Smoky Mountain Home

One step over the threshold, however, she stopped dead and actually shrank back. Ruth Ann unloaded the luggage she carried outside the room, next to the wall, and then peered around Darcy to see what the problem might be. A mother and daughter occupied the room’s two chairs, the younger practically a mirror image of the older—fashionably thin, wearing designer jeans, shoes and tops, their faces perfectly made up, ash-blond hair perfectly styled.

Confronted by the double dose of chic, Ruth Ann suddenly felt like the ugly green giant. As an adult, however, she was required to handle the situation, not run away from it.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Hi, Eve. This is Darcy Granger. She’ll be your roommate.” Moving Darcy further into the room with a gentle push, she offered a hand to Eve’s mother. “I’m Ruth Ann Blakely, the equestrian trainer at Hawkridge.”

Limp fingers brushed briefly against hers. “Nina Forrest.”

Eve’s expression didn’t change. She barely glanced at Darcy. “Hi.”

Nina looked beyond Ruth Ann. “And you are…?” she purred.

“Darcy’s stepfather, Jonah.” He reached past Ruth Ann for a handshake, nudging her arm in the process. She fought a surprising urge to shy from his touch like a startled horse.

Nina Forrest had no such qualms and offered him a feline smile along with her hand. “It’s good to meet you, Jonah. I’ve heard about your work, of course. Who in New York hasn’t?”

“Thanks.” Letting go of Nina, he looked at Eve. “It’s good to meet you, Eve.”

Her smile was as predatory as her mother’s. “Thank you, Jonah.”

Ruth Ann drew in a deep breath, half annoyance, half surprise at the girl’s lack of respect. Before she could say anything, though, a bell chimed twice in the hallway.

“That’s the lunch bell,” she told the two girls and their parents. “You’ve got five minutes to get to the dining hall.”

As the four of them left the room, Jonah Granger looked at Ruth Ann. “I need to get the rest of Darcy’s bags. Could you take her to the lunch room and I’ll—”

She shook her head at him. “Nope. You two go on to the dining hall,” she ordered, emphasizing the last two words. Hawkridge possessed nothing as mundane as a lunch room. “I’ll carry up the rest of the bags.”

“You can’t bring all those big bags up the stairs,” he protested.

“I won’t.” Ruth Ann grinned. “I’ll use the elevator.”

“But—” He glared at her. “You said—”

“I’m staff.” She pushed him toward the exit in Nina Forrest’s wake. “There are some rules I get to break.”

DARCY felt sick to her stomach, so she took an extra roll when the plate got passed to her. Food made her feel better.

Her roommate ignored the rolls. And the lasagna, the applesauce and the milk. She took some salad when the bowl came by and poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher in the center of the table. Eve refused dessert, too—chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream—and she only ate half of the salad on her plate. No wonder her waist was the size of a pencil.

Eve’s mother ate the same way—salad and water. At least she had the excuse that she never stopped talking to Jonah long enough to chew. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone into defensive mode. He knew how to deflect women like Eve’s mom with smiles and nods that made her believe he listened to every word, while in fact he was thinking about something else, probably a building design. Darcy had seen him deal with her mother that way. Before the fighting got really bad.

Looking around, Darcy noticed that the parents at most tables seemed to be talking to each other, but the girls didn’t say much. It wasn’t like the beginning of the year at a regular school, where you were glad to get back with your friends…if you had any. Hawkridge was a school for girls with “issues.” As far as Darcy was concerned, parents seemed to be the real reason kids had issues to begin with. So it made sense they wouldn’t talk to their parents.

This lunch was really kinda painful, though. She would have liked it better if they’d just let Jonah say goodbye and abandon her to her fate.

The chocolate cake was delicious, so Darcy took a second helping while the headmistress was giving her welcome speech. If they had meals like this three times a day, plus decent teachers, maybe Hawkridge wouldn’t be so bad. Darcy could face almost anything, with good books and good food.

Well, except for her mother.

“You have fifteen minutes to get the last of your belongings into your rooms and say goodbye downstairs,” the headmistress, Ms. Thomas, said. “The student floors are now open to students and staff only. Parents, we’ll be starting our program here at Hawkridge at 2:00 p.m. and you’ll be on your way home. Have a safe trip!”

Everybody stood and started to leave the big dining hall. Eve’s mother turned to Jonah.

“Let me give you my card,” she said, with the smile that reminded Darcy of a hungry panther. “I represent some very nice properties in Lower Manhattan, Chelsea, Tribeca—you might find yourself looking for a new place to live, now that Daisy is in school here.”

Jonah took the card between two fingers. “Darcy,” he corrected. “I will be relocating, as a matter of fact. To this area,” he continued, when Nina started to say something. “While I’m involved with projects around the southeast. But—” He gave her his smooth, won’t-happen grin. “I’ll call if I need something.”

Judging by Nina’s smile, she expected a call tonight. “Please do.” Then she turned to Eve. “Come on, darling. Kiss Mummy goodbye.”

Darcy saw Jonah roll his eyes as he turned away. He put a hand on her shoulder as they walked into the big entry hall and out onto the front steps. His palm felt warm, heavy in a nice way. That was just one of the good things about being with Jonah—he didn’t mind holding hands, even giving hugs. Her mother, Darcy had learned early, didn’t touch. Not little girls, anyway.

Standing a couple of steps down so they were pretty much eye to eye, Jonah looked at her. “I thought I’d get to help you unpack,” he said, frowning. “Are you going to be able to handle it by yourself?”

Darcy blinked hard. “I guess so.” She should be used to goodbyes, used to being alone. She’d survived most of the summer by herself, once her mother had left for Europe, until Jonah had found out and rescued her. The last few weeks with him had been a lot more fun.

So letting him go was hard. When she lived in her mother’s house, at least she knew all the servants’ names. Here, she knew nobody, except for Eve. Some comfort.

“Darcy?” Jonah tapped her lightly on the chin with his fist. “I’m going to be around, you know—I’ve got a meeting about the stable tomorrow morning. I’ll bet we can run into each other every time I’m out here, if we work it right.”

He looked worried, and she didn’t want him to worry. “Sure,” she said, working up a smile. “I’ll look for you between classes tomorrow.”

“Great. I—”

“Hey, Darcy, there you are!”

She turned around to see Ms. Blakely standing in the doorway.

“You’d better hurry,” she said, beckoning for Darcy to join her. “You definitely don’t want to be the last one to sit down—that means you have to stand up first to introduce yourself to the school.”

Looking back at Jonah, Darcy found him grinning. “Go on.” He nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”

Should she give him a hug? With a teacher watching? Did he care? Darcy wasn’t sure.

Then he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Be safe,” he whispered.

Darcy nodded. “Bye.” She ran up the steps and past Ms. Blakely, who pointed her toward the dining hall. A few girls were still coming down the big circular staircase, so she hustled ahead of them and managed to grab a chair in time. She wasn’t going to be the last to sit or the first to say her name.

No way was she starting out at a new school as a geek!

JONAH watched Darcy disappear, then looked back at Ruth Ann Blakely, standing above him on the steps. The rain had stopped during lunch and she’d taken off her olive-green raincoat, revealing jeans and a long-sleeved blue T-shirt. Though less snug than her breeches, those jeans left him in no doubt about the feminine curves underneath. Without makeup, and with her hair pulled back in the apparently habitual ponytail, she should have been, well, ordinary. Few women, in Jonah’s experience, appeared at their best without cosmetic assistance of one kind or another.

But the trainer’s face looked fresh and natural, as if she’d washed it in the morning’s rain. Her pink cheeks evidently owed their color to fresh air and plenty of exercise. She had to be strong, judging by the way she’d carried Darcy’s suitcases as if they weighed nothing at all. He couldn’t be sure about her eye color, which might be hazel or green, but that zestful spark was unmistakable. There was an air of energy about Ms. Blakely, a vibrancy he’d rarely encountered.

“You can leave now,” she told him. “You’re free.”

She also had to be one of the rudest women he’d ever met. “I’d planned to help Darcy unpack,” he said, keeping his tone level. “Is that possible?”

“Nope.” She shook her head, and the ponytail bounced. “Darcy will manage just fine. It’s her stuff, after all. I’ve got to ask—how did you get all of that in your tiny little Porsche? Did you tie the suitcases on top?”