A Wife for a Westmoreland - Brenda Jackson [32]
She smiled sweetly up at him. “They did away with it when Bane turned eighteen.”
He stared at her for a second, saw she was serious and threw his head back and laughed so hard they couldn’t help but get attention. “You’re making a scene, Derringer Westmoreland,” she whispered.
He shook his head and pulled her closer to him. “Is there anywhere Bane didn’t leave his mark?”
“According to my father, the answer to that question is a resounding no. Now, come on, old man, or that kid will return and ask us to step aside.”
He took her teasing of his age in stride, but still he reached out and grabbed her around the waist. “I’ll show you who’s old and who’s not,” he said, and then he took off, pulling her with him.
It was past three in the morning when Derringer returned Lucia home, and he smiled as he escorted her inside her home. It had taken a while, but he’d eventually shown that smart-mouthed kid why he once had earned the reputation of being hell on wheels with roller skates. And then when the kid had found out he was a Westmoreland—a cousin to the infamous Bane Westmoreland—he had to all but sign autographs.
“Can you believe those kids actually think Bane is some kind of hero?” he said, dropping onto Lucia’s love seat.
She chuckled as she sat down on the sofa across from him. “Yes, I can believe that. Bane was bold enough to do some of the horrific things they would probably love to try but know that they can’t get away with doing. Tell me, who in their right mind would take off in the sheriff’s car while he’s giving someone a ticket other than Bane? He became something of a legend if you were to read some of the stuff the girls wrote all over the walls in the bathroom at the local high school. He and the twins.”
He glanced over at her. “How do you know about those walls? That was after your time.”
She smiled as she settled back against the cushions, wrapping her arms across the back. “I have a young cousin who used to have a crush on Aidan and he’s all she used to talk about then, in addition to all the trouble Aidan, Adrian and Bane would get into.”
Derringer shook his head and chuckled, remembering those times. “And let’s not forget Bailey—she was just as bad. At one time we considered sending all four of them to military school, but that would be like giving up on our own, and we knew we couldn’t do that.”
A serious expression touched his features before he said, “I don’t tell Ramsey and Dillon enough how much I appreciate them keeping our family together. Losing my parents and my aunt and uncle at the same time was hard on everyone, but they helped us get through it.” Derringer inwardly struggled with what he’d just told her, realizing he had never shared those emotions and feelings with anyone, certainly not any of his women.
“I’m sure they know you appreciate what they did, Derringer. The proof is in the successful, law-abiding men and women you all became. That’s a testimony in itself. The Westmorelands are getting something now the townspeople figured they wouldn’t ever get after your parents and aunt and uncle passed away.”
He lifted a brow. “And what’s that?”
“Respect.” A smile touched her lips when she added, “And admiration. I wish you would have noticed the look on that kid’s face tonight when he realized you were a Westmoreland.”
Derringer snorted. “Yes, but he was admiring me for all the wrong reasons.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He knew deep down that Lucia was right—it didn’t matter, because in the end what Dillon and Ramsey had done was indeed a success story in his book. He stretched his legs out in front of him thinking how throughout the evening he had enjoyed the time he was spending with Lucia. It had been the first time he’d spent with a woman when he’d had honest-to-goodness fun. She had been herself and hadn’t gone out of her way to impress him and draw all the attention on her.
Even on the drive to and from the skating arena he had enjoyed their conversation, and although it was hard to believe, they had a lot in common and shared the same