Ch 8

"Right then, skinny white girl, this one is definitely you!!" Lula screamed as she pulled a bright red meringue from the rack and handed it to Stephanie.

Connie and Steph looked at each other, knowingly.

"Lula, how's about we take three of our favourites each into the changing room and you decide between them?"

"Yeah, see what you're saying, Connie, OK, go for it" came the reply

An hour later, a decision had been made. Because Steph and Connie were so different, Lula decided that they could have different styles but in the same colour. Because of the winter theme for the wedding, she'd insisted on a deep holly green slubbed silk.

Connie's was a sleeveless dress cut on the bias so that it clung to her breasts and hips and swung out a little before coming down to just below the knee at an angle. The neckline had a deep scoop and sat just above her ample cleavage, elegant and not at all slutty. Steph's was knee length and had spaghetti straps and it draped, albeit a lot less, at the neckline so that it gave a hint of cleavage. It was straight and fitted, flaring slightly out from her hips and finishing with a little hint of a frill. Everyone was happy. Job done, sorted.

Lula's dress, however was not so easy to pick. She'd wanted a floor length fitted second skin number and it took a long time and much persuasion that getting one two sizes too small was not going to work – the boutique simply didn't have anything with Spandex in it and to have to expect seams to stay intact without it was not an option.

Finally, Lula chose a simple (yep, simple!!) slubbed silk frock with long sleeves that started on her shoulders. It was fitted down to her ample hips and then flared slightly so that she would be able to move on the day but it still gave her the column effect she had been looking for in the first dress she'd tried on. The neckline was round - not too low - and enhanced her considerable assets. There was bead and pearl detailing on the bodice which was mirrored at the bottom of the hem and the back of the dress went out into a built in train that gave the whole gown elegance.

Once Lula put a headdress on everyone cooed and giggled. "Tankie will love me in this one" she sighed happily.

"I think this calls for some donuts to celebrate, but perhaps a bit of fried and greasy chicken first. Gotta keep my strength up for tonight's celebrations" Lula grinned.

"Celebrations?!" gimaced Connie.

"Yeah, Tankie's gonna get a whole lotta lovin' as I'm so on fire with this wedding shit an' all. When I tell him we've sorted the dresses out he's gonna.."

Steph didn't want to know any more and put her hand up to stop her friend giving them any further details on her evening's plans. "Wish I had a love life", she thought as she dropped everyone back at the Bonds Office and turned the Buick in the direction of her apartment. Perhaps Morrelli wasn't so bad after all... had she finished something too soon? Na, she'd made the right choice in ending it with Joe. Trust was so important and he'd not always been totally honest with her. "I mean" she said out loud before mentally finishing with "how many times had he held back on me about cases he was working on when if he'd been honest I'd probably have kept from being bombed, attacked or even kidnapped?"

What about Ranger though. He was such an emotional retard. Could she really get anything more than mind blowing sex from him? She doubted it. Perhaps it was time for a real change, someone altogether new. That seemed like a good idea, but yet, well, there was still something about Ranger that she needed to get out of her system. Was she strong enough? Strong enough for what? She didn't have any answers.

o0o0o0o0o

Ranger pulled up outside the Plums' house and took a deep breath. Counting down from 5 he finally got out of the car, locked it behind him and marched purposefully up the path to the front door.

Frank was waiting for him looking very curious and slightly confused.

Frank invited him through the house and out to his shed. A man's shed. Full of dusty manly things: a mower, spades, an axe, seeds, string, a leaf blower, saws.... He pulled up two chairs and opened a small fridge that was located in one corner near some sacking before offering Ranger a beer and grabbing one for himself.

Ranger sat down and drank deeply looking for Dutch Courage in the bottom of the bottle. He looked up and saw that Frank was waiting for him to begin.

"Sir..."

"Call me Frank, Ranger". He said softly, smiling to himself. Ranger looked nervous...!

"Sorry, Frank." he sighed. He hunched over, nursing the bottle and running his finger over the label, he'd dropped his head to look at the ground. He looked deflated, there was no arrogance or confidence.

Frank raised an eyebrow, leaned back and waited.

"I've known Steph for over two years now and bit by bit I've realised she's very important to me" he started hesistantly, he couldn't 'do' eye contact at that moment so took to swilling the beer round in the bottle and focused on that.

He continued. "I understand things between her and Morelli aren't quite going to plan and I want your advice on how to make her realise that I want to have a go at having a relationship with her. I've never been good with all this stuff and so this is all very new to me." He looked up hoping to see reassurance in Frank's eyes before he said anymore. He didn't want to appear weak and was gauging the other man's reaction. "I've said some very stupid things to her in the past so that she didn't get any ideas about us – her being entertainment in my budgets - being the all-time classic. I've realised that it was all rubbish, spoken out of fear. Fear of what she could do to me. It's too late, though, she's already 'done' it to me – I really need her in my life."

Frank smiled at the man before him before he replied "Son, Steph is a one in a million girl. She's bright, funny, courageous and incredibly loyal. She's perceptive and knows you real well. Give her a few subtle hints and she'll get the basic idea, then you can take it from there."

He knew Ranger had feelings for his Pumpkin. He also knew that coming here had been a massive step. Ranger was a control freak so to have to ask for help with his daughter showed the level of his commitment and feelings. Did Ranger really have a clue about how Steph felt about him? He doubted it. The man in front of him was all that he'd aspired to be when he'd been in the army. He was a legend before he was 25. 25!!! His army buddies had told him all about this robot called Manoso who was invincible, the perfect killing machine. Calm to the point of stillness, the perfect planner. James Bond, Rambo and the Terminator had nothing on him!! And here he was, talking about a scrap of a girl who had managed to totally unhinge him. Wonders never cease!

His buddies would never believe it was the same man. He noticed that Ranger had started talking again.

"That's the problem, Sir, er I mean, Frank. I'm not good at subtle - I order my men around, I take what I want from whoever can give it to me and I'm totally out of my depth. Steph wouldn't respond well to be dragged off to my cave." He gave an ironic smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you want from me, Ranger?"

"I don't know, Sir, er I mean Frank, some ideas or a plan. Anything! I'm a desperate man. I don't know how long I've got before she decides she wants to go back to him so I think I need to act fast."

Frank was shocked and surprised by what he saw. Ranger was acting like a love-struck nerdy teenager, in love with the hottest girl at school and realising that he hadn't a chance of her even noticing him, never mind dating him. He gave a mental chuckle before continuing.

"Leave it with me, I'll have a good long think and get back to you soon, I promise"

Before any more could be said they both heard Ellen yelling out "Hi Frank, we're back"

"Leave it with me" he reiterated, patting him on the arm. They finished their beer quickly, both got up and left the security of the shed. Ranger strolled round the outside to the front of the house as if they'd been discussing the weather and waved goodbye before jumping back into his car and setting off.

"What was all that about, Frank?" she asked

"Not quite sure" came the reply.