Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (5 page)

“Ah, give it a rest,” Keith said, and
smiled apologetically at me.  “Hi, I’m Keith.” 

“I’m Laura.” 

I liked Keith immediately.  He really
knew how to put Courtney in her place.

“I hear you’re going to be joining
our ranks soon,” he said with a grin.  Turning slowly toward Courtney, he
watched her reaction with a self-satisfied gleam in his eye.

“
What
?” Courtney shrieked.  “
She
can’t
!”

Dare smiled crookedly at her.  “Why
not?”

She glared at me.  “I really don’t
mean to be rude, Laura, but you have had several traffic violations.  And I
really doubt that anyone has conducted a background check...”

Dare laughed and Keith shook his
head, amazed.

“Are you for real, Courtney?  She’s
the sheriff’s daughter,” he reminded her.

“Well, just because she’s the
sheriff’s daughter, does not mean she should get preferential treatment.”

“Okay, Court,” Keith said tiredly,
“just chill out.  What kind of pizza do you want?”

“Do not call me Court,” she said
angrily.  “My name is Courtney.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said as he stood
from the table, “pepperoni or Canadian bacon?”

“Neither,” she replied as she
followed him to the order counter.

Dare turned to me.  “We’ll have to
get right to that background check,” he said smiling.  “But first, how about
some pizza?”  He slid out of the booth.  “Pepperoni or Canadian bacon?” he
asked me.

“Half and half.”

“Good idea,” he said, then turned and
headed for the order counter. 

I remained seated but watched as Dare
moved to stand beside Keith and Courtney, who were in line to order.  I
continued to watch the threesome, who were quite animated as they spoke to one another.

Soon, they returned.  Dare carried a
tray with a pitcher of soda and four glasses full of ice.  He slid into the
booth beside me and Courtney and Keith took their places across from us. 

Dare began pouring our pop into the
glasses.  He passed me my soda and our eyes met.  “I was just telling Keith and
Courtney about your question earlier about D.A.R.E.,” he said.  “When you
mentioned the D.A.R.E. program, it sort of got me to thinking.”

He passed Courtney and Keith their
sodas, then turned his attention back to me.  “Every year, each explorer club
takes part in some community service activity.  Last year, for example, my old
club sponsored a toy drive for needy kids at Christmas time.” 

“We haven’t figured out what we’ll be
doing this year,” Keith told me. 

“That’s right,” Dare agreed, “but I
think it would be a good idea to do something with the D.A.R.E. program.”

I watched him curiously.  “You mean,
like visit schools and talk to little kids about drugs like my dad does.”

He nodded enthusiastically. 

“I think it’s a really good idea,”
Keith said.  “Little kids tend to listen to older kids, even more so than to
adults.  My little brother’s ten, and he follows me around like a puppy—drives
me crazy.”

Courtney nodded. “Keith’s right.  I
really think kids would be more receptive to us than to adults.  We might even
want to talk to older kids—middle school kids, maybe even high school.”

“That’s a good idea,” Dare said
eagerly.  “We’ll have...”  His words dwindled as a waitress brought four plates
to our table.   “Thank you,” he said politely.  When she’d gone, he resumed
talking.  “We’ll have plenty of time to develop a program.  Of course, it will
involve some research.  We’ll want to get a lot of information about the damaging
effects of drugs, and we’ll probably want to do some skits or role playing—show
kids how to say ‘no’ to drugs...”

“Whoa, Dare,” Keith interrupted as
the waitress brought our pizza, “let’s talk about this later.  It’s Laura’s
idea, so we’ll let her present it to Lieutenant Hudson.  For now, let’s eat.”

My idea
?  I mean, it sounded like a good
one, but I certainly wasn’t qualified to approach Lieutenant Hudson about it. 
Technically, it was Dare’s idea anyway.  Besides, I hadn’t even attended an explorer
meeting yet.  And I wasn’t particularly eager to become an explorer.  It wasn’t
as if I’d volunteered.  I’d been drafted.

 I was about to say as much when
Lieutenant Hudson suddenly appeared at our table.  “Well, hello, gang,” he
said. 

“Hey, Lieutenant,” Dare greeted him. 
“Taking a lunch break?”

The lieutenant smiled ruefully and
glanced at his watch.  “We’ll see if I can make it through lunch without
interruption.  It’s a rare occurrence, I’ll tell you.”

Dare nodded.  “I know.  My dad used
to say the same thing.  Hey, can you sit down for a minute?  We’d like to talk
to you about something.”

“Sure,” Lieutenant Hudson said as he
reached for a chair behind him.  He pulled it up to our table and sat down. 

“Have a slice of pizza?” Keith asked,
passing him a piece on a plate.

“Thanks,” the lieutenant accepted. 
“What’s on your minds, gang?”

“Well,” Dare said, “Laura had this
really great idea.”

The lieutenant glanced at me,
eyebrows raised.  “Oh?” 

“Um,” I said, “it really wasn’t my
idea.  It was more Dare’s idea.”

“Go on,” the lieutenant urged, and
then took a bite of pizza.

“Well,” Dare spoke up, “we were
thinking maybe our club could do something for the D.A.R.E. program as our
community service project.  We think it would be cool to visit area schools and
talk to kids about drugs.  We’ll have a lot to do to get ready for the upcoming
school year but I think we can do it.”

The lieutenant nodded
enthusiastically.  “I think that’s a great idea,” he declared.  “Good thinking,
gang.  We can discuss it at our meeting...” 

The lieutenant’s words trailed off as
he received a radio call.  “Control to David 14,” the radio voice said. 

Lieutenant Hudson laughed with
chagrin, before snapping the radio from his belt and talking into it.  “David
14, go ahead.”

The voice said, “Ten 19 for an 87
with Deputy Collins at the station.”

“Ten 4,” Lieutenant Hudson responded.

I didn’t understand the police ‘ten
code’ used by the dispatcher.  In response to my raised eyebrows, Dare said,
“He has to meet Deputy Collins at the station.”

“Excellent, Dare,” Lieutenant Hudson
said as he scooped up his slice of pizza.  “Thanks for the lunch, gang.  I’ll
take it for the road.  See you kids later.”

We watched as he left the restaurant,
and then Dare, Courtney, and Keith began to talk about the explorers.  I didn’t
say much.  I really had no point of reference.  I’d never been to a meeting,
but that would change soon enough.

***

“You’re kidding me!” Jennifer
exclaimed as she flopped down on my bed.  “You went out for pizza with that hot
cop yesterday?”

“His name’s Dare, and he’s not a
cop.”

“Dare’s a strange name,” Jennifer
said, “but I kind of like it.”

“Me, too,” I admitted.

She laughed.  “Well, do you like
him
?”

I hesitated for a second.  “Uh, yeah,
I like him.”

“But do you
like him
, like
him?” she persisted.

“Jen, I hardly know him.”

“Well, does he like you?” she asked,
bursting with enthusiasm.

“Jen,” I sighed, “I don’t know.”

“He must like you, otherwise, he
wouldn’t have asked you to pizza.  Oh, you’re so lucky,” she finished dreamily,
and then perked up again.  “Hey, Laura, I think you’ve hit on something. 
You’re always complaining that guys are turned off by your dad’s profession,
well, obviously not Dare.  Maybe the trick is to date guys who are interested
in law enforcement.”

“I don’t know, Jen.  I guess it’s
something to think about.”  I moved to stand in front of my bedroom closet.  “Help
me pick out something to wear.”

She folded her arms and watched me, a
wide grin on her face.  “You like him,” she said smugly, “otherwise, why would
you be here, in front of your closet, picking out an outfit to wear to a
meeting  ... tomorrow?” 

I couldn’t help grinning.  “Okay, so
I kind of like him.  I have to admit he’s pretty cute.  And smart.  And
funny.” 

Jennifer laughed, then moved to stand
beside me in front of my closet.  “Mmmmm, what to wear?” she murmured.

She perused my closet for awhile, and
finally turned toward me.  “What does one wear to an Explorers’ Meeting?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t know.  That’s
why you’re here.  I’m relying on your keen fashion sense, Jen.”

She turned back to my closet.  “How
about this?”  She pulled out a denim skirt and a baby blue t-shirt.  She
dangled them in front of me.  “Brings out your eyes and emphasizes your
size-three waist.  Gosh, I wish I had your figure.”

“Oh, hush up,” I admonished, “you’re
gorgeous.”  And Jennifer was, with her glossy brown hair and lovely brown
eyes.  Her lashes were so thick and beautiful that she didn’t even need to wear
mascara.

I changed into the outfit.  “What do
you think?”

“Perfect.  What shoes are you
wearing?”

Again, I shrugged.  “Better wear
flats,” she advised.  “Who knows what you’ll be doing at the meeting.”

“You’re probably right,” I agreed,
and then dashed to my closet and pulled out a pair of brown leather sandals.  I
eyed them distastefully.  “I ought to wear heels for added height.  I could
sure use help in that department.”

Jennifer laughed.  “There are worse
things than to be blonde, blue-eyed, petite, and adorable...”

“Stop it,” I said, embarrassed.  I
decided to change the subject.  “You’re coming with me tomorrow.  Right, Jen? 
I need you with me.”

Suddenly, I had a terrific idea.  
“Jen!  Why don’t you join, too.  It might be fun.”

She shook her head and made a face. 
“Nice try.  Uh, uh, not me.  Besides, Dare will be there,” she told me,
grinning.

I shot her a pleading look.  “I
really do want you to come.”

She gave a sigh.  “I’ll go tomorrow,”
she said, “but beyond that, I can’t promise anything.”

“Okay, that’s better than nothing.”

I turned back to the mirror then and
studied my reflection from all angles.  I wondered if Dare would like my
outfit.  I sure hoped so.

I had just closed the front door
behind Jennifer when the phone rang.  I dashed to the end table beside the
couch and snatched at the receiver.  “Hello,” I said breathlessly.

“Hello, hon.” 

“Oh, hi, Dad.”

“Hey, Laura,” he said, “I just wanted
to tell you how proud I am of you.”

My eyes widened in surprise.  “Proud
of me?” I repeated.  Earlier, he’d been so angry with me he would hardly speak
to me, but now ... he was proud of me?

“Yeah, hon.  Lieutenant Hudson tells
me you had an idea about the D.A.R.E. program that he thought was excellent.  I
do, too.”

“Uh, Dad, it really wasn’t...”

“Hey, hon,” he interrupted me, “how
would you like to come on a ride-along tonight?  You can ride with me—get a
real feel for police work.”

“Um, well, Dad...”

“Give me fifteen minutes.  I’ll be by
with the patrol car to pick you up.”  Click.

I groaned.  I’d been looking forward
to a quiet evening at home.  My favorite program was playing tonight, and now I
would miss it.  I glanced at the clock.  Five o’clock.  Sighing, I headed
upstairs to change my clothes.  The shorts I was wearing probably weren’t
appropriate attire for police work, I decided with a grimace. 

 In my room, I slipped into a pair of
tan pants and a light cotton sweater.  I stepped into my white Keds and then
hurried into my bathroom and ran a comb through my hair. 

I went back downstairs and waited for
my dad.  Soon, I heard him drive up.  I stepped outside, locked the door behind
me, and then jogged to his car.  Dad leaned across and unlocked the door.  I
slid into the car and buckled myself in. 

“Hi, Dad.”

“Hey, hon,” he said, grinning.

I glanced around the patrol car.  I hadn’t
been in a patrol car since I was a little kid—in the front of one, that is.  It
felt very strange, not at all what I remembered. 

The dash was bright with lit-up
gadgets.  I immediately spied the radio, but the other buttons were unfamiliar
to me.  I turned toward my dad to ask what each was and my knee cracked against
the assault rifle mounted low on the center portion of the dash.

“Ouch,” I muttered, and clutched my
knee.

“Easy there, hon.  Don’t worry, it’ll
seem like home soon enough,” he assured me.

I found that hard to believe, but I
subsided into the seat and tried to get comfortable.  After we’d driven awhile,
I asked, “Are you taking calls tonight, Dad?”