Chapter 23
Rachel couldn't believe she got divorced twice. She sold the children's clothes, jewellery and most of the furniture. Lawyer fees cost more than she knew. Her friend at Ron's law firm refused to represent her since it was a conflict of interest. She could only afford to hire a law professor from the local university. He got his students to represent her case. At times, she felt the students were mocking her.
Debbie came over a few times to help her friend. "I have no idea what did I do wrong?" Rachel asked. Debbie could think of a few.
"Hmm. You've become a greedy woman," Debbie replied. Rachel glared at her friend, angry she wasn't jumping to her defence. "It became all about how to get more money from a man who never should have given you one cent. You went from being grateful for Ranger's generosity to expecting him to support your family."
"I most certainly did not," Rachel yelled. Debbie rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue about something that didn't concern her.
"Listen, Rachel. Stan and I could hear your arguments with Ron. Everything changed when Julie returned from getting kidnapped. It got progressively worse after Julie told you that Ranger got married to Stephanie, and they had a son together. You held onto the false hope that Ranger would take you back. He never hinted it was a possibility," Debbie stated.
"Ranger will come back to me if I ask," Rachel insisted.
Debbie handed Rachel the phone. "Then call him," Debbie said.
Rachel dialled his number as she put the call on speakerphone. "Yo," Ranger answered.
Ranger entered the control room when Rachel called. He could tell the phone was on speaker for someone else to hear. Tank raised an eyebrow when Ranger motioned for him to follow. Sitting at his desk, Ranger connected the audio to his computer and recorded the conversation.
"Hey, Ric," Rachel purred. "It's time for you to come home."
"I'm exactly where I want to be, Rachel," Ranger calmly said.
"Don't you remember how it used to be?"
"Yes. You made ridiculous demands, and I said no," Ranger answered.
"I can ride you hard and fast. Just the way you like it," she redirected. "Come on, baby. I know you want me to."
"Rachel, I will only say this once. There will never be a second chance for us to be together," Ranger said with more authority.
"That's not true. If Stephanie and the kids died, you would come crawling back to me. I can make that happen," Rachel snarled.
"Do. Not. Ever. Threaten. My. Wife. Or. Children. Again," Ranger slowly said. His tone sent a chill through the air.
Debbie watched Rachel's face go pale. "Please, Ric. Ron divorced me. I never stopped loving you," Rachel begged.
"You have me confused with my bank balance."
"I have no income, and Ron gave me the house as a settlement," Rachel stated.
"The house I bought to give Julie a home," Ranger reminded her.
"What am I going to do?" Rachel asked, her voice quivering from rejection.
"Sell your house," Ranger replied before hanging up.
"I've asked the Miami men to monitor her activity," Tank announced.
Debbie stared at Rachel, her jaw resting on her chest. "I can't believe you threatened to harm his wife and children. You are not the person I thought you were," Debbie said as she got off the couch.
"Where are you going?" Rachel demanded.
"Home. I came over here to tell you the Spyderweb bar was hiring servers." Debbie walked to the front door, placing her hand on the knob. "Oh, I think it would be best if we aren't friends," Debbie added before leaving the house.
Stan waited outside beside his car for Debbie to exit the house next door. He got along with Ron but couldn't tolerate Rachel. Debbie saw her husband wearing his fatigues. "You're leaving," she sadly stated.
"It's my last tour, sweetie. I'll be home in nine months," Stan said, hugging his wife. "I took the children to school." Stan and Debbie's twin boys were juniors at the high school. Both boys had jobs at fast-food restaurants. They planned to join the Army after they graduated.
"Thanks, Stan. Will you apply at Rangeman when you retire?" Debbie asked.
"I'm not making plans until I come home," Stan wisely answered. "I love you, Deb."
"I love you too, Stan," Debbie reciprocated before kissing her husband. She stood at the end of the driveway, watching her husband's black Miata disappear down the street. When the car turned the corner, Debbie walked up the driveway towards her house.
Julie sat at a small desk in Stephanie's office. Binkie sat beside her as he explained the different types of rocks. His dad was a geology professor in Texas. "Where did you get all of these samples?" Julie asked.
"Borrowed them from my dad. I'll send them back when we finish the lessons," Binkie replied. Stephanie smiled as she listened to the lesson. Binkie was patiently explaining the difference between quartz and marble.
Ricky and Mattie were with their Rangeman nannies, Lester and Manny. She was shocked when they created a schedule for nanny duty. It was ridiculous, but she secretly loved their plan.
"Excuse me for interrupting, Stephanie. Morelli is downstairs requesting a visit with you and Ranger," Vince announced.
"Okay, send him up," Stephanie replied.
"Um. Joe has other people with him," Vince stammered.
"That's fine, Vince. I think I'll meet them," she said, pushing her leather chair away from her desktop. Stephanie followed Vince to the lobby where Joe, Paulina, Tawny and Cameron were waiting. "Hi, Joe. You look happy."
"I am happy. Lina and I are in town visiting mom. We thought about mailing the thank you note, but I wanted to deliver it in person," Joe explained.
"Do you have time to visit?" Stephanie wondered.
"We're in Trenton until tomorrow afternoon," Paulina replied.
"I was hoping we could visit now?" Joe asked.
"Sure. Follow me," Stephanie said, guiding them to the elevator. She pressed the button for seven as she texted Ranger, Julie and Lester.
The elevator door opened on four, admitting Lester, Manny and the boys. It stopped again on five for Julie and Ranger. "Are we playing sardines?" Julie joked.
Lina and Stephanie giggled. "It is a bit crowded in here," Joe replied. "I haven't played sardines since I was a child."
"What's sardines?" Tawny asked.
"Have you played tag and hide and go seek?" Julie asked.
"Yup," Tawny answered.
"You play hide and go seek, but you have to find another person's hiding spot and hide with them. If the boy or girl that counted finds your spot, everyone has to run back to the safe place before you get tagged," Julie explained.
"Can we play?" Tawny asked.
"Not today, Tawny," Paulina replied. "When the boys get older, okay?"
"Okay, mama," Tawny sadly answered. Tawny tugged on Joe's shirt. "Can you hug me, daddy?"
Stephanie rubbed the tear from the corner of her eye as Joe picked up the little girl. She buried her face into Joe's shoulder and sighed. "Are you crying, sweetie?" Joe asked.
"No, daddy, I'm sad. I'm a big girl. Baby Cam cries," Tawny replied.
Ranger raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say that to her," Joe defensively stated.
Paulina said, "I think it may be my fault. Tawny asked why Cam cries."
"Cuz he's a baby. I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl," Tawny added.
Julie pressed her lips together so she couldn't laugh. When the elevator opened on seven, Stephanie said, "It's a good thing I didn't eat that donut earlier."
"Why?" Julie asked.
"Because it would have caused us to breach the elevator's maximum weight capacity," Stephanie joked.
"Only you, Babe," Ranger said, grinning.
Joe gave Stephanie the thank you card. Paulina and her mom wrote beautiful notes, thanking them for the honeymoon/vacation gift. She noticed the children wore the dress and suit in the wedding video, but the pictures were better. "The children look adorable," Stephanie said.
Stephanie went to the bookshelf to grab the empty picture frame. She placed the picture of Joe, Paulina, Tawny and Cam behind the glass. Around the edge were the words friends, family, joy, happiness.
Joe looked at the other pictures around the apartment. He saw a few more of his children and Stephanie's family. "I'm honoured to have a place in your life," Joe told Stephanie.
"We have always been great friends, Joe. Everything is how it was supposed to be," she stated.
"You're a generous woman, Stephanie. I love the clothes you sent for the children. Tawny's favourite outfit is the pink Rangeman cargo pants and shirt," Paulina added. Ranger knew Stephanie paid for the trip and clothes from her Rangeman earnings. She refused to let him pay for gifts she gave to other people.
"I was a little angry when we got them, but Tawny loves the clothes," Joe stated. Stephanie thought it was amusing.
Ricky and Tawny played a movie on the tablet. They sat on the couch with their heads touching as Lilo & Stitch played. While they were distracted, Stephanie asked, "Why do the children look like you, Joe?"
He grimaced before answering, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. Tawny and Cam are my niece and nephew. We discovered that Paulina's late husband was my half-brother. I got my DNA compared to Cam's after he was born. The results said I was closely related to his father."
"Joe, you're the only father they will know," Stephanie said, touching his arm.
"I will tell them about their biological father, Cameron," Paulina added.
"They will know I'm their father by choice," Joe said. "And that I love them and their mother."
"We should go, Joe. I told your mom we'd be back for dinner," Paulina said.
"I'm glad we finally met face to face. Call me anytime you want to talk, Paulina." Stephanie gave Paulina her cellphone number. "Use this number instead of calling through Rangeman. I changed the number."
"Why did you change your number?" Joe asked.
"Helen and Rachel," Stephanie answered. "Two peas in a pod."
"Ah," Joe said, knowingly. He hugged Stephanie and kissed her head. "If you're ever in Pennsylvania, please stop in to visit."
"We will," Stephanie replied. She hugged Paulina and Tawny.
"Bye Aunt Steph, Uncle Los," Tawny said after she hugged Ranger.
Joe shook Ranger's hand and gave him a man hug. Ranger hugged Paulina. Stephanie was happy to see Joe and his family. Manny guided the Morelli family to the elevator and took them to the main floor.
"Mom," Julie said, approaching Stephanie. "Grandpa's here."
Frank entered the apartment to visit with his grandchildren. He talked to Stephanie about Joe visiting. Frank was proud that Joe and Stephanie let go of their tumultuous past and became friends. "I'm proud of you, Pumpkin," Frank said as he hugged his daughter.
Manny, Lester, Hal and Mateo went with Frank and the children to the park. Julie went with them to spend time with her new grandpa. They sat on the bench after chasing Ricky around for twenty minutes. Frank and Julie discussed how she was coping in school and living with her dad. "It's easier living here. I'm not stuck babysitting. My clothes fit, and I have everything I need," Julie replied.
"You look happier," Frank observed.
Julie giggled. "Everyone's great. Stephanie is adopting me," she announced.
"Then you will officially be my granddaughter."
"We don't need a piece of paper to make it official, grandpa. You welcomed me with open arms. In my opinion, that's better than words on a document." He wrapped his arm across her shoulder and kissed her temple.
"I'm proud of you, Babe," Ranger said when they were alone.
"Thank you for supporting my decision to be his friend. Paulina and Joe need our support. I don't recall ever seeing Joe that happy," Stephanie stated.
"Your big heart is one of the many reasons I fell in love with you." Ranger wrapped his arms around Stephanie, placing his hands on her ass. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to their bedroom. "They'll be back in a few hours," Ranger huskily said.
In Miami, Rachel got frustrated. Too many changes occurred since she kicked Julie from her house. Ron divorced her, leaving her with a few thousand dollars in her bank. He removed her from all of the joint accounts.
Silvie and Ronnie got taken by the CPS. They lived with David and Beca Martine until a few days ago. Ron got sole custody of the children. She got visitation rights, but Ronnie and Silvie refused to see her. Rachel was disgusted that she would need a CPS agent to supervise visits.
She tried to call Julie and Stephanie, but they changed their cell phone numbers. If Rachel tried calling Ranger's phone, it got redirected to Rangeman Miami. It pissed her off. How could she get back together with Ric if he never accepted her calls?
Rachel started working at the Spyderweb bar a few days after Debbie told her about the job. She was only working a few shifts a week. It paid for groceries, but nothing else.
Some of the Rangeman visited the bar. She flirted with the men, and they ignored her. After a few months, they stopped going whenever she worked. Rachel arrived for her shift and locked her bag in the back. She overheard a few women talking in the washroom about the guys from Rangeman. "Mickie said they won't come to the bar anymore," Sarina told Angie.
"Why not? It's always busiest when they're here. How are we supposed to get laid?" Angie asked.
Sarina looked around before she whispered, "I heard it's because Rachel started working here and flirting with the guys. They think she's trying to date one of them to get access to the building. She's been harassing their boss and his wife. I heard that she called Ranger and offered to screw him. "
"Wow. That's is truly messed up. My friend, Barb, said the boss's wife is hot. She's beautiful, sexy and kind. Her inner beauty illuminates her outward beauty," Angie stated.
"How does Barb know the man's wife?" Sarina asked.
"Oh. I forgot to tell you. Barb is married to Silvio, who trained the wife to do background checks," Angie replied. "Here's a picture of her." She pulled out her phone to show Sarina.
"She beautiful," Sarina said, passing back the phone. "To make matters worse for the men, if any of them take Rachel home, they get fired."
"None of them would risk employment to dip their stick inside her," Angie added.
"Come on, Angie. Our shift starts soon."
Rachel wiped a tear from her face as she hid until the women left the washroom. Her hours got cut because she stupidly flirted with the Rangeman. The plan to grab one of their fobs was faulty. She worked her shift and went home to wallow in self-pity.
Her bills got too far in arrears, and they threatened to send them to collections. Rachel had to sell the house to repay the debt. She sat on the folding chair in her living room and cried. The realtor dropped off the recent offer that was several thousand below her asking price.
Using her phone, she looked for jobs in Kissimmee. She found a few jobs and sent resumes. Rachel sent her realtor an email to enquire about a couple of homes to purchase. Leaving Miami was her only choice. She couldn't afford to stay.