Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (14 page)

“I can’t believe this!” someone
shouted.

This time, I hadn’t closed my eyes
and I noted with pleasure that I’d hit the target dead on again.

“Let’s step back, gang,” the lieutenant
told the group.  We all moved back several feet.  “Try again, Laura,” he
encouraged, still beaming.

I shot the gun again with the same
results.  Shaking his head, Lieutenant Hudson thumped me on the back before
removing my ear guards.  “No need to shoot again,” he said.  “You’ve made the
team.”

I handed Lieutenant Hudson the
glasses, then stepped back to stand beside Jennifer.  “Where’d you learn to do
that?” she asked me, her voice filled with wonder.

I shrugged, still disbelieving
myself.

“Way to go, Laura.” 

I recognized Dare’s deep, masculine
voice.  I turned toward him.  Our eyes met, and curiously, his blue eyes
appeared to darken as they’d done on the night he’d kissed me.  I felt him
reach for my hand and give it a gentle squeeze, before quickly releasing it.

I gulped, and my heart fluttered
nervously.  I turned to face the front.  I really wanted to talk to Dare, but
this was hardly the place.

“Courtney, you’re next,” Lieutenant
Hudson said, and I turned my attention back to the front.  Courtney stepped
forward, and I noted that the lieutenant didn’t offer her any instructions.  I
knew she’d probably gone target shooting a million times so it wasn’t
necessary.  But when Courtney took aim and fired the pistol, the bullet fell
way short of its mark, as it struck the outer most ring of the target.

Lieutenant Hudson took the gun from
her for a few seconds.  He gave her a few words of encouragement and passed it
back to her.  She was about to shoot when he stopped her.  He reached out and
tapped her right hand.

She nodded and transferred the gun
from her left hand to her right hand.  She fired again, but the second bullet
fell way short of its mark.  She passed the pistol back to the lieutenant,
clearly frustrated.

He spoke with her briefly, then
passed her the pistol again.  She held it in her left hand before transferring
it to her right hand.  Then it dawned on me!  Courtney seemed to hold the gun
in left-handed fashion before transferring it to her right hand.

“Lieutenant Hudson!” 

He reached to take the gun from
Courtney and then turned around.  I suspected from the somewhat irritated look
on his face that it wasn’t really a good idea to interrupt someone when they
were getting ready to shoot, but I just had to talk to him.

“What is it, Laura?”     

My dad suddenly appeared at my side. 
“Hon, you shouldn’t talk when someone’s preparing to shoot,” he whispered.

I glanced from my father to
Lieutenant Hudson.  “Uh, yeah, I figured as much, but ... maybe Courtney should
try to shoot left-handed.  She seems to hold the gun so naturally left-handed.”

Dad and the lieutenant watched each
other for a few seconds.  “You don’t think....?  Lieutenant Hudson’s words
trailed.

Dad shrugged, and chuckled.  “I’ve
seen it before.”      

The lieutenant turned his attention
back to Courtney.  “Now, Courtney,” he said, “try it the way you were going to,
before
I corrected you.”

She nodded, and we all stepped back a
bit.  She turned slightly and held my gaze.  She looked so frightened. 

She was about to put the ear guards
on, when I said just loud enough for her to hear, “Courtney, envision the
bullet striking the center.  Take a deep breath, and pull the trigger.”

She nodded and put the ear guards
on.  Then she did as I’d told her.  To everyone’s astonishment, she hit the
target dead on. 

“I did it!  I did it!” she cried.

Dad shook his head and chuckled.  “I
haven’t seen it very often, but you’re a right-hander who happens to shoot
lefty.”

The lieutenant patted Courtney on the
back.  “Try again.”

She grinned, then eagerly turned back
to face the target.  She shot the gun again, and hit the center ring.

“Well done, Courtney!” the lieutenant
enthused.

Courtney passed the gun to him, along
with the glasses and ear guards.  She spun around.  “Dare, I did it!  I did
it!” she shouted.

She dashed toward him and threw her
arms around his neck.  He lifted her off the ground and twirled her around. 
Finally, he set her back down on the ground, but they still held one another
for several long, agonizing seconds.  I felt as if my heart were breaking in
two.

Finally, they parted.  Courtney
turned, and to my dismay, ran right to me.  She gave me a quick hug.  “Thanks,
Laura,” she cried, “I never could have done it without you!  You saved my
life!”

After several more explorers had
taken their turns shooting, Lieutenant Hudson calculated scores, and then announced
those who would represent our club at L.E.C.  Glancing at his watch, he
declared that the meeting was over but said we would have a meeting the
following Monday.  Then everyone headed for the vans.

As Jennifer, Keith, and I were
walking back to the van, I felt a hand on my shoulder.  Turning, I looked up
into my father’s smiling face. 

“Hey, Annie Oakley,” he said.  I
couldn’t miss the unmistakable pride in his voice. 

Jennifer and Keith went on ahead, but
I stopped walking.  “I didn’t know you were coming today, Dad.”

“Hudson had mentioned you’d be
shooting, so I thought I’d come out and watch.  I’m glad I did,” he declared,
grinning, “but I’d sure like to know how my little girl became a sharpshooter.”

I shrugged.  “I don’t know, Dad.  I
just aimed and I hit the target.  It was kind of weird.”

“You take after your mother,” he said
with a nod.  “She could outshoot me any day of the week.”

“Really?  I didn’t know Mom could
shoot.”

“Oh, sure,” he said, smiling at the
memory. 

I watched him, intrigued by the
emotions that crisscrossed his face. 

“Your mom was something else,” he
said finally.  Then visibly shaking himself, he asked, “Hey, would you like a
ride back to the station?”

“Sure.” 

We started walking.  I was surprised
when Dare, Courtney, and Lieutenant Hudson fell into step beside us. 

For a few brief minutes, I’d
forgotten about Dare.  Earlier, when he’d hugged Courtney for such a long time,
it had become apparent to me that he did have feelings for her.  My heart did a
flip-flop just thinking about it.

Dad stopped walking and Courtney
surprised me when she clutched my arm.  “Thanks again, Laura,” she said
beaming.  “Thanks a lot.  I may even be able to qualify now.”   

I attempted a smile. 

“Oh, I think that’s a pretty sure
bet,” Dad said, chuckling.

The lieutenant glanced at me.  “That
was a good call, back there, Laura.  I should have figured out Courtney shoots
lefty.”  He shook his head.  “And you’re quite a shot yourself, young lady. 
With that kind of shooting, we may have a chance at first place at L.E.C.” 

Dad laughed.  “Wouldn’t surprise me a
bit.  We have two girls here who can outshoot any of us.”  

“We’ll try not to make them mad, eh
Dare?” Lieutenant Hudson joked.

Dare smiled and caught my eye.  “That
was some impressive shooting, Laura,” he commented. 

“Thanks.”

I shifted uncomfortably, and was
relieved when Dad said we should get back to the station. 

“You riding with us, Laura?” Dare
asked.

“Um, no, I’m going to catch a ride
back with my dad.”

Dare frowned.  “Oh, okay.  See you
back at the station?”

“Sure.”

I followed Dad to the patrol car and
climbed in.  Sighing, I buckled the seat belt and slumped in the seat.  I
turned and watched Dare and Courtney climb into one of the vans.  “Oh, well,” I
muttered aloud, as the van drove off.  I told myself it was good to find out
where I stood with Dare.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t just turn off my feelings
for him on the spot.

“Did you say something, hon?” Dad
asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.

“Oh, no, Dad.”

He watched me briefly before starting
the car and pulling away from the curb.  He surprised me when he said, “It was
sure fortunate for Courtney that you figured out she shoots lefty.”

“Huh?”

Dad nodded.  “In order to be a police
officer, you have to qualify with a pistol.  Hudson told me she’s been worried
to death about not being able to qualify.  I know Dare has been taking her out
to the range periodically to try to help.”

The last thing I wanted to hear was
that Dare and Courtney had been spending even more time together, whatever the
reason.

“I’m sure someone would have figured
out she shoots lefty eventually.”

“Maybe,” he said.  “But you really
helped her a lot.  She is one young lady who is very serious about law
enforcement.”

“A little too serious...” I grumbled.

Dad watched me curiously.  I wasn’t
feeling particularly charitable towards Courtney right now.  Up until today,
she hadn’t been especially fond of me, either.

As Dad steered the patrol car into
the station parking lot, I was surprised to see Dare, Keith, and Jennifer
standing beside Keith’s car, talking.  Keith had his arm wrapped possessively
around Jennifer, and I felt a stab of jealousy.

I shook myself.  I felt awful being
envious of my best friend, and resolved never to let it happen again.  But just
seeing Dare’s handsome, smiling face caused my heart to lurch painfully in my
chest.  I longed to feel
his
arms around me.

Suddenly, I wondered where Courtney
was.  I’d expected her to be with Dare.  From the refuge of the patrol car, I
peered at him for a moment. 

Dad, who was organizing some
paperwork, broke into my thoughts.  “Coming in, hon?” 

“Uh, yeah.”  We climbed out of the
car, and I followed him.

“Hi, Laura,” Jennifer called to me.

I glanced over.  She waved at me.  I
managed a tight smile and a quick wave, careful not to look at Dare, and then
hurried after my father.             

I took a deep, steadying breath when
we stepped into the station.  I realized it was going to be difficult seeing
Dare on a regular basis at the explorer meetings, considering my feelings for
him, but I knew I would have to make the best of it.  Even if I wanted to quit
the explorers’ club, it wasn’t an option. 

“Hon, I have to take care of a few
things.  You want to head on home or do you want to hang around here for
awhile?” he asked.

“I think I’ll wait for you, Dad.”

I knew that leaving the station would
require walking to the parking lot.  I didn’t want a face-to-face meeting with
Dare just yet.  It would hurt too much.

Standing in the main room of the
station, I glanced around me.  The sight of all the Teddy bears almost caused
me to smile—
almost
.

I noticed a pile of bears on
Lieutenant Hudson’s desk.  I decided to carry them to the conference room.  I
figured the lieutenant might like to have his desk back.  I scooped up as many
of them as I could, and slowly walked into the large room. 

I couldn’t believe what I saw—Teddy bears! 
Probably a couple hundred!  I couldn’t help smiling then.  I knew that many
would be given to little kids when they needed a friend most.  I was kind of
proud of myself when I thought about it.

I began stacking the bears into some
semblance of a neat pile.  I was nearly finished when I heard my name.

I swallowed hard.  I didn’t have to
turn around to know the voice belonged to Dare.  Slowly, I turned and attempted
a smile.  “Hi,” I said softly.

He simply grinned at me.  I realized
he had his arms behind his back.  I watched him as he brought them around and
handed me a little, brown bear.

“Uh, thanks,” I said nervously. 
“I’ll … add it to the pile.”

“Oh. No, Laura.”

“What?”

“The bear ... it’s not for the Teddy
bear drive.  It’s ... for you.”

My eyes widened in surprise.  Dare
reached for the bear and turned it so I could see it.  I hadn’t really looked
at it before.  The bear held a pink, satin heart between its paws that read, “I
love you.”

My mouth dropped open.  I could only
stare at the bear, stunned.  Did this mean what I thought it meant?

Dare continued to watch me, his eyes
brimming with anticipation.  He nodded, as if urging me to understand his
message.

I met his gaze.  “But ... but ... I
thought...”

He took a step toward me.  His sky
blue eyes were questioning.  “You thought what?”

“I thought you and Courtney...”  My
words trailed off and he shook his head, confused.