The Color of Jade (Jade Series Book 1) (11 page)

“Yeah,” I answered. I looked at where Damian’s hand had been. The fingerprints of his grip remained and I rubbed at the developing bruise on my arm.

“You’re.   Leaving.   Now.”

“I’m not finished,” Damian said. He stood with shoulders squared, and faced Gage. I watched as the two of them held their ground, neither of them relented. Both about the same size. Gage stepped closer to Damian, pressing him back.

“You are finished and you are leaving… Now go!”

“Nah… Jade was just about to…”

Gage grabbed him suddenly and slammed him up against the wooden fence. He swung at Gage and missed as he received another solid right hook. He staggered back, an instant red mark with a one-inch gash to his cheek, and then glared with rage in his eyes.

“Yes, you are! I guess you didn’t learn the first time! She
won’t be
doing anything for you!”

Damian’s shady grin appeared through his blood stained teeth. He pulled himself off the ground for the second time, stood upright and looked at me while he brushed dirt from his jeans.

“I’ll be waiting for that ride, Jade,” he smirked.

“Don’t hold your breath.”

“This isn’t over, Gage,” he said, as he shifted his glare to him.

“Yes it is,” he responded, impatience resonated in his tone as his jaw tensed.

Damian eyed him with obsessive determination as he backed away slowly, only to receive Gage’s icy stare just as determined. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his upper lip twitched.

“We’ll see about that,” he said, as his glare darted from Gage to me. “Don’t forget to tell Kane for me, Jade. You don’t want to end up getting hurt.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as he turned and walked away. His unrelenting aggressiveness towards me stole my breath as his words hissed, persistent and vengeful out of his mouth.

I glanced at Gage. His fists, still tightened into knots, his eyes heated as he watched Damian leave. It wasn’t until Damian was in his truck that Gage’s face softened and he turned to look at me.

“Thank you,” I said, my body jittered involuntarily under my skin as I suddenly felt goose bumps travel up my neck and into my hair.

“Sure,” he said, as he shrugged with modest acknowledgement.

My nerves unraveled and I blinked several times to soothe the burn behind my eyes.  With my hands folded tightly across my chest, I gripped my arms to keep them from shaking as I tried to calm the surge of adrenalin that rushed through me moments ago.

“Are you okay?”

I managed an unconvincing, “I’m fine,” and took a deep breath to calm down. I didn’t sound fine. I sounded scared. I tried to muster more confidence as he took a step closer and I tilted my head up slightly to meet his gaze.

Fascinated with his charm, his presence surrounded me. Not in an overpowering, controlling way, but protective and I felt safe. I took a deep breath as my heart settled down to a normal beat.

I had a sudden urge to steal a whiff of his shirt. I felt myself blush then forced the thought out of my mind, while a perceptive smile curled at the corner of his lip as if he read my thoughts. My breath caught and my heart flipped inside my chest as he stepped forward and his fingers gently grazed over the reddened mark on my arm. My emotions shifted dizzily from one shocked state to another.

I followed his eyes as he scanned over my arm to inspect it, a look of concern surfaced across his face. I would have another bruise. “Really… I’m fine.”

“Can I help you put the horses up?” He asked, as his fingers moved slowly down to my hand. I could still feel his touch tingle against my skin as he softly let go.

“I'd like that.”

I grabbed Fire and walked through the gate back to the barn as I breathed a big sigh of relief that Damian was gone. My thoughts raced around in my mind as I tried to figure out what just happened. Gage followed me with Dodger.

I still felt jumpy so I busied myself with the saddle.  Gage said nothing as he unsaddled Emery’s. The quiet between us, a surprising comfort, disturbed only by the chirp of several barn swallows’ in their mud-cupped nests from the corners of the rafters in the barn.

With the horses brushed, we turned them out into the pasture. I leaned over the three rung, wooden planked fence in desperate need of re-painting as we watched the horses roll in the dirt. They grunted and groaned as they heaved their bodies around on the ground, a plume of dust circled around them. They stood and shook the dirt into a plume of dust.

My glance turned to Gage and I found him watching me.

“Don’t tell Kane, okay?”

“I’ll let you do that,” he said, and then a smile curled at the corner of his lip.

“I’m not telling him anything,” I said.

“Why?”

“Do you know how long it took me to convince Kane to let me come outside? He’ll never let me go outside again if he finds out.”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as his smile grew. I saw his eyes closely as he looked into mine. Beautiful blue eyes, deep blue like the ocean, warm and kind. Different from the icy stern-browed threatening glare they possessed with Damian.

The dark, acid-washed blue cotton tee shirt fit the form of his body and broad shoulders well. Ropy veins popped from his arms and wrapped around his muscles, down to his hands that looked like they were used to hard work. He looked strong and as I remembered how he threw Damian against the fence, I knew he was.

Half of the black pendant tucked underneath the collar of his shirt. The silver hilt of the sword glinted in the sun. I wanted to fix it. Make it all visible.

“Well, I can’t say I blame him,” Gage said, as he drew my attention back to the conversation. “And I don’t think you will have to tell him… Emery beat you to it.” He looked over to the back patio where Emery talked to Kane, giving him the full dramatic affects as her story unfolded.

“Ugghh.”

With a roll of my eyes, I shook my head and turned back to watch the horses. I rested my arms on the fence and sighed as I peeled at the curling paint on the post.

Gage chuckled, and then asked. “How’s the cut on your forehead?”

“It’s almost gone.” I lifted the straggling strand of my hair that hung down over my forehead to show him. The gash had scabbed over but a big lump remained on my forehead with dark purple bruising that hadn’t started to fade yet.

His eyes widened with a painful expression. “Ouch… It’s not almost gone,” he smiled.

“Oh… It will be gone in a week.” I gave him a shy smile back.

“Looks like it hurts.”

“Kind of.”

I looked back out at Fire as she shook her head and pranced around the pasture with the other horses, happy to be free again. The sounds of a distant buzz of a bee and the churning of the newly constructed windmill that Trey build carried softly in the breeze.

“You’re good at jumping.”

“Thanks... Do you ride-?”

“What happened?” Kane startled me as he cut me off, interrupting my dreamlike moment with Gage. The stiffness in Kane’s jaw and harshness in his glare warned me his mood shouldn't be toyed with and brought me back to reality. “Why does Damian think you owe him a ride?”

“I don’t know… last fall was the first time he’s ever approached me like that.”

“Last fall? He’s been bothering you since last fall?”

“Uhh…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“He hasn’t been bothering me since last fall. There was one other time besides now and it was last fall at Marge’s!” I grew increasingly irritated at Kane for his timing. “Trey was there... I don’t know why. I walked out from Marge’s to the horses and he was already sitting there, waiting for me. ”

“Jade!” He snapped at me and I jumped.

“What?”

“You better not go
anywhere
with him… Understand!”

“Of course I
understand
!  I’m not two! I can’t believe you actually think I would!” I felt hurt and didn’t like that Damian came around anymore than he did. His creepiness and obsessive determination bothered me. I couldn't understand where Kane's anger came from. Whatever Emery said, really set him off. Maybe he remained in fight mode because of his confrontation with Rubin and Quinn. Still, whatever his reasoning for the confrontation, I felt it was unjustified. “Why are you mad at me?”

“I didn’t know he talked to you,” he said, with a penitent glance as his fingers brushed through his hair then rubbed at the back of his neck. “You should have told me.”

Gage kicked at a rock as if he was trying not to hear the conversation. I’m sure he wished he was as far away from us as possible. Heat flushed my cheeks with embarrassment.

“Well, I guess I was a little preoccupied with everyone around us dying that it slipped my mind! It was a long time ago, before everything happened. I didn’t think about it, okay.”

“That’s an excuse and you know it!”

“You haven’t exactly been honest with me either,” I said, my anger growing.

“That’s different.”

“How?”

He didn’t answer. I stormed towards the house, furious. Not only at my brother, but at the tears that suddenly burned my eyes and they stung as I blinked them away. He followed me and grabbed my arm. The same arm and already sore from Damian.

“What did Damian say?”

“Nothing.”

“It obviously wasn’t nothing!”

“He said if you didn’t back off, I would get hurt!” Kane stood stunned for a moment as he searched for words of his own while mine hung in the air with Damian’s threat. My insides cringed as my anger deflated, replaced with the painful sting of humiliation. I jerked my arm from his grasp and walked away.

“Jade, I’m not done talking to you.”

“Well, I’m done talking to you…”

Trey and Emery sat on the back porch with Chale, Elias and Joel. Their eyes followed me, our heated discussion center stage and on display as I walked past all of them to get to the house.

I glanced back as I heard the screech of an aluminum lawn chair against the wooden deck to see Trey stand and stop Kane from following me. My stomach clenched painfully, like twisted with barbed wire strangling a mess of emotions. All I could think of was to get away. I swallowed hard at the knot in my throat. The sensation of swallowing razorblades drew tears as I walked inside and shut the door behind me.

The tension remained thick between us as I avoided Kane for the next two days. I don’t know what made him decide he needed to apologize, he tried this morning but I didn’t want to talk to him. I’m sure Trey said something to him. I just needed to stay away from him for a while. As the peacemaker of our family, Trey always seemed to be nearby and I think he wanted to make sure Kane and I didn’t blow up at each other again.

“Hey,” Trey said, as he found me in the garden. I needed fresh air after I spent most of yesterday in my room.

“Hey.”

I popped open a pea pod then pressed each pea into the palm of my hand with my thumb and ate them raw. Trey grabbed the shovel, dug up red potatoes and put them in the bucket.

“It looks like you might have a visitor.”

Through the glare of the sun, I looked towards the road and watched as Gage walked up our driveway. Of all the times that I watched him pass by, wishing he would stop at my home. He hadn’t, until today, and I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him.

“Oh no, y
ou
have a visitor,” I replied. The bucket was full enough so I stood to leave.

“I think he’s here to see you.”

“You don’t know that… I don’t want to see him, please... Not today, I can't, not after the other day. You just talk to him,” I pleaded.

“Okay… I’ll tell him.”

“Thanks,”

I headed for the house but not before Gage’s eyes met mine. We exchanged a momentary glance as his steps slowed. My heart pounded. The sting of embarrassment of the other day surfaced like salt on a fresh new cut. I saw a moment of disappointment in his eyes, as if he asked me to stay, then I turned away and ran in the house.

Frustrated, I peered out the kitchen window. They walked over to the motorcycles. Trey messed with one for a while, trying to get it started. The earsplitting rumble of the motor almost caught a few times but puttered out pathetically every time.

Absently, I cut up the potatoes for dinner and put them in a big pot. I felt torn, flustered that I wasn’t the one out talking to Gage. My embarrassment still burned like hot coals in a campfire, but I found myself wishing I hadn’t been so hasty to run out of the flames. With my heart pained and my pride still wounded, I wondered what they talked about, curious if they mentioned my name.

“There isn’t going to be anything left of that potato.”

I squealed and I practically jumped through the ceiling when I realized I wasn’t alone. Startled, I whirled around losing my grip and the spud went flying. I looked around stunned, unsure of where the potato ended up.

“Kane!”

He couldn’t contain his laughter and I knew he busted me again, daydreaming over Gage. Kane’s smirk grew across his face and made sure to rub it in as he stood at the edge of the stairs. My cheeks burned, from embarrassment or anger, I didn't know, probably both. The scrutiny from my brothers left me uncomfortable, unsure of how I felt and uncharacteristic of me to run under pressure and question my feelings. The confident, daring girl who used to take on any guy in their games, from soccer, to a race to the end of the schoolyard, I never backed down. I turned into a shy, vulnerable, lovesick girl, afraid to let others see her feelings, and I couldn't tell you exactly when that happened. Gage caught me in his snare and I allowed it, but how could I not. He pulled at me strongly and left me defenseless.

I turned back to concentrating on the potatoes as I grabbed a new one. I hoped Kane would pass by and go outside with them, but he didn’t.

“I’m really sorry, Jade, I didn’t realize... I was so mad and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,” Kane said, as he shifted, slightly uncomfortable with his apology. “You can’t stay mad at me forever, can you?”

“I sure can try,” I said, with a sarcastic tone as I tried to recover from the flash of heat that continued to burn through my bright red cheeks.

He pulled out a chair and sat across from me. With an elbow on the table and a loose fist to his temple, he propped his head and watched me. I shifted uncomfortably as he silently interrogated me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He continued to look at me for what seemed like forever and then breathed a big sigh and sat back in the chair as he ran his fingers through his hair. His hands dropped heavily into his lap.

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to you. It’s just that when Emery came running up to tell me that Damian wouldn’t leave you alone, I just... I know what he’s like and I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

“I don’t either… I didn’t ask him to come bug me.”

“I know… I just can’t be
everywhere
all the time… Damian apparently thinks he has something to gain by getting to you, whatever his motives are, he’s taking this to far… I guess I just lost it for a minute,” he paused briefly, and then looked at me with a cautious, questioning glance. I shrunk into my chair further, worried about what would come next as a perceptive smile lit softly in his eyes.

“I had no idea you liked Gage,” Kane confessed, then stood slowly. He walked around to where I sat and leaned against the table with his eyes intently on me. I gave him a scowl, and then sighed deeply as I turned my gaze out the window. “But regardless, I should have waited until he was gone to talk to you… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay… You say you don’t know what you are doing when it comes to me? How about stop trying to be my dad… be my brother… like you used to.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Are we friends again?”

“Yeah, we’re friends again.” I gave him a weak smile.

“Good… You should go out there and talk to him.”

“Oh no, don’t even go there, Kane. I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Ya… you’re right, drag it out… make him suffer… make yourself suffer.”

I rolled my eyes. He chuckled but didn’t pursue the issue further, I watched him as he stood slowly. His biceps curled tight against his cotton tee shirt as he picked up the pot, weighed down with cut potatoes and water and carried it into the living room then set it on the wood burning stove. The hinges screeched as he opened the stove door, a skin crawling sound like nails on a chalkboard. I shuddered at the irritating noise.

I heard muffled thuds, as he placed wood in the hearth for a fire. Soon, the smoky scent drifted through the air as the gentle pop of the fire grew louder.

“I’m supposed to leave in two days and starting to wonder if it’s a bad idea for me to go right now,” he said, as he returned to the kitchen. “Maybe I’m going about this wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“With Morrison, maybe I need to back off.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because, it’s not worth your safety,” he hesitated, a somber expression in his eyes. “You've already gotten hurt.”

“Do you think what Morrison is doing is wrong?”

“He’s wrong in every way possible, and it’s not just that I don’t like the guy. Morrison cannot be trusted. ”

“You said things with him are getting worse. Will it continue if you back off?”

“Yeah...” Kane said, discouraged, as he absently grabbed a handful of raw peas and tossed them in his mouth. I gave him a scowl as I pulled the bowl away from him, and then continued to shell the remainder of the peas for the potato soup.

“Morrison will win.”

“If I don’t back off, you could get pulled into this. I don't want that.”

“I’m fine, if you need to go then go.”

“It’s just that…
I do need to
, there is no one else my connection will trust yet, he’s expecting me. He won’t like it if I send someone else and I don't want to jeopardize our agreement. Joel and Mike are already going and we need at least three men to go… But I won’t go if you don’t feel safe, Jade.”

“Trey will be here, we’ll be fine.”

“I’ll try to make the trip as short as possible okay? If you need anything Raύl and Chale are here, Gage is close by-”

“I won’t need anything, Kane!”

“Okay, but if you do… They’re around. I'll be leaving Monday night and should be back in three to four days at the most.”

Trey walked in and stopped short when he saw us. I was relieved and disappointed at the same time to see that Gage wasn’t with him and he looked relieved that Kane and I spoke to each other again. I gave him a weak smile as I picked up the bowl of peas and went to check on the soup.

***

My ride to Marge’s grew unusually quiet along the trail. I didn’t have anything to trade. I just needed to talk to her but I wondered if my timing was bad. Kane said I could go but to hurry. He needed to leave sometime this evening, and wanted my help with a few things.

Fire’s snorts and the sounds of my breaths were the only sounds I heard amongst the trees, which seemed to close in around me. Everything else seemed unusually quiet. Fire’s ears pricked upward, suddenly on alert, as she slowed her pace and turned her head to the left. I peered out into the trees. I couldn’t see anything that would explain my unease and her sudden interest. The breeze picked up slightly and my increased awareness of the rustling leaves sent shivers down my spine. Goose bumps crawled over my skin like a million tiny spiders and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that someone watched me.

Relief bubbled in my chest as Fire and I cleared the trees without incident. I allowed myself to breathe again only to draw it up once more as I looked at Marge’s store. Militia stood guard and lined the front of her store but I knew they would be there. Kane said they were everywhere. However, to my surprise, there were more of them than I expected. I suddenly wanted to be home. I pulled Fire to a stop pretending to mess with my saddle as I searched inward for enough courage to go.

I nudged Fire along. The click-clack of her shod hooves against the road drew the Militia’s attention. With the stares of six sets of hardened eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to head to Marge’s. I couldn’t circle back either. It would look too suspicious to ride all this way only to turn around and go back so I had no choice but to continue on the trail.

I needed to get used to seeing the Militia without cause for panic, since they hovered around every corner.  The Militia sent the jitters through my body. Morrison made it clear they were here to stay, to maintain order and enforce his self-appointed superiority. More like a dictatorship in my opinion.

I brought Fire to a stop once out of sight of the Militia. I slumped in the saddle, pressed the pads of my fingertips to the sides of my forehead, and closed my eyes in an attempt to relieve the tension that gave me a sudden headache. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. Out of the eerie quiet, the faint sounds of an assembled group grew into my awareness. A male voice boomed out occasionally over a loudspeaker.

Hesitantly, I urged Fire towards the sounds. As they grew louder, I rode off into the rustling deadfall to get a better look. I tied her to a sturdy branch and headed to the fence line of the elementary schoolyard that ran up to the edge of the trees. My fingers brushed along the chain link fence as I walked. Hidden by the trees, I headed towards the gate.

There were people, many people, more than I’d seen in a long time. Maybe a couple hundred or so, men, women and older teens and even a few children gathered around a stand set along the back of the elementary school. People continued to filter in through the gate and I wondered why. Some people talked in hushed tones, others louder to talk over one another, all in a muddled sea of words.

I reached the boundaries of the trees and stopped in the last bit of safety of their cover, maybe fifty yards from the guarded gate. Militia stood tall amongst the fenced in people, dozens of them all armed with pistols at their sides and assault rifles in their arms as they scanned the nervous crowd watching for anyone who wanted to cause problems.

The air grew warm once out from under the shaded canopy of the trees. My skin grew moist as the sun warmed my cheeks. I pulled my hair tie off my wrist and swept my hair up into a ponytail. The back of my neck instantly cooler.

A girl headed towards me as she held the hand of a little boy. Our eyes met. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Grey eyes hollowed in her sockets looked large against the backdrop of her gaunt looking face. Her sunken cheeks, visibly pronounced by her sharp cheekbones. As my eyes drifted down her fragile frame, I noticed her thin unhealthy appearance except for roundness around her middle that took me by surprise. Her clothes hung big and would have done a good job of hiding her swollen belly, if she wouldn’t have used it as an arm rest.

I gasped at the realization of her pregnant condition. She looked so young, so alone, so sad, and I felt bad for the young girl who would have to bring a baby into the world the way it was.

“Hi, Jade.”

Surprise replaced my curiosity as she passed by but then I recognized the voice.

“April Hudson?”

“Yeah, you look like you’re doing well.” She gave an honest smile, myself shocked by her appearance. I’d known her since the second grade and Trey harbored a secret interest in her for just as long.

Her shiny blond hair looked dingy and tangled. The little boy, just as thin, who must have been her brother, couldn’t have been more than five as he hid behind her and clutched her hand.