His Secret Son. Brenda Jackson

had met when Bristol first arrived in Paris four years ago to attend Académie des Beaux-Arts, which was considered one of the most prestigious and influential art schools in all of France. Dionne also attended the art academy and with so much in common, they’d hit it off immediately.

      Dionne, who’d been born in Paris, had introduced Bristol to French culture, and Bristol had taken Dionne home with her to America last Christmas to meet her aunt Dolly and to experience New Year’s Eve in New York. A feeling of sadness fell over Bristol whenever she remembered that was the last holiday she and her aunt had spent together. Her aunt, her only relative, had died a few days later in her sleep.

      Bristol opened the door smiling. “Dionne! This is a surprise. I thought you were leaving for—”

      “I have something to tell you, Bristol.”

      Bristol heard the urgency in Dionne’s voice, which resonated in her eyes, as well. “Okay, come on in. Would you like a cup of tea? I was just about to make a pot.”

      “Yes, thanks.”

      Bristol wondered about Dionne’s strange demeanor as she led her friend to the kitchen, which wasn’t far from the front door. She loved her studio apartment. It was small but just the right size for her. And it held a lot of memories. Her baby was conceived here, in her bed. She would miss this place when she moved back to the United States next month after graduation.

      “Sit and tell me what’s wrong. Did you and Mark have a fight?”

      Dionne shook her head as she sat down at the table. “No. It’s not about me, it’s about you.”

      “Me?” Bristol said in surprise.

      “Yes. You remember what you shared with me last month?”

      “Yes. I told you I was pregnant.” Telling Dionne hadn’t been easy but she’d felt the need to confide in someone. The baby’s father was a man she’d met one day at a café. He had been a US navy SEAL out with a few of his friends and he’d flirted with her outrageously. She’d done something she had never done before and flirted back. There had been something about Laramie Cooper that had made her behave like a different person and for the next three days, over the Christmas holidays, they had enjoyed a holiday fling. It was a period in her life she would never forget. Her pregnancy made certain of that.

      “Yes, from that guy. The American soldier.”

      “Not just a soldier, Dionne. Laramie was a navy SEAL,” Bristol said, smiling proudly.

      “Yes, the navy SEAL Laramie Cooper,” Dionne said.

      From the time they’d been introduced, Bristol had liked his name and he’d said he liked hers. Laramie had told her very little about his work or even about himself. She knew he was an only child and his parents were still living in the US. He hadn’t said where.

      Bristol regretted that Dionne had been away visiting her grandparents in Marseille for the holidays and hadn’t been around to meet Laramie. She believed her friend would have liked him. “What about him?”

      “You told me how the two of you spent time together over the holidays and since finding out you were pregnant, you’ve been trying to locate him to let him know.”

      Since she’d known very little about Laramie, other than his name and age, she had mailed a letter to him in care of the US Navy. The letter had been returned weeks ago stamped UNABLE TO LOCATE.

      “Yes, and like I told you, it doesn’t matter to me that our time together was a no-strings affair, I believe he has a right to know about his child. I refused to do to him what my mother did to my father.”

      For years, Bristol never knew her father and, according to her mother, she never told her father about Bristol. It was information her mother had taken with her to the grave. It was only after her mother’s death that Bristol’s aunt Dolly had given her the man’s name. She had met Randall Lockett at sixteen. He had been surprised to find out about her and had welcomed her into his life.

      “Yes, I know. That’s why I decided to help you.”

      Bristol raised a brow. “Help me?”

      “Yes.”

      “How?”

      “Remember I told you about that guy—an American—I dated years ago? The one who worked at your embassy?”

      “Yes, I remember.”

      “Well, he was recently reassigned back to the embassy here and I ran into him. I gave him your SEAL’s name and asked if he would try locating him and forwarding him a message to contact you.”

      Happiness eased into Bristol and spread to all parts of her body. Although it might have been nothing more than a holiday fling for Laramie Cooper, it had been a lot more for her. She had fallen in love with him. “Was your friend able to find him?”

      Dionne slowly nodded her head. “Yes.”

      Bristol stared at her friend, knowing there was more. The happiness she felt earlier began dissipating at the sadness she saw in Dionne’s eyes. “What is it, Dionne? What did you find out?”

      All sorts of things began rushing through her mind. What if Laramie hadn’t been the single man he’d claimed to be and had a wife and children somewhere? When Dionne didn’t say anything, but looked down at the cup of tea Bristol had placed in front of her, Bristol slouched her shoulders in disappointment. “I think I know why you’re hesitating in telling me.”

      Dionne looked back at her. “Do you?”

      “Yes. He’s married. Although he told me he wasn’t, you found out differently, didn’t you?”

      “Bristol.”

      “It doesn’t matter. He has a right to know about his child anyway. If he decides never to be a part of my baby’s life, it will be his decision and—”

      “That’s not it, Bristol,” Dionne cut in to say.

      Bristol frowned. “Then what is it?”

      Dionne took a sip of her tea, hesitating. The dawdling was driving Bristol crazy. “For Pete’s sake, Dionne, will you just get it out and tell me what you found out about Laramie?”

      Dionne held her gaze and drew in a deep breath. “Some mission he was on went bad and he was killed. He’s dead, Bristol.”

       One

      The Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, San Diego, California, three years later

      “Let me get this straight, Lieutenant Cooper. You actually want to give up your holiday leave and remain here and work on base?”

      Laramie “Coop” Cooper forced his smile to stay in place while answering his commanding officer’s question. “Yes, sir. I actually want to do that.”

      He wouldn’t tell anyone that he’d looked forward to going home for the holidays, because honestly, he hadn’t. The phone call he’d gotten from his parents that they would be jet-setting to London again this year was expected. They’d done so every holiday for as long as he could remember. He doubted they’d even canceled those plans that Christmas three years ago when they’d thought him dead.

      At thirty-two, he had stopped letting his parents’ actions affect him. As far as Ryan and Cassandra Cooper were concerned, the universe revolved around them and nobody else. Especially not a son who, at times, they seemed to forget existed. It wasn’t that he thought his parents didn’t love him; he knew they did. They just loved each other more. He had long ago accepted that his parents believed there were different degrees of love, and that the love they shared for each other outweighed the love for their child.

      In a way, he should be glad that after thirty-five years of marriage his parents were still that into each other. They shared something special, had