A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [13]
“Because,” Thorn said slowly and in a menacing tone as he threw out a card, “I would think most men don’t walk away from the woman they claim to love for no damn reason, especially not some lame excuse about not being ready to settle down. The way I see it, Dare, you wanted to have your cake and eat it too.” He took a swig of his beer. “Let’s change the subject before I get mad all over again and knock the hell out of you for hurting her the way you did.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at Dare. “Yeah, and I hope she’s happily married with a bunch of kids. It would serve you right for letting the best thing that ever happen to you get away.”
Dare raised his eyes to the ceiling, wondering if there was such a thing as family loyalty when it came to Shelly Brockman. He decided to sit back down when a new card game began. “She isn’t happily married with a bunch of kids, Chase, but she does have a son. He’s ten.”
Stone smiled happily. “Good for her. I bet it ate up your guts to know she got involved with someone else and had his baby after she left here.”
Dare leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, I went through some pretty hard stomach pains until I found out the truth.”
Storm raised a brow. “The truth about what?”
Dare smirked at each one of his brothers before answering. “Shelly’s son is mine.”
Early the next morning Dare walked into Kate’s Diner.
“Good morning, Sheriff.”
“Good morning, Boris. How’s that sore arm doing?”
“Fine. I’ll be ready to play you in another game of basketball real soon.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Good morning, Sheriff.”
“Good morning, Ms. Mamie. How’s your arthritis?”
“A pain as usual,” was the old woman’s reply.
“Good morning, Sheriff Westmoreland.”
“Good morning, Lizzie,” Dare greeted the young waitress as he slid into the stool at the counter. She was old man Barton’s granddaughter and was working at the diner part-time while taking classes at the college in town.
He smiled when Lizzie automatically poured his coffee. She knew just how he liked it. Black. “Where’s Ms. Kate this morning?” he asked after taking a sip.
“She hasn’t come in yet.”
He raised a dark brow. For as long as he’d known Ms. Kate—and that had been all of his thirty-six years—he’d never known her to be late to work at the diner. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, I guess so,” Lizzie said, not looking the least bit worried. “She called and said Mr. Granger was stopping by her house this morning to take a look her hot-water heater. She thinks it’s broken and wanted to be there when he arrived.”
Dare nodded. It had been rumored around town for years that old man Granger and Ms. Kate were sweet on each other.
“Would you like for me to go ahead and order your usual, Sheriff?”
He rolled his shoulders as if to ease sore muscles as he smiled up at her and said. “No, not yet. I’m waiting on someone.” He glanced at his watch. “She should be here any minute.”
Lizzie nodded. “All right then. I’ll be back when your guest arrives.”
Dare was just about to check his watch again when he heard the diner’s door open behind him, followed by Boris’s loud exclamation. “Well, my word, if it isn’t Shelly Brockman! What on earth are you doing back here in College Park?”
Dare turned around on his stool as other patrons who’d known Shelly when she lived in town hollered out similar greetings. He had forgotten just how popular she’d been with everyone, both young and old. That was one of the reasons the entire town had all but skinned him alive when he’d broken off with her.
A muscle in his jaw twitched when he noticed that a few of the guys she’d gone to school with—Boris Jones, David Wright and Wayland Miller—who’d known years ago that she was off limits because of him, were checking her out now. And he could understand why. She looked pretty damn good, and she still had that natural ability to turn men on without even trying. Blue was a color she wore well and nothing about that had