Disclaimer: JE owns her characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while. I do not profit from this work.

Chapter 21

Forty minutes later I was washed, dressed and in the kitchen with Cal and Hal packing lunch into three baskets. Momma specially wrapped a couple of pies and a tin of cookies for us to take with us. Good Lord! I'm afraid we're going to have extra time added to our gym sessions after we get back from all the food we've eaten. Hal and Cal carried the baskets out to the barn with me in tow.

I saddled Comfort while Evan helped the other guys saddle up theirs. I helped Evan with the two mules, loading them with our food baskets and supplies. Fishing gear, blankets, a huge bag of picket lines and a bag of towels. I watched as most of the guys mounted their horses without trouble, except Tank. He looked a little apprehensive about it. "What's the matter Big Guy?" I asked as I tuggged at his arm.

"I think it's a little cruel to burden this horse with all my weight." I looked from Tank to his horse and back again. I could understand his quandry. He was quite large, 6'6" and 300 pounds of pure muscle.

Evan walked over and clapped Tank on the shoulders. "Tank no worries, man. This is a clydesdale. A drafthorse. They were bred to carry and pull heavy loads. You're nothing for Sherman. I thought it would suit you just fine." He laughed. "Hey I just thought about it. Sherman and Tank. Fitting don't you think?" Tank smiled and mounted the horse, it handled his weight without a problem.

Evan and I mounted our horses and lead the way out of the barn to the lake. Almost two hours later we parted the trees surrounding the lake and dismounted. Setting up the picket lines we spaced the horses far enough apart, but close enough to keep an eye on them. Evan, Hal and Cal donned waders, grabbed their fly fishing poles, and headed down the hill to the stream. I grabbed a blanket and with Bobby's help I spread it out near the water. I dropped my socks and boots off to the side and shimmied out of my shirt and jeans. Standing in the bright sunshine, I wore the bikini I got from Freddie's store, minus the blood stains. I stretched and winced as the stitches in my shoulder pinched a little. He turned me and removed the protective bandage over the stitches to take a quick look. "Clean and neat stitches, the doctor that did these really knows what he's doing. It's healed enough so it looks like you can take the bandage off now, Bomber. Let it breath."

"Thanks Bobby." I laid down on my stomach and enjoyed sunning myself for a while. Ranger was laid out next to me an arm over his eyes, asleep. He had changed into black swim trunks and no shirt. It was quite the sight. Les, Bobby, Justin, Junior, and Tank were all similarly dressed. Some were either asleep in the sun like Ranger or exploring around the small lake.

Tank crept up on a sleeping Bobby, grabbed his leg and flung him into the water. He surfaced, sputtering. "Asshole!" He splashed towards Tank, but in the process managed to drench Ranger completely, waking him from his nap.

"BROWN!" Ranger jumped to his feet, ready in a defensive posture. "Die!" Ranger ran to the edge of the bank and jumped in tackling Bobby, sending them both underwater. Tank soon jumped in to seperate the two and managed to get dunked in the process. I was dying of laughter from my spot on the nice dry blanket, when Ranger stopped. He stalked out of the water, his eyes focused on me. "You're laughing at me?"

I jumped up and started to cautiously back up, "Carlos! I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Remember I said no splashing me or throwing me into the water!"

He stopped his stalk momentarily, "You didn't say anything about not carrying you into the water." He said matter of factly.

"Shit!" I tried to make a run for it, but it was useless. He had me up and over his shoulder in the matter of a few steps. "Carlos!" I yelled. "Don't you dare!"

"Dare what Babe?"

"Don't please! I just want to get a tan."

"No."

"No?"

"No." He replied striding back to the egde of the water. "You are going in. Like it or not." He jumped into the water with me still over his shoulder. When we hit, I sucked in a mouthful of water and came up choking. It was freezing! I swam over to Tank, climbed onto his back and out of the water.

"Babygirl. You're shivering. You want me to take you back to the blanket?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. I want to get Ranger back for pulling me in here. Help me please?"

"Sure. Babygirl."

"Just hold him still. I just need a second."

"Sure Baby girl." Tank swam over to Ranger and coaxed him to the shallow end. The stood in knee deep water watching me swim to them. As I stood on my feet and walked towards them, I could tell Ranger was far more concerned about noticing how my nipples were pebbled from the cold water then paying attention to Tank. Tank grabbed him and put him in a headlock, and I giggled. I bent over grabbed a handful of sandy mud from the bottom of the lake, pulled open the front of Ranger's trunks and deposited the mud right down the front of his shorts. "Dios, Babe!" I let the waistband snap back into place before making a run for it. When Tank finally released me Ranger dove into the lake and shook out his pants. "Quierda? Why'd you do me like that? I guess we're even."

I stuck my tongue out at him and smiled. "We're even. Now pick me up and carry me back to the blanket. I can't walk over the sharp rocks from here, they'll hurt my feet."

"Babe." He strode over, picked me up into his strong arms, cradled me against his chest and picked his way over the rocks to the blanket on the other side of the little lake. He gently tipped me so my feet touched the ground.

After getting my feet underneath me, I stood and hugged Ranger. "Thanks Carlos." I kissed him gently on the lips, then looked down at the ground blushing. "Sorry. Old habits die hard."

"Babe. I don't mind. But you know Ram won't care for it much." He whispered caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers.

"I know. I just had a momentary lapse." I admitted quietly, looking everywhere but at him. Using a knuckle, he turned my face to his. "Babe. Remember I love you, unconditionally, no price. That means if I can only love you from a distance, I can live with that."

I hugged him again, when I heard Lester call from a ways off, "Hey! Where's my hug, Beautiful?" He walked up and drew my into a huge hug. "You're so hot in this teeny tiny bikini." He smiled wickedly, "Want to go to Europe with me? They have topless beaches there!" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Santos!" Ranger barked. "No Europe. No topless." He watched Les's face fall. Ranger had to admit, he himself wanted to see her laying in the sun topless. Babe's breasts bare to the kisses of the sun's rays. He sighed, he wouldn't see them like that, not anymore. He placed his normal neutral face in place and focused on the continuing banter between his Babe and Santos.

"...and it's probably so small you can't even see it when it's cold!" I smarted off to him.

Lester grabbed at his chest in feigned hurt. "Beautiful, you'd be suprised with how big it can get even when it's cold." Ranger shook his head not wanting to learn the true nature of my conversation with Lester. I was going to tell him it was exactly what he thought, but I never got the chance.

Evan, Hal and Cal came hiking back holding a long stringer of trout. "Hungry for lunch?" Hal smiled and held up the fish.

"Had good luck I see." Ranger suprised me by grabbing the stringer and headed off to clean the fish. Watching him in work in quiet efficiency, I observed as Ranger pulled his knife from it's sheath, then gutted and cleaned the fish. He rinsed the fish with water from the lake, while Evan and Hal built a small cooking fire. Cal cut fresh willow branches and sharpened them to a point. Ranger impaled each fish onto it's own stick, and handed them to me. I held the sticks, fish lifeless, and made a face.

"Ewww. This is so gross." I sniffed the fish, at least it didn't smell bad, I thought. "The only fish I'm uses to comes in stick form already breaded," I mused.

"Angel. I'm broadening your horizons. It's really good. Just try it."

"Okay, but if I don't like it, I'm making myself a sandwich." EVan nodded and chuckled.

Cal collected the sticks from me and planted the thickened end into the ground at the edge of the fire, allowing the heat and flames to roast our fish. A while later, my mouth began to water smelling the roasting fish flesh. Bobby and I laid out the other two blankets and unpacked the baskets. We spread out our food and waited for the fish to finish cooking. Pulling plates out, I walked over to Evan who was tending the fire with Cal. They pulled out the sticks and slid a fish onto each plate, we handed out the plates and loaded up with the remainder of our gooodies.

I moaned, my eyes rolled back into my head as I tasted the first bite of the fresh fish. "Oh, this is sooo good!" I exclaimed, digging in for a second bite, moaning again but only louder.

Evan snickered, "I thought you said it was gross, Angel."

"I was. Before it was cooked. Now it's wonderful!" I picked up a particularly large piece and shoved it into my mouth.

As I chewed away happily at my lunch, Lester asked Evan, "Hey Ram, you plan on returning here anytime soon?"

Evan thought for a moment, swept his gaze to me and answered, "Eventually. I'd love to move back. Pop just bought another 750 acres off to the west. He and I thought it would be a good property to build a house and raise a family."

I nearly choked on my lunch. "Really?" I asked nearly in tears. He nodded and grinned at me with his sexy lopsided smile.

"Angel. I plan on being with Rangeman as long as I can, but we can always have a second home here for the time being." Setting his plate down next to him, he held open his arms. I dropped my plate into Tank's lap and rushed into his arms. He soothed my hair and kissed the top of my head, as I nuzzled into his chest.

Ranger broke the silence, "How long do you plan on being with us, Ram?"

"As long as you'll have me Bossman. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Rangeman's my home."

I piped in, "And mine!" Lester and Bobby exchanged glances between them, as I asked, "What?"

Ranger quietly said, "Babe, we're glad you're staying. We just need to make a few adjustments to your living situation. We need you to move out of your apartment."

"Why? I like my apartment." I was puzzled. Why were they asking me to move out? Why would they ask me like this? Did I do something wrong?

Apparently the look of fear and uncertainty was plastered on my face for all to see. "Babe. You won't need it anymore. We assumed you were moving in with Ram. Plus our newest Rangeman will need a place of his own." Ranger looked over at Justin and nodded towards him.

Feeling like an idiot, I rolled my eyes. "Geesh, you could have asked me nicer. I thought you wanted me to quit and move out." I pouted while the guys chuckled.

"What would give you that impression, Babygirl?" Tank asked me. "We'd never be able to function again without you. You're the reason many of the guys are still with us. Both Manny and Badger have both declined offers to retire because they want to stay with you."

I blushed, "They really did that?" I felt humbled. I was the reason that Manny got shot in the chest at point blank range during the whole Scrog incident. Scrog was trying to capture me to use as bait to kill Ranger. And Badger, well, he was almost fifty. He was a grizzled man with grey hair and a beard. He was Hector's right hand man, installing security systems. He liked to tease me by throwing firecrackers at my feet when I walked past the door of the security install workroom on my way to the firing range. The first time I had my weapon drawn and pointed straight at his head after I heard the firecracker explode. All he could do was double over with laughter and pound his fist on the worktable. I grew to like him over the years, even though he could be a major pain in the ass.

"Babygirl, they've grown to love you just like the rest of us." Tank smiled, his white teeth a dramatic contrast to the dark skin of his face. "So? You moving in with Ram yet, or what?"

I stammered, "Mov.. move in with him? Already?"

"Angel. It's the best solution. And you pretty much stay at my place as it is now anyway. You might as well move in now. To hell with waiting for the wedding." Evan hugged me again, I could feel his heart beating as fast as mine.

I looked up into his beautiful green eyes, "Really? Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Angel. I've been ready since the day I met you." His lips touched mine in a gentle loving kiss. I pulled back and snuggled deep into his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Okay, we move my meager possessions into your apartment when we get back."

He chuckled, "Angel. It's OUR apartment now." The feeling of heat rushed over my face and upper body. I knew that I was covered in splotches of red and pink on my face and chest when I blushed.

"Our apartment. I like the sound of that." I smiled and giggled with glee. Turning to Justin, I asked him, "Do you have houseware stuff you can bring?"

Justin first nodded, then frowned and shook his head, "Well, just my essentials. I guess I can buy things as I go along. Plus Momma will probably send me a couple of care packages with stuff in them."

"Don't worry. If you need something I can always lend you mine. Besides I can't have my future Brother-in-law living near us without helping him cozy up the place. Just so you know, Evan and I will be two doors down the hall, if you need anything."

Evan chimed in, "Call first." I punched his arm playfully. "She may need to put something on before she answers the door."

"Sex fiend!" I shot at him jokingly.

We finished our lunch and I resumed my position on the blanket sunning myself. I flipped over onto my back when I caught the sight of something odd out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a dark boulder was slowly rolling down the slope of the low hill across the lake. I tapped Ranger on his arm and pointed to the dark boulder, "What is that? Is that a boulder rolling down the hill?" He raised his arm to glance in the direction I had indicated.

"Ram! Eleven o'clock!"

Evan snapped his head around and focused on the dark spot. "Angel, get your thing together. Bossman, we need to leave now!"

Ranger and the guys hopped to and had our little camp cleaned up and packed away in a matter of a few moments. I started to saddle up the horses and pack the mules, while Evan, Bobby and Ranger stood guard watching the spot change from a single dot, to one large dot and two smaller dots. I finished saddling the horses with Hal and Cal's help, and I pulled the picket lines. It only took a matter of four minutes to pack everything. I slipped my jeans back on, threw my boots on, tucked my shirt into the back of my waistband, leaving my bikini top on uncovered. "Evan we're ready to go." We all mounted as Evan continued to watch the dots warily.

He mounted his horse, all the while watching the dots come closer. By this time I could tell that they weren't boulders, they were a mother grizzly and her two cubs. "Let's get the hell out of here." Evan said as he kicked his horse into a walk. After about fifteen minutes, I asked Evan why we left in such a hurry. "Angel. That was a mother gizzley and her cubs. I don't care who you are... you never mess with a momma and her cubs. Never!"

"Why did they come towards us? Shouldn't they be afraid of us?"

"Angel, they probably smelled the fish cooking. During the summer they have to gorge themselves so they can fatten up for their winter hibernation. If you were a bear, wouldn't the smell of cooking fish make you hungry?"

We laughed and joked the rest of the trip back to the house. We dismounted in the barn, dealt with the horses and mules, then headed to the bunk house with the guys. I watched them as they packed the black duffles with their belongings. "Babe." Ranger asked. I sat on his bed, pulled my feet up and hugged my knees. "Are you ready to deal with Morelli when we get back?"

"I guess I have no choice." I answered flatly.

"He's not going to go without a fight. You know that." He warned me, watching my reaction.

I jumped off of the bed throwing my hands into the air, gesturing wildly as I paced back and forth ranting. "What the hell? I mean, he's known for a long time things weren't going right between us. Now that I'm with Evan I think it may get worse! What if he tries to hurt Evan? What if he tries to hurt you?" I stopped in my tracks and looked at Ranger and Evan with dread. I whispered quietly, "What if he tries to hurt me?" I started to cry. I hated crying, it made me feel like I was powerless.

"Angel. You'll be protected at all times. We'll keep you safe." I stopped at his words, gazing into his fierce looking eyes.

"Evan. What if you can't? What if he still manages to find a way to hurt me, or you?" I started to pace again, this time faster.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. If we get to that point." Ranger reassured me, pulling me into a hug. "We'll do everything possible to keep you safe, but you'll have to trust us." He pulled back a fraction of an inch, looking into my eyes. "Trust me?"

"With my life." I answered matter of factly. "I trust all of you with my life." I smiled at the guys and Ranger released me.

"Good, now lets get this loaded into the truck. We have to leave soon."

"Leave soon? I thought we didn't have to leave until after dinner."

"Angel. We have to drive to the airstrip where the helo is waiting for us. It's a good four hour trip. Plus, we still have to pack our things. We better get a move on."

"I guess." I pouted. Evan led me into the house and up the staris to his room.

I was sad I was leaving and I was trying to stall. I packed all my things into my duffle, before pulling them out again to repack. "Angel. You're stalling."

"Am not." I lied, I was trying to put off the inevitable. We were leaving the ranch tonight.

Momma poked her head in the door. "Evan, Darlin'. I packed a box with a few things for your trip." She held out a small cardboard box in her one hand, and a thermos in the other. "Hot coffee. Junior can bring it back when he brings the truck back."

I reached for her drawing Momma into a crushing hug. "Momma, I don't want to leave."

"I know Darlin'. But October will be here before you know it and you'll be talking to me on the phone. So you're not really leaving. Just think of it as, you're just visiting Trenton for an extended period of time."

"I know. It's just so hard, I love it here. I love you Momma."

"I love you too Darlin'." She kissed my cheek and embraced me in another tight hug. Evan wrapped his massive arms around both of us, hugging us close to him.

"My two most favorite women in the world." He sighed contently.

Being sassy, I popped off with, "I thought they were Sandra Bullock and Ella."

"Hey now!" Momma laughed. "Ella has damn fine desserts!" We chuckled and finished packing our duffles.

Downstairs Evan walked out of the house and loaded our bags into the truck, while I stayed behind and said my goodbyes to Momma and Pop. I hugged Pop and Momma teilling them I'd call every couple of days to check in and keep her updated with the wedding planning. I backed away to give Justin a chance to say goodbye. By the time he was finished, Justin was covered in red lip prints where Momma had kissed him repeatedly wishing him luck and telling him to stay safe. Evan returned and was treated to the same covering of lip prints from Momma. Pop held Momma to his side while she started to cry. "Evan, take care of your brother. I know he can hold his own, but watch him all the same." He asked Evan, knowing he would.

"Yes, Sir." Evan shook Pop's hand.

Ranger and the guys entered the entryway and gave Momma and Pop their goodbyes. She made sure to give them each a kiss on the cheek and reassured them that they could come visit anytime. "Make sure you all take good care of my Darlin'." It was answered by a chorus of "Yes Ma'am."

Pop shook Ranger hand, "Major. Take good care of my boys. And keep Steph safe."

"Will do, Master Sergeant."

The guys loaded up into the SUV, Justin and Junior occupied the back seat of Evan's truck, while Evan and I took the front. We pulled away from the house and I sighed heavily. I turned to watch the house fade into little black dots on the horizon, until I turned around and settled deeped into me seat for the long ride ahead. I sat watching the scenery pass by for an hour before I remembered the box Momma had packed. I pulled it out and undid the string tied around it. I pulled open the flaps to discover not only bags of cookies and crackers, but bags of jerky and dried fruit as well. I pulled open a bag of jerkey marked E Jerky and last years date. I popped a piece in my mouth and chewed, enjoying the salty and meaty piece. I offered peices to Evan and the boys. We happily were munching on the jerky when curiosity got the better of me.

"Evan. Why's the bag marked E Jerkyy? Is this the bag Momma was saving for you?" I asked chomping down on another piece.

Evan cleared his throat. Looking back at Junior and Justin in the rearview, his eyes pleaded with them for help. Justin sucked it up and dropped the bomb on me. "Steph, the E isn't for Evan. It's for Elk. That's elk jerky you're eating. Junior shot one last year, it was so huge, we had to jerk a large portion of the rear quarters and the scraps, too. We ran out of canning jars and the freezer was full. It's the best way to preserve it."

I held up to my face the piece of jerky I was holding in my hand, and scrutinized it carefully. It looked like Jerky, it smelled like jerkey, and it tasted like jerkey. "I never would have thought that elk would taste like this." I admitted, and bit into my piece again. Sighing with relief, Evan relaxed, thankful I hadn't spazzed out about eating part of an elk. After what we witnessed with the mountain lion, he was pleasantly suprised. "Hey, I forgot to ask. What did the Game Warden say about the mountain lion? We didn't get into trouble did we?"

Justin shook his head. "Nope we're fine. I put it in the freezer in the shed. He'll come by and pick it up tomorrow. He said that our neighbor had trouble with livestock being taken by it as well. So it worked out in the long run."

"I'm sorry it had to die." I felt sad for the poor animal. I know it would have attacked me had it gotten the chance at the stream, but I still felt bad. It was a living breathing thing, and it's life was snuffed out. Now, as for the ground squirrells... they could all die and I wouldn't have the slightest twinge of guilt or remorse. They should be nothing but a puff of smoke and a pink mist.

"Angel!"

"What?" I asked puzzled.

"No guilt or remorse? Puff of smoke and pink mist?"

"Damn! I said it outloud didn't I?"

"Yes." Junior laughed. "Hey Steph. I just wanted to let you know I talked to Maisey."

I turned around in my seat to look him in the eyes. "If you don't mind me asking, how did it go?"

"First she denied it. Then I told her that I was done and I couldn't do it anymore, she caved and confessed to cheating on me from the start." He paused, staring out the window in deep thought. "She asked for us to stay together, for me to forget. But, I can't. I can't forget. I told her to leave the ring, leave the things I bought her and leave the car at Deeters house. She cried and pitched a fit when I walked out the door."

"I'm sorry Junior. I didn't mean for your heart to get broken." I whispered, shocked at how calm he was.

"It had to be done. She admitted that she would have had to tell me sooner or later. She's seven weeks pregnant," I looked at him, willing him to finish. "and we never had premarital sex." I did my best fish impression, mouth gaping open and closed no words coming out.

"It's Smoltz's baby." Junior looked into the rearview mirror to Evan's eyes. They narrowed as the look of disgust filled his face.

"I'm sorry Junior." I patted his arm that he had slung over the front seat while he talked to me. Wanting to change the subject I asked him, "Are you going to come visit us in Trenton soon?"

"Maybe after the wedding sometime. I'd like to travel down the East Coast a ways, getting away from here for a spell. I think it'll do me some good."

"Sounds like a plan." I smiled at him and tossed another piece of jerky into his hands.

I fell asleep, lulled by the gentle swaying motion of the truck. I awoke with a start when I realised the truck had stopped moving. I looked around to find us gassing up at a little gas station in the middle nowhere. I snuggled back into the seat pulling Evan's jacket back over me. I nodded asleep once again and was rosed from my slumber by a tickling sensation in my left ear. My eye still closed, I swatted at whatever was touching my ear, only to hit a hand. "What the hell?" I stammered sleepily. Opening my eyes after turning my head I saw Evan tracing the shell of my ear with his finger.

"Angel. Time to get up." I scrunched up my face and pouted.

"But, I'm so tired." I protested in my groggy state.

"I'll carry you Angel. Go back to sleep." I closed my eyes and felt his arms carry me out of the truck and onto the open tailgate of the truck. He laid me out and covered me with his jacket again. In the back of my mind I thinking I could stay asleep and rest on the way home, when I realised that i had to say goodbye to Junior.

I sat up rubbing my eyes. "Junior! Junior where are you?" I searched around for him and found him helping the guys unload their duffles from the black rental SUV.

He jogged over and hugged me. "Thought you were going to leave without saying goodbye to me, Steph." He kissed the top of my head. "I will miss you, Steph."

"I'll miss you too, Junior. Take care of Momma and Pop." I tugged at the collar of his shirt, straightening it. "I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to my favorite." I smiled and winked at him.

He shouted to Justin, "Steph said I'm her favorite!" He grinned a mile wide.

Justin shook his head. "Better not let that go to your head, big brother." Justin clapped Junior into a man-hug and clapped his back with his hands. "Take care of yourself. See you in a couple of months."

"Later Bro." He shook Justin's hand. "Evan. Man take care of Steph. I'll see you when you get back here in a few months."

"Later Junior." He shook Juniors hand then pulled him into a bearhug as well. He handed Junior the keys to the truck and placed his arm over my shoulder to watch him leave. Junior waved one last time before climbing into the truck and driving away. "Angel. You ready to go home?"

"Yeah. I guess so." I sighed.

"Well, we'll eat supper at the cafe here at the airport, before we inspect the helo." I looked around and noticed we were back at the same municipal airport we flew out of in Helena with Justin.

We ate quickly and headed to a hanger far to the left of the cafe. We came upon the door to the hanger and knocked. Opening up the door, a man in his sixties greeted us and invited us in. Shaking Ranger's hand he spoke, "You must be Major Manoso. I'm Chet. Captain Blanchard said you'd be by tonight to pick her up." We moved deeper into the hanger. It was dark and my eyes adjusted quickly to the dark interior. The smell of diesel fuel and grease assaulted my nose, wrinkling it in disgust. The lights were thrown on and the biggest helo I had ever seen towered in front of us.

"You bought this gigantic thing?" I asked Ranger in disbelief. "It's huge!"

I front of us sat a monster. "CH-47 Chinook, top speed 170 knots, cruising speed 130 knots, 98 feet long, 18 feet 11 inches high, range of 400 nautical miles, service ceiling of 18,500 feet, twin turbo shaft engines, capacity of 55 troops or 28,000 pounds. Crew of three to handle it, pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer. She's beautiful, and in great condition." Justin recited from memory, as he inspected the helo top to bottom. Pulling out the service records he inspected them closely. "I see this girl was with the Montana National Guard. I trust them, they take real good care of their equipment." He stated to Ranger. Ranger nodded and shook Chet's hand.

"We'll take it from here."

"Have a good flight Major."