Okay, here is part three, as promised when I finished my other story! Enjoy!

Not mine.

I felt the ocean breeze on my face and through my hair. The smell was intoxicating. I feel the strongest sense of calm I've had in a long time. About two years to be exact.

"Mmm, Ranger." I said as I felt his arms wrap around me.

I jerked awake. It was the same dream every time. Ocean breeze, calm, Ranger and then BAM, I'd wake up.

It's been a year since I left Trenton and two since Ranger got married. The pain is still horrendous to bear, but bear it I do. Shivers race up and down my spine. It still amazed me that even after a year of no contact, these dreams, so vivid and so real, shake me to my core. I looked at the clock. It was still early. Sighing, I lay back down and closed my eyes, praying for sleep.

They say that everything gets better with time. What a load of crap. If anything, I feel more pain than I did when I was in his arms for the last time. The last kiss we share still makes my lips tingle. The way his arms held me, his skin on mine, forehead to forehead, is perpetually burned into my brain. I have the best diet. Want to lose that pesky ten pounds? Find the love of your life, get him to dump you and stand by and watch him move on! I've lost two dress sizes without even trying. Of course that could be Montana can't get a shipment of TastyKakes to save their lives. Now, I'm not anorexic or eating my feelings, but I can now fit into my smallest pair of jeans and not have to suck it in. That's progress, my friend.

I guess you're wondering how the Bombshell Bounty Hunter is holding up. Well it's safe to say that my car has lasted the one year mark. The great people of Montana have never heard of me, so I can be anyone I want.

I want to be Stephanie Plum, normal woman.

But that's still hard when you want to fly.

And even harder when you feel like the only person who was going to let you has clipped your wings.

But I still try.

My curly hair is glossier than ever. I blame the mountain air. It's not as polluted as Trenton, that's for sure, and it's made all the difference. I let it grow out a little and now it hangs almost to the middle of my back. The sparkle in my blue eyes has almost come back. I was shocked to see that it had. I blame the air for that one too.

Physically I was fine, emotionally, I sucked.

I never meant to stay in Montana. I was heading for Washington or even Alaska. Far enough from Trenton, where my shattered heart lived. But Bearcreek, Montana stole my heart (the non-emotional one). Population of just under a hundred, the small little town had its perks. Completely and utterly cut off from the rest of the world. Well, the world that knew me considering they were just outside of the largest city, Billings, so there was a mall somewhere. Ironically, it all started in a diner…

"Take a seat, honey, I'll get to you when I get to you." The forty something waitress told me. She was looking a little frazzled in the afternoon rush. I took a seat on the closest available stool. It was exhausting driving everyday for the past two weeks. I let my mind drift into the atmosphere. It was twenty minutes later when she finally reached me.

"Okay, sweetheart, what can I get you?"

"Just coffee, please."

"Honey, you look dead on your feet." She observed.

"I've been driving for a while."

"You need a nap. Here," she put her keys into my hand. "Go to my house and sleep. Out the door, go left then take another left and it's the third house on the right of the first street."

I looked at her, then at the keys in my hand.

"Where are you from?" She asked.

"Trenton, New Jersey."

"That explains it. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you or rob you. You need sleep. Go."

Not wanting to offend her, I got up and went to her house. It was a beautiful two story house. When I went in the front door, the stairs were right to my left and the foyer opened up into a kitchen in the back. To the right of the stairs was the living room and behind that was the dining room. Just off to the left was a small bathroom and partial living room with a piano and an empty easel. Upstairs to the left was an occupied bedroom, obviously the waitresses. Right in front of me was the bathroom and to the right, two slightly smaller bedrooms. One done in blues the other in plain white. I chose the plain white hoping that my thoughts wouldn't follow.

They didn't.

I slept dreamlessly.

When I woke up, I smelled a wonderful aroma of bacon from the kitchen.

"Good morning, sunshine." She said to me.

"Good morning, um…"

"Karen, my name is Karen."

"Stephanie."

"Sit down, Stephanie, breakfast is almost ready."

"You don't…"

"Shut up. You are my guest and I have made breakfast. You are going to sit down and eat it."

"Yes, ma'am." I said. I now got a chance to look at Karen. She didn't look forty, but in her middle thirties. Her curly blonde hair was longer than mine and was pulled back in a loose ponytail. She was taller and rounder than me, but looked comfortable and at home in just jeans and a t-shirt with fuzzy slippers on her feet.

We ate in silent companionship.

"Thank you for letting me sleep here last night."

"You're welcome. And who said it was just tonight? You can stay as long as you like."

"I don't want to impose…"

"Nonsense. There's no one else but me. Plus you can pay me back by working at my diner."

"That's yours?" I asked, impressed.

"Been the sole owner for almost twenty five years." She said with a smile. "I need more help and no one here seems up to the demanding work. You look like you need some demanding work."

She had no idea. I laughed at the thought of being covered in food but for a real reason.

Ranger would get a kick out of this.

Just the thought of his name made my heart shatter.

"You okay, honey?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking of home."

"Why did you leave?"

"The love of my life got married."

"Did you tell him you loved him?"

I nodded. "Too little, too late."

"What did he say?"

"That he loved me too."

"Then why aren't you there making him the happiest man in the world?"

"Because Ranger is the most moral person I know. He's not going to leave his wife and I wouldn't ask him too."

I told Karen my entire story. From when I met Ranger, to the Ramos dealing, to the deal with DeChooch, to Julie and to his marriage. By the time I was done, I felt more depressed in my entire life.

She just sat there, processing. "I lost the love of my life too. Didn't think he'd ever fall for me. When Mark told me, I was so shocked, I ran away. But he followed me. Every time I stopped and he caught me, he'd tell me he loved me. Finally, I told him I loved him. We found the nearest chapel and got married. We lived twenty years in wedded bliss before the heart attack.

"I know how you're feeling, Stephanie. Like your world has come to an end. Now, you got to hold your head high and continue to live your life. When the time is right, the two of you will be together."

I knew that she would be my best friend.