Sneak Peek: The First Chapter

Here's the next sneak peek at my new manuscript, The Gift of the Greenstone. This is the first chapter after the prologue. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to post your thoughts!

Chapter One
One Picture Too Many

“So who is she?”

Jaden glanced over to his mother and continued setting the dinner plates. “Just a friend, mom.”

“A friend,” Jaden’s mother said, her maternal stare palpable from across the kitchen, “who just happens to be the first female friend from college that you have invited over to our house for dinner?”

“Yes, mom. Gwen is a female friend who was stranded on campus for spring break and didn’t have any plans for dinner tonight.”

“Is she pretty?”

He looked up.

“She’s attractive.”

He was lying. She was beautiful.

“And how long have you known her?”

None of these questions were unexpected or even unwelcome.

“Oh, about six months,” he said, glancing up at her with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ve told you about her before.”

“Uh huh,” his mother said, slicing smaller slivers of carrot, “and she’s nice?”

“No, mom, she’s cruel. Vindictive, maybe even crazy. At the very least, pathologically malicious. Because that’s the kind of person I like to be close friends with, I mean, I just can’t help myself.”

“All right,” his mother said, “so she’s sweet, then?”

He rolled his eyes and smiled, glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner of the living room. Almost 6:15. He started moving a little faster.


“So let me just see if I understand you,” his mom said, “this sweet and attractive young woman—”

“Gwen,” he said.

“Yes, so this sweet and attractive Gwen, who you’ve become very close to these last six months to the point that you are, let’s be honest, bringing her to meet me is just a friend you’re bringing to dinner?” She smirked his way with an all too understanding wink.

He wondered if Gwen could see through him as well as his mother could. He hoped not or he might be in for a long night.

“Uh, yep, just a girl friend I wanted to have over for dinner, with you.”

Why couldn’t he lie better?

“You told her how you feel yet?” his mother said.

He opened his mouth but no witty remark came to mind. “Not exactly.”

Mercifully, the only sound that followed was the crisp crack of the kitchen knife cutting through celery. He had had other girlfriends before, inviting them over to watch movies or hang out at his house but the relationships were always short-lived, each one usually getting more serious right around the time when his mother would find a better job and so they would have to move away. The six months he had known and hung out with Gwen was the longest friendship he could remember having with someone.

“Well then,” his mother said, scooting the chopped pieces of celery off of the butcher block and into the large glass salad bowl, “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You mean judge and scrutinize her?”

“There’s a difference?”

He couldn’t help but smile, wrapping his arms around his mother with a tight hug, until he saw the single headlight of Gwen’s moped drive up the gravel driveway.

“She’s fifteen minutes early!”

He scurried over to the butcher block countertop and grabbed the three remaining glasses of ice cubes and rushed over to the dinner table as Gwen reached the front steps. The ice cubes clinked and shifted before settling after he plopped the glasses down.

“Well? Do I look all right?” he said.

“Very handsome,” his mother said, “more and more like a man, like your father.”

“I love you, too, mom,” he said, power-walking to the front door. He took a deep breath and peered through the window on the right of the door.

Gwen’s blonde hair seemed to be more radiant than normal under the soft luster of the overhead porch light, each strand glowing gently against the dark dusk skyline. She smiled and waved at him, her blue eyes and soft skin spotlighted while she stood on the wooden patio.

“Hey, come on in,” he said, holding the door for her.

Gwen smiled and thanked him, her bright eyes canvassing around the inside of the house as he led her into the kitchen. “Whoa, so this is where you grew up?” she said, “this is really nice.”

“No, I wish. My mom moved here the summer before I started college. About a year ago.”

“Well, it’s a lovely home,” she said, “And I can’t thank you enough for inviting me over for dinner.”

“Oh, no big deal. It was my pleasure. I figured that you could use some time out of the dorms and off of campus. I know I do during a break.”

“I did, I mean, I do,” she said. “This is great.”

“Well aren’t you just a sweetheart,” his mother said, popping her head out of the kitchen into the hallway. When Gwen blushed and looked back at Jaden he saw his mother mouth the words, “Wow, she’s gorgeous” to him.

He suddenly wanted to find a mirror and check if the cowlick at the back of his head was sticking up again. Maybe he should have gone with a different shirt. His mother studied Gwen for a moment and seemed slightly on edge herself. He wasn’t sure if she was more nervous for herself or for him. But that didn’t really matter, so far so good.

“Jaden,” his mother said, smiling again, “aren’t you going to take your buddy’s coat?”

Gwen looked confused. “Buddy?”

Jaden eyed his mother, who couldn’t stop herself from grinning.

Awesome.



“And then he looked at me and said, ‘but, momma, high heels are just more fun than my tennis shoes.” His mother and Gwen cackled, each one flushed and squinting from the laughter.

Jaden sighed and wiped his forehead with his hand, a nervous habit. His mother had now told Gwen about the time she had told him to put some elbow grease on a jar of pickles that he couldn’t get open and how he had spent the next half hour searching the garage for a bottle of elbow grease, the time he had gotten chicken pox and spent half the day naked in front of an oscillating fan because it was the only thing that made the itching feel better, and, his personal favorite, the time his mother had taken him to the park and he couldn’t wait to get home before using the restroom, which is how she wound up finding Jaden wiping himself with poison ivy leaves.

“Well,” Gwen said, “he does have a point about the high heels.”

“I was three,” Jaden said, still shaking his head, “and mom, you really don’t have to bore Gwen with all of those embarrassing stories of me when I was younger. I’m sure she’s—”

“I’m not boring her at all,” his mother said, looking to Gwen across the table, “am I?”

Jaden could not have sent Gwen a more imploring plea with his eyes.

“Actually I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard, Mrs. Scott,” Gwen said, sending Jaden a mischievous wink.

“Nonsense,” his mother said, “please call me Sarah. And I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun either. You should come over more often, Gwen.”

Jaden rose to his feet. “Well, I’m just so happy that I could be such a source of entertainment for you ladies but I’m going to start cleaning up.” He grabbed his plate and reached for theirs.

“See, Gwen, he cleans, too.”

Did she really just say that?

“Mom, I really don’t think—”

“I mean, how many almost twenty year old men do you know that not only clean up after themselves but others as well?”

“Mom, seriously, you’re—”

“None,” Gwen said, getting up out of her seat to help him carry the plates to the sink, “it’s a rare sight.”

“I believe the word is catch, Gwen,” his mother said, “He’s a rare catch.”

He turned, his jaw clenched tight, in utter shock. His mother nodded and waved at him.

What a disaster.

He motioned for Gwen to hand him her plate at the sink, the running water just loud enough for him to try and whisper an explanation, “Gwen, I’m sorry about, um, that. You see my mom has this crazy idea that, well...”

“That you’re a catch?” she said, “I wouldn’t say that’s crazy, but she’s certainly coming on rather strong, huh?”

He laughed a little too loud, unsure if it was nerves or pure relief that she thought he was a catch and was taking the disaster of the evening in stride. “Thank you,” he said, “for—”

“Oh!”

They both turned to see his mother out of her chair and heading for the stairs.

“I think I have a picture of him in those high heels with my old silk skirt around his shoulders,” his mother said.

“No, mom, I really don’t think you do.”

What else could go wrong?

“I’m positive I do,” she said, “it’s in the blue album in the upstairs bedroom. You two stop doing those dishes and head into the living room. You won’t be able to see the pictures in that dim kitchen. Jaden, show Gwen the sofa next to the fireplace.”

“Mom, you really don’t need to get that photo album.” But his mother was already up the stairs and out of sight.

“So, you’re going to sit by me beside the fireplace, huh?” Gwen said.

“I, I really,” he said, searching for words, “Well, it is more comfortable and better lit. And not at all an attempt for romance.” What had just happened? “Go on ahead,” he said, “I’m just going to stand here and contemplate how embarrassed I really should be right now and how much you’re never going to want to come back here again.”

Gwen interlocked her fingers into his, pulling him into the living room.

“Come on,” she said, “Don’t you want to see how fabulous you look in stilettos?”

She held his hand the entire trip into the living room.

His mother was a genius.

On the way into the living room Gwen bumped into his mother’s antique baby-grand piano, knocking the sterling candelabra that sat atop the family heirloom to the floor. Jaden whirled around and caught it before it hit the ground.

“Nice catch,” she said. “I barely saw you move. Those are some surprising reflexes you got there.”

“Oh, well thanks,” he said, putting the candelabra back into place, “this was my great grandmother’s piano and my mom insists on keeping it out here no matter how much of a gigantic hazard it is. I bump into at least three times a day since it pretty much blocks this entire half of the living room so I guess I’m just used to having to catch this thing. Those sharp spires on the top scratch me almost every time.”

Before they had even sat down on the couch his mother could be seen from the second-floor walkway that overlooked the living room, multiple photo albums in her arms almost higher than her head. “I couldn’t find the blue one but maybe it’s in one of these. If not, I can always get into the back of my closet for the big boxes of albums.”

“I’m fine,” she said, almost missing a step down the stairs.

Jaden made his way up the stair case, releasing Gwen’s hand.

“Mom…”

“Mrs. Scott, I mean, Sarah,” Gwen said, heading for the stairs herself, “he’s right, let us help you. That can’t be safe.”

Jaden took the top box of photo albums from his mother and the three of them made their way to the couch in front of the fire. Gwen took a dark green photo album that Jaden’s mother handed her and turned to a picture of Jaden and his mother in front of a canyon when he was thirteen.

“Oh, isn’t that a good picture, Jaden?” his mother said.

He nodded and turned towards the dancing flames inside the brick fireplace. Now Gwen had seen him as a shirtless, scrawny thirteen year old. It just gets better and better.

“Where is that?” Gwen said.

“That was at our old house in Arizona,” his mother said, “we moved to a few more places here and there a little while after that. We always looked for the best schools so Jaden could have a top notch education.”

A few schools. Try twelve. But he didn’t mind. He knew how hard it was for a single mother to get and keep a job. Plus, he had always felt a little out of place wherever he went.

“Wow, Jaden,” Gwen said, leaning closer to another photo, “is this a picture of your dad? You look just like him. It’s—”

He tore his eyes off of the mantelpiece, glancing again at the only picture of his father that his mother had not accidentally misplaced. He rubbed his index finger over the top right corner of the picture where a small tear could just be seen, a giveaway to how many times Jaden had taken the picture out of the album and held it in his hands, wondering what his father was like.

“Yeah. Uncanny resemblance, huh?” he said.

“Look how little you are!” Gwen said, “You couldn’t have been more than—”

“He had just turned four,” his mother said.

A pregnant pause pervaded the small living room. Jaden continued staring at the bright eyes of the man that looked so familiar, the man that he could now see almost every time he looked in the mirror. The man who died from cancer four months after his birthday.

“I,” Gwen said, “yeah, you’re right about the resemblance…but I can’t believe you were ever this small, though.”

He appreciated her forced laugh and the change of subject, desperate to sidestep seeing his mother break down again at the memory of his father’s untimely death. That’s not exactly the thing he wanted to have happen the first time they had dinner with Gwen.

“Wait a second,” his mother said, hopping off the burgundy sofa, “I think the high heeled photo is in that other box in my closet. Let me go have a look.” He watched his mother cross the walkway that overlooked the living room, the dark maple banister groaning as she hurried past it and into her bedroom.

“I’m sorry,” Gwen said, “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” he said, smiling the best he could, “you couldn’t have known. It’s all right, I promise. I don’t really remember that much, you know, that far back.”

Except that he often wished he could remember…something. Anything. Nothing could be worse than not remembering spending time with a lost parent or who your father even was.

“Right,” Gwen said, holding her gaze for a few lingering seconds and returning to the photo, staring at the family portrait.

Moments later a loud thump directed both of their attentions to two tiny hands struggling to carry a couple of boxes overflowing with pictures. Jaden’s mother swayed across the walkway that overlooked the living room, fighting to catch her balance and hidden behind the shiny photos and worn cardboard.

“Mom! What are you doing? I bet those things weigh thirty pounds each.”

His mother stumbled a bit, inching closer and closer to the maple banister.

“Well it has to be in one of these boxes,” she said, “I just need to—”

Her foot caught on the carpet and the top box lurched forward, pulling his mother along with it as she broke through the banister, falling towards the baby-grand piano. Plummeting straight for the sterling spears of the candelabra.

Everything slowed down. Photos rained down like autumn leaves in a brisk breeze. A tremendous burst propelled Jaden off of the couch and in an instant he was across the room, lowering his shoulder into the baby grand piano.

Crack.

Splintered wood panels and ivory keys catapulted into the air. Metal strings snapped and whipped around while the antique piano slid across the living room floor like the hardwood was made of ice, the candelabra careening into the hallway with it, skidding to a stop in the kitchen.

He lifted his eyes and held out his arms to catch his falling mother despite the searing pain in his right shoulder. Jaden tumbled to one knee the instant his mother rebounded safe in his trembling grasp, the force of her fall too much for his aching joint. The cardboard boxes melted into a sea of smiling faces and wrinkled edges upon impact, littering the wood floor with crumpled keepsakes.

After lowering his mother to the ground Jaden couldn’t help but rub his throbbing shoulder, the pain intensifying more and more. “Are you all right, mom?”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice faltering, but when he raised his head to get a good look at her she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring past him.

“Jaden,” Gwen said, her voice cold and short.

He turned away from his mother, only to see Gwen’s wide eyes gazing past him as well.

“What?” he said.

“We…” Gwen said.

He looked back to his mother and followed her stare over his shoulder to see what the big deal was, what they couldn’t tear their eyes off of.

“What’s going on—whoa.”

The entire front of the baby-grand piano had been caved in. Ivory keys were scattered across the living room floor and into the kitchen, like breadcrumbs leading to the center island at least fifteen feet away. The piano must have crashed into the center island, the sheer impact reducing the large wooden structure to little more than kindling and cracked tile.

“Seems like adrenaline won the battle with the baby-grand and the kitchen island, huh?” he said. “Where’s the ibuprofen at, mom?”

She didn’t answer.

“Mom, my shoulder is really hurting can you please—”

“Jaden,” Gwen said, “we, we have to leave. Now.”

“What?”

Gwen walked across the mess of photos but his mother met her halfway.

“Merrick sent you, didn’t he?”

Neither of them made any sense.

“Mom, what are you talking about?”

Gwen nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Scott. How did you know?”

His mother smiled and placed her hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “A mother always knows, Gwen. The way you’ve acted all night. You’re very protective of Jaden. That can’t be faked or hidden, at least not well enough to fool me.”

Gwen looked momentarily ashamed, like she had failed in some way that Jaden did not understand but his mother just kept smiling at her.

“I have to get Jaden out of here as soon as possible,” Gwen said.

“I understand,” his mother said, ignoring the mess around her, which only perplexed Jaden more since his mother had always been meticulous in her cleaning and care of the house.

He stumbled across the photos towards his mother, “Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?”

Gwen eyed the piano again and his mother cupped Jaden’s face in her hands.

“You’re all grown up,” she said, “It was bound to happen sooner or later. Jaden, I know I’ve made things hard on you, all the moving and keeping to ourselves but it was the only way I knew how to protect you, the only way I could make sure that you were safe. I, I always thought I’d be the one to tell you but there’s just not enough time now, sweetheart. I hope you’ll understand.”

“Mrs. Scott, we’re wasting precious time,” Gwen said, “please, we have to get out of here to ensure both of your safeties.” She eyed the door, her breathing elevated.

“What? I don’t understand, mom, ” Jaden said, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about or what the big deal is. That piano was old and on wheels. And I was just hopped up on adrenaline. Why would I need to leave with Gwen?”

But no one was listening to him. Gwen had locked her stare onto his mother and Jaden watched his mother nod without anything even being said.

“Tell Merrick he was right,” his mother said, “tell him that Jaden, just tell him he was right.”

Gwen paused and looked at Jaden in a way that he did not care for, like she was studying him, her glare piercing him straight through.

“I will,” Gwen said, still eyeing him. “Jaden, it’s time to get you out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “Have you two gone crazy? You’re not even making sense.”

“Jaden, please,” his mother said, her eyes misty, “none of this is going to make sense right now. There’s too much you don’t know. Too much I’ve had to protect you from but please, son, just trust me. You trust me, right?”

He didn’t know how to respond. He had never seen his mother this anxious, this unhinged before. She was always so well put together, so quick with her wit and eager to laugh that he couldn’t help but agree with her that there was a lot that he clearly did not know about, that none of this did make any sense to him. But her last question was the only thing that kept coming up in his mind.

“Of course I trust you.”

His mother smiled and hugged him like the time she had found him when he had snuck away in the grocery store when he was little, crying in the middle of the soup aisle until she picked him up and held him so tight that he had trouble catching his breath.

“Then go with her, sweetie. Gwen can explain it better than I can. She can help you more than I can now. If you trust me, then I need you to trust Gwen. Just know that everything I’ve ever told you or done was what I thought was best for you. Please, remember that. That and how much I love you.”

“Your mother’s right,” Gwen said, “every moment we linger here the more we put her life in danger as well as yours. I can’t keep both of you safe here. We have to leave immediately.”

Gwen stepped forward and grabbed his hand. “Jaden, come on.”

He didn’t budge.

“Sweetheart,” his mother said, “I’ll be fine. I promise.” A tear slid down her cheek. She brushed his forehead with her hand. “I couldn’t be more proud of you, of who you are. Go. Now.”

Gwen pulled on his hand.

“Jaden!”

“The next time I see you, you have a lot of explaining to do,” he said, hugging his mom and telling her he loved her, trying to ignore the odd sense of finality that had crept over him.

“You need to go to the safe house after we’re gone,” Gwen said to his mother, pulling Jaden while talking, “they’ll be looking for you, too.”

Without hesitation, Jaden’s mother reached for her keys while Gwen pulled Jaden out of the room, racing him out of the house and down the gravel driveway.

“Get on,” she said, hopping on her moped, “I don’t know how close they are.”