As soon as Ranger flipped the cell phone closed, Stephanie entered the room with her arms crossed.

"You're leaving." There was no reason to make it a question.

Starting Over

Chapter 9

Steph wanted to plead to him but the building anger wouldn't allow it. "I can't believe you're leaving because I didn't do what you wanted me to do. This is my divorce and despite what you think, it has nothing to do with you."

Ranger's face turned to stone. "I didn't want you to find out this way. It was all suppose to be a big surprise but I guess I'll just have to tell you."

Stephanie uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "Let's hear it Ranger. Let's hear the excuse."

Ranger's blank face changed quickly to anger. "First Stephanie stop treating me as if I'm Joe. I deserve better than that. Yes I was angry about the divorce settlement, but I knew you had your reasons. As for the phone call you just overheard., I bought a house on the coast of North Carolina. I thought it would do us both some good to take a vacation."

Stephanie wasn't sure what to say. She was embarrassed for over-reacting yet again. "I'm sorry Ranger. I didn't mean…."

"Steph, you never mean it, but that doesn't stop you from saying things that hurt me. Just do me a favor and ask me what's going on before you jump to conclusions."

She nodded her head in agreement then paced around the room in silence. She wanted to explain about Joe, she wanted to apologize for hurting him again, but mostly she just wanted to make things right. It seemed the harder she tried do that, the worse things got. When she realized Ranger was finished with his part of the conversation she began questioning him about the trip.

"So, am I still invited?" She traced the pattern on the kitchen countertop with her fingertips.

Ranger's lips curled slightly. "Of course you're still invited."

Stephanie tried to suppress her own grin but failed miserably.

While booting up his laptop, Ranger glanced again at her. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead what?" she questioned.

"Go ahead and ask me about the details. I know you're dying to."

She tossed her head back and faked a laugh. "You know Ranger, you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"But I still know you better than you want me to." He chided.

She pondered it for a minute, then decided it would be best to change subjects. "So, when are we leaving?"

"As soon as we're ready. It'll take me until tomorrow afternoon to get the office settled., plus I'm sure you have a lot of packing to do."

She ignored the obvious jab. "How long are we going to be gone?"

"Not really sure. I'm taking a complete week off from work to get the house settled and furnished. Then once that's done and I get the office at the house completed I'll be able to get some work done while we're there. Erica arrives the next week and will stay for a couple of weeks. After that it's all up in the air. We can return then, or stay. I'll leave it up to you."

"So, just to make sure I understand completely. You aren't leaving Trenton for good?"

"No."

"You want me to go with you?"

"Yes."

"And you want me to meet your daughter and spend time alone with just you and her."

"Not exactly. We won't be alone. I've invited a few others to come too."

"Who?"

"Well, since you spoiled the surprise of the trip, I think it would be best if I make you wait for that answer."

"That's not fair."

Ranger flashed his full-on wolf grin then plucked away on the laptop. "Go start packing Steph."

She pouted briefly, then turned on her heel and headed to the bedroom.

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The next day for Steph was crazy. She needed to let everyone know she was heading out of town. Her first stop was at her OB/GYN. She wanted to double check with the doctor that everything was going ok. Once she was reassured she headed over to her mom and dads for lunch. In terms of family visits, this one had gone well. No one argued, no chickens were shot, and when she left everyone was still in one piece. Her mother wasn't excited about her leaving, but understood anyway.

After leaving them she headed to the mall to pick up a few last minutes item. She had begun gaining weight at an insane rate and was once again in the need of larger clothes. She tried to find something stylish, but it seemed stylish and maternity wear didn't really go together.

Just as she was leaving the mall her cell phone chirped. "Hello."

"Hey babe, where are you?"

"Just leaving the mall. What about you?"

"I'm home, office stuff is settled and I'm all packed. Things have gone smoother than I planned so as soon as you get here and finish packing we can leave."

"Well I'm headed that way now, should be there in 15 minutes."

"Ok, see ya then babe."

"Ranger, wait. Did Mary Lou leave a message for me on the machine?"

"Nope, no messages. Something wrong?"

"I just haven't been able to reach her all day. I guess I'll have to wait and call her from the road."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll understand."

"Yeah, you're right. See ya in a few."

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An hour and a half later Steph was still running around the apartment while Ranger sat calmly on the couch flipping through the channels.

"Ranger have you seen my prenatal vitamins?" She yelled from the bathroom.

"Already packed them."

"What about that travel pillow?"

"I've already put it in the front seat of the Expedition."

Ranger glanced at his watch just as the phone rang. "Yo. Ok, we'll be down in just a sec."

Ranger hung up the phone and carefully entered the bedroom. Hurricane Steph had definitely swept through, the total cost of the damage was yet to be seen. "Hey Steph, are you almost done?"

"Just about. I don't want to forget anything."

"Don't worry, we'll buy whatever we need when we get there." As she rushed by him towards the closet he grabbed her arms and stopped her cold. "Steph, our guests are waiting on us downstairs. You've packed everything you would possible ever need. Now let's get going."

She stomped her foot slightly then hesitantly agreed. "Fine, let's go. And who are the guests?"

"Let's go downstairs and find out."

Ranger struggled with Stephanie's four bags of luggage as they made their way to the parking garage. The doors opened and Stephanie shrieked at the sight in front of her.

"Mary Lou!! You're going with us?"

"Yes sirree bob. Ranger called us a few days ago to see if we wanted to get away for awhile. We can't remember the last vacation we had so we jumped on the offer."

Ranger and Lenny were busied themselves with loading Steph's luggage into the back of the Expedition. Once everything was in place Ranger reached into his pocket and handed Lenny and envelope.

"What's this?" Lenny questioned.

"Keys to that." Ranger pointed to a second Expedition sitting next to his black one. "Figured it would be better with two vehicles."

Lenny looked shocked. "Yeah, you're right. But are you sure you're ok with me driving one of your vehicles?"

"What could you possible do to it that's worse than anything Steph ever did to my cars?"

"Good point." Lenny gave Ranger a hard slap on the back then turned to the girls. "Alright ladies, it's time to get the show on the road."

Ranger helped Lenny and Mary Lou load the boys into the back of the SUV. Once the smallest one was secured in the car seat and everyone else was settled, the group set out for North Carolina.

--------------------------

Stephanie fell asleep before they even reached the main highway. She napped for an hour before waking up. She looked around and noticed it was beginning to get dark outside and there was a gentle rain hitting the windshield.

"Where are we?"

"Just crossing into Delaware. You should go back to sleep, we still have about 6 hours ahead of us."

"That's ok. I'd rather stay up and talk to you."

Ranger shot her a sideways glance. "Will this be a good talk or a bad talk?"

Stephanie smirked. "Neutral. I just have a few things to tell you."

"Neutral huh?"

"Are you going to keep asking me questions or are you going to let me say what I need to say."

Ranger smiled. "Floor's all yours babe."

Steph grinned. "I want to explain what happened between me and Joe."

Ranger interrupted. "You don't have to. You were right, your divorce isn't my business."

"Don't interrupt me please. Just let me say what I have to say, or this car ride is going to be very long."

Ranger nodded then fell back into his driving zone.

"I was mad at Joe. There was no doubt about that. At first I just wanted to get back at him. Then when I realized he was going to have to sell his house for me, I knew that revenge wasn't worth me feeling guilty. Yeah, Joe screwed me over, but that was no reason to linger on it. I'm trying to get to a new place in my life. A place where I can move on and become the person I was really meant to be. I could never have done that if I was stuck in the past. It's only been a few months since we separated and the emotions are still raw. I knew if I acted on those emotions I would live to regret it. So that's why I wanted him to keep the house."

Steph waited for Ranger's reaction, but of course it never came.

"Can you try to understand why I did what I did?"

Ranger flicked his eyes at her for the briefest of moments. "Of course I can. I just want you to do what makes you happy."

"I'm trying Ranger, I really am. I just forgot for so long what it was that made me happy. It feels like I'm having to rediscover myself all over again. I'm also trying to deal with this baby thing. I'm really starting to show and that's making it sink in. I'm going to be a mother, heaven help this kid."

"You're going to be a great mom."

Stephanie laughed. "You sound pretty sure of that."

"I am. You're a strong woman and you're going to be a hell of a role model for your child."

Stephanie blushed and turned to the out the side window so Ranger wouldn't notice. They remained quiet for several minutes until Stephanie spoke again.

"Joe asked me to take him back."

She eyed Ranger and noticed his knuckles turning white around the steering wheel. He remained silent.

She waited until she was frustrated then asked, "Aren't you going to ask me what I told him."

"I'm trying to decide if I want to know."

She let out a sigh and then continued. "Yes you want to know. I told him to leave me alone and that I didn't want to have anything to do with him. Until the baby is born he is to only contact me through the lawyer."

"And after the baby is born?"

"Then we'll just have to wait and see. I can't kick him totally out of my life, this is his baby."

Ranger gripped the wheel slightly tighter. "You don't have to remind me."

"You might want to ease up on the steering wheel before you rip it out of the console."

He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Are you worried that I'm going to go back to him?"

He paused before answering. "Yes. I watched you go back to him too many times not to believe it isn't a possibility."

The thump of the car's tires was the only sound they heard for the next few minutes. Ranger thought she had fallen back asleep until she spoke. "Are you still serious about have a relationship with me in the future?"

"Babe."

"Just humor me ok?"

"Fine. Yes Steph, you know I want to be with you."

"Well Ranger, I want to be with you too. But we both need to get some things straight before we jump into anything."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact you still think I could go back to Joe. I understand why you may think that, but it will honestly never happen. I'm not sure how to convince you of that, but it is the truth. Joe and I had our chance, it didn't work." Steph took a deep breath then admitted her own faults. "And I need to stop comparing you to the losers of my past. I know you are nothing like them. I just need to remember that. It also wouldn't hurt if I would think before I speak."

Ranger's lips turned slightly. "Good idea."

Steph reached over and poked his shoulder. "Hey, be nice!"

"Always babe." He reached over and grabbed her hand placing it on the console between their seats. Their fingers remained intertwined until they stopped for gas.