A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [69]
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Prologue T he son Dare Westmoreland didn’t know he had, needed him. Shelly Brockman knew that admission was long overdue as she stood in the living room of the house that had been her childhood home. The last box had been carried in and now the task of unpacking awaited her. Even with everything she faced, she felt good about being back in a place that filled her with many fond memories. Her thoughts were cut short with the slamming of the front door. She turned and met her son’s angry expression. “I’m going to hate it here!” He all but screamed at the top of his lungs. “I want to go back to Los Angeles! No matter what you say, this will never be my home!” Shelly winced at his words and watched as he threw down the last bag filled with his belongings before racing up the stairs. Instead of calling after him, she closed her eyes, remembering why she had made the move from California to Georgia, and knew that no matter how AJ felt, the move was the best thing for him. For the past year h
Prologue
One Two weeks later—early September S heriff Dare Westmoreland leaned forward in the chair behind his desk. From the defiant look on the face of the boy standing in front of him he could tell it would be one of those days. “Look, kid, I’m only going to ask you one more time. What is your name?” The boy crossed his arms over his chest and had the nerve to glare at him and say, “And I’ve told you that I don’t like cops and have no intention of giving you my name or anything else. And if you don’t like it, arrest me.” Dare stood to his full height of six-feet-four, feeling every bit of his thirty-six years as he came from behind his desk to stare at the boy. He estimated the kid, who he’d caught throwing rocks at passing cars on the highway, to be around twelve or thirteen. It had been a long time since any kid living in his jurisdiction had outright sassed him. None of them would have dared, so it stood to reason that the kid was probably new in town. “You will get your wish. Since you w
Two A ir suddenly washed from Dare’s lung as if someone had cut off the oxygen supply in the room and he couldn’t breathe. Everything started spinning around him and he held on to his desk with a tight grip. However, that didn’t work since his hands were shaking worse than a volcano about to explode. In fact his entire body shook with the force of the one question that immediately torpedoed through his brain. Why would she name her son after him? Unless .. He met her gaze and saw the look of guilt in her eyes and knew. Yet he had to have it confirmed. He stood on non-steady legs and crossed the room to stand in front of Shelly. He grasped her elbow and brought her closer to him, so close he could see the dark irises of her eyes. “When is his birth date?” he growled, quickly finding his equilibrium. Shelly swallowed so deeply she knew for certain Dare could see her throat tighten, but she refused to let his reaction unsettle her any more than it had. She lifted her chin. “November twent
Three D are reached across his desk and hit the buzzer. “Yes, sheriff?” “McKade, please bring in John Doe.” Shelly frowned when she glanced over at Dare. “John Doe?” Dare shrugged. “That’s the usual name for any unidentified person we get in here, and since he refused to give us his name, we had no choice.” She nodded. “Oh.” Before Dare could say anything else, McKade walked in with AJ. The boy frowned when he saw his mother. “I wondered if you were ever going to come, Mom.” Shelly smiled wryly. “Of course I was going to come. Had you given them your name they would have called me sooner. You have a lot of explaining to do as to why you weren’t in school today. It’s a good thing Sheriff Westmoreland stopped you before you could cause harm to anyone.” AJ turned and glared at Dare. “Yeah, but I still don’t like cops.” Dare crossed his arms on his chest. “And I don’t like boys with bad attitudes. To be frank, it doesn’t matter whether