The Homecoming Baby

The Homecoming Baby
Kathleen O'Brien

The secret of the "Homecoming Baby" is about to be revealed!Patrick Torrance is shocked to discover he's adopted. But that's nothing compared to what he feels when he finds out the details of his birth. He's Enchantment's so-called Homecoming Baby–born and abandoned in the girls' room during a high school dance. All the folks in town think they know who his parents are, but he's determined to find out the truth.But uncovering the truth is going to mean using some of Enchantment's finest residents. And once he gets to know some of them, especially Celia Brice, he begins to wonder just how much it's going to cost him to get the answers he wants.

Patrick had come to Enchantment for one reason—to find enough information about Angelina Linden to track her down

It wouldn’t be easy. But someone knew where she’d run—and probably that someone was her sister, Trish, the receptionist at the birthing center.

Somehow he would find out the truth, and when he did—well, he wasn’t quite sure what he’d do then. No point tackling that decision now.

Who would have thought that breaking down near a ghost town would get things off to such a promising start? He might have wasted days trying to meet someone connected with The Birth Place, someone who might be able to introduce him to Trish Linden.

And yet, all because of a broken hose, he’d met Celia Brice, who, it turned out, was the psychologist for the birthing center, and Trish’s good friend.

It was as if the gods had conspired to assist him. Celia was open and welcoming, and she had already offered to show him around her beloved town.

A real find. A woman who had lived here all her life and knew everyone might just make this whole hunting expedition very easy indeed.

With a satisfied smile he picked up the phone. He’d start with dinner. She’d made it clear she’d love to hear from him again, and dinner conversations could cover a lot of useful ground.

And after that…

Dear Reader,

A witty Irish newspaper columnist named Flann O’Brien once said that the most important things in life are “food, money and opportunities for scoring off one’s enemies.”

As cynical as that sounds, most of us probably have, somewhere along the way, nurtured a nasty little revenge dream or two. It might be for a small injustice—a boss who wouldn’t cough up a raise, a boyfriend who flirted with another girl. Or it might be something much bigger and harder to forgive.

But in spite of the columnist’s clever comment, most of us discover that revenge feels rotten in the end. It is, strangely, as sour and destructive as the original offense! That’s when we realize we should have put our energy into finding a way to forgive.

When Patrick Torrance comes to town, he is definitely looking for revenge. He has just learned the truth about his birth—that he is Enchantment’s infamous “Homecoming Baby.” Thirty years ago, while other high school girls were twirling in their boyfriends’ arms at the homecoming dance, one lonely teenager was locked in the bathroom, giving birth to a son she could never acknowledge. Patrick’s plan is to find that woman and make her pay.

Meeting Celia Brice is a lucky break. Patrick hopes he can use her to gain entrée to this close-knit community and unearth clues about the terrible night he was born.

He never guesses that Celia’s gentle warmth might somehow change his plan or that Enchantment might begin to feel like home. I hope you enjoy their journey.

Warmly,

Kathleen O’Brien

P.S. I’d love to hear from you! Please visit my Web site,

KathleenOBrienOnline.com. Or write me at P.O. Box 947633, Maitland, FL 32794-7633.

The Homecoming Baby

Kathleen O’Brien

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Darlene Graham, Brenda Novak, Roxanne Rustand, C.J. Carmichael and Marisa Carroll, for bringing such rich, inspiring humanity to The Birth Place—and to the time I spent within its adobe walls

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER ONE

MOST OF THE TIME, Patrick Torrance liked nothing better than taking crazy risks with the millions of dollars he’d recently, reluctantly inherited from his beast of a father.

Adopted father, to be precise. An important distinction, at least to Patrick, who didn’t particularly want to owe either his genes or his portfolio to Julian Torrance. Julian had been one brutal son of a bitch.

Several of Patrick’s friends, navel-gazers who had spent way too many afternoons on psychiatrists’ couches, had suggested that Patrick’s reckless investments were classic displaced resentment. Angry young man trying to free himself from abusive father’s memory by losing said father’s money.