Here's another chapter, just as I promised. It was originally going to be the second half of the previous chapter, but between myself, my muse, and my bestie, we decided it was best to split it.

Chapter 53

Twenty minutes later I was doing seventy down the interstate when my phone started ringing on the passenger seat. I eased off the accelerator enough so that a) I was now doing the speed limit, and b) felt comfortable enough to take my eyes off the road for a second to check the caller ID that was displayed on the screen. The whole process would have been easier in my old car, with it's Bluetooth hands free system, but Big Blue made no such accommodations to the modern world.

Easing off some more, I silenced the radio and hit accept as brought the phone up to my ear, thankful for the straight stretch of road and the fact that at this time of night it was practically empty. "Hello?"

"Steph," Bobby's concerned voice greeted me. "Are you alright? Michael called and said you messaged his artist profile and there's an emergency? What's happened?"

"Bobby!" I exclaimed, relief washing through me. "I'm fine. It's not my emergency. Vince called and asked me to get in contact because of the inhibitor chip blocking their calls. There's a level six situation at Rangeman and-"

That wretched dial tone sounded in my ear, cutting of yet another call. I was so mad I almost throw the phone out the window. The only thing stopping me was that I knew Bobby would call me back and if I didn't answer he'd panic that something had happened to me. I couldn't do that to him. Especially when his attention was needed elsewhere.

Just as I'd predicted, the phone rang again a minute later and answered before it even had a chance to recognise Bobby's number.

"Take the chip out," I instructed, sick and tired of the inhibitor's interference.

"I just did," Bobby assured me. "I'm on my way back to Trenton now, but it'll be a while.

"I know," I replied, adjusting my grip on the phone so that I could indicate and change lanes. "Vince sent through your phone-tracker location."

There was a beat of silence, like he was processing the information. "You contacted Michael?" he asked.

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah," I said. "Lester said that he thought your mom lived in the Bronx, but without her name or access to Rangeman's resources I couldn't look up her number myself, so I messaged Michael. I wasn't really expecting him to come through though. I was hopeful, but not expectant. He did, though, so that's a plus.

Bobby's quiet laugh sounded across the line. "That is some next level luck you have there," he informed me. "Anyone ever tries to tell you you're not resourceful, you remind them about tonight."

Returning his chuckle, my gaze caught on the clock on the dash and my stomach dropped. It had been almost an hour since Vince's call had woken me. That was a lifetime in emergency situation minutes. "You should probably call and check in," I said.

"In a minute," he assured me calmly. "I wanna check in with you first. Are you okay?"

My chest filled with warmth at the thought of Bobby wanting to stay on the phone with me even though there was a level six event that he needed to get on to. Ranger had never wasted time on unnecessary conversation in time sensitive circumstances. I mean, he didn't waste words ever, so why would he take a couple minutes to check in with me while he drove when he could be in his zone mentally preparing for whatever was head? And Joe, well, we exchanged a lot of words all the time, but unless he knew I was in danger, he didn't often take the time to verify I was okay.

"Other than the fact that it's almost three in the morning and I'm driving down the interstate with no bra on?" I clarified. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He let out a sound that made me think he was choking, but quickly recovered to ask, "Why are you driving the interstate?"

"I was gonna come get you," I pointed out, barely able to refrain from rolling my eyes. I thought I'd made it clear that I was willing to do whatever it took to get him back in the loop.

The crackling sound that emitted from the phone as I spotted a sign for an upcoming exit led me to believe that Bobby was letting out a long breath, but I didn't know what about my statement could have inspired that kind of response. It wasn't like I'd done something to test his patience, which was when I usually received that kind of reaction from the guys. Unless there was another reason that lead Bobby to take a calming breath? Before I could ask about it, though, he spoke up, suggesting an alternate course of action now that he was already on his way back. "How about your turn around and get a sundae from McDonalds on your way home instead," he said.

It was a good plan, but the thought of having the sweet treat to calm down from the stress of the last hour reminded me of exactly why it had been so difficult to get in contact with Tank, Lester and Bobby to begin with. "I can't believe your Work-Free Weekend was a bust," I sighed.

"Not a complete bust," Bobby countered. "I spend a whole day not worrying about work thanks to you. And I got to visit my mom, which I don't get to do as often as she'd like."

"It wasn't a whole weekend, though," I pointed out.

Bobby didn't seem to be all that cut up about the interruption to his one weekend off. "You win some, you lose some," he said matter-of-factly as the exit came into view.

I let a silence stretch between us while I took the offramp and navigated a couple of streets to start heading back in the direction I'd just come. "Was your mom angry at being woken up?" I asked, surprised that Bobby hadn't seen my silence as the end of the conversation and decided to get on with more important, work-related phone calls.

"Once she figured out that Michael and Katie were both okay she calmed down a bit, but I need to call her and let her know that you're okay too," he explained.

I almost drove straight through a stop sign at his reply, shocked that a woman who didn't know me from a bar of soap could be concerned for my wellbeing. "Me?" I squeaked, pausing longer at the intersection to make up for almost not stopping and the fact that I needed to take a moment refocus. "Why me?"

"She's a worrier," Bobby said easily, inadvertently letting me know where he got it from.

"But why would she worry about me?" I demanded. "She doesn't even know me."

Bobby's tone was serious when he spoke again, and I could almost picture that little wrinkle he got between his eyebrows when he was trying to make me understand just how worried he was about my injuries. "Steph, she may not have met you, but she knows you're a great friend. I told her about all you did to get us this weekend off."

"Oh."

That was all I could manage. I didn't know how to handle the knowledge that Bobby had told his mom about me. I did not, historically, have a great track record with men's mothers. Dickie's mother had tolerated me, but never really given me the impression that I added any value to her son's life. Mrs. Morelli was in the same kind of traditional ideals boat that my mother was in and lamented that I was corrupting her son and leading him to live in sin. Not to mention that she'd never forgiven me for running him over when we were younger, or the fact that I'd turned him in to make a buck when I was first starting out as a fugitive apprehension agent. And let's not even mention his Grandma Bella. I was pretty sure she'd put some kind of permanent curse on my life.

So the fact that Bobby's mom knew about me before I ever met her was just a little bit stressful. I wasn't known for living up to the hype others sprouted about me. I was more likely to be a disappointment. Expectations made me nervous because if a person had expectation for what I'd be like, it meant that the disappointment would be even greater when they realised what a failure I was.

"You've gone quiet," Bobby commented when I didn't say anything further. "Is something wrong?"

I thought about lying and telling him that I was fine, but knowing Bobby he'd see straight through me and if I refused to tell him what was wrong he'd worry about me when he should be worrying about work. "Mothers don't tend to like me once they get to know me," I explained, finally easing through the intersection only to immediately find a place to pull over on the other side. "I guess I'm worried that you're building up a false impression of me to your mom that will just highlight all the areas where I fall short if I actually do end up meeting her."

"You're not going to fall short of the picture I painted of your for my mom, Steph," Bobby said firmly.

"You told her what a disaster I am, then?" I challenged.

"No," he replied, making that one word tell me exactly how untrue he thought my assessment of myself was. "I just told her about how you've been working to improve yourself, but also looking out for Tank, Lester and me at the same time. She's been around the block a time or two, so she can recognise a good friend when she sees one, or hears about one, I guess."

"Are you sure you didn't-"

"Stephanie," he said, cutting off my self-doubt. "You are the best friend I have right now. There is no one I want to introduce to my mother more than you. You're too important to me to risk her getting the wrong impression of you."

My throat constricted at his admission. He said it with such conviction that I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and squeeze him tight. I didn't think single other soul in the universe had believed in me and supported me as much as Bobby had and it caused my stomach to flip that he wanted me to meet his mother. I knew he was an intensely private person, but the more he opened up to me, the more I could feel my heart melting for him. He'd revealed so much about himself and his family in the last week alone, answering any questions I had about them. I now knew more about Bobby's childhood than I knew about Ranger's life entirely and I'd dated him for more than six months.

I knew that Bobby liked me in that way. He'd made it abundantly clear in his email after he kissed me at the airport. His words had been so honest and vulnerable. And I knew from both his own and Lester's comments over the last few weeks that Bobby didn't fall into these kinds of feelings easily. If what they said was true, then I should feel honoured that Bobby had opened his heart to me. And the fact that he was willing to allow me the time that I needed to heal and come to terms with my new way of life without putting any pressure on me at all said a lot about the kind of companion he could be. I was more comfortable being myself with Bobby than I had been with anyone else in my entire life with the possibly exception of Mary Lou. But I couldn't and wouldn't be with Mary Lou in the same way I was started to see Bobby: a partner.

The relationship we were building felt like the kind of thing that could last a lifetime and only grow stronger with age if we allowed ourselves the chance to put it to the test.

"Steph?" Bobby prompted, making me realise that I'd once again lapsed into silence. "You still there?"

"Yeah," I said, swallowing hard against the lump that was forming in my throat. "Sorry, I was distracted. I think you might be onto something with that sundae idea." That's right, redirect the conversation away from your feelings. I needed more time to examine these new realisations and I was pretty sure 3am in some random town wasn't the context in which to do so. "I should let you go before your mom get's impatient with waiting and calls you for details," I added. "I'll send Vince a message to let him know you're on your way."

Bobby's soft chuckle sent another burst of warmth through my chest and I couldn't help by smile knowing that he was able to enjoy a few moment of peace before he was dumped into whatever shitstorm was brewing at Rangeman. "Thanks Steph," he said, sincerity infusing ever letter he pronounced. "Drive safe."

"You too," I replied. "And be careful. I don't know what a level six emergency is, but I know I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll do my best," Bobby pledged, and I could almost see him holding his fist over his heart to give power to his statement as he said it. "Text me to let me know when you get home."

I nodded, starting the car again. "Okay."

I expected that to be the end of the conversation, to be met with dead air or a dial tone as he hung up and got on with what needed to be done. But it wasn't. Just as I was preparing to pull the phone away from my ear and hang up, his voice came across the line one more time with one simple word that raised goose bumps all along my arms.

"Bye," he said.

"Bye," I returned, wide eyed and breathless. I had no idea how much good phone manners really meant to me until that exact moment as the dial tone sounded with Bobby's farewell still ringing in my ear.

[Breathes a sigh of relief] NOW we're getting somewhere.