Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.
A shout out to Margaret (aka whymelucylu): Thanks for the idea of seeing Ranger's thoughts on hiring Stephanie. I tried it and liked it.
Chapter 3: From the other side
Ranger's POV
For maybe the tenth time in the last four days, I wondered if I'd been crazy to hire Stephanie Plum. My men and I had compiled a roster of highly qualified candidates, including several people with degrees in early childhood development and one woman who had helped raise a cabinet member's children to adulthood. But, the Secretary of State's former nanny had fainted at the sight of Cal and Tank, and a couple of the kindergarten teachers had been more interested in my development than Julie's.
Stephanie had made it onto the list by mistake. I still didn't know whether I should thank my cousin or take him to the mats.
I exited the stairs onto Seven and opened the apartment door. As I followed the sounds of laughter, I remembered why I'd chosen Stephanie. She'd made my daughter smile. I'd watched their first meeting from the shadows, and instead of yelling or screaming, Stephanie had dusted herself off and made a joke. I hadn't missed how she'd put herself between Julie and six of the baddest, meanest SOB's I'd ever served with, either. Stephanie Plum had guts and style and my hiring her had nothing to do with the fact that she had the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen, or the way her ass had looked in that ridiculously prim business suit.
I hung back at Julie's door and watched them, again. They had music on and Julie was attempting to teach Steph a couple of dance moves. I say attempt because while the woman was a babe, she was reinforcing racial stereotypes right and left – no rhythm at all. As I watched them, I wondered when I'd last heard Julie laugh. Before Rachel died, maybe?
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. Stephanie had managed to turn my life and my building upside down in a matter of days, but she'd have a job as long as she made my daughter happy.
I cleared my throat and cringed a little inside when Julie's laughter died and her face went blank. Dios, I had an overflowing bank account and a trunk full of medals I never looked at, but I couldn't relate to my own kid.
"Can I have a word, Stephanie?"
To her credit, her smile never slipped. "Sure." She turned toward Julie. "Finish your spelling homework and I'll show you a couple of my moves." She jumped around a little and flailed her arms. "Rock and roll, baby!"
Julie's giggle followed us as we moved into my home office. I closed the door behind us and carefully schooled my expression. She was good with Julie, but her behavior today had been unacceptable. "Julie's not at violin. Explain."'
One thing I could say about Steph, she was no coward. She gestured toward the guest chair and sat when I nodded. "Julie hates violin," she said, as if that was the most reasonable explanation in the world.
"Julie's my child, and her schedule was carefully planned with the advice of several experts." I explained, equally patiently.
She snorted. "With all due respect, I think you're missing the operative word. Julie's a child."
"My child," I repeated.
"I should have cleared it with you first." She looked away briefly as her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry, but I did leave a message this morning asking to talk to you."
True, and I'd decided to put her off until after Julie's bedtime, but the violin teacher had called. "I'm here, so talk." She rolled her eyes and it was so cute I had to cough to hide my grin.
"Did you realize Julie has fourteen separate lessons and activities planned in a given week? And that's in addition to a full day of school and an hour or more homework each night." She stood and began to pace. "She's so tired in the evening that it's all I can do to get some dinner in her and get her into bed." She stopped and marched over to me. "When does she have time to be a kid?"
She had a point, but I had a plan. The first couple of months after Rachel's death had been a nightmare. Julie had drifted around the Miami house like a ghost, hardly speaking. Someone had suggested that I send her back to piano, and she'd come back to life, a little, so I'd just kept adding stuff to fill her time. When we'd moved to Trenton a few months ago, I'd met with her teachers and taken their advice, too. "She has opportunities most people could only dream of."
Stephanie thrust a crumpled sheet of paper under my nose. "And when she needs therapy later, she can have it in four different languages." She whirled away and began pacing again. "For Chrissake, I feel like I should drag on some lederhosen and start quoting the 'Sound of Music.' The child needs to play, Captain Von Trapp!"
It took all my training to not lose my shit, right then and there. The woman had no idea how funny she was, or that she'd just demoted me a rank. I figured she wouldn't appreciate my laughing just then, so I read through Julie's schedule, instead. She was right; it was a bit much.
"Fine," I muttered. "What are your expert recommendations?" I snarled.
I immediately wanted to kick myself, but Stephanie wasn't put off by my rudeness.
"I talked to Julie and I think four, or maybe five, extracurricular activities a week would be good."
I had to suppress a groan when she bit her lip as she pondered her next words. Dios, what a woman, I thought as I struggled to tamp down the surge of desire that shot straight through me. I wanted to be the one biting and sucking on that lower lip so bad I could taste it.
She was the nanny, and off limits, but why did she have to be so hot? Stephanie was looking at me expectantly, so I shook my head dumbly, like an idiot. "Come again?"
"I said that you and Julie needed to talk it over, but I found some summer programs she might like." She pursed her lips. "She seemed pretty excited about the science day camp, but there are also some language immersions ones and an art camp."
I forced myself to focus. "Send me the links. She keeps the Spanish and self-defense lessons, those are non-negotiable." I hadn't pushed it with Rachel and Ron, but I liked the idea of Julie being more in touch with my family's culture. And with the number of enemies I had, I felt better knowing Julie could defend herself if absolutely necessary.
"Is there any way the kickboxing could count toward self-defense? She enjoys those lessons." Again, I was impressed with Stephanie Plum. Every other nanny I'd employed over the last year and a half had tried to argue that no eight year old needed to learn to shoot and take down grown men, but Steph didn't even bat an eye at my demands. I liked a woman that knew when to pick her battles.
"We could work something out." My cousin Lester taught her both of those on premises, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Stephanie bit her lip again and I had to shift in my seat to hide a certain growing problem of mine. I wondered if I could ask someone to break her of that nervous habit, hopefully before I went insane.
"Was there anything else?" Dios, I sounded like such a prick, but I knew I had to get away from her before I did something stupid. Like kiss her.
"Well…" she paused. "We're having dinner at 6:30, and you're welcome to join us so we can work out which activities Julie's going to keep."
OK. That took care of any desire I might have felt. I took a deep breath and stamped down on the helpless feeling that swept through me. I didn't think I could make it through another silent meal with Julie staring sullenly at me. I knew I wasn't really at fault, but I hated being the bastard that had uprooted her from everything she'd ever known. "I have a client meeting." It wasn't really a lie, because Ram was new and still needed supervision. It just didn't have to be me.
I stood and pushed open the door, letting her know that the interview was at an end. "If you can get me the revised schedule by 0800 tomorrow, I'll look it over." She didn't look at me as she left the office, and for once I was glad I didn't have to look into those clear blue eyes.
R&S~R&S~R&S
Stephanie's POV
After Julie was in bed, I wandered into the kitchen of my new nanny digs for a glass of wine. After my confrontation with Ranger earlier, I deserved it. As I plopped down on the couch again, I thought back to everything that had happened over the last few days. On Monday, I was jobless and soon to be homeless. Tonight, I had maybe the most challenging job of my whole life and my living room belonged in a design magazine.
One of the unexpected perks of the job came in the form of Ella Guzman. She and her husband, Luis, managed the building for Ranger, and apparently one of her duties was keeping me and Julie fed. I silently raised my glass to Ella, who had proven that she was both good and wise when she'd stocked my kitchen with a bottle of red, ice cream, and the good chocolate.
A knock on the door interrupted my internal debate over which carton of Ben & Jerry's I should dig into first. I hid my shock when I opened my door to Ranger; I hadn't expected to see him again for a good long while.
"Hey, I can get that schedule for you," I babbled as I let him in. He was dressed in a fine, black wool business suit, with the top button on the collar of his black dress shirt undone to reveal a couple of inches of smooth, mocha colored skin. If I'd thought he was good looking in tight T-shirts and cargo pants, Armani Ranger was downright devastating.
Bad, Stephanie, bad! I muttered to myself as I grabbed my laptop out of the bedroom. When I returned, he was standing at the breakfast bar, a look of pure exhaustion clouding his features.
"You know you have a rat in your kitchen?" He asked, gesturing toward the aquarium sitting on the counter.
"Shhh…. He's a hamster and he's very sensitive," I said, pretending to be offended. I'd bought Rex sometime after my divorce and he'd been the best roommate ever. He never drank my beer and he was a good listener.
I held up my wine glass. "Want some?" When he nodded, I fetched the bottle and another glass from the kitchen and we settled on opposite ends of the couch.
"Here's the schedule that Julie and I came up with," I said as I pulled it up on the screen. "But first, I would like to propose a toast to Saint Ella, who seems to know exactly what we need after a long, long day."
His lips twitched in what I was starting to realize was his version of a full on belly laugh. "To Ella," he echoed as we clinked glasses. He took a long, grateful swallow. "I'll give her a raise tomorrow."
"Damn straight." I said, before I could think better of it. "I'm watching my language around Julie, honest."
He chuckled and took the laptop from me. "She's probably heard worse from me and the men." After several moments, Ranger handed the computer back. "Julie's happy with this?"
"Yeah." I nodded as I put the laptop away. "We kept self-defense on Sundays, and Spanish on Tuesdays, like you asked. She likes piano and swim club the best, so that's Wednesday and Saturday." We'd kept four activities and not one more.
"And the rest of the week?" He asked, curiously.
"She works at being a kid, I guess." I shrugged. "If you're worried about her being at loose ends I could probably find a sweat shop that's hiring," I joked.
He mock-scowled at me and took another sip of wine. "You know you're required to take self-defense, too?"
"Yep, that's page two of the manual." I made a face. "Who the hell thought it was a good idea to write SOPs for a nanny and a little girl?" I've never been one for rules, but the kid was cute and I had a whole lot of bills to pay, so I guessed I'd have to just suck it up. Mostly.
He raised one eyebrow. "We're military men," he said, as if that explained everything.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, dismissing his logic with a wave of my hand. "Anyway, I spoke to Lester today, and he's going to teach us both some basic defense moves after Julie's kickboxing lesson." I looked longingly toward the kitchen and wondered if I had to share the chocolate if I broke it out in front of the boss. "Julie's looking forward to kicking my butt." We both grinned, because we knew that she probably could. Julie was just that badass.
We sat for several more minutes in companionable silence before I worked up the nerve to ask him something that had been bothering me all week. "Look, I'm probably prying, but can I ask you about something Julie said?" I finished off my wine, for courage. "She mentioned that her mom died and you were looking after her because her dad didn't want her?" The words came out in a rush, and in that moment I knew that Ranger Mañoso wasn't the cold bastard he wanted me to think he was. You couldn't fake the kind of pain that I saw in his expression.
He scrubbed his hand tiredly over his face, and then reached over to refill first my glass, and then his. "Rachel and I divorced before Julie was six months old," he began, his words soft and clipped. "When she met and married Ron a year later, I agreed that it was a good idea to let him adopt her. I was pulling back-to-back tours overseas, with more to come," he said baldly, in explanation.
My heart broke for him and Julie. Maybe he had thought it was for the best, but I could tell it cost him. "You don't have to finish," I told him, wishing I could take back my question. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear any more.
He shook his head. "Not much more to tell. Rachel died almost two years ago, complications from child-birth." He shrugged. "Ron shut down when he lost his wife and son, so here we are. Julie's Daddy is still licking his wounds in Florida, and I'm..." It was like he couldn't stand to finish his sentence.
"God, that sucks," I murmured. I pushed his glass toward him and took a healthy swallow from my own. I hated what I was going to say to him, but really, he'd made it my job when he'd put me in charge of Julie's well being. I could tell Ranger didn't really want my sympathy, but he needed a little kick in the ass.
"It's a shame and a real tragedy what happened. It must've been harder to take because there's no one to blame," I said, emphasizing the last few words. I wasn't a parent, but thanks to mine, I knew a thing or two about guilt.
"But you're forgetting that Julie has another father, right here, and she really, really needs him." When he started to shake his head, I stopped him. "I do know," I said, answering his unasked question. "You made me the resident child-care expert, so yeah, I'm telling you she needs you in her life." And not to feel like she was a burden.
Judging by the stricken look on his face, I might have said that last part out loud. The mood needed some seriously lightening, so I changed the subject quickly.
"Hey, we're going to be having dinner at 6:30 most nights, so you could drop in sometime." I'd realized on my first day on the job that I didn't have a friggin' clue what to do with a kid, so I'd called my mom and my best friend, Mary Lou. They'd had some good suggestions. Mom's was that we have dinner together every night, just like when I was a kid. I didn't turn out too badly, so we'd been trying it. The only difference was Ella cooked and I was trying not to serve up maternal guilt with a side of nagging for dessert.
"Tomorrow's pizza night and Julie challenged me to a Wii bowling tournament," I cajoled when he still looked undecided.
The corners of his mouth lifted into a half grin. "Pizza? Babe – Steph, that stuff'll kill you."
I rolled my eyes, and decided to ignore his slip of the tongue. I was a little tipsy, and figured he might be, too. "Don't worry, I'm not ignoring the dietary guidelines on page 16 of the manual. Ella says whole wheat, spinach and feta pizza is fine." It was a crime against humanity, that's what it was, but Julie said she liked it.
He nodded and got up to leave. "I'll try to make it."
I did a little happy dance inside. "There was one other thing I wanted to ask you about." When he made the go on gesture, I decided to go for broke. "I've been enforcing the no-skateboarding indoors rule, and everyone's shins and ankles have been thanking me, so, on Saturday, I wanted to take Julie to a skate park a friend of mine manages."
"No."
That word always makes me push back. What can I say, it's a fatal flaw. "Why?" I asked, trying on my best innocent expression. "It's safer than the sidewalk and she'll be in pads and a helmet." Walter "Mooner" Dunphy was sort of a burn-out, but he took his skateboarding seriously.
When he didn't answer, I went in for the kill. I owed Julie, because I'd sort of already promised her. "I'll keep her off the big ramp and after that first aid course you made me take, I'm good for anything short of major surgery." Bobby Brown, the RangeMan medic, was a hardass about proper technique, but he was a pretty cool guy.
He stared at me for several long seconds. "Tank's right. You're going to be a big pain in the ass. Be ready at 1400 hours and I'll take you both to the skate park."
After he left, I did a real happy dance. Mr. Grumpy pants Mañoso was so going down.
Shout outs to: Necie77, Trhodes9, jules3677, Selene Aduial, Shellbell78, alix33, erdi99, West Islander, Daffybduck, deviates322, Lulubelle09, Fanfictionstalker, jkgk, caregiver, melyons, gobucks1, ThinkAboutItBabe, RangerSteph4ever, MnGrammaX3, sapphireangel09, Angela Mueller, snazzieshazzie, got2BaBabeFan, First Generation Scot, jaxg, JoanOver, Taniadanoff, Stephanie1014, Margaret aka whymelucylu, av981638, Elkniw73, Rightytighty, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews!
