Chapter 30

Lester looked at the text message. We'll be down in a few. A few minutes? A few hours? It had already been fifteen minutes since Ranger had texted him, undoubtedly from Stephanie's bed. Well, he was done waiting. He was hungry after a hard day's work running her gym while she was upstairs making whoopie with the boss!

He opened a box and pulled out a piece of the extra cheese. A couple of bites soothed his uneven mood a little. Maybe he'd been "hangry," because his little temper fit had quieted down. He didn't begrudge them time in the sack. After all, they'd lived most of their lives without one another. There was a downside to being happy for Ranger and Stephanie. It made him feel his own loneliness even more acutely. He missed Barbara, and the thought of returning to their home in Trenton was something he wasn't anxious to do. It was time for a change.

He had something to talk to Stephanie about, and he was eager for the conversation. He looked at his watch and decided he'd give them another few minutes before he prompted them again.

Ten minutes later they made their entrance. Lester indicated the stack of pizza boxes and bread sticks on the table. "Sorry, I couldn't wait," he told them as he went to the kitchen to bring back beers for all of them. Conversation was minimal while the pizza steadily disappeared.

Ranger finished off a piece of veggie pizza and was getting ready to question Lester about his day, but Stephanie beat him to it.

"How'd it go?" she asked. "Who taught my class?"

"I did," Lester said around a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese. "I had to fight Libby for it. Is she your assistant manager?"

"No," Stephanie said.

"Well, then somebody should tell her she's not. She said she always fills in for you when you're not there. I finally convinced her to let me teach, but she stayed and watched me like a hawk. I don't know what she thought I was going to do…work them into an aerobic frenzy, I guess."

"She's protective of them. You weren't too hard on them?" Stephanie asked.

"Nah, I followed your protocol. And it's good she's protective of them, but I was thinking I might be the one needing protection."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean Ms. Louise," Lester said dryly, and Stephanie laughed. "She kind of reminds me of your grandma," Lester continued. "She didn't try to cop a feel, but I could tell it was on her mind. She was undressing me with her eyes."

"She does remind me of Grandma!" Stephanie said. "I love teaching that group."

"Well, you can have them back," Lester said. "I was happy to help but I don't think the senior citizens are my forte."

"Are you tired of Georgia?" Ranger asked. "I'm thinking you can go home, anytime. The details aren't all sorted out, but I'm here and plan to stay. I appreciate everything you did to keep Steph safe, but it's time we let you get back to your old life."

"Thanks, boss, but I don't want to go."

Ranger's eyes widened but his face remained expressionless, waiting for the rest of what Lester had to say.

"I have something to discuss, but not with you," Lester told Ranger. "It's you I want to talk to, Beauti…uh, Stephanie." He shot Ranger a look, but the boss man seemed to be unfazed by Lester's near slip. "You can listen in, boss."

"Thanks," Ranger said dryly.

"I'm thinking about moving," he told her. "I'm thinking about Georgia."

"No kidding?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, Brunswick, Georgia to be specific. I love your gyms. I've had a great time hanging out down here. I know it was just the cover story to say I was interested in a partnership, but…I am. I'd like to be your partner."

"What?" Stephanie asked in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"I am. There's nothing left for me in Trenton. Luke's there, but only temporarily. He'll be going to med school as soon as he graduates. I have memories in Trenton and they're important, but sometimes it's just as important to make new memories."

"I don't know what to say," Stephanie said.

"Say you'll think about it," Lester replied. "You're planning to expand, and with me on board, it would be possible for you to do that quickly. I have some ideas regarding a new gym. We could expand into boxing. You already do some kick boxing with your martial arts classes."

"Boxing, hmm. I don't know," Stephanie said.

Lester sensed her hesitation. "A classy place," he said. "Not some Stark Street sweat hole. A place where women could learn the art of boxing. I could do the teaching." He grinned.

"Now there's the Lester I know," Stephanie said with a smile. "Sure, we could talk about it. So, you really think you'd like living in Georgia?"

"It would be great!"

"Yeah, great," Ranger muttered, but he immediately tamped down his irritation. A partner in the gym would be more time away for Stephanie. More time for them to reconnect. He picked up another piece of pizza. Carb loading before the marathon he had planned for later.

~~~~
One day away from her office and Stephanie felt as though she had a week's backlog of work. A partner would be a good thing. Lester's idea had taken her completely by surprise, but it had been a welcome surprise. She was expecting him anytime and they would sit down and iron out some preliminary details. But for now, she had to answer the darn phone, which had been interrupting her work flow all morning.

"This is Stephanie," she said perfunctorily as she held the receiver to her ear.

"Mom, it's me. Am I catching you at a bad time?"

"No. It's hectic around here today, but I have time to talk to you. What's up? Are you working today?"

"I am, but I got a call from Detective Costanza this morning and I wanted to tell you. He told me the investigation was officially closed. I can leave town, so Luke and I are coming down. We'll leave tomorrow. Tank is coming too. We get to drive Carlos' Panamera down. And Tank is bringing the Cayenne, then we'll all come home in Tank's truck."

"That's great," Stephanie said, mentally counting the beds in her house.

"Mom, he's a really nice man."

"Luke or Tank?"

"Neither," Cally said. "Well, they're both nice, but I meant Detective Costanza. Carl. He said I should call him Carl. He told me if I ever had any questions about you or my father, he'd be happy to talk with me."

"Did you ask him any questions?" Stephanie asked.

"No. I told him thanks and took his mobile number. I wanted to talk with you first, before I said anything to him."

"That's a good idea," Stephanie said.

"But Mom, I do want to find out about my family. I have aunts and cousins all living in this area. And there's no reason I can't meet them now. I've never had a family, except you, and now I do!"

And a grandma, Stephanie thought. Ranger had told her that Joe's mother was still alive. There was a twinge of guilt at the thought of keeping that from her daughter.

"This isn't the time, Cally. I'm at work. We need to talk before you do something you might regret." The guilt made her voice sharper than she'd intended.

"You mean something you might regret," Cally said. There was silence on the line. "Look, Mom, I'm sorry. You're right about the timing. I didn't mean to upset you, but we do need to talk about this. It's mostly why I'm coming down."

"I'm not upset," Stephanie lied. "You're right. We'll talk. I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

Stephanie disconnected and looked up to see Lester standing in the doorway of her office.

"You okay, Beautiful? That's a big frown you're wearing."

"I'm fine," she said. "Just lots to deal with right now. Come on in and let's talk." She watched as a part of her old life came in and settled himself comfortably in the chair across from her. Her old life was merging with the new. Could she stop it? And why did she really want to stop it? She had things to think through before her daughter came to visit.

Lester was carrying an iPad. "I brought my bonafides," he said with a grin. "Tell me what you're looking for in a partner."

"Someone who would buy 49% of the business for a start," she said.

"I can live with that," Lester said. "This is your baby. I don't want to take it over. I just want to be part of it. I was thinking that the third facility, the one you're planning to open could be focused more on martial arts, boxing and other forms of self-defense. Leave the two existing facilities for people who just want to get fit and have a regular workout place."

"That's in line with what I was thinking as well!" Stephanie said.

"Now we'll just have to see how much it would take for me to buy it. I'm betting I can afford it, but we won't know until you get a valuation on your current business."

"I have one," Stephanie said. "I'd been planning on expanding and I was also planning on borrowing money to do it. Alan, my accountant, prepared one for me."

"Alan, your former accountant?" Lester questioned.

"Yeah. Technically he still is my accountant, but…"

"Do you know someone else, because I have a business manager we could use."

"A business manager?"

Lester laughed out loud at her surprised expression. "I'm not just a pretty face, Beautiful. Ranger paid me well over the years and while I'm not the sharpest blade in the knife drawer, Barbara pretty much was."

"Was she an accountant?"

Lester looked surprised. "I forget. It's so natural sitting here with you that I forget you've been gone for so long, that you didn't know her. She was a public defender. I made enough that she was able to spend her career doing what she loved. Fighting for justice for people who didn't understand their rights or who couldn't pay for their own defense."

"She sounds like a fabulous woman."

"She was. And that's part of the reason I need to leave Trenton," he said. "She didn't want my life to end with hers, but it did. I need to be in a place where every time I turn around, I'm not punched in the gut by an unexpected memory."

"Your business manager, is that someone in Trenton?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, he's a tax attorney and he could handle the whole deal for us. You could have your attorney look over all the paperwork to make sure I'm not taking advantage of you."

"I trust you," she said. "That wasn't my concern. I'm just not sure about using someone from Trenton."

"What is it, Stephanie?" Lester asked. "What keeps you from wanting to reconnect now that you can. Is it memories of Joe and your family that are gone?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "That's not true. I do know. For a long time, I was afraid for Cally. Now I don't have to be afraid any longer. She wants to reconnect with people. Carl Costanza told her she should contact him if she ever had any question about her father, or me. And I can tell she wants to talk to him. She wants me to come out of hiding and I'm afraid."

"We have good Intel that the danger to you and Cally died when Brian Gregg did. Or maybe you're afraid of what Carl would tell her about the Bombshell Bounty Hunter."

She looked at him and saw his teasing smile and she smiled a little in response, but she sobered when she continued the conversation.

"It's not fear for our lives exactly. It's more that I want my daughter to be happy and I'm worried that people won't be happy to see us. That they'll be angry that we somehow duped them. They grieved for us and we were just fine living a thousand miles south of them."

"Nine hundred."

"What?"

"Nine hundred. I just drove it recently. I'm not discounting what you say, but I think you're wrong. I think people will just hug you and count their blessings to have you back in their lives."

"But I won't be back in their lives. I don't want to give up what I have here, and I'm not that screwed up girl any longer. I'm a mature, successful woman. I don't want to go back to the place where people think I'm a loser because I can't hold a job, because I consorted with an ex whore and…I don't know. Where people think I'm somehow…less."

"Less? Less than what. I loved…uh platonically…I loved that girl. Hell, most of the men at RangeMan were crazy about you. You were smart, funny, gorgeous, and you still are. Back then the only guys at RangeMan that weren't wanting to get into your pants were the ones that were interested in getting into each other's pants."

"What! Who?" Stephanie said in astonishment.

Lester ignored the question and went on. "You were the most non-judgmental woman any of us had ever met. You were friends with a stoner, a midget, a seven-foot-tall cross-dresser and an ex-prostitute with a weird sense of fashion…which she still has, I might add. And you treated them all with respect and as your equal. Beautiful, you were Trenton royalty, and I don't know why you wouldn't want to reclaim that."

"Because that's not my life any longer!" she said. "I am a successful business owner and a mother. I have responsibilities now. I'm not that girl who lived paycheck to paycheck, who couldn't even afford a working toaster. I'm a responsible person. I raised a daughter and provided for her!"

"There's no reason any of this life has to change. If you go back and reconnect with your past, you're not going to lose this. You're going to regain what was taken, stolen really, from you. In my opinion should go back and at least give those that have lost you the chance to re-find you."

Lester pointed to his phone. "I saw your face when you looked at the pictures I took of Trenton for you. You miss it. You know none of this is your fault. You were a victim and people will understand."

"I do miss my family, what's left of it, and my friends. Do you think it hasn't been painful for me?" Stephanie asked. "I've sacrificed everything, willingly, but still I gave away everything to keep Cally safe and happy. And now she wants me to come back, and I just don't know if I can."

"I always thought you were brave, Beautiful. Lucky, intuitive, and brave. Don't tell me you can't go back, because you can."

"You don't know me anymore, Lester. It's been a quarter of a century. You don't know what I can and can't do!" Her voice was rising, and she was starting to lose her temper. Why couldn't people just leave the past in the past!

"At the risk of really pissing you off, I have to tell you the truth," Lester said. "What you had to do was terrible. You martyred your life to save your daughter's, and somewhere along the line you lost some of the parts of you that were essential in your old life. You did it to survive in the new one."

Lester stood and looked at the door as if he was gauging the distance to his escape. He took a deep breath. "Here goes nothin'," he muttered under his breath.

"You said I didn't know you, but I do. I recognize you. Somewhere along the way, and I mean no disrespect here, you became your mother. You're so tied up in responsibility and convention that you can't see your true path any longer. "You're a Burg mom, when all along you were meant to be your Grandma. Ask yourself what she would do in your position. She'd head back to Trenton and pop in on people without any warning so she could snap a picture of the shock on their faces and then she'd laugh. She was a risk-taker. You are too, or you used to be."

Stephanie gasped and then fell silent. Lester was finally silent as well and the two stared at one another, each waiting for whatever came next.

There was a knock at the door and Ranger stepped in. He looked from Stephanie to Lester. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes," they said simultaneously.

Then Lester relented. "No, man, you're not interrupting. We were done. I think we need some time to think over some things. I'm sorry, Stephanie, if I overstepped, if I hurt your feelings."

"It's okay," she said wanly. He'd given her things to think about. "Can we talk again later?"

"You bet," Lester said. He gave her a little salute and slid past Ranger on his way out of the door.