Disclaimer: I do not own any of JE's character's, they are all hers. I'm just playing with them for a while. I make nothing from these works.
Chapter 10
Woody dropped us off at the airport at 0730. We checked our luggage and headed for secuirty. Evan approached first. He flashed he pass, and the TSA guys allowed him to pass. I flashed mine next and got a wierd look from the same guy. "What gives?" I asked.
"Nothing Ma'am. It's just we don't see many women with these passes. I'm sorry. You are free to pass."
"Thank you." I frowned as I caught up to Evan. "Damn."
"What's the matter Angel?"
"Even with the pass I still get questioned." He chuckled.
"It's because as far as I know, you're the only woman other than female air marshalls that has a pass."
"Oh. It still would have been nice to make it through without any questions. I mean I'm wearing the same uniform you are!"
Evan bought two cups of coffee as we waited to board the plane. We sipped in silence, until I heard a familiar voice. "Oh, God! NO!" Oh, Yes. It was none other than Joyce Barnhart. She was a few rows behinds us, waiting to board the same plane. "Why me?"
"What is it Angel?" Evan's face grew concerned. "Nervous about the fight?"
"Not anymore. I have bigger things to worry about now." I gestured behind us.
"It can't be?"
"It is. Joyce is on our flight. What did I do to piss off God?" I hung my head in my hands. Then the worst possible thing in the world happened. Joyce noticed us.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Rangeman whore." She couldn't help getting in a dig. She then turned to Evan and smiled sweetly, "And who might you be, Sweetheart?"
Evan cleared his throat. He knew about Joyce and her escapades. "I'm Ram Ma'am."
"And why do they call you Ram?" She not so subtley asked. She winked at him and I swear I could hear him laughing.
"It's my name Ma'am."
"And are you single Ram?" I snapped my head up, smiled and stuck my hand out for her to see my engagment ring.
"Nope! He's all mine!" She sneered at me. "And for the record Joyce... No one from Rangeman would ever touch your nasty diseased ass, even with someone elses dick! Now beat it!"
She turned beet red and pointed a bony finger in my face. "You bitch!"
"No Joyce," I calmly said to her face, "You're the bitch! You were the one I found fucking my ex husband on MY dinnig room table before the ink was even dry on my marriage certificate. You are the one who has fucked Vinnie in the back office with God knows what kind of barnyard animals. You are the one the health deparment deemed the original source for the rash of chlamidia in the Berg." I pointed my finger in her face. "You are a walking cesspool of disease and filth. I wouldn't let my dog piss on your nasty ass. So, I suggest you turn around go back to your seat and shut the fuck up before I get security to escort your ass out of the airport!"
She huffed and turned around stomping back to her seat. A round of applause erupted from the fellow passengers surrounding us. I blushed, realising that others had been witness to me telling Joyce off. I bet before I can even make it onto the plane I get a call from my mother. Word travels fast in the Berg. Sure enough before I had even sat down, my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Stephanie? What's this I hear about you yelling at Joyce Barnhart?"
"Sorry Mom I have to board the plane now. Call you when we land." I snapped the phone shut and powered it down.
"Angel. Where did all that come from?"
"I don't know." I sank back into my seat. "I just kinda came out when she tried to sink her tallons in you. You are mine. I don't share." I laughed in my head. Those were the same exact words Ranger had used with me. Funny how things turn out, huh?
"I was so hot watching you put her in her place. You are so mine tonight!" I blushed and snuggled into his arms.
"But your parents..."
"What about them?"
"They're going to be home. In the same home. We can't do that with them there." I hissed feeling embarassed already.
"Oh, yes we can. They have their own suite on the opposite side of the ranch house. Besides I put up extra insulation in the walls when we built the place. It's damn near sound proof."
"Oh, well then. You're all mine!" I giggled, kissing him hungrily.
"Boarding call for First Class Passengers for Flight 84 for Helena, Montana. Flight 84 for Helena, Montana." We rose and made our way to the gangway, handing our tickets to the boarding services agent, she nodded and allowed us to pass. I looked over my shoulder to Joyce, smiled and waved. She flipped me the bird before turning away pouting.
"Angel. Don't feed the fire."
"I'm not. I'm just fanning the flames slightly." I gave him one of my sweetest smiles.
After the remaining coach passengers boarded, we taxied to the runway and took off. The flight itself was actually pretty relaxing for the first time in my life. Evan held my hand and talked to me telling me stories about people he knew in the service. And before I knew it we were decending into Helena. We touched down light as a feather. And rolled to a stop, after taxiing to our gate we made our way to disembark. I stopped to talk to the pilot. I shook his hand and kissed his cheek. He blushed a little before I told him, "This was the first fight where I wasn't afraid that I would die a firey death. I felt so comfortable. And that landing was wonderful. Thank you for the wonderful flight. Thank you." I hugged him again and headed out of the plane.
"Angel, think you went a little overboard on the thank yous?" He chuckled.
"Nope. I think it wasn't enough." I giggled. "Hey, where is your brother? Isn't he supposed to meet us here at the luggage claim?"
"Yeah..." He scanned the crowd. "There he is. JUSTIN!" His hand shot out above the crowd, waving. Up walked what looked like Evan's twin. Definately a family resemblence. He too was 6'5", tanned, blonde hair cut into a high and tight, cleft chin and beautiful green eyes. He wasn't quite as muscled as him, but from a distance, I might mistake Justin for Evan.
"Oh, my God there's two of you!" I stammered. Looking from one to the other.
"Nope. There's three of us." Justin stuck out his hand to shake mine. "Ma'am. I'm Justin Ramsey, Evan's younger brother. You must be Stephanie. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Please call me Steph. It's nice to meet you, too."
"Let's collect your bags and head out to the chopper." Both Evan and Justin carried our bags leaving me with only my purse to carry. We loaded our bags into a SUV and made our way out of the airport.
"Evan, where are we going? Aren't we still taking the chopper?"
"Don't worry Angel. We have to go to the municipal airport for the chopper. It's across town."
"Oh, okay." I nodded. I felt kind of dumb not knowing that.
"Steph?" Justin asked. "You ever been in a chopper before?"
"Nope. I'm a little nervous."
"I'll take it easy on you. If it were just Evan, I'd skim trees and fly like bat outta hell. But I won't do anything to scare you, I promise."
"Thanks."
"So I hear you're a pretty good bounty hunter Steph."
"Yeah, I have a 100% capture rate. Best in the country. Never would guess it by looking at me would you?"
"Now, never judge a book by it's cover." He glanced at me in the rearview, sitting in the back seat. A devilish grin spread across his face, "like you'd never know that in high school Evan here, was in the drama club." Evan reached over and punched Justin in the arm.
"Damn it man! I'd like to leave some things in the past. Angel's, going to hear enough about my high school years at the reunion." Appeasing his older brother, Justin changed the subject.
"So do you like working at Rangeman?"
"I love it. The guys have become a second family to me. It's like having 40 brothers watching over me. But it's definately the most interesting job I've ever had. More so that being a BEA."
"How so?"
"Never a dull moment. If there isn't a FTA to hunt down, there's research on not only FTA's but prospective security clients, dealing with current security clients, security installs, there's monitor duty, surveilance, distractions, and of course there's always gym time at 0500 every morning."
"Angel just blew through her first fitness eval a week ago. Brown says that for her size and weight she's in better shape than the rest of us."
"Now that says something!" He glanced at Evan for a moment before focusing back on the road. "You going to tell Momma about her ring?"
"Shit! I forgot about it." I winced at his observation. I tugged the ring off and tucked it into my pocket. "I want to tell your parents tomorrow, if that's ok Evan?"
"If that's the way you want to do it Angel. Just expect my Momma to get all emotional. When she found out that Junior was engaged she cried with happiness for three days."
"Really?"
Justin snickered. "Yeah, only because we thought he'd never marry." With that both Justin and Evan burst out laughing. Just as their laughter died down, we pulled up to the municipal airport, and drove to the far side. Pulling up to a huge hanger Justin shut the engine down and turned to look at me. "Steph, I promise I'll try to be as gentle as possible. Okay?"
"Okay. I'll let you know if I start to feel uncomfortable."
"Deal."
Walking into the hanger, I didn't know what to expect. But I was pleasantly suprised to see a normal looking six passenger helecopter with doors and windows. No gun turrets, or machine guns or medic baskets slung to the skids. Justin and Evan wheeled the chopper out of the hanger on it's little trailer, then proceeded to do a safety check on it. Twenty minutes later we stowed our gear in one of the rear passenger seats and prepared to load up ourselves. Evan handed me a helmet, complete with a built in headset. "You'll need this. It's the only way we can talk to each other when we're in flight. Just talk normal and we can hear you, just like you'll be able to hear us."
I nodded and tried it on for size. "Are you going to ride up front with Justin?"
"Nope. I'm riding next to you. I want to make sure you feel safe." Hugging him I felt better about the next leg of our journey to the ranch. "Now lets load up."
"Oh, boy!"
Evan helped me into the chopper and strapped me into my seat. Both he and Justin did the same. I reached for Evan's hand, holding it tightly. I squeeked when Justin started the engine. "You okay back there Steph?"
"Yeah. Just a little jumpy. Sorry."
"No worries."
The engine began to warm up and the vibration was gentle and almost soothing, if it weren't for the near defening roar. Justin contacted the control tower and received clearance for take off. The sensation of the take off was completely different that that of a plane. It was gentle and not at all scary as we rose into the sky. I finally was brave enouigh to open my eyes and look out the window. It was amazing! It felt like I was Wonder Woman flying in her invisible plane. Evan turned to watch me as I squirmmed closer to the window to watch the scenery below. "Hey, J. Looks like you have another convert."
"Steph. How you doing back there?"
I couldn't control my enthusiasm, "This is great! It's amazing!"
"Good to know. Want to have a little fun?"
"Go for it!" I yelled into my headset. Evan was all smiles. And I could hear Justin laughing into his headset. And with that we really took off. He skimmed us along the trees, it was like I could almost reach out and touch the tree tops. We followed the zig zag pattern of a small river for a while, weaving back and forth. I could see cattle scattering, acting as if we were some giant bird of prey swooping down to grab them up. I laughed at the feeling of freedom and was really enjoying myself. Having so much fun, I forgot about how scared I had been. I turned to Evan and mouthed the words, 'I love you', and smiled. He gave me the thumbs up sign and hugged me.
"So, wanna go out again later to see the whole ranch?"
"Great. I'd love to."
"Good because we've been over the boundary line for a couple of minutes already." I stopped and stared out of the window again. It was beautiful here. The undulating hills, the patches of trees, and seemingly unlimited sky. After a few minutes more, a complex of out buildings and a HUGE house came up on the horizon. Coming nearer, I noticed there were a large number of barns and a silo off to the right side. Tractors and a few trucks were clustered around the far side nearest the largest of the barns. And to the left was a massive ranch house. The two story behemuth was painted white with green trim, a wrap around porch surrounded the entire perimeter of the house. We slowed and Justin headed off the the far left to a marked helicopter pad. When he landed it was as if he set us upon a cloud. It was so light and gentle, I wasn't too sure we had actually landed, until the sound of the rotors and engine began to slow. Evan removed his helmet and tugged mine off as well. He opened the door and started to unload even though the rotor blades were still moving. I handed him each bag and when we were fully unloaded, Justin and Evan toated our bags towards the house. Waiting on the front porch were his parents and and his brother Junior.
"Evan! I'm so glad you're home!" The older woman warmly greeted him, hugging him and kissing his cheek. She definately was the reason the guys all had green eyes. Her startling green eyes complimented her round warm face. She stood about 5'6", was willow thin and her long blonde hair was tied into ponytail hanging down her back. She turned to me with a smile holding her arms out. "Stephanie. It is so good to finally meet you Darlin'. Evan has told us so much about you the last few years."
She hugged me tightly, and slung her arm over my shoulder turning me around to face the others. "This is my husband, Turk. And my oldest boy Junior." I shook Mr. Ramsey's hand as well as Juniors. Mr. Ramsey was an older version of Evan. His face showed the lines of hard work and sacrifice, but held a warm smile. Junior was the spitting image of his father. Only he stood about 6' tall.
"Please call me Steph. Only my mother calls me by my whole name."
"Steph, call me Momma and you can call Turk, Pop. Everyone does." She turned to Evan's older brother, "Junior, will you help Evan and Steph with their bags?"
"Yes, Momma."
"You two go up and get settled, we can have a late lunch when you come back down. Now go... scoot!" Momma shoo'd us up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, Evan led us down a long hallway. Junior was watching me out of the corner of his eye. "So, do you like Montana Steph?"
"From what I've seen so far, I'm in love." I beamed at him, and he returned my smile. We stopped in front of a set of rustic wooden double doors.
"We're here." And then Evan opened the doors to reveal a massive room. It was an open airy room with a kingsized bed off to the right, a sitting area with computer desk off to the left, and a fireplace dead ahead. I walked in and flopped down onto the bed.
"Ugh! I can't believe we're finally here." I huffed out. I was happy, but tired all the same. Evan and Junior dropped our bags and looked around the room.
"Momma left it just as you had it. Nothing has changed. There's fresh towels in the cubbards." He turned and left us in quiet solitude, shutting the doors behind him.
"Wow, you never told me this place was huge."
He sighed. "It's just a house Angel. It's what's outside that matters to me. Now let's get unpacked and back downstairs before Momma sends up a search party for us.
After freshening up a bit and putting our things away, we headed downstairs to the kitchen. It was a typical ranch kitchen, open and airy with table that looked like it could seat 12 people comforably to the one side. Momma had a large spread of sandwiches and salads for us to enjoy. We filled our plated and sat down to chat. Before we ate, Evan grabbed my hand and so did Jr. I noticed we all joined hands and they bowed their heads. Momma spoke, "Dear lord, Please bless this food we are about to receive. And thank you for blessing us with a visit from our Evan and Stephanie. In the Lord's name we pray, Amen." A chorus of Amen's followed. Momma turned to me, "I know we aren't the most conventional Catholic famiy, but we make do how we can."
"Yes, Momma." I smiled. I couldn't remembered the last time my family had prayed before a meal. It was nice and touching at the same time. Then we dug in with gusto.
While enjoying his food, Pop asked Evan, "So how long you plan on stayin'?"
"We fly out on monday night."
"Doesn't give you much time to show Steph the ranch or town."
"I'll show her Pop."
"Don't forget you promised to take care of my problem." He stopped chewing and looked to Evan. "It needs to be done before you leave."
"Yes, sir. Do you still have my equipment here?"
"Yup, in the gun room. I cleaned her this morning and bought new bullets yesterday for ya."
"Thanks Pop." He nodded.
'So, Steph. Has Evan told you anything about us?" Jr. asked.
"Sort of. He told me stories here and there when we were on surveilence together over the years."
'Well, he couldn't stop talking about you. You would think he were obsessed or somethin'." I smiled as Evan paled and hung his head.
"Jr. please, Angel is going to hear all about me from Momma as it is. Please can we talk about something else?"
"Nope. I've been waitin' for this day for 3 and a half years." I smiled looking at Jr.
"So, anything juicy you can tell me about Evan. He portrays himself as the quiet guy at work."
"Quiet? He's anything but quiet when he's here."
"Oh, really?"
Evan rolled his eyes and sighed. "I just try to stay under the radar at work. It's best not to piss my boss off."
I laughed, "Yeah, Ranger might call you to the mats again."
'So, Steph." Momma looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. "Is it true? Are you really the Bombshell Bounty Hunter?"
I giggled and winked at Evan, "Despite what Evan may have told you, it wasn't all my fault." I continued. "I guess I have a really bad reputation with vehicles. I always manage to have my cars either blown up, firebombed, crushed, bombed, or destroyed in some way or another. And the whole fire at the funeral home was my Grandma's fault, not mine."
They had all stopped eating, staring at me. Pop burst out into laughter, with the whole family following suit. "You picked a winner Evan."
Evan beamed and squeezed my hand. "Angel has become the unofficial nurse at the office. She's the one who sits with the guys at the hospital when they get injured. And she's the one besides Brown that tend to us when we get home."
"So, you're the one that sat with Evan after he got shot." Momma asked, tears in her eyes.
"Yes, Momma. I had to be drugged by Bobby to get me to leave his side. But after I came to, I was right back by his side." I sobered and looked to Evan.
"She's the one caring for Santos since he got shot last week."
"Lester! Is he ok? My poor Lester." Momma nearly cried. She was wringing her hands and begun to pace the kitchen.
"Momma. He's ok. It was really just a flesh wound. He'll be back on desk duty next week." Evan tried to placate her.
"All you boys when you visit me make me worry when you leave. I hate being so far from you."
"I know Momma. I hate being far away, too. But at least I can visit." She calmed down and sat next to Evan patting his hand. She turned to me and before I could blink she was up and retreiving a huge stack of photo albums. Evan groaned and placed his head on the table. "Why me?" He ground out.
"Steph, Dear. I thought you might want to see a few picture of Evan when he was younger."
"Absolutely!" The next three ours Momma, Evan and I poured over the old albums. We sipped coffee while she recounted stories that accompanied the photos. There were ones from the day he was born. "Hard to believe you were only six pounds when you were born. Look at you now." I joked.
Pictures from Halloween, Christmases past, birthday parties, and first days of school were spread around us. Then Momma stopped and looked at me studying my face. "Steph, dear. How is your family?"
"They're fine. Thank you for asking. I don't know what Evan has told you but I can tell you about them if you would like." She nodded. "My dad is retired from the post office as Post Master, my mother has always been a stay at home mom, my Grandma is... well, a little nutty, and my sister her husband and her three girls live not too far from my parents."
"What about you dear?"
"Well, I grew up in the Chambersberg section of Trenton, New Jesrey, I graduated from Rutgers with a degree in business, and I used to work for E.E. Martin as a clothing buyer. After I lost my job there I was hired by my cousin who owns a bail bonds company to be a BEA."
"BEA?"
"Sorry . A Bond Enforcement Agent. A bounty hunter."
"Ok."
"Then Ranger became my mentor, showing me the ropes. Later on after he decided I needed the help, he started lending me the use of the guys to help me apprehend my skips. And before I knew it I was working part time at Rangeman and then a while ago I started full time."
She turned to Evan, "Are you going to show her the lake?"
"In time Momma. Maybe tomorrow."
"The lake?" I asked puzzled.
"My favorite place. It's where I used to go to sit and think. Besides it has the best fishing around." He smiled at me.
"Well, Momma. I better get her upstairs. We're having dinner at Rita's."
"Go dear. Have fun."
"Yes Momma."
As we climbed the stairs, I asked Evan what Rita's was. "It's a little place in town I like to go to. It's not stuffy and it's got good food."
"Sounds good, because after all those photos I'm starved."
I changed out of my Rangeman uni and into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and my tennies. Evan changed into jeans, a painted on t-shirt and put his boots back on. "Hey Angel. Did you bring a light jacket?"
"All I have is my jacket from think It will be ok?"
"Yeah, it just gets chilly here at night, even in August."
We headed downstairs and out the door to one of the smaller barns. Evan held my hand, leading the way. He pulled the rolling door aside, and inside was an exact replica of his truck in Trenton. "I should have known."
"I like what I like." He stated simply. He helped me into the truck and then swung himself into the driver's seat. "You ready? It's about a thirty minute ride into town."
We backed out of the barn, leaving the door wide open and pulled out onto the road leading to the front gate. We drove in silence for what seemed like forever before I started spotting homes and barns along the highway leading into town. Powderville, Montana was not what I expected. We pulled into town and I was shocked. There was a grocery store, a church, Freddie's mercantile, a feed store, a bank, a gas station, the combined high school and middle school, the elementary school and Rita's. That was it for downtown.
"Wow. It's uh..."
"I know it's not like Trenton, but it's good for out here."
"It's cute. I bet gossip gets around here faster than in the Berg."
"You have no idea." He chuckled. "Let's go into Rita's, I'm hungry."
We dismounted from the truck and walked over to the restaurant. He opened the door for me and we walked inside. The place was packed. Everyone turned and shouted at the sight of Evan. "Mack!" I looked at him smiling. He smiled and proceeded to greet everyone in the place like family. After a few minutes, he yelled, "Hey, quiet down!"
And everyone quieted, looking at the great hulking man standing beside me. "Everyone this is Steph my girlfiend. She's the one I told you about. She's Bomber!" And then the room erupted. I was hugged and kissed and hugged some more by so many people I lost track. All I could do was smile and greet people.
Finally we were seated at a table in the back, Evan and I shared a bench seat across from two other people. The guy stuck his hand out shaking mine. "Hi, I'm Deeter. I'm Mack's best friend."
The woman grabbed my hand holding it fast. "I'm Sissy. I'm Deeter's wife. It's so nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you." I said, but frowned. "Who's Mack?"
They started dying laughing, before Deeter decided to tell me. "Mack is Evan. That's his nick name from high school. Because in football he could hit like a Mack truck. Around here once you pick up a nick name it sticks with you for the rest of your life."
"I know how that is. I got the name Bomber or Bombshell."
Evan lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered, "I like Angel better." I blushed and ordered burgers, fries and beers and chatted with Deeter and Sissy well into the night.
We loaded up into Evan's truck a little before midnight and headed back to the ranch. I tried desperately to stay awake on the ride back but lost the fight soon after we left town.
I was dreaming of a little baby girl, curly bonde hair, chubby cheeks and bright green eyes. She was cooing and smiling, her little fists pumping about in happiness. I handed her off to Evan, watching him hug and rock her about. The look of love and adoration for this little girl made my heart sing. I felt a tugging on my sleeve to see a little boy perhaps three years old. His hair was a sandy blonde, blue eyes and chubby cheeks. "Momma, I want a hug." I bend down wrapping him in my arms bringing him face to face with me. I kissed him on the cheek, hugging him tightly. "I love you Bubba." "I love you too Momma." I smiled in my sleep. Then I noticed there was another man watching us. It was Carlos. He waved and the little boy ran to him, "Uncle Carlos!" He scooped him up in a big hug, and carried him to us. Evan hugged me with his free hand, and whispered into my ear, "I love you." Then, my 'boys' from Rangeman bagan to appear one by one surrounding us. After we all were present the little boy hugged 'Uncle Carlos' and said, "Look Momma, we have a big family. I love all my uncles." I wiped a tear away from my cheek, "Yes, Bubba. I love them too."
I was jarred awake from my dream when we hit a large pothole in the road. Evan patted my knee. "Angel. Why don't you slide over to the center? It's where all the women around here sit when they ride with their man." I smiled sleepily and unbuckled my belt. Sliding over I snuggled against Evan. "You have to put your seatbelt back on though." I found the seatbelt for the center and fastened it tightly. His placed huge muscled arm over my shoulders and we drove the remaining fifteen minutes with his arm over me and me snuggled into him. "You know... tomorrow is the bonfire and dance."
"For the reunion?"
"Yeah. It's tradition. Bonfire and dance on friday, reunion on saturday, church on sunday morning, and a picnic sunday afternoon down at the Kessler's ranch."
"Sounds like fun. Anything I should know before we jump into the whole reunion thing?"
"Not really. You already met most of my classmates tonight. Thursday night we all usually meet at Rita's anyway. So one thing down, a couple left to go."
"How many people did you graduate with?"
"Twenty two."
"Twenty two! That's it?"
"Small town."
"Oh. I forgot. Sorry."
"How many did you graduate with?"
I winced, "One hundred and eighty nine."
"That's almost the whole population of Powderville. Damn. How did you know everybody?"
"I didn't. I did flag squad and I was on a lot of the dance committies, but I hung out with pretty much the same people all the time. Eddie, Big Dog, and Shirley, and Mary Lou. They were my close friends."
"Deeter, Crash and Freddie, are my buddies."
"Crash?" I snickered. "You have a friend named Crash?"
"Yup. He got it when he crashed his motorcycle into the side of the church. It was so funny, he got laid up for a week. Never lived that one down." He laughed. "Hey, I wouldn't talk if I were you. You have a friend named 'Mooner'."
"Yeah, yeah I do." I sighed, thinking about my goofy friend. "Hey, do you think we could go shopping at some point tomorrow for a bikini?"
"You bet. Only if you model it for me."
"Done."
"Also, I want to get you a pair of boots. I want to take you riding. It'll be fun."
"Riding? Like as in a horse?" Uh oh. I don't think I like the sound of that.
"Yup. It's the only way to get to the lake unless you want to hike for a couple of hours each direction?"
"Nope. Riding is good." I fiddled with my finger. I let a moment pass before I asked, "Are you going to teach me?"
"You've never ridden a horse before?"
"No." I stated quietly staring out the window. He pulled over and used his finger to turn my face to him.
"Angel. I will teach you. I love you and would never put you in position to hurt or embarass you. Do you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you."
"Good." He smiled and lowered his lips to mine. Our tongues dueled and our mouths sought each other. Until, we heard a rapping on the window. Evan lifted his head and looked down out the window. "Damn!" He powered the window down.
"Well, I'll be! If it isn't Ramsey's middle son." A hand was thrust up into the open window. Evan shook hands with whoever it was attatched to. "Back for the reunion I see."
"Yes, sir. I was just on my way back to Pop's ranch. I had to show my girlfriend Rita's place."
"You got a girl up in there?"
"Yes, sir. Stephanie... there's someone I'd like you to meet."
I unbuckled my belt to lean over Evan's lap to meet the person who belonged to the hand from earlier. I was greeted with a charming smile and dashing good looks. There standing before me was a man of about 40, 6'1", black shaggy hair and brown eyes wearing a Sheriff's deputy uniform. "Stephanie Plum I would like you to meet Deputy Bear Smoltz. Bear this is Stephanie." I leaned out a bit further shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you."
"Ma'am. Mack, you know I can't have you parked along the side of the highway."
"Sorry, sir. I'm headed home now."
"Do that. Say 'hi' to your Momma for me. It was nice to meet you Ms. Plum."
"Yes, sir. Good night." When he powered the window back up and had pulled back onto the highway, I started to giggle. Evan chuckled and sheepishly admitted, "I've never been caught necking before."
"Never?"
"Nope. I really only had one girlfriend in high school and back then it wasn't an option."
"Really? I got caught before. Nathan Baglowski's dad caught us in the parking lot after Winter Ball my Junior year. The car wouldn't start and so he called his dad to come get us. But I guess we found a way to stay busy until he got there. I was mortified. My mom grounded me for three months for that." I shook my head.
Evan was laughing. "I like necking with you. It feels right."
I kissed his chest. "I like it too. Just think, when we're married it won't matter what anyone else thinks. We'll be married." It felt so right talking about being married to Evan. I couldn't imagine my life any differently now.
"I'd like to get married in Trenton, but have a small ceremony here as well."
"I do too. I like it here. Do you think you would want to move back here at some point?"
"Maybe to retire, it's not someplace you come to live unless you ranch or farm."
"It's so nice and open. I can see why you love it here."
"I love being anywhere, so long as you're there Angel."
"Awww... a big softy. I love you too Baby."
A/N: Please R&R.