Disclaimer: If you've read this far, you already know which people are mine and which belong to JE!
A/N: I apologize for the long wait. My muse has been in hiding!
Thanks to the ladies at Rangeman for beta-ing and getting my muse out of that hole! And especially to Alfonsina.d for fixing my poor Spanish…any remaining mistakes are all mine. English inside {these} are things 'spoken' in Spanish and translated in Stephanie's head.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Chapter 53
Abeula Rosa was looking at me curiously when I turned back around, and I tried to smile at her. She looked nothing like Joe's Grandma Bella, which I suppose I had subconsciously been expecting. Bella was skinny and always dressed in black with a fixed look of doom on her face. Rosa was short and a little on the curvy side, dressed in blue wool slacks, black boots, and a blue and black plaid coat. Her face was creased with lines, mostly around her eyes and mouth – laugh lines. When she smiled back I realized Ranger had inherited her smile.
Just as I realized she was waiting for me to introduce myself, the elevator doors opened and Ranger stepped out. He had changed out of his work clothes and was wearing black jeans and a dark gray sweater. He looked between his grandmother and me and then gave her a quizzical look.
"Abuela," he said, bending to hug her, "por que estas aqui?" {why are you here?}
She spoke too fast for me to get everything, but I caught something about a train, and Celia - which I remembered was one of his sisters' names, then she gestured to Alex and me and I assumed she was saying Alex wouldn't let her go upstairs.
Now Ranger was giving me the quirked eyebrow, although he had the beginnings of a smile on his face, too. "Babe, she says you understood her. Since when do you know Spanish?"
"I learned a little while you were gone." I sounded a little defensive even to myself. "It helped the time pass."
His grin flashed. "Ya puedes entenderme?" {You can understand me now?}
"Si hablas lentamente, puedo entenderte." {If you speak slowly, I can understand you.} I said.
With one arm still around his grandmother he reached for me, pulling me close enough to press a kiss to my temple. He was still smiling but his eyes had gone dark.
Let's go up where we can sit down, he said in Spanish as he ushered us into the elevator. {Abuela says Celia was to meet her at the train station and drive her back to Newark, but she caught an earlier train. She decided to come see me while she waited for Celia to get here.} He explained a little slower so I could follow. {She has not been here since I bought this building.}
I nodded that I understood, but couldn't keep from stiffening. Ranger felt it. "Maybe I should wait…" I whispered, but he shook his head and propelled me out when the doors opened on seven.
"No hiding," he chided me softly. Then he opened the apartment door and held it for us. Rosa went right in without hesitation, looking around with interest. I would bet she didn't miss any details. I hoped I hadn't left a mess anywhere, but I guess Ella had been up – the towel I'd left on the table was gone.
I dropped my coat over the back of one of the dining room chairs and put my briefcase next to it as Ranger led his grandmother to the more comfortable living room. She perched on the edge of the sofa with a soft sigh and smiled at her grandson.
{We did not have the chance to introduce ourselves downstairs, Rico,} she prodded him gently. {Although she seems to know who I am.}
{My apologies, Abuela. This is Stephanie Plum.}
I wasn't entirely sure of my social skills but I gave it a try. I moved closer and offered my hand. {I am happy to meet you. Your grandson speaks highly of you.}
{Ah, Stephanie! You are the one who helped reclaim my great-granddaughter! Yes, I have heard good things of you also.}
Ranger spoke again then. {Stephanie and I are to meet her parents for dinner tonight, Abeula. When do you expect Celia?}
{I suspect she is already on her way. The train was only forty-five minutes early.} She gestured with her hands as if it was no matter. {May I freshen up?}
Ranger politely stood to offer her a hand up and showed her to the bathroom. He came back and immediately pulled me into his arms.
"Why didn't you tell me you've been learning Spanish, Babe?" he asked huskily.
"I was going to. It just hadn't come up yet," I explained.
"Does that have anything to do with Hector talking to you in the elevator?" he asked, giving me a small smile.
"When I was just getting started I tried speaking to Hector. He got this huge smile on his face. And then he came to see me and offered to help me with Spanish if I would help him with his English…" I trailed off and Ranger chuckled.
"I think I want to hear this story from the beginning," he said, pulling me down with him on the sofa. "Start over. When did you decide to try to learn?"
"I actually decided to try before you left, but I bought the computer teaching program on that first Tuesday. I'd do my normal routine most days – and I already told you about the guys keeping me company and helping me out – and in the evenings I'd keep myself occupied with the program. It helped."
"So Hector is the only one that knew?"
"Um… no. I told Hal, because he called me to warn me the first time Hector was coming over – it was the day after Lester's first 'pop quiz' and Hal was worried what Hector might have in mind. And then Woody and Hector took me out with them a couple of times."
"Why?" he asked, and I knew what he meant.
I twisted towards him slightly, enough that I could reach up to cup his jaw. "Because," I whispered, "sometimes you slip into Spanish, and I wanted to know what you were saying."
"Babe."
He kissed me and I forgot all about his grandmother until I heard a soft feminine chuckle and we broke apart. I knew I was blushing but Ranger only grinned.
Rosa came and perched on the coffee table in front of where we were sitting. She'd taken her coat off and her blouse was a bright multicolored print. She was smiling and leaned forward to pat me on one knee.
{I have heard much about you, Stephanie – second-hand,} she said, shooting Ranger a look of loving exasperation. {It is true you are a hunter of criminals?}
I nodded a little hesitantly, never having heard it described quite that way before. I guess it was as accurate as any other description. I opened my mouth to explain that I only took the lower-bond fugitives, but realized I didn't know the right words and looked to Ranger. "Can you explain that I only take the FTAs that are charged with lesser crimes? My vocabulary isn't very good yet."
Ranger translated for me, and also explained that I was just learning Spanish. If anything that made her smile bigger.
{You are doing very well then, she said, patting my knee again. Tell me about your family. Do they live here in Trenton?}
I told her about my parents and grandmother, with Ranger providing words for me now and then when my vocabulary was inadequate. He must have been keeping track of the time, too, because after about a half an hour he excused himself and stepped away to call his sister, to have her pick Rosa up here instead of the train station.
Rosa took advantage of the semi-privacy. {You care much for my grandson. You make him happy. This makes me happy also.}
I could only answer {Me, too.}
Ranger and I both accompanied Rosa back to the lobby, helping her with her coat and retrieving the suitcase I'd missed seeing earlier. She apologized to Alex, via Ranger, for getting upset with him. I think Alex earned some brownie points with Rosa and possibly even Ranger when he made an apology of his own and vowed to remedy his ignorance of such a beautiful language. For my part I gave Alex an encouraging thumbs-up from behind their backs.
When a sand-colored sedan pulled up in front of the doors Rosa turned and hugged me and then her grandson. Celia came inside to fetch her, leaving her car running at the curb.
"Hello, brother-mine," Celia greeted Ranger with a grin. "Glad to see you're still in one piece. Sorry about the surprise visit." She turned to her grandmother and continued in Spanish, in a scolding tone. {You should have called me before you got on the train, Abuela. I could have been here earlier.}
Rosa drew herself up to her full height. {I'm a grown woman and can do as I please, young lady. This way I had a chance to visit Rico, and I got to meet his novia, also.}
I looked to Ranger for a translation of the word I hadn't understood. Half-grinning, he leaned over and whispered in my ear "girlfriend". When I looked back I found Celia's eyes on us.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," she said, extending her hand with a smile. "I'm Celia, Ricardo's sister."
"I'm Stephanie." Her grip on my hand tightened slightly and she paused mid-shake.
"Stephanie Plum?" At my nod her smile widened. "Well, I'm glad to finally meet you!"
Ranger rescued my hand from her grasp. "You'll have to save your inquisition for another time, Celia," he told her. "We have dinner plans and if we don't get moving we'll be late."
Celia gave an exaggerated sigh. "You're no fun at all! But I'll hold you to that 'later'. Don't scare her off!"
Ranger carried Rosa's case to the car and hugged them both before seeing them on their way. When he came back inside he put one arm around my waist and led me back to the elevator.
"We need to leave in fifteen minutes to get to your parents' by six, and I need to get a jacket," he told me as we went up. "Do you need to do anything before we go? And where did you decide to eat?"
I told him about the Greek place – and that I'd volunteered him to drive – while I changed my shirt for a soft blue sweater, finger-fluffed my hair, and ran a tinted lip balm over my lips before tucking it into my jeans pocket. We pulled up in front of my parents' house with two minutes to spare.
Feeling weirdly like I was on a double-date with my parents, I moved to the back seat with my mom and let daddy sit up front with Ranger. My mom seemed more relaxed than I'd seen her in years. She sat beside me quietly with a faint smile on her face. I could hear some of the men's conversation. Dad thanked Ranger for the suite upgrade and for having the snow shoveled. I didn't quite catch Ranger's reply.
It didn't take long to get to the Greek place. Dad seemed to be looking forward to it and Mom even seemed interested. It wasn't too busy and we found a table easily. Ranger sat next to me and his hand found mine under the table as we looked at the menus.
The food was good, and Ranger kept my parents talking about their adventures during most of dinner. Mom did bring up my injury but she didn't make a big deal about it. She did make me explain how it happened, again, but then she just shook her head and asked if I was healing okay.
I asked if they'd heard from Grandma, then had to explain about the incident when the tour guides 'lost' her. My dad was shaking his head but mom actually laughed.
"I suppose we ought to join this century and start carrying phones, too," she said when she realized how easy it had been to locate Grandma with her phone. "I didn't realize they had them without contracts and plans now. That would probably be best for us, don't you think?"
Probably I was in too much shock to give her a coherent answer, but my dad changed the subject anyway, and then we had baklava for dessert and it was time to take them home.
On the way back to Haywood Ranger surprised me by saying, "That's something to add to our shopping list, Babe."
"What?" I asked, not sure what he was talking about.
"We could get phones for your parents. Or do you have ideas for them already?"
"No," I answered slowly. "That's actually a good idea for them. They tend to be hard to buy for."
But part of me was hung up on his words. Our list? We could? Was he intentionally referring to us as if we were a couple? I pushed back the questions and told myself to settle down. It was entirely likely that he was just talking about our shopping trip. I shouldn't read into things.
Besides, I thought riding the elevator back up to the seventh floor with Ranger's arms around me, did I even need an official label on our relationship? As long as he wanted to keep me in his life I was happy.
As soon as the apartment door was shut behind us Ranger kissed me. His lips never left mine as he stripped off my jacket and shrugged off his own, and this his arms went around me tightly and his kiss deepened.
When he released my mouth to trail his lower I was panting and we were in the bedroom. Ranger was whispering 'I love you' against my skin and it took me several minutes to realize it was in Spanish…
-oOo-oOo-oOo-
TBC…
A/N2: I got the chance to meet one of my 'readers' last Sunday *waves to Dena* and we had a blast! Now she can tell you all – yeah, I really AM a nut! (Had a great time, Dena, don't forget to call next time you're in town!)
