Everything and everybody familiar belongs to Janet. Mistakes are mine alone.
"That's exactly what we should do, Mare!" I said, putting my wine glass down on her kitchen table without even completing the sip I'd intended to take from it.
"What?" She asked me.
"You just said that you wish you could run away. Well, we can actually do that … at least for the weekend. Lenny should be able to keep the boys alive for two days so we can cruise along the coast. You deserve a break and I really, reeeeally want one."
"I can't just take off, Steph. Everyone here will starve to death, and they'll be wearing dirty clothes they've pulled from the hamper when they do."
My sudden burst of excitement slowly fizzled out. "Yeah, okay. You're right. It was a dumb idea."
"What was?" Lenny asked, walking into the kitchen to get a cup of the coffee Mary Lou had just finished brewing.
He can drink a gallon of the stuff at midnight and still fall asleep in minutes according to Mary Lou.
"Stephanie thought she and I could take a mini-road trip this weekend."
He lifted a mug the size of a fishbowl to his mouth and swallowed an impressive dose of caffeine. "Why can't you? Do we have somewhere to be?"
"No," Mary Lou answered, "but I can't leave you boys alone for an hour, never mind for two ... whole ... days!"
He walked over to her and bent to kiss the top of her head. My chest squeezed painfully at the love I can see and feel between the two of them. I found myself really missing Ranger. He's an excellent head-kisser, and an even better mouth and other body parts-kisser.
"We'll be okay," Lenny was telling his wife. "If I need help, I'll call my mother or yours. If we get desperate, I could always ring Steph's."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's not at all funny. Five minutes alone with her, and she'll have you vowing to try to marry me off to one of your customers."
He laughed. "No can do. I'm smart enough not to believe all the gossip that circulates around the Burg, but I absolutely believe Ranger will kill anyone who comes near you, and will do even worse than that to whoever points you in another guy's direction."
He's kidding, yet totally serious. Even Lula claimed that Ranger would kill Diesel just for participating in a fake marriage setup to get Val and Kloughn hitched.
"Would you do the same to any guy who approached me?" Mary Lou asked, shamelessly flirting with the man who's been hers since high school.
"Yes, but it'd be just me beating the snot out of him instead of an entire security team taking turns torturing the unfortunate idiot."
"You two can stop now," I informed them.
"Why?" Mary Lou asked. "I know I wouldn't ever get tired of hearing how much Ranger loves me."
"Mary Lou …" Lenny growled.
"I was talking about Steph, not me."
"Uh-huh."
"The guy's freakin' hot," she stated, "even you said so."
"I did not," her hubby argued.
"Okay," Mare replied, "so it wasn't those exact words, but you said you know why Steph would be interested in Ranger."
"Yeah, the cars and bank account would do it. I said nothing about his looks. So why're you trying to take my wife on a trip instead of Manoso?" Lenny asked me.
I shrugged. "Ranger redefines the word workaholic, so he never has free time. Plus, asking him to leave town with me would draw a lot of attention to our non-relationship/relationship. I don't know what I want right now - in any area of my life - and I'm not about to get his hopes up or totally freak him out, depending on his feelings towards me, when I can just kidnap your wife who needs to break from reality trip more than I do."
He nodded. "Guess that settles it then."
"Not entirely. I still have to corner Grandma Mazur and ask her to watch Rex for me while we're gone, hopefully without my mother knowing I'm skipping town."
Mary Lou snorted. "Good luck with that one."
I looked mournfully at my still-full glass of wine, but I know it won't go to waste. Mary Lou will polish it off once the boys are all in bed.
"You know what? If I hurry, maybe I can catch Grandma before my mom gets back from her weekly store/gossip run. Should I pick you up on Friday, or do you want to meet me at my apartment and leave from there?"
"I can drop her off at your place," Lenny told me, "if our monsters don't break, blow up, or come close to bleeding out by then."
Mary Lou and I both narrowed our eyes at him. "Don't even joke about that," his wife warned.
I left them to work out the details of what Mary Lou will want done before she finally allows herself to focus on herself. I parked my POS at the curb in front of my parents' house only after I saw that my mother's Buick wasn't back in the driveway. My Dad's cab was also MIA, so I was able to get in and out with no issues, just an agreement with Grandma Mazur that she'll hide out at my place for the weekend to take care of Rex. Looks like she'll be getting a temporary vacation too. All that's left to do is pack and count down the hours until we can hit the road.
That was harder than I thought it'd be. I left a message on Ranger's machine to say I'd be away for a few days, and was a little disappointed that he didn't show up and want to know the details of what I'm up to. And when he finally did pick the lock to my apartment, it was only minutes before Mary Lou was set to get here for our takeoff.
Disappointment times two, I thought to myself, looking at him in his version of casual wear ... jeans and a black T-shirt that doesn't have Rangeman written anywhere on it. I would've liked to enjoy the sight of him for longer than a minute or two. Though my feelings right now have me seeing that he and I will need to have 'the talk' as soon as I get back. If a few days of not seeing him, and a pair of jeans that are distressed in all the right places, can have me considering choosing him over a beach tour … there's obviously something pretty special going on between us.
"Hey, Babe," he said, after closing my front door.
"Hi," I replied, feeling less thrilled about my impending getaway because I'll be cutting this visit short.
"What's up?"
"Ahhhh … you know I always enjoy seeing you, but Mary Lou will be here in a few minutes and then we'll be leaving," I said, with barely disguised regret.
"I'm on time, since we're leaving right now."
"We?"
"Yes. You and me."
"But …"
"One benefit of having eyes and ears everywhere is I can dismantle any mission I disapprove of."
"You heard from a Burg spy that Mary Lou and I were about to go road-tripping, and that's something you don't 'approve' of?"
"In a manner of speaking. I also don't approve of you not telling me you needed some time away."
"Ummm, you didn't ship the Stankovics off to a third-world country so I wouldn't leave Trenton did you?"
"No. I offered to pay for a year's worth of personal chef and house cleaning services for the family if Mary Lou sits this trip out and lets me fill in ... without telling you what I had in mind."
"Which is what? Aside from costing me time with my best friend."
His eyebrow lifted. "My offer will free up a lot of her time every day, not just for one weekend, that she can then spend with you and/or her family. Have you already forgotten that you've called me your best friend as well? And I promise you as much time as you want with me."
I let my mind picture every way we could be together and felt my face turn pink. "I admit, that doesn't sound too horrible."
His arm shot out and snaked around my waist, reeling me in until I was pressed flat against him. "You should save your flattery for someone it'll work on," he teased.
"You know I don't mean that being with you is terrible, it's pretty incredible actually. Which is something I'd already planned to talk to you about as soon as I got back."
"So we'll be multitasking on our vacation. You can talk while I drive."
"Are you sure about this?" I had to ask.
"Very. The question is ... are you ready for a new adventure?" He asked, picking up the duffel bag I'd stuffed with more than two days worth of my crap with one hand.
He held out his other arm to me, and I fit under his shoulder like I was made to be there.
"Considering this was a supposed girls' getaway ... I'd say everything is an adventure with you," I told him.
"Then let's get started on this one."