A/N: This chapter has been slightly revised. Somehow I missed that Ranger had a brother! And I think I made his sisters sound mean when that wasn't my intention. Hopefully this will be a little better. Sorry for the interruption!

-oOo-

Chapter 54

I woke early the next morning to the feel of Ranger's arms settling me a little closer against his body. I was smiling before I even opened my eyes. Waking in his arms was something I didn't think I would ever get used to, and I was positive I'd never get tired of it.

"Shh, you can go back to sleep, Babe," Ranger whispered softly. "We don't need to leave here for hours."

Actually, I was wide awake and not likely to go back to sleep now - not with an shopping adventure ahead of me. But if Ranger wanted to cuddle in bed for a while I certainly wasn't going to object. So we cuddled, sporadiclly talking in hushed voices, for a little over an hour, firming up our plans for the next couple of days and tossing out new ideas for gifts as they occured to us. After a while my stomach started growling and we decided to get up.

We took a quick shower together, then Ranger left the bathroom in just a towel to turn on the coffee pot while I started drying my hair. When he came back in to shave I was heading toward the chair that held my outfit for today to start getting dressed.

Ella had left a plate of individually-wrapped breakfast burritos in the fridge with a little note that said just to put any unneeded ones into the freezer, and they'd keep fine for later. I was definitely not a domestic goddess, but I remembered the instructions for heating them up from before and managed to get three ready by the time Ranger came out of the bedroom dressed.

We ate at the bar, taking our time. I got my little notebook from my purse when I got up to refill my coffee cup, and jotted down the new Christmas ideas we'd come up with that morning before I forgot them.

When the plates and cups were rinsed, the coffee pot turned off, and the extra burritos tucked safely in the freezer, we started getting ready to go. It wasn't until I started looking for my coat that I remembered bringing my dress coat over - and the shoes that were in the briefcase. But the dining room was empty.

Ranger asked what I was looking for, then he checked the dress bag. My coat was there, and the two pairs of shoes were wrapped in tissue and tucked into the bottom of the bag.

"Ella's wonderful. You should give her a raise," I told Ranger.

He grinned. "I don't think I could afford to pay her what she's really worth."

The suitcase had wheels so I rolled it while Ranger carried the dress bag, and we headed for the garage. He led the way to the Cayenne.

"It handles better in snow," he explained as he put our things into the back. "And besides, this will give us lots of room for packages on the way back."

I cast a skeptical look inside and tried to imagine it full, and doubted we'd need that much space...but then again I remembered how long our list of friends, family, and Merry Men (who were sort of both) had grown. We might actually need the room.

Ranger let me mess with the radio and CD player as he drove, tolerated the Christmas music I settled on for part of the way, and plied me with questions about my family and the people I'd grown up with whenever I was in danger of nodding off. In turn he told me a little bit about his family.

"Celia is the oldest," he confirmed. "And yes, I'm the baby. I got bossed around a lot."

I couldn't even imagine that! But then again, Celia did have that 'big-sister' attitude last night; she'd even tried it on her grandmother.

"You know, usually the baby of the family gets spoiled," I ventured in a teasing voice.

The look that went across Ranger's face wasn't easy to read. Something between a scowl and pain, maybe.

"Trust me, there was a lot more bossing than spoiling. It got old fast." He hesitated, then continued quietly, "I wasn't a perfect kid, Babe, and our neighborhood wasn't the best. My brother Cristoval is a year younger than Celia, and Marianna and Leala were born two and four years later. I'm three years younger than Lea. Cris was pretty wild when he hit his teens and was constantly fighting with our father. He left home when I was ten and we didn't hear from him again for two years when he wrote to say he'd joined the Army.

"I started hanging around with some guys in a gang before I hit my teens and it scared my folks. They set rules, and my sisters over-did trying to straighten me up. I didn't like them telling me what to do and I just got more rebellious. If my grandmother hadn't interviened when I started getting in trouble with the law I probably wouldn't have lived to see eighteen unless it was through bars."

It was a challange not to let my jaw drop, and I wanted to ask all kinds of questions. But Ranger was opening up and I didn't want to push, or tarnish our time away together. So I just filed the information away for a more appropriate time and kept things light. "Well, whatever she did must have worked - you turned out pretty damned good."

That got me a smile and his hand curved around mine.

We made good time to New York. The highways had been cleared and the sun was shining brightly enough to melt the thin film that was left on the pavement. The muddy slush thrown up by the tires was a little annoying when it collected on the windshield, but Ranger took it in stride.

Once we made it to the city Ranger took us to Chinatown for an early lunch. The restaurent had valet parking - which I guess was necessary in many of areas in the city - and though we enjoyed our food we didn't linger. When we came out the Cayenne came back clean, and I realized Ranger had tipped the valet to wash it. It probably wouldn't stay clean long but it was nice.

A bit later I was too busy looking around to really pay much attention to where we were going, so when Ranger pulled up in front of a building and stopped, I was gawking out the driver's side window at the building across the street.

"What church is that?" I asked Ranger.

"Saint Patrick's," he answered evenly without seeming to look.

"Where are we?" I asked, finally looking around. Someone - a valet in a dark wool uniform - was opening my door and I stepped out onto a sidewalk bordered by a wrought-iron fence and a gated archway. Another uniformed young man was handing our suitcase and bag out to a third man on the walk, and they headed into the building as Ranger came around the back of the Cayenne and took the ticket the valet offered. Ranger took my hand and led me across a tiled courtyard to glass doors, where a man in a more decorative uniform opened the door for us.

"Welcome to the Palace," he said.

Holy Cow! The location of Saint Patrick's Cathedral had finally clicked in my head. We were on Madison Avenue! Within walking distance to one of the greatest shopping meccas of the world! And that meant I was standing in the lobby of the oldest grand hotel in New York, the New York Palace Hotel.

It was suddenly hard to breathe. Lightheadedness lent a feeling of unreality as I held tighter to Ranger's hand and followed him across the lobby to the desk. I couldn't focus enough to get a clear idea of the decor other than wow, and I missed Ranger's short conversation with the desk clerk entirely except for the fact that he never let go of my hand. Then we were following a bellhop and our luggage into an elevator.

I recovered slightly in the elevator; it probably helped that somehow Ranger had managed to get the arm holding my hand around me, holding me with my back against his chest. It was enough for me to get my mental balance in time to step out when the doors opened on the 54th floor.

The bellhop led the way down the hallway as he quietly told Ranger something about hotel service menus. The door he led us to opened onto a room much larger and more luxurious than any hotel room I'd ever seen. I wandered to the window as the men behind me finished their exchange, the view taking all my attention. I didn't even realize when Ranger came up behind me until his arms came around my waist.

"It's still early, Babe," Ranger said into my ear, "We can go out and get an early start on the list or window-shop. Or we can stay in, look around in the hotel, take it easy. What would you like to do?"

Normally, choosing between Ranger and shopping would be difficult. But since Ranger was going shopping with me there was no choice to make. "Let's go window shop, get the lay of the land." Ranger chuckled.

A trip down in the elevator and a quick stop at the concierge desk, and Ranger handed me a map of the nearby shopping district. I had my nose in it, trusting Ranger to guide me, when I felt him come to a reluctant stop and looked up to see...Celia. And a tall man that I assumed must be her husband, judging by the proprietary arm around her waist.

"If it isn't my little brother," she said with a smile that made me wonder if this meeting was really accidental. "What brings you to New York?"

-oOo-

TBC...