Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.

A Father's Words

"I know something about love," he said. "You gotta take it and show him what the world is made of. One kiss will prove it. If you want him to be always by your side, take his hand tonight and swallow your foolish pride."

I know that the look on my face said that I thought he had grown a second head. It was just that all of that was a lot to come out of my father's mouth at one time. I'd usually get a grunt or a single word. Like he was a RangeMan employee or something.

"What are you talking about, Daddy?" I asked once I found my voice.

"That's part of a song that I heard today," he said without looking over at me, his eyes glued to the game on the television in front of us. "It's one of those songs that you hear once every blue moon, but you never forget the words."

It's possible that my father has finally fallen off his rocker. Maybe he's been spending too much time in the same vicinity as Grandma. Never the less, he's actually talking, so I'm not going to micro-analyze the change, just enjoy it as much as I can.

"The words don't ring a bell for me," I said quietly.

"Did you actually hear what I said, Pumpkin?"

He looked over at me. I nodded.

"The song reminded me of you." His face went from its normal blank expression to being very serious.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," I sighed, "but I don't understand."

"This is the happiest that I've ever seen you, Pumpkin," he said with his own sigh. "You have a great job that you actually enjoy."

My surprise must have shown on my face.

"I do have ears," he chided. "I may not comment on everything like your mother and grandmother, but I still know what's going on."

"You never talk about stuff with us, so I guess I thought that you weren't paying attention," I shrugged and wrinkled my brow into a puzzled frown. "But I still don't get what this has to do with the song."

"Let me finish," he said as he patted my knee.

I tried to hide my shock from his physical interaction, but I must have failed because he sighed again and shook his head.

"I know that I haven't been the best father-"

"Of course you have," I interrupted. "You've been a great dad. You're always around when me and Val need you."

"But I shouldn't have just been there when you needed me," he argued. "I should have done a lot more for you, Stephanie. I should have told your mother to back off when things were falling apart with you and Joe. You don't know how proud I was of you for finally standing up to her and telling her to mind her own business."

"I got tired of being told what to do. I'm thirty-five years old. I can make my own decisions."

"I know," he smiled. "And part of those decisions led you back to working at RangeMan full time."

I nodded because he was right.

"A few weeks after you started working there, you seemed even happier." He paused for a moment, giving himself time to figure out how to phrase his next thought. "I thought for a moment that maybe you had finally gotten together with Ranger. But, then I realized that your grandmother would have been harassing you much more about him than she usually does, or you would have started acting differently when she does."

"Ranger's just my friend, Daddy," I explained. "It's not that he doesn't love me, because he does. His problem is that he can't do relationships. Or maybe it's that he can't do a relationship with me. But either way, he's just my friend."

"I know," he nodded. "But there is someone that you have been seeing. I can understand not wanting to bring him home for dinner. Your mother and grandmother can be a little much sometimes. Plus, if Val and her chaotic family were to be here as well…"

"The guys request hazard pay to come here for a reason, Daddy," I said with a knowing smile. "They claim that spending time here causes mental anguish."

My father chuckled at that, "I wish I got hazard pay sometimes."

"You seem to take everything pretty well."

"I do most days," he acknowledged as his chuckle subsided. "This is all beside the point that I'm trying to make. Just be quiet for a minute, and let me tell you something. Okay?"

I did the zipping my lips thing and he grinned.

"He makes you happy," he stated as his face sobered. "Your eyes twinkle and you get this goofy grin sometimes when you run off to take a phone call. I don't know who it is and, frankly, it doesn't matter. I know 'in love' when I see it, Pumpkin, and you are definitely in love."

I really didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything.

"Does he make you so happy that every time you are near him you feel euphoric?" he asked. "Does he make you so happy that you wonder if you could possibly live without him? As though he's the very part of you that makes you want to breathe?"

I just nodded.

"Have you told him that you love him?"

I shook my head no. A surge of fear shot through me at the mere thought of telling him.

"Why?" my father asked gently.

"Because whenever I tell someone that I love them it doesn't work out," I whispered. "What if I tell him and he says that he doesn't love me?"

"You have to take a leap of faith, Pumpkin," he answered patiently "If he doesn't love you then he isn't the type of man that would be good for you anyway, and you could start looking for someone else. But if he does love you, then it will open up so much more in life for the two of you. Saying the words will free you. It makes life so much better to live when you know exactly how much you mean to another person."

I leaned my head back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling. My father, the love doctor. He did give me a lot to think about. We spent the next hour in companionable silence; him watching TV and me staring at the ceiling.

In the end, I realized my father was right. I needed to say how I felt and, for once, I felt good about needing to say it out loud. I grabbed my bag of leftovers from my mother and headed back to Haywood for the night.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I entered my apartment and found him laying on my couch. Sexy as hell in a pair of fade blue jeans, his white t-shirt making his dark Mediterranean skin look even darker. His grey eyes always seem to look straight into my soul every time he looks at me.

He grinned at me, baring perfectly white teeth, and jumped up to take the bag from my hands. Grabbing me around my waist, he pulled me with him into the small kitchen to put the bag in the fridge.

"How was dinner?" he asked leaning back against the counter as he pulled me in between his long legs.

"Interesting," I said after I thought about it for a moment.

He raised a dark brown eye brow.

I took a deep breath and backed up a bit, giving myself a little room in case I had to bolt.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I gave a wave of my hand. "I just need a little space so that I can say something to you."

"This doesn't sound too good." His frown was replace by the well-practiced blank face.

"It all depends on what you have to say about it." I was stalling, and I knew it.

"Well, say it and I'll respond."

"I'minlovewithyou." The words rushed out of my mouth at breakneck speed.

"A little slower."

I took another deep breath, "I'm in love with you."

A blinding smile broke out over his face. His eyes twinkled with an excitement that I had never seen before as he reached out for me. He wrapped his arms around me and brought his face down towards mine.

"I've been waiting for you to say that for years," he whispered against my lips. "I'm in love with you too, Stephanie."

The sound of his voice, deep and full of emotion, sent shivers down my spine. I licked my suddenly dry lips and inadvertently skimmed his full bottom lip. He groaned as our lips slammed together, his hands sliding up my back to fist in my hair.

"Can I make love to you now?" he asked, his voice deep with desire once he broke the kiss.

"I thought you'd never ask, Ram."