned. “You never give up, do you?”

“No. And for your sake, you’d do well to remember that.”

Twila left, and Diamond settled down in her new apartment to wait for her boxes to arrive.

She stared down at the phone in her lap, lightly touched the keys that would have dialed Jesse’s number, and then quickly set it aside before she could follow through on her impulse. There was no place for old love in her new life.

“I’ve got to get you out of my mind. Going back wouldn’t solve anything. It would simply be a replay of everything that went wrong,” Diamond whispered as she traced and retraced the number at his home.

But Jesse was nowhere around to hear or question the conviction of her vow to herself. And Diamond would soon learn the difference between saying and doing.

“Wow!”

There was nothing left for Diamond to say as they were escorted to their table. The Stockyard was everything Twila had promised and more. It was an eclectic mix of antique and elegant, of fine linen and old floors, of new patrons and old company. What had once been the offices of cattle buyers from all over the country were now unique, intimate dining rooms. The owners had managed to retain enough of the old charm and had added enough of the new for comfort and convenience.

The courses were as plentiful as the servings, and Diamond leaned back with a smile on her face as she rubbed her midriff and politely refused the dessert tray that was offered.

“I would have been full if I’d quit on the first course,” Diamond said, remembering the thick, hearty vegetable-beef soup. “But no—I made a pig of myself and finished it off as well as the salad that came next, and then the steak and vegetables. It was too much—and so good.”

Twila grinned. “Sometimes we need to pamper ourselves. If you don’t know that, you’ll learn.”

“Being pampered was the last thing on my mind when I was growing up,” Diamond said. “Staying ahead of the bill collectors and social workers was more like it.”

Twila’s eyebrows rose a fraction. But it was the only indication of her surprise that Diamond had actually volunteered something about her earlier life.

“So, did you move around a lot when you were growing up?”

Diamond nodded. “About four or five times a year until I was, oh, maybe eight or nine. That was when Johnny landed in Cradle Creek. I don’t know whether he just ran out of money, got tired of moving, or actually got an attack of conscience for dragging us over half the country.”

“Johnny?”

“My father. We never called him anything else. He was always Johnny. I don’t know why, he just was.” Diamond tried hard not to think about the last time she’d seen him, and the white pine casket, and the rough clods of dirt that had shattered on impact when the gravediggers had begun covering it up.

“I hate to keep asking, but I don’t know any other way to get answers.” Twila smiled to lessen the inquisitive turn their conversation had taken. “Who’s the ‘we’ you keep talking about?”

Diamond smiled. “My sisters. There were three of us. I was the middle child, although I can honestly say I never felt left out. There was never enough to go around, so we were all in the same boat.”

“What about your mother? You never mention her.”

Diamond looked down at the napkin in her lap and then back up at Twila without flinching. “I barely remember her. She walked out on Johnny when Lucky and I were just babies. Queen raised all of us, including herself.”

Twila grinned. “Queen? Diamond? Lucky? What’s the deal?”

Diamond shrugged. “Johnny was a gambler by profession. He couldn’t have done any other kind of work and survive. But he did have a particular love for cards. And he did—in his own way—love us. I guess he thought it was only fitting that he combine the two.”

“You took after your—after Johnny, didn’t you?”

Diamond gawked. She was so thunderstruck by Twila’s calm assumption that she had a difficult time finding the words to answer her. “Lord, no!” she finally said. “Why would you think something like that?’

Twila shrugged. “It just seemed obvious. Johnny gambled with money, you’re gambling for fame. I don’t see much difference.”

Diamond was silent for so long, Twila feared she’d offended her. But in fact, it was just the opposite. When she finally looked up, the smile on her face was one Twila would have given a year off her life to have captured and slapped on an album cover. Her green eyes were shining, and they set off that beautiful face of hers to perfection. Her smile was wide and easy, as if she’d been loved too long and set loose to rest.

“You know what, Twila Hart? You’re right, and I never knew it. It’s a strange sort of comfort to know that I brought a part of Johnny with me after all.”

“When you get rich and famous, you can go back and thumb your nose at the lot,” Twila said. “All those bill collectors and social workers and such.”

“I won’t ever be going back to Cradle Creek,” Diamond said. “Johnny’s dead, and my sisters are gone. All I can hope for is that someday we’ll find each other again. For now, just knowing they love me is enough.”

Before she inadvertently opened up another painful subject, Twila decided to call for the check. It was time to go home.

They were on their way out the door when a woman’s cry stopped them in place and sent Diamond whirling around with a look of panic on her face.

“Oh, my God! Al! It’s Di!”

Rita Barkley made a dash for the tall blonde going out the door. The woman’s soft, brown-suede pantsuit was tailored to fit her tall frame and much more elegant than the denim she usually wore, but Rita would have known her anywhere. She clamped a hand on Diamond’s elbow and held on for dear life.

“Diamond, honey! Where have you been? We’ve looked all over Nashville for you.”

Diamond’s heart sank. Of all the people to see, this was close to the worst. Rita had been a friend, and explaining in front of the curious bystanders was going to be impossible.

“Introduce me, Diamond,” Twila said.

Diamond wanted to run. This kept getting worse. “Twila Hart, I’d like you to meet Rita Barkley and her husband, Al. Rita, this is Twila Hart, my new manager.”

Twila nodded in greeting, recognizing Al as one of the members of Jesse Eagle’s band, Muddy Road.

Rita threw her arms around Diamond and began to cry. “I don’t know whether I’m happy or sad,” she said. “But I do know someone who’s going to—”

“Don’t!”

Diamond’s sharp cry stopped her and froze everyone in place as they watched the distress sweeping across her face.