After surviving his first day at Stony Creek High School, Jake Hanson walked along the edge of the busy road and headed home. As he approached his driveway, he noticed the mailbox was full. He figured it was stuffed with nothing but junk mail since no one from his hometown—four hours away—had any clue where he and his brother lived now.
Sorting through the envelopes, Jake found himself glaring at an ad. It was of a happy family swimming in their new pool. He scoffed. The advertisement looked straight out of a home and garden magazine. All perfect people, smiling broadly with whiter-than-white teeth, carefree and happy: the picture-perfect postcard of the ideal American family.
Jake walked along the gravel driveway toward the place he now called home. He stopped and looked at the run-down shack. How different it was from the stately manor he had once lived.
The last five years on the run felt like a deep dark hole that would never end. How he wished he could stop his descent and wake up from this hellish nightmare.
As Jake tossed the junk mail into the garbage, a letter from the school caught his eye. Quickly, he opened it up. It was nothing but an innocuous welcome letter. “We wish to welcome Jake Hanson…” He shook his head at the irony.
As the wind whistled through the trees, he looked up into the cloudless blue sky and tried to recollect the last time he’d heard someone say his real name.
A painful bitter memory broke through his tough façade when he remembered who it was—his mom.
Jake closed his eyes and began to remember how that horrible day had begun five years ago…
Everyone Keeps Secrets (Romantic Suspense Saga: Part 1) Page 14