My Precious Jewel is a love story set in the early 1900's in the United States. Eleven-year-old Emerald Cooper loves Aaron Davis, who is ten years her senior and only sees her as a close friend of the family. At the turn of the 20th century, a time when women could not enter into a man's world, she could not let him know how she felt before he left on a venture.While Aaron is away helping in the building of the Panama Canal, a newcomer, Reuben Baker, comes to town. As the years go by, Reuben falls in love with Emerald and sets her heart in turmoil as she tries to decide whether to wait for a chance to declare her love for Aaron or accept a love that is being offered her right now.