Thanks again for all the great reviews. I so much appreciate all of them. And a big thank you to Margaret for taking the time to pre-read and deem this good to go.

Chapter 12

The good news is: The official photographer of the New Jersey Symphony was taking pictures when Kelsey mentioned that her uncle was here and had just gotten engaged...so...the photographer volunteered to take a portrait of us. It would be the kind of picture we could send out with our engagement announcements, if we were so inclined to do that sort of thing. Or it could sit on the mantle next to the one that Tank took.

The bad news is: The reporter from the Trenton Post, Tom Whelan, was also taking pictures. I didn't notice him until he was on top of me. My three-carat ring, that I only learned was three carats from his article, made the front page. A Post Exclusive: Trenton's Bombshell Bounty Hunter engaged to Trenton's Most Eligible Bachelor. Details inside. On page six was a picture of me and Carlos on the dance floor, our tongues down each others' throats. So much for keeping a low profile until Monday. My mother was going to freak, and that would be tame compared to what Morelli would do. It had only been less than I week since I broke up with him. His family probably hadn't even figured out that we were "off" yet. God.

Carlos' phone rang somewhere around 6 am and the Post was nudged under our door shortly after that. He tried to hide it from me by turning it over so the sports headline showed. Good thing I knew a sports headline wouldn't interest him, so I turned it back. And now I'm reading the article for a third time and afraid to turn on my phone.

"We were going to announce it on Monday anyway, Babe. This is only two days early. Everything will be fine."

"Not only do all your men know, but now my whole family, Mary Lou, Connie and Lula do too. They're going to be so pissed that I didn't tell them first. And Morelli's going to go ape shit. I wouldn't show my face at TPD for at least a month, if I were you."

"He doesn't scare me and everyone in Trenton knows that Tom Whelan will do anything for an exclusive."

When he said it so calmly and rationally it made sense and I almost bought it, but then I turned on my phone to fifty-four voice mail messages and so many texts they didn't all show up. That was when I knew I was fucked.

"Deep breath Babe. Do you want me to return all the calls for you in the order that you received them? My reply to all of them will be 'yes, it's true'. I'll get it done in under an hour."

"You gotta give my parents, Mare, Connie and Lula more than that. And I think I need to call Morelli."

"You don't have to do anything. My voice alone will scare the shit out of them and shut them up for a long time."

"Connie's not afraid of you. Lula…maybe. You're right though; everyone else will shit their pants. But I'll make it easy on you; I'll call my parents, Mary Lou and Joe. I owe them that much."

"Ok. Use my landline and I'll take your phone to return the calls you got. I can't wait for people to start questioning me. This is going to be fun."

The things he thought were fun. Yeesh.

An hour later, I'd gotten off the phone with only Mary Lou while Ranger made it through almost all of my messages. I'd even heard new ones 'ding' while he systematically returned the ones from earlier. I made a point of listening in when he called Gina Giovichinni. True to form, he had it down to under ten words. And when I was pretty sure she tried to give him the third degree, he hung up.

His conversation went something like this: "Gina? Ranger." Pause. "Yes." Pause. "That's none of your business." Click.

I knew if I tried the same approach I'd cave halfway through the first sentence. I was hard-wired to please people; Carlos didn't give a shit.

My parents were up next. This was going to be harder than Mary Lou. I sat there staring at his phone for at least five minutes before I picked up the receiver. I hung it up again when it started making that annoying sound that told you your phone was off the hook. Ranger turned and looked at me when he heard it.

"I'm trying. I told Mary Lou and she's happy for us."

"That's it? You made one call?"

I nodded.

"Maybe we should head out and tell them in person. It might be easier. I'm pretty caught up here," he said looking at my phone to see how many calls were unanswered. "I only have eleven left and I think seven of those are new. Word has probably gotten out by now that I'm the one returning your calls. No one's going to take a call from you now anyway."

That was true. But I also thought it was going to be harder to do this in person, so I didn't answer him right away.

"Babe?"

"I'm thinking. You're going to come with me, right?"

"Of course. What time does your father get home from his cab rounds?"

"He's usually home by eleven."

"Ok that gives you an hour to get ready. Does Morelli go home at lunch to let the dog out? If so, we only need to make one trip into Chambersburg."

"I don't know what Morelli does. Remember, we're off. I used to stop there at some point during the day for Bob."

"Babe, you're more than off with Morelli. You're engaged to me. There's never going to be another on. Unless you're having second thoughts."

"No. No second thoughts. I'm just so used to being either on or off with Joe that the words just came out of my mouth. I'm sorry.

"No need to be sorry. I've asked a lot of you these last few days. I'm just glad you're still with me after meeting my mother, Celia and Maria. When are you having lunch with her?"

"Tuesday. And that will be a lot easier than what we're going to do now. I think I'm going to put on a dress and heels for the occasion."

"Ok, then I'll wear dress slacks and a button down shirt. If you feel the need to get dressed up, then I can too. Want to take them out to lunch? I can get Benny to make us reservations."

Benny was the receptionist at Rangeman. He was an ex-Navy Seal, but now he was in his sixties. Glad my grandmother never met him; she'd want me to fix her up.

"Out of the Burg and yeah, that's a good idea."

"My Aunt Bonita's place? Do you think they'd like Cuban food?"

"Yeah, but that's more family we'd have to deal with. How about that Mediterranean place in Hamilton?"

"Done," he said, picking up his phone and placing a call down to the desk. "You now have forty-five minutes to get ready."

"Ass."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

"I do."

Carlos texted my father and told him we were coming over to take them out to lunch. He got an immediate reply: The phone has been ringing off the hook. Is this lunch to explain the reason why?

Yes. We'll be there in about twenty minutes.

Ok. I'll tell Helen to get ready. Edna too?

"Babe, your grandmother too?"

I nodded yes.

Edna too.

Ok. We'll see you when you get here.

"Thank you Carlos. I'm sorry I'm such a chickenshit. I just know what's coming. My mother is going to start looking for open dates at the VFW hall. Then she'll start on me about a dress. God it's going to be awful…"

"We're not going to do anything you don't want to do. A long engagement, Babe; you said so yourself, remember? She'll have to deal with me if she starts making plans and I don't think your mother wants to deal with me."

That was true — and it's not like she had an ally in Carlos' mother — well at least not yet.

We took the Cayenne so everyone could fit and we could drive to Hamilton together. I was hoping they'd be at the front door so I wouldn't have to get out of the car. The longer I postponed the inevitable, the better.

For once I was glad the daughter homing devise was in full operation. My mother and grandmother were at the screen, dressed in Sunday best, when we pulled up. My mother must have called to my father because he joined them and waved before closing up the house.

"So Stephanie…" my mother began as soon as she was comfortable in the back seat.

"No," Carlos cut her off. "If this is about the Trenton Post and the latest round of gossip, Stephanie and I will talk to you once we get to the restaurant. The only conversation I want to have in this car is about the weather. Chance of thunderstorms, I hear."

That shut my mother up and I heard my father mumble something that sounded like, "One for the Ranger."

We arrived at the restaurant a little after noon and were seated immediately. Aside from an older couple sitting at the bar, we were the only people in the place, which was good as far as I was concerned. People in Hamilton read the Trenton Post too.

I think after Carlos' outburst in the car, everyone was afraid to speak. Carlos broke the ice by ordering a bottle of wine for the table. It arrived with five glasses and after the waiter poured some in each glass Carlos lifted his and began to speak.

"I asked your daughter to marry me yesterday, and she said yes. Unfortunately a local Trenton reporter picked up on what was meant to be a private moment and the word got out before we had a chance to share our good news with friends and family. This was not at all the way we wanted you to hear about us, and as I'm sure you heard, I've been doing damage control all morning."

"So, it's true…" my mother began, again.

I interrupted, my first words since we picked them up.

"Yes, it's true. Carlos and I…"

"Carlos?" my grandmother butted in.

This was going to be a long lunch.

"Yes grandma, Carlos is Ranger's name and as family, let's respect him by calling him this. Now let me continue. Carlos asked me to marry him and I said yes. We're going to be looking for a house together somewhere commutable to Rangeman, but not too close. I told Carlos I wanted a long engagement, and mother if you dare start looking for open dates at the VFW, I will never speak to you again. Understand? If and when we decide to get married it will be somewhere of our choosing. Maybe even at our house on the shore."

"If?" from my mother.

"Yes 'if', mother. I don't know what the future will bring, I may want to stay engaged forever…"

"Your house on the shore?" Grandma interrupted.

"Carlos bought a house on the peninsula in Brick and it's just about finished. We have beachfront property. It's beautiful. We're going to try to spend all of our weekends there. Well probably not in the winter."

"Brick was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, did you get a good deal?" my father asked Carlos.

"Yes. I bought it at auction and already moved the house back and built up the shoreline to protect against further storm damage. We were told that we'll be able to occupy it in a few weeks. My plan was to have a family gathering out there — and use it as a chance for my family to meet all of you. We'll let you know when."

"So you plan to have two houses then?" my mother asked, having gotten over my threat and needing more information.

"Yes," Carlos told her. "Possibly three. My daughter lives with her mother and stepfather in Miami. I also have a satellite office there, so I thought maybe we'd buy a house in Miami too. Not now, but perhaps in the future."

Wow. Carlos was really opening up to them. I didn't even know he was thinking about buying a house in Florida. Hmm. Not a bad idea. Then we could see Julie. Julie. Holy shit. We haven't told Julie.

"Carlos," I interrupted this time. "We haven't told Julie!"

"I thought we'd call her this afternoon. Don't worry, my mother won't ruin the surprise."