Place to Belong by Kathryn Shay

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Read a Sample Chapter

A Place To Belong

Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Chapter One

Nora Nolan answered the door at eight o'clock at night, her stomach in knots. This admittance to Serenity House would not be easy. On the porch, in the chilly January evening, she found her newest client, Darcy Shannon. "Hello, Darcy."

A go-to-hell teenage scowl met her greeting. Darcy's mother, Marian Shannon Mason, glared at the girl, who was a petite five-foot-two with flame-red hair. "Say hello to Miss Nolan, Darcy Anne."

Still the silent sullenness. "Well, come on in." Nora reached for the hot-pink suitcase Darcy carried, but the girl snatched it back. Her eyes - the color of wet grass - warned Nora not to invade her personal space.

Frozen for a moment, mother and daughter stood on the threshold of the newly opened home for troubled girls. Maybe they knew - as Nora did - that once they stepped through the doorway, their relationship would never be the same. A mother admitting she couldn't control her daughter damaged the trust between parent and child. Nora wasn't sure that trust could ever be regained. But at least Serenity House could help, which was why she'd fought to establish it in this rather conservative upstate New York town of Hyde Point.

Finally, Darcy and Mrs. Mason stepped inside. Nora askedpleasantly, "Darcy, would you like to see your room?"

Darcy shook her head, sending her hair into her eyes. She clasped her leather jacket close to her chest. A pink sweater peeked out from beneath it.

"Straighten your shoulders and push your hair back," Mrs. Mason said.

Darcy's tongue clucked in resentment. Her gaze was distracted by someone on the stairs. Nora turned to find Paige Kendrick at the top of them.

"Darcy, this is Paige. She and her sister have been here a few weeks. Maybe she can show you your room. It's right next to hers."

Panic flooded Darcy's face. It was hard to believe this fragile-looking girl consistently stayed out all night, shoplifted, often refused to go to school and had recently been caught without any clothes by the police on top of Hyde Point Hill with an equally naked boy.

Paige trundled downstairs. "Hi, Darcy. I've seen you at school."

Darcy swallowed hard and eyed Paige's six-months-along pregnancy.

"There's three of us here. Me, my sister, Jade, and Charly Smith, who bakes great cookies."

"Well, good," Mrs. Mason said. "See, dear, you'll like it at Serenity House."

Nora refrained from rolling her eyes. Paige, however, wasn't so discreet. She gave Mrs. Mason an are-you-nuts-lady? look.

"So, I'll be going." The woman fidgeted with her purse. "I'll call you tomorrow, Darcy."

Darcy wouldn't look at her mother. Mrs. Mason didn't touch her daughter, simply said goodbye, nodded to Nora and opened the door. She had reached the porch before Darcy yelled, "Mom!" and bolted after her. In the darkness of late winter, Darcy threw herself at her mother, grasping her around the waist. "Please, don't leave me here." Hiccups. "I promise I'll be good. I'll change. I'll be what you want." Tears. "Just don't leave me in this place."

Paige moved close to Nora, and Nora put her arm around the girl.

They watched as Mrs. Mason placed her hands on Darcy's shoulders and pushed her away. "I can't, Darcy. You won't change. The authorities think this is the best. It's only for a few months until you learn some discipline."

"Please."

"No." The woman's voice was firm.

Darcy yanked herself away. "Fine. Forget about your own daughter. Go take care of other people's kids." Nora knew that Darcy was referring to the daycare that Mrs. Mason ran with her new husband, Jeremy Mason.

Angrily, Darcy brushed back her bangs and straightened her shoulders. "I'll never forgive you for this," she said in an icy voice.

Mrs. Mason paled. "Don't say that, Darcy."

The girl raised her chin. "I won't. Ever." With quiet dignity, Darcy stepped back, entered Serenity House, and said to Paige, "You can show me my room now."

* * *

Fifteen years later

Darcy O'Malley glanced at her slim gold watch and smiled. "Better go, Mom. You'll miss your plane."

"Are you sure you can do this alone?" Marian Mason fussed with the books on the top shelf behind Darcy's desk. Her auburn hair was now sprinkled with gray, but she looked young and trim in a Chanel suit.

Darcy stifled the urge to tell her mother she'd been doing this - single-handedly running TenderTime Daycare - for almost a year. Technically, her mother and stepfather still owned it but they were easing themselves out of the day-to-day operation. "Yes, of course. We hired those two new aides just so you and Jeremy could get away." She smiled. "You need a rest."

So do you, girl. From good old Mom. Forcefully, she silenced the voice of "the old Darcy" that sometimes escaped no matter how hard she tried to keep her hidden.

"All right, I'll go. We'll be away a month which means we'll be back mid-September. I'll phone, and we can fly back from the ship anytime." She hesitated. "Call David if you need anything. He's more than our lawyer."

With well-honed patience, Darcy stood. She was hoping her mother would leave before Dan Whitman arrived. "Of course I will. I'll be seeing David, anyway." She stepped out from behind her desk and hugged her mother. "Now, scoot."

Marian stared at Darcy. By the glow in her mother's eyes, Darcy knew that her white Ann Taylor suit, pale stockings and matching pumps met with Marian's approval. "Have I told you how proud I am of you, Darcy Anne? You've become such a good businesswoman. And you're raising two wonderful girls."

Despite her willing it back, a lump formed in Darcy's throat. "Thanks, Mom. Now go on that second honeymoon. TenderTime will be fine."

When Marian finally left, Darcy let out a deep breath. Since she'd returned to Hyde Point over two years ago, she'd established a truce with her mother, and now they shared a mutual respect that Darcy valued. But being around Marian could be stressful.

Because Marian the Librarian expects you to be like her.

Well, that was okay. Darcy was like her mother. Now.

Oh, God, spare me! "Hel-lo."

Grateful for the distraction, Darcy looked up to see a smiling Dan Whitman in the doorway. Since his marriage last month to Nora Nolan, the founder - and savior - of Serenity House, the town police chief walked around with a perpetual smile on his face.

Darcy crossed to the door. "Hi, Dan. Nice to see you."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from A Place To Belong by Kathryn Shay Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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