Child by Chance

Child by Chance
Tara Taylor Quinn

Will her secret tear them apart? At sixteen, when Talia gave her son up for adoption, she knew she was making the right decision. Now, as an adult, she's come home to Santa Raquel, California, where she volunteers at the Lemonade Stand and provides art therapy at local schools. One of her students is a troubled boy named Kent–the son she gave up all those years ago!She meets his widowed father, Sherman, and they develop an intense connection through their shared concern for Kent. But Talia wonders if the secret she's been keeping might drive away the man she's starting to love.

Will her secret tear them apart?

At sixteen, when Talia gave her son up for adoption, she knew she was making the right decision. Now, as an adult, she’s come home to Santa Raquel, California, where she volunteers at the Lemonade Stand and provides art therapy at local schools. One of her students is a troubled boy named Kent—the son she gave up all those years ago!

She meets his widowed father, Sherman, and they develop an intense connection through their shared concern for Kent. But Talia wonders if the secret she’s been keeping might drive away the man she’s starting to love.

Sherman wasn’t his usual self.

Sitting in that conference room with Talia Malone, he couldn’t find the composure that saw him through every aspect of life.

“First,” he began, relying on his notes, “what you said about Kent giving us messages… It fits with what his psychologist says. He thinks Kent’s anger and acting out is his attempt to express some emotion he can’t get across in a healthy way.”

Her accuracy about his son excited him. Or something about her did. Maybe just the idea that at the end of this exercise in art therapy they might find a solution. A way to help Kent.

“I’d suggest that you take whatever you get from our meeting to Kent’s counselor,” she said. “Except for the collage he made. I promised to give it back to him by the end of the week. But you can ask Kent for it. Or take a picture of it here to email to his counselor.”

He nodded.

“The real question is whether Kent should know that you’ve shown it to his psychologist,” she said, frowning. “But keeping secrets, even when you think you’re doing it for someone’s good, can be far more harmful than telling him would’ve been.”

She sounded as if she knew what she was talking about…

Dear Reader (#ulink_aef67c35-2b0d-515a-9a0d-6dc805f2211d),

Once, many years ago, I wrote a story with a heroine who’d been a prostitute—Her Secret, His Child. Back then, I got handwritten fan letters in the mail and I answered every one of them. (I kept them, too, in notebooks that are now filed on a shelf.) After Her Secret, His Child was released, I was astonished to get letters asking me if I’d ever been a prostitute. A resounding no! But parts of me are in all my books. And I look back at that book now and realize some of the feelings—of not being good enough, of being used rather than cared about—resonated with me.

Child by Chance is the story of an ex-stripper. I’m just going to say it right out—No, I have never been a stripper. The closest I got to dancing was ballet class, for five years, three times a week. And I never once, ever, danced onstage.

But I learned to respect the physicality of dance. The athleticism of dancers. I learned about dedication. And I learned about finding my center and “pulling up.” Talia, the heroine in Child by Chance, knows all these things. But this isn’t a story about dance. It’s a story about life’s tough choices. About making mistakes. And making amends. About accepting the lemons life hands you and making lemonade. It’s a story of heart, redemption and the true meaning of love. All kinds of love.

I’d really like to hear what you think about the Lemonade Stand and this series, Where Secrets Are Safe. You can reach me at staff@tarataylorquinn.com. And if you like friendship stories, take a look at The Friendship Pact. I tried something different, and the verdicts are in! I’d be thrilled to hear yours, too.

Tara Taylor Quinn

Child by Chance

Tara Taylor Quinn

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

With sixty-eight original novels published in more than twenty languages, TARA TAYLOR QUINN is a USA TODAY bestselling author. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader’s Choice Award, four-time finalist for a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award and the Holt Medallion, and appears regularly on Amazon bestseller lists. Tara is a supporter of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and she and her husband, Tim, sponsor an annual in-line skating race in Phoenix to benefit the fight against domestic violence. When she’s not at home in Arizona with Tim and their canine owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara spends her time traveling and in-line skating. For more information about Tara, visit her website, TaraTaylorQuinn.com (http://www.TaraTaylorQuinn.com).

For Christina.

All children should be so lucky to have someone as devoted to them as you are to Emma, Claire and William. We are blessed to have you in our family and I hope you know how much you’re loved.

Contents

Cover (#uce1c5026-511e-5c51-a6b6-eab062d33cb7)

Back Cover Text (#u891a3284-8752-5fba-ab24-12ff071916af)

Introduction (#uec6ce227-ff9d-58a4-aae4-0f553f9f9587)

Dear Reader (#ulink_d49124d1-c7ba-5661-a56a-0e29ac84b228)

Title Page (#u2de6dc7a-aefa-5334-8b7a-bdf360e7e87d)

About the Author (#uec0908bf-6720-5a21-abf8-18b426ff93d6)

Dedication (#u56a29c2c-80e5-52a0-b5fe-ec13d1247e1a)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_a40bd1ee-9d63-5936-a359-9cee0dd63441)

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_cccec6e8-49e4-5493-92ae-a565a0290a92)

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_67e982e5-3781-5ca1-9d2e-2759337ee58e)

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_f7a474fd-7895-55c6-b348-5d252c109326)

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_285afb2d-29e2-517f-848c-fe55167f9ee3)

CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_f77f0812-9d7f-53da-bd3d-ff766fcc0a12)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_99a85e92-3460-58f1-ae25-5656ebaf1877)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#ulink_d93a2881-a804-569d-9046-07e7493f4ee5)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)