Unpredictable Webs: Book 4 of the Webs Series - Hardcover

Quinn, Darlene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1608324249 ISBN 13: 9781608324248

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group LLC, 2013

Synopsis

Unpredictable Webs picks up the Webs series five years after Marnie is reunited with her birth family. About to turn sixteen, Marnie Taylor is rebelliousfighting often with her mother, Ashleighand jealous of her more even-tempered and popular twin siste

About this title

About the Author

Darlene Quinn worked in department store management during a period of dynamic upheaval. Her first novel, "Webs of Power", won the Best Fiction award from the National Indie Excellence Awards, and its follow-up, "Twisted Webs", has generated interest in a film adaptation. A sought-after speaker and writing workshop leader, Quinn lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, Jack.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

UNPREDICTABLE WEBS

A NOVEL

By Darlene Quinn

Greenleaf Book Group Press

Copyright © 2013 Darlene Quinn
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60832-424-8

Contents

......

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Halting midstride, Marnie whirled around, defiance flashing in her deepbrown eyes as well as the biting set of her jaw.

Caught in her daughter's cold glare, Ashleigh Taylor found herselftemporarily speechless. When did this precious child become so hostile?she thought. It's all my fault. She had hundreds of questions that neededto be answered, but every one of them stuck in her throat.

"I don't belong here. I never have." Marnie's words split the silence ofthe room. But in the next instant, her gaze dropped to the kitchen floor,and her voice fell to a level barely above a whisper. "I want to live withmy mother."

I am your mother! Ashleigh wanted to scream, but she never would.The last thing she wanted to do was to put her angry young daughter onthe defensive. Unbidden, the name she dared not speak aloud thunderedthrough her head and hammered in her heart: Cassie. Oh, my Cassie.

Taking a restorative breath, Ashleigh willed herself not to slip back intime. If she allowed what-ifs or should haves to cloud her mind, she'd beimmobilized. She had no power to rewrite the past. What had been donecould not be undone.

Nearly sixteen years earlier, on the day Ashleigh had given birth toperfect twin daughters, Cassie had been abducted from the cradle besideAshleigh's bed. That heinous crime had trapped two utterly differentfamilies in a heartbreaking tangle of secrets and lies for eight long years.

For those critical years, Erica Christonelli, the wife of Cassie'sabductor, was the only mother her Cassie had known. How much easierit might have been if Ashleigh could have despised the woman. But Ericawas no less a victim than she and her husband had been. Unaware thatthe baby she was raising as her own was Callie's kidnapped twin sister,Erica had named her child Marnie.

Ashleigh had never deluded herself with thoughts that the road tomaking her family whole again would be an easy one. There was boundto be a multitude of treacherous bumps along the path she'd chosen.Yet she never dreamed how difficult it would be to stay that course.Unwilling to deny her daughter time with the "mother" she had knownsince birth, Ashleigh had turned a blind eye to the obstacles and insteadlooked into her heart, drawing upon the old African proverb, It takes avillage to raise a child. In time she had worn down Conrad's resistance.He'd come to terms with what was best for their daughter. They hadagreed to make Erica a member of their extended family. But their"family village" was filled with so many pitfalls, so many side roads, somany voices. Far too many voices.

Ashleigh looked past the hard set of her daughter's jaw to her pain-filled eyes and quickly closed the distance between them. "Marnie. I loveyou with all my heart," she said softly. "If you don't belong here, thenneither do I." She reached out to brush the loose hairs from Marnie'scheek.

Marnie stepped back. "That's a lie. I hate it when you say things youdon't mean. I know you wish I'd never been born." Dissolving into tears,she averted her eyes, jammed her arms into the sleeves of her parka, andbolted for the kitchen door.

CHAPTER 2

From the pantry, Elizabeth heard every word of the exchange betweenAshleigh and her rebellious daughter. Momentarily frozen in place, hermind quickly raced through the options. Ashleigh doesn't deserve this.She's a wonderful mother. She tries so hard to be fair and do what'sright, not only for the twins and Juliana but for everyone.

Over the years, Elizabeth had become more like a member of thefamily than part of their household staff. She had grown to love and carefor the entire Taylor family as she had for Ashleigh's beloved grandfather.Right or wrong, she could no longer remain silent. "Marnie," she calledout, moving swiftly toward the door.

Ashleigh, just a few steps behind Elizabeth, reached it first and placedher hand over Marnie's on the doorknob. "Don't open that door," shewarned. Her words came out sharper than she'd intended. Well, maybenot. After all, she could not keep tiptoeing around. Marnie was in needof a firm hand.

"What is this?" Marnie spun around, her gaze shifting from Elizabethto Ashleigh. "Am I under house arrest?"

In the thundering silence, Elizabeth glanced from Ashleigh's troubledexpression to Marnie's stormy defiance. If only she could shake somesense into the young rebel. If only she could find a way to help Marniedrink in all the love that surrounded her.

"Marnie," Ashleigh began, "it's sixteen degrees outdoors. Even if wedidn't have a lot to discuss, you aren't entirely dressed for this weather."She looked down at Marnie's bootless feet.

"Whatever," Marnie sighed. "I'm sorry." Not meeting Ashleigh'seyes, she added, "I should just totally keep my mouth shut."

Before Ashleigh could respond, the kitchen door burst open. Julianacalled out, "We finished our choreography and we're ready—"

As she slid to a stop in her soft-soled jazz shoes, her eyes flashed fromher mother to Elizabeth before resting on Marnie. "Oops," said Juliana."Guess this isn't such a good time."

Torn between her unusually perceptive eleven-year-old's excitement andMarnie's pain, Ashleigh glanced up at the wall clock. Quarter to ten. "Howabout we come upstairs to see your duet at ten thirty? That will give—"

"Can't we go up to the studio now?" Marnie pleaded, her face suddenlybrightening. "I want to see how much of my part had to be changed."

Ashleigh glanced across the room to Elizabeth for a fraction of asecond, but she did not hesitate in making up her mind. Looking straightinto Marnie's damp eyes, which now seemed to sparkle in anticipation,she said, "Sure, we'll check out the new rendition of your duet. Then weneed to talk."

Marnie nodded and took off toward the broad staircase in the foyer.

As they headed toward the dance studio, Ashleigh's mind reeled.Marnie's sudden mood swings were nothing new, and yet they neverfailed to astound her. Since Marnie's recent return from spending thelast few days of Christmas vacation with Erica and her brother-in-law,Mike Christonelli, Ashleigh felt as if she were tiptoeing though a fieldof hand-blown glass baubles. As if the emotional turmoil that visit hadstirred in the teenager weren't enough, Ashleigh realized that Marnie'sbeing eliminated from the upcoming dance competition and forced to giveup practice for the past few weeks—to give her twisted ankle time torepair—had taken their toll. And now that Marnie was walking withouta limp, she resisted following through with the strengthening exercises sheneeded to avoid further injury to her ankle. Ashleigh knew the additionalblow of handing over her role in the duet with Callie to her younger sisterhad to be far more devastating than Marnie was letting on.

"Okay, Midget," Marnie teased as she followed Juliana to the dancestudio on the top floor of the family's suburban home. "Let's see howmany of my pirouettes you had to take out."

"Only two," Callie called out from the top of the stairs. "She's takenon the challenge like a champ."

Once Juliana had assumed her place on the dance floor, Callie pressedplay on the CD player and the two girls fell into their opening pose. Forthe duet competition, the twins had adapted choreography from TwylaTharp's Sinatra: Dance with Me.

While Ashleigh joined Marnie as a spectator in the home studio, shewondered how much effort it took for her daughter to plant that smileon her face, when just moments before ... How much of who Marnieis today was preordained by DNA, and how much by her environmentduring those critical early years? Ashleigh was not alone in her inabilityto solve the age-old controversy of Nature versus Nurture. She onlyknew—based on the books she had devoured about the care anddevelopment of identical twins—that both genes and upbringing playeda vital part.

Good, bad, or indifferent, Marnie had become the person she wasthrough a combination of heredity and environment. To lay blame orattach a label was an exercise in futility. Undeniably it was hereditythat accounted for Marnie and Callie having Ashleigh's brown eyes andConrad's smile, but the genetic waters got a bit cloudier when it came tobehavior, intelligence, and personality. When Marnie's moodiness firstbecame apparent, Conrad had blamed her early years away from thefamily. Her personality, he pointed out, often mirrored that of EricaChristonelli, who confessed to having been diagnosed as bipolar, whileCallie's even temper and optimistic outlook tended to be more like herparents'. Conrad glossed over the fact that Marnie seldom had to bereminded to wash her dishes and pick up after herself—while Callietypically needed to be told more than once. Ashleigh knew that evenidentical twins brought up in the same household since birth developeddifferent traits and personalities. So why waste time analyzing? shescolded herself. We just have to deal with whatever comes our way.

CHAPTER 3

The last strains of Sinatra's "Come Dance with Me" faded, and Callieand Juliana slipped into their ending pose.

"Awesome! Bravo! Bravo!" Marnie clapped her hands and thenstruggled to her feet from the floor, where she'd been sitting cross-legged.Thanks to her ankle injury, this was no longer a simple task, but shemanaged and, once standing, threw her arms around Juliana. "Didn'tthink you had it in you, Midget." Turning to Callie, she said, "I guessyou really should open your own dance studio."

Throughout the duet Ashleigh's attention had been more focusedon Marnie than on the dancers. Her heart lifted now as she observedMarnie's enthusiasm—apparently genuine—for her sisters' performance."Great job, girls," she said. "That was fantastic. If I were one of thejudges, I'd be awarding you the platinum."

"Riiiight," Juliana said, a grin spreading across her face. "You're ourmom, so that doesn't really count."

"Just because I'm your mom doesn't mean I don't know a greatperformance when I see one."

"Yeah, but you're prejudiced."

"Guilty as charged," Ashleigh admitted, "but I'm no dummy in theworld of dance. I've been observing since ..." Her voice trailed off asvisions of four-year-old Callie, all decked out in her pink swan's leotardand tutu, appeared in her head. Although Erica and Mike had givenAshleigh scores of pictures of Marnie from the years before she turnedeight, Ashleigh's brain had blocked those images of Marnie all alone,never knowing how much she was loved and missed.

Ashleigh felt Marnie's eyes on her now. "Since forever," she said, asif she hadn't drifted off. Although she knew it was irrational, she feltguilty that Marnie had not shared those early years and was not part ofthose first memories. Maybe that's why Ashleigh couldn't say no whenshe had been nominated for chairman of the dance team's parent group.It had drawn her even closer to the girls, as she'd hoped it would. But inthe past few years Marnie had begun to drift away.

"Mom," Callie said, "is it okay if I have Sam spend the night?"Samantha and Callie had been fast friends from the first day the Taylorshad moved into their Greenwich home seven years ago.

"After you clean your room," Ashleigh replied. She hadn't missed theroll of Marnie's eyes when Callie asked about Sam spending the night.The dynamics between the twins and their friends were a constant sourceof both amusement and concern. When the sisters first came together,they had disassembled their separate bedrooms, creating one sleepingarea for the two of them to share and turning the other into a separatecomputer and study room. But by the time they were in middle school,they had wanted their own rooms, their own space and privacy.

When Marnie turned to follow Callie and the others out of the studio,Ashleigh called out to her. "Marnie, wait. We need to talk. Let's get somehot chocolate and go into the living room."

"I don't want any hot chocolate."

"Okay. Well, do you want anything before we—"

"I don't want anything. And I don't want to talk." Biting down onher lip, she quickly added, "I said I was sorry. Can't we just forget it?"

"No, Marnie, we can't just forget it. I'm not angry, but I need to knowwhy you are so unhappy."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Marnie said, "Please, Mom. School startstomorrow, and I need to do some stuff on the computer."

She hasn't called me Mom since coming back from her trip to Chicagoto visit the Christonellis. "Sorry," Ashleigh said, heading to the studiodoorway. "First we need to clear the air about a few things."

"Whatever," Marnie grumbled, reluctantly following a few steps behind.On the coffee table in the family room, Elizabeth had placed a traywith two mugs, a pot of steaming hot chocolate, and a plate filled withMarnie's favorite sugar cookies. It looked pretty darn good.

Marnie watched as Ashleigh filled one mug. She was sorry now thatshe'd said she didn't want any.... But without even asking, Ashleighhanded her the mug.

"Thanks," she mumbled, reluctantly taking the cup.

"Marnie, I love you with all my heart," said Ashleigh again. "You dobelong here with all of us. What can we do to make you feel that youbelong?"

"But I don't. You and Dad tell me you love me because you're myparents and you think you have to. 'I love you with all my heart,'" sheparroted. "Isn't that called a platitude? Something you just say but don'treally mean?"

Ashleigh's face fell. She looked as if Marnie had actually slapped her.Obviously she doesn't know what to say. Maybe she's tired of pretendingshe loves me. Building up steam, Marnie said aloud, "Let's face it. Iwas born second. I am number two." Following a dramatic pause, shecontinued, "And number two spells loser." She'd read that somewhereand practiced it. It felt really good to say it out loud.

"Marnie," Ashleigh said, "tell me everything you feel. I'll just listenuntil you're finished. I promise not to interrupt, but then I want you tolisten to me." She looked deep into Marnie's eyes. "Deal?"

Marnie stared back at her. After a few awkward moments she said,"There isn't that much to say that we haven't said a hundred timesbefore. But now I know for sure that I want to live in Chicago with mymom and Uncle Mike and Bill."

Ashleigh leaned forward; she looked as if she were ready to saysomething, but instead she sank back in the chair, not uttering a singlesyllable.

This was great. Marnie was feeling in control—something she hadnot felt for a very long time. But suddenly her stomach felt as though itwere a meat grinder churning away. She knew how hard Ashleigh triedto make her feel loved. It's really not her fault that she can't love me.It's my fault. I look like Callie, but inside I'm not at all like her. Callieis perfect. She's a better dancer, she has more friends, she gets bettergrades ... She likes everyone, and everyone likes her. "Let's face it,Mom. I'm an outsider in this family. I'm even on the outside with Callie'sfriends and the dance team ..."

Holding her tongue was getting more difficult by the moment, butAshleigh knew she must not interrupt. She had promised. Besides, ifshe wasn't willing to listen to her daughter, how could she expect to beheard? It took all her willpower not to contradict what Marnie was saying,even though she was one hundred percent wrong.

Finally, Marnie slumped into the cushions of the couch. "Okay, nowyou can tell me how wrong I am."

"Darling, feelings are neither right nor wrong. They are whatyou feel deep inside, but sometimes they come about through wrongassumptions." Shifting away from the psychological and back to whatMarnie had actually said, Ashleigh repeated her daughter's words."You're telling me that you feel less important to us and less loved thanyour sisters."

Marnie nodded, but she looked skeptical.

"Marnie. I know words don't mean a thing when it comes toexpressing feelings. I'll most likely repeat a lot of what you've heardbefore. But I listened to you without butting in, and I hope you can dothe same for me. You have been a part of me since before you were born.Number one, two, or three. There are no losers. You are my daughter,and I love you with all my heart. No, you are not like Callie. You arenot like Juliana. You are exactly like you. I might not always like thechoices you make, but there is nothing you could ever do to make mestop loving you.

"When you tell me you feel like an outsider, is it because we sometimestalk about things that happened before you were returned to us?"

Marnie shrugged.

"I don't know if you remember or not, but we talked about this whileyou were still in elementary school."

(Continues...)

(Continues...)

Excerpted from UNPREDICTABLE WEBS by Darlene Quinn. Copyright © 2013 by Darlene Quinn. Excerpted by permission of Greenleaf Book Group Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group LLC
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1608324249
• ISBN 13: 9781608324248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464