"Your Ranger?"
"Yeah, the one who doesn't often smile and only wears black" He tapped my backside as he walked past me to sit down so I took my seat next to him at the breakfast bar. "It's your bad influence"
"Me?"
"Yeah, I love having you here with me. To wake up to you in the morning in my arms and be here doing something as simple as having breakfast together"
"I do as well"
"Move in with me Babe"
I stopped eating my scrambled egg and looked at him. Was he serious, did he want that to happen? I thought through how I felt about that. There was no panic or the feel to hightail it out of here, no thoughts of being tied down. In fact, I was very much in favor of doing it, unlike when Joe had suggested it. With Joe I'd start to feel trapped but here and now I felt a freeness take over. "I'd like that"
"We can even pick up the fur ball and bring him back with us" "Are you sure you're ready for that?"
"What the fur ball or you?"
"We come as a package deal"
"Babe, I want you to be my wife, so yes I'm ready as long as I'm not pushing you too quickly"
"No. It feels right"
"We'll visit your parent's first and then pick up Rex. Do you want anything from your apartment?"
"How bad was the apartment?"
"They'd mainly broken things and tipped things all over the place. Ella said it wasn't too bad"
"Ella?"
"She went in with a cleaning crew while we were away" "She didn't need to that, I could have sorted it out"
"She wanted to Babe. She cares a lot for you, and she knew you'd been hurt so wouldn't be able to"
"Then I need to make sure she knows just how much I appreciate her" I would get her a nice bouquet of flowers. "What do you want to do after lunch?"
"I'll have to call in at the office, shit I still have the file for an FTA"
"Who is it?"
"Drapson. He raped a girl but then his defense is saying she went with him willingly" "High bond?"
"No, which is why I have him"
"Do the research and we'll take him, I may even get a team involved"
"Why?"
"Babe, he raped a girl. Not someone you want to get the better of you"
"Okay, I'll do the research after visiting the office"
"I have meetings this afternoon so I'll ask Caleb to shadow you, please don't lose him"
"Who's Caleb?"
"He was one of the men down in Bogota"
"I never did see him"
I remembered Gael, he'd been a tall man, not overly well built, but dark skinned, darker than Ranger with dark hair and a moustache. I had no idea what Caleb looked like. "How is he here?"
"He wanted to be back in the States, so I offered him a job here. He's good at following people and has a keen sense of danger. Don't worry, he's just as deadly as the rest of the men"
"I'm not worried about that, I just want someone who doesn't stand out, like Cal or Tank"
"He won't" There was no point in continuing the discussion, the tone of voice from Ranger meant that he wasn't going to allow me to argue with him. I'd have to make my mind up when I saw this man Caleb. I cleared away the dishes as Ranger put the remaining food back into the fridge then remembered we'd left all that food out in the lounge before we got distracted. Walking into the lounge I saw that the table was cleared and cleaned. "I put everything away before I went to the gym. Babe you're stalling" "I know. Let's go before I chicken out"
The closer we got to my parent's house the more nervous I became. Ranger had my hand held tightly in his, which did help. Then I remembered my mantra so started to say it to myself.
You are braver than you believe
Stronger than you seem
Smarter than you think
I was still saying it when we walked up the path to the front door. Ranger turned me just before we got there and whisper soft added the last sentence."And loved more than you'll ever know"
The sound of the door opening had me turning around to see my mother. She stepped back from the door so that we could walk in, obviously she didn't want to be seen outside. We followed her through the house to the kitchen, a quick look in the front room showed no evidence that my father was in. Maybe Grandma would be around.
"Stephanie, I don't hear from you for weeks and then you turn up again in the morning. What's going on?"
"I've been busy working"
"What's wrong with your leg?"
I hadn't realized I was limping slightly, but I wasn't surprised that she'd picked up on it.
"I fell, just a bruise where I hit something"
"If you would get a new job things like that wouldn't happen to you"
"I wasn't working when I did it"
The expression she gave me told me she didn't believe a word that I'd said.
"Where's Joseph, Angie says he's taken time off work"
"I don't know. We haven't been speaking for a few weeks"
"What do you mean?"
"We broke up, for good"
"Well you'll just have to find him and make up with him before it's too late won't you"
"No mum I won't"
"Mrs. Plum"
It was only as Ranger spoke that my mum even looked at him and then it was only a fleeting glance before her glare was back on me.
"Carlos and I are together, in fact . . . ."
"Don't be ridiculous. You need to get back to Joseph before that Gilman girl gets her claws into him"
"She can have him. I'm engaged Mum, to Carlos, I love him, so I don't care about Joe or about your idea of who is best for me. I'd like for you to be happy for me but if you're not then fine, I'm happy and that's what matters"
The look that came over her face was comical, she went from being annoyed to quizzical then back to being annoyed again. Her lips narrowed and she squinted at me through her eyes.
"Him?"
"How could you?"
"What have you done, are you pregnant?"
"What about Joseph?"
I never got a chance to talk before her next sentence came out. Instead I took hold of Ranger's hand and started to turn him toward the door.
"Mother when you've had time to think about what I've said, and you can be supportive of me then maybe we can talk properly"
I pushed Ranger out of the kitchen and down the hall to the front door so glad to be outside. I couldn't believe that she wouldn't listen to me and for some reason was stuck on the idea of me being with Joe even though it was apparent she knew all about Terry Gilman. I know Ranger tucked me into the car, fastening my seat belt and closing the door. I was trying so hard to see anything positive from that conversation with my mother, but I couldn't. I was so deep in thought I jumped when the car door opened, with Ranger squatted down looking at me intently. He didn't say a word as he helped me from the car, and we started to walk. A look around had us down by the river, an area where there'd been landscaping done, making it a pleasant place to walk. He sat down on a bench and pulled me to his knee, his arms around me. "I like that you called me Carlos""It's what your Abuela called you" "I like that you told her you love me"
"I do" "Then that's all that matters"
"How can she be so dismissive of me?"
"Maybe she'll come around once she realizes how serious we are"
"Maybe. I'd like to see how she reacts once the phone starts ringing"
I smiled at that thought and suddenly felt that I didn't care what she thought. Nothing I ever did was right with her, so why had I thought she would react any differently. She knew everything now. That I wasn't with Joe and was now engaged to Ranger, so mission accomplished, I could get on with the rest of my life and hope that my Dad and Grandmother would be supportive. "Do you still want to collect Rex from your sister?"
"Yes, although I'm not sure how she'll respond if Mum has called her"
"Let's go and find out and then that gets your family out of the way"
I couldn't believe how Val greeted me when she opened her door. I was suddenly in her arms with her talking so fast I lost what she was saying. As she dragged me into the house and then took hold of my hand to look at my ring she was beaming, and her eyes looked as though she was going to cry. "Oh Steph, it's beautiful. I'm so happy for you. When Mum called and gave her version of how you'd just dumped Joe and was now engaged to another man I admit I did panic a bit. She couldn't even remember his name or say who he was but as soon as she said it was one of those thugs, I just knew it had to be Ranger" "You're not disappointed in me?"
"What! No way. The way that man looks at you I was praying you'd come to your senses and get rid of that asshole Morelli. He never treated you right, not like Ranger does"
"I'm so relieved Val, Mum wasn't very pleased with me"
"Don't take any notice of her, she never has allowed you to fly as you should have been able to. She'll come around, the gossip will make her behave herself, even if it is just for appearances" "So you and her?"
"I can keep up with appearances to get her off my back. Don't be daft Steph. I know what she's like, but I'm not letting her influence me. She thinks I'm the perfect Burg mother and housewife. Hell Steph, I had to get a divorce as well and ended up pregnant again before being married"
"You are happy though aren't you?"
"Of course. Albert may be a little awkward with other people, but you don't see him with me or the girls. He's an amazing husband and father"
I had to say I was surprised at what Val had said to me. She always gave me the impression of being exactly what our mother wanted her to be. Who knew what a good actress she was and what else was she up to that our family knew nothing about? "I've nearly finished the course I'm on"
"Course?"
"Yeah, in a few weeks I'll be a qualified counsellor working with woman and their children. Albert's discovered that he works well those type of clients"
"Wow, I didn't know you were doing that"
"Yeah well, when I broached the subject of doing more studying mother cut me dead. It wasn't something a Burg lady should be doing. I've loved the placements I've been on so can't wait to get started on my own"
"How are the girls doing?"
"Real good. Angie is still quiet and serious, but Mary Alice has settled down. She wants to be a veterinarian" "Not a horse?"
"Nah, she's only like that at our parents. I think Mum scares her, so she uses being a horse to keep her away from her"
"So. Rex?"
"You're not here to take him are you? Mary Alice loves that little guy"
I went quiet as I thought through what Val had said. Yeah I loved the little guy as well but would it be fair to him or Mary Alice if I took him back to Rangeman with me. Was the feeling inside of me loss of maybe losing my little friend or was it guilt. "Please Steph, he likes it here, the girls are forever playing with him and he gets lots to eat. Mary Alice got the idea of being a vet because of him"
"Okay, as long as I get updates of him"
"I'll get Angie to send through photos of him"
I was still stood in the hallway and had lost sight of Ranger, no doubt he didn't want to get involved with the conversation. As I turned to see where he'd gone, I was hit by screams coming from outside and then arms around me. As I shook myself from the person holding me, I recognized Mary Lou. "Lou, what's wrong?"
"I just heard the news. I'm so happy for you. I saw the black car parked here so had to stop"
"What news?"
"You being engaged" "How the hell did you find out?" "Your Grandma, she was upstairs when you called but felt you needed some time to tell your Mum. She said she was so sorry that Ellen reacted the way she did, she would have shown her face had she known. But she said to tell you the keys still thrown away, whatever that means" "She won't gossip about it until I say it's okay to"
"Can't stop, I have a meeting at the school. Congrats honey" I followed Lou out of the house to find Ranger sat on the wall by the road. I went and sat down next to him, taking his hand in mine. "Okay Babe?"
"Yes. I had no idea what to expect"
"Remember what I told you, you are loved more than you'll ever know by a lot of people" I squeezed his hand to acknowledge his answer and then pulled his hand to get him onto his feet.
"Okay, apartment next"