THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL (20 page)

Joy paused for one last glance in the mirror and smoothed down some flyaways. Good as it was going to get. She pulled her shoulders back, held her head up high, and strode from her bedroom. If she didn’t feel confident, at least she could look it.

“Good morning.” Mom handed her a cup of black coffee. “You know where the sugar is.”

“Morning, sweetheart.” Dad looked up from his paper. “Merry Christmas.” Almost an afterthought.

“Merry Christmas to you guys, too.” If Joy held a knife, she’d be able to cut the tension in the room. No one seemed to want to address the big white elephant over there in the corner. Yet there it sat. Hungry. Looked a lot like a wolf to Joy, actually. An unhappy one.

“When’s everybody coming over?”

Mom checked her watch. “Still have a couple hours before Grandpa and Stella arrive. Aunt Sue will bring Bea over at noon.”

Joy nodded. “Smart.” Always best to give Beatrice a chance to adapt to her surroundings on an exciting day, before throwing a crowd on top. She loved a party, but sometimes it was a bit too much stimulation for her. “You guys want your presents now?”

Mom shrugged. “Yeah, I guess this is as good a time as any.” She plodded off to the family room.

Joy turned to pour a fresh cup of coffee. It was already exhausting having to choose every word perfectly, trying not to respond to Mom’s clipped tone and dead short sentences. But they needed to give her a break. Didn’t she have the right to explore her own spirituality? Didn’t she? That would be something she asked Mary Alice Gianetti at their next session. Best guess? Mary Alice would commend her for finding a way to cope with her loss in her own way, but then go all Jesus on her.

Dad took a spot on the couch, so Joy curled up in his recliner. She pulled her heels under her thighs and tucked a blanket around her legs while she waited for Mom to take her regular role as Santa.

Mom smiled as she picked up the first gift. “Well, this one’s for Joy.” She handed a rectangular package to her. “Now before you open it, I want you to know I bought it months ago, not at all in response to what happened yesterday.”

Joy shook the box. It was heavy, kind of dense. She lifted the corner and sliced the tape with her fingernail then peeled back the wrapper to expose two words.
Holy Bible
.

Silas stirred at the foot of her chair. He lifted his face and nuzzled her arm away from the Bible. How bizarre he’d react that way.

“Aw, thanks, Mom. We have a ton around here, so why this one?” Silas grew more agitated the longer she held the book.

“Well, I just wanted you to have your own engraved with your name. It felt like time.” Mom shrugged. Her eyes looked heavy, like she’d been crying all night and just remembered why.

“Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.” Joy put the Bible back in its box and slipped it under her chair. Silas let out another growl then settled down.

Merry Christmas.

If only she hadn’t gone to Raven’s yesterday, she wouldn’t have ruined her parents’ Christmas, along with their hope.

“Okay, this one is for you, Alan.” Mom gave her first real smile of the day as Dad accepted the gift.

“What could it be?” He shook the checkbook-sized box. Finally, he ripped off the paper and lifted the lid from the box. “Papers?”

Mom grinned and nodded.

Dad opened the top one and read. “Is this for real?”

“Yep. I can’t wait.”

“What is it?” Joy leaned over, trying to read the words on the paper.

“Your mom bought us a cruise. We’re going on a cruise in the spring.” He looked back at the travel documents in his hand. “Wow. Total surprise. Something I never would have expected.”

“Yeah, you guys never take a vacation alone. It’s totally time.”

Dad stood up and walked to where Mom sat on the floor. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. “Thanks, honey.”

“Now it’s your turn, Peg.” Dad pulled a small robin’s-egg blue box from his pocket.

Mom giggled. “Oh, you’re a sneaky one.” She accepted the box and turned it over in her hand a few times. “Is this from Tiffany’s?”

Mom had always said she wanted a box from Tiffany’s, even if it had nothing in it.

“We’ve had a good year, and I wanted to celebrate.”

Mom pulled the bow and lifted the lid on the jewelry box to find a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings nestled in a velvet cushion.

“Oh Alan, these are gorgeous.” Her fingers shaking, Mom plucked the earrings from their nest and slipped them into her lobes. She hurried to the mirror over the fireplace and peeked at her reflection, her fingers wiggling the diamonds so she could watch them sparkle. “So beautiful.”

Dad smiled as he stared at his wife in the mirror. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Mom locked eyes with him in the reflection and smiled. “I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you, too.”

Joy cleared her throat. “You guys want me to give you some alone time?” But at least they’d made each other happy on what was destined to be an otherwise morbid day.

Mom laughed. “No. No. But here’s your next gift.”

Another small box. What could it be? Joy ripped off the paper, this time not even trying to be careful. She immediately recognized the item in her hand. “You have got to be kidding me. The newest iPhone?” Hot off the shelves, barely in stores. “Honestly, guys, you couldn’t have picked anything better.”

Mom lowered her eyes. “We just love you so much, Joy.”

At least she hadn’t said it in the past tense.

Joy’s gurgling stomach and prolonged lack of appetite made it very difficult to sit before her plate of Christmas dinner. They were watching her; she just knew it. She’d have to eat enough to make them happy, but not so much she got sick.

As she nibbled on a deviled egg, Joy tried not to look as Beatrice piled more and more onto her plate and attacked it with a vengeance. That girl sure loved to eat. But how could Joy blame her? Bea didn’t have much in her life but simple pleasures, and food was one of them. One Joy would never deny her, but the crumbs falling from Bea’s lips and the smacking noises she made when she chewed were almost too much for Joy to take that day.

Grandpa reached around to his right to wipe Beatrice’s mouth with a napkin. “You’ve got a little smudge there, Bea.”

Beatrice laughed, exposing her mouthful. “It’s so good.”

Everyone laughed.

“So, Joy.”

Oh good. Distracted by Aunt Sue.

“How are things going at school? How are you coping with everything? Are you able to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork?” Sue forked a bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

“Things are pretty good. I mean, it’s not fun. It’s been a rough couple of months, but my grades are fine. I’ll pull through.”

Aunt Sue nodded then turned to her brother.

“How about you, Alan? How’s work? Sell any houses lately?” She set her fork down and waited for his answer.

At least she’d moved on from Joy. What were the chances Joy would make it out of the house to hang out with Raven tonight? Yeah, slim to none. But she’d really wanted to see what they did on Christmas. Didn’t look like this year would be possible.

Mom scraped some food from one plate onto another, and Sue stacked some dishes and gathered a handful of silverware.

“If you guys will excuse me, I need to use the restroom. I’ll be back to help with the dishes in a second.”

Joy stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her then slumped against it. Maybe she could just hide out in there for the rest of the evening. Would anyone even notice?

Rinsing her hands at the sink, Joy stared into the mirror.
You can do this. Just get through the next couple of hours
. But then what? There was no way she’d be allowed out of the house later. She’d have to see what happened. Maybe she’d just leave. She’d better get back in there though, or someone would come looking for her. They didn’t give her a minute alone to catch her breath anymore.

Joy grabbed an armful of dirty plates and headed into the kitchen to help clean up.

“… Joy …”

Huh? Had she just heard her name? She leaned her head a bit closer to the kitchen opening. What were they saying about her?

“… suspended, fighting, grades are falling, and then what happened yesterday, and tons of other things I’m sure I don’t know of.” Mom sniffled. “I just don’t know what to do, Sue.”

“Have you considered that she might be doing drugs?”

“Yeah. That was my first thought. I had her tested, but she was clean.”

“Good for you for doing that, Mama. Had to be a tough move.”

“Yeah. It was. But I felt like I had to.”

Joy rolled her eyes. Should she interrupt them or wait to see what they said? Curiosity got the best of her.

Stella came up beside her. “What are we doing?” she whispered.

“Shh.” Joy held up a finger.

Mom coughed and blew her nose. “I don’t know. That stuff from yesterday, it’s a nightmare. I can’t think of anything that would terrify me more.”

Stella patted Joy on the arm. At least someone understood her.

Aunt Sue went on. “I should probably tell you …”

Or don’t. Aunt Sue probably couldn’t wait to gossip with her sister-in-law about Joy, but weren’t Christians against that sort of thing?

“Beatrice said some stuff about satanic-looking pictures she saw on Joy’s computer—Bea was pretty disturbed by them. And she drew a picture of Joy with some demons. I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, but it all makes sense now.”

“What do I do? I have no idea how to handle this. I’m scared to death. I’m so afraid I’m going to make the wrong move and push her away completely. Please pray that Alan and I make good decisions and find a way to help her.”

That’s enough
. Joy pasted a smile on her face and flounced into the kitchen like she didn’t have a care in the world. “This is the last of the dirty dishes. Want me to dry?”

J
oy pulled her Bug alongside the curb and parked near the mailbox. What on earth were all those cars doing in the driveway? The open garage housed the Saab and the Cherokee—so both Mom and Dad were home, odd for a Tuesday afternoon. Right up next to the garage door was Aunt Sue’s Accord and a Ford with Colorado plates right beside hers. Two other cars Joy didn’t recognize were pulled in behind those.

How strange. She couldn’t remember a single time in her life when she’d arrived home to so many vehicles she couldn’t identify, and without any advance warning that there would be guests. Maybe mom was having a Pampered Chef party or something.

Fine by Joy. She’d just get a snack and go to her bedroom. Hopefully people would leave her alone. Joy kicked her boots off in the foyer and laid her coat across the banister.

With every intention to slip unnoticed past the guests into the kitchen, Joy tiptoed into the family room and stopped short.

Seven pairs of eyes stared at her from unsmiling faces seated in a circle around the room. Mom. Dad. Mary Alice Gianetti. Aunt Sue. Kelsey. And some good-looking, middle-aged stranger with dark hair and bright blue eyes sat with the fireplace at his back.

Why so grave? She offered the group a hesitant smile, but no one returned it. A chill ran through Joy’s body. Silas inched closer, a low rumble filling his throat. Something was up.

“What’s going on, you guys? Why is everyone so somber?”

The stranger stood up from Dad’s recliner. He moved toward Joy with his hand outstretched. “Hi. I’m Mark Stapleton. It’s nice to meet you, Joy.”

“Uh. Nice to meet you, too. I think.” Joy searched the faces of her family and friends for a clue.

“I’m here from Diamond Estates. It’s a residential place for troubled girls.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard of it. ‘Finest gems from the deepest mire,’ or something like that. My friend went there.” She glanced at her mom. “What does this have to do with me?”

“I’m here to talk with you, and so is your family.”

Oh no. Joy had seen this on TV. What did they call this? An ambush? No. An intervention. That was it. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m feeling a little uncomfortable. I’ll be in my room.” She took a step back.

Dad stood up. “Joy, have a seat.” He pointed at an empty chair.

“Excuse me?” Joy’s jaw fell toward the floor. Dad hadn’t ever talked to her like that. Then again, she’d never really given him reason to. “I prefer to stand….” That came out more like a question than a statement. Way to be strong.

“This will be the last time I say this. We aren’t playing games here. Joy, sit down.” Dad jabbed his finger at one of the kitchen chairs that had been brought in for the occasion.

Joy scowled and sank into the chair. “I’m really confused. Would someone mind telling me what’s going on?”

“You bet.” Mark leaned forward and held Joy’s attention with his intense gaze. “Your family has called this meeting out of concern for you. We’re here to talk to you. This is all about choices you’re making right now that have your parents very concerned. We’ve assembled a group of people, your team, people who love you and pray for you. Take a look around the circle. These people represent thousands of words spent in prayer before the throne of God, begging for your safe return to the fold, begging for your peace, your faith, your heart.”