To give myself credit, I didn't cry until the car left the driveway. If he was watching my progress on the monitors, he would have seen my stoic exit. He didn't need to know that he'd broken me and I trusted Lester not to tell him.

Lester groaned and pulled over to the side of the road and tugged his seat belt off and ran around the side of the truck and pulled me out of it and into his arms. "Come on beautiful," he said rubbing my back gently and more aggressively as the tears didn't stop but instead increased. "You're killing me here. I suck at the tears. You know I suck at the tears."

I just kept crying.

"Dude…I have a situation," Lester said helplessly. "I'm going to be late to the rendezvous." He paused listening and groaned, "we're outside the mansion. Yea…I could use some backup."

A few minutes later another truck pulled up and Mitch came straight to us. He picked me up and took me back to the truck and put me in the seat beside Carrie. Carrie pulled me into her arms and nodded to Mitch and we pulled away.

I woke up the next morning in my bed alone. Carrie was sitting in the chair by the bed sipping coffee and watching me in flannel pajamas and sleep socks.

"Good morning," she said with a small smile.

"Good morning," I said hoarsely.

"Coffee," she offered.

"Yea," I sat up and groaned. I felt like I'd been beat up.

She reached for the thermos on the floor beside her and then grabbed a cup off my dresser and poured me a cup of coffee. She leaned forward and handed it to me. "You look like hell."

"Thanks," I sighed.

"So…he hurt you again?"

"Yea," I nodded.

"And you let him because…"

"I don't let him," I sighed. "I am somehow powerless to stop him. It's a kind of power struggle I guess. As soon as the annulment goes through, I'm leaving Trenton. I can't stay here. I can't risk seeing him."

She nodded, "I understand that. I need a favor from you."

"What is that," I asked.

"Until you leave Trenton which will be about three or four months, could you keep an eye on Mitch for me?"

I blinked at her, "where are you going to be?"

"Back in Maine for a while," she said with a slight smile. "I'm going home. It's where I belong right now."

"Oh Carrie," I sighed.

"Don't," she smiled. "Mitch and I aren't in love. We're friends with privileges. We both knew it wasn't going anywhere. He's great. He's terrific. But there's just nothing there. But we kept each other company and he's going to be lonely."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"When will you be back?"

"In a couple of weeks," she said softly. "Just…watch out for him will you?"

I sighed.

"Do you promise?"

I nodded.

"I need the words Stephanie," she grinned.

"How ironic," I shook my head. "Yes, I promise."

She flopped up on the bed beside me. "You've been a good friend to me. I don't know if I can or will stay here when I get back. I think this could be where I belong, but I'm not sure."

"Why are you making this decision now?"

"I met someone who made me feel something that Mitch doesn't make me feel."

I blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Yea," she sighed.

"How does he feel about you?"

"The same," she shrugged.

"Well…then if you and Mitch are only…"

"I know, but it feels wrong. They're friends. It's Mike."

"Oh," I blinked.

"So I'm going to Maine and try to figure it out. I'll probably be back. I think I'll be back, but if I don't come back…you will come visit me there sometime?"

"You never know," I smiled. "Nobody can say where our paths will take us."

"You're right about that," she nodded. "Well, I think you're going to live so I'm out of here."

"Will I see you before you go," I bit my lip.

"Probably not," she shook her head. "But you've got my number. If you need me or you just want to talk…"

"Ditto," I nodded.

"Ditto," she grinned and hopped up and disappeared.

I sighed and flopped back on the bed. I guess I failed to set Mitch up with Mrs. Right. But she had met someone that could be 'the one'. Maybe I could find Mitch 'the one'. Who was I kidding? I couldn't even find my 'the one'. Not every relationship could work out. Maybe she was right that we should commiserate together, but then from what she said he didn't need those commiserating thoughts.

I got up and showered and got dressed and headed down the stairs. Mitch was sitting on my couch reading the paper. "Good morning," I said tentatively.

"Good morning," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck…wait, no…I've been hit by a truck," I grinned. "It must be some other object."

"Like a Rangeman?"

"Yea…more like that," I agreed.

"What's the plan today?"

"I'm going to Unit to get with Mike about the menu unless Ranger's behavior has put him off the idea."

"Not a chance," he grinned. "Mike will love it. He always did like busting Ranger's chops."

"I don't blame him. I do too."

"Me too," he admitted. "Oh and don't worry about Carrie and Mike. I'm all for it. I just don't know if she realizes it will be difficult for Mike because of our history…at least for a while. I'll just have to convince him that we're still good."

"You're a good man," I smiled.

"Thanks," he smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yea," I nodded. "Do you think Mike would be mad if we stopped at McDonalds on the way?"

"He'd cheer us on. He'd love us forever if we brought him a Big Mac."

"Ooh, let's have him love us forever then," I grinned.

"Okay," he nodded.

Half an hour later we were in Mike's office eating McDonalds. His staff served people the food the cooks prepared in the kitchen. We were in his office loving our Big Macs.

"Are you sure we need to serve salads," Mike groaned.

"Face it Mike," I said sincerely, "either you get a McDonald's franchise or you do what is necessary to cater to the clientele you need to make this place a huge success."

"Fine," he shook his head, "but I'm not eating it."

"Nobody said you had to," I smiled and turned my attention to the menu. "Okay, the appetizers look pretty good. But if we're talking about adding more girl food to the rest of the menu for the sake of bringing up the numbers, we should consider adding a couple of girl like appetizers."

"Like what," he asked wiping his hands on a napkin.

"I've got a mushroom recipe that's easy to prepare. It can be prepared mostly in advance and just thrown in an oven for a few minutes once that's done."

"Is it good?"

"Can I use your kitchen?"

"Tell you what," he nodded. "We stop serving food at nine tonight. The kitchen will be clean by ten. If you come by tonight, we'll play with some recipes."

"You've got it," I grinned. "I'll bring the ingredients. Prepare to eat your heart out."

"Not now though," he teased. "Right now I'm full."

"Right," I grinned.

"What do you think about the décor?"

"I think it's great," I admitted. "When I saw the outside of the place I didn't have a lot of hope, but once I was inside… Well, the outside is quirky, but once you get the clientele built up that will be a novelty that people will be excited about seeing."

"Cool," he nodded. "And these changes are going to bring in the chicks?"

"By the convertible load," I assured him. "Women are specific about what kind of places they want to go, especially when they're out with their girlfriends. You've already got the number one draw…a bunch of hot guys hang out here. Now…we have to give them the rest of the package."

"Which includes salad?"

"And dessert and chocolate martinis," I grinned.

"Seriously…chocolate martinis," Mitch blinked at me.

"Stick with me kid, I'll show you things."

"I'm sticking with her," Mitch nodded toward me.

"I think that's a good idea," Mike nodded.

There was a tap on the door and Mike called come in and a girl stuck her head in. "Mike…there's a guy to see you."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know, but he's totally hot and he doesn't seem happy."

I sighed, "Is he dressed completely in black?"

"Yes," she frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess," I sighed. "Is there a back way out of here?"

"Yea…Meg will you show my friends out the back door?"

"Sure thing," she agreed.

When Mitch and I walked outside Tank was leaning against the wall waiting. Mitch sighed, "Man, I'm supposed to watch her not keep her trapped for him."

"I know," Tank nodded. "He's here to see Mike. I don't think he even saw your ride."

"What," Mitch frowned.

"Yea…he's off his game," he nodded. He turned to me and held out his arms.

I almost ran into them. "I was so afraid you were mad at me."

"Not a chance," he said softly. "You're my friend. He's the one who screwed up. He knows he screwed up."

"Well, maybe he won't make the same mistakes with the next woman," I swallowed and pulled away.

"Steph…does there really have to be a next woman?"

I took a deep breath, "he can't or won't give me what I want or need Tank. Would you tell your daughter to settle for less?"

He studied my face, "no. I wouldn't tell my friend to settle for less either."

"Thank you," I beamed up at him.

"You're welcome. Now get out of here before he comes out and realizes that he just missed seeing you."

I nodded and hurried toward the SUV.

Tank caught Mitch's arm. "He's in bad shape man."

"I realize that," Mitch glanced my way. "She's my priority."

"Then I guess he's mine," he nodded.

We were halfway to my house before I brought it up. "What did he mean that he's in bad shape?"

"He means Ranger," he said quietly.

"I sort of figured that part out," I admitted.

He sighed, "He means that Ranger's not being Ranger. He wasn't aware of his surroundings. He didn't even see one of his own vehicles in the parking lot and we're parked two spaces down and the lot was pretty much empty. That's not like him."

I frowned and stared out the window. "What's wrong with him?"

"If I had to guess," he said quietly, "I'd say that it's because his wife left him."

My breath caught, "he'd have to love her for it to affect him like that."

"I've always thought he loved her," he said.

"Hmmm," I sighed and turned my attention to the passing scenery.

Before heading back to Unit later that night I went to the grocery store. Mitch left me in Lester's care for a while and went to say goodbye to Carrie. Then he caught up with us at my house so he could ride with us to the restaurant. He said he wanted to sit in the kitchen and watch me cook. I suspect it was also so he could drink beer and drown his sorrows without looking like an alcoholic. But…that's just a guess.

"What's up first," Mike asked donning an apron.

"The mushrooms," I nodded.

"Let's do this thing."

We divided the labor between us and in about fifteen minutes the mushrooms were sliding into the oven to broil just a few minutes.

"That was easy," Mike said. "I can't believe anything that easy can possibly taste as good as you say."

"They do," I grinned. "They're one of Ranger's…" The words tapered off and I bit my lip and my jaw worked as I fought for control.

Mitch rubbed the back of my neck gently for a few seconds while I gathered myself.

"Anyway…he loves them," I said with a wobbly smile.

"Jesus they smell good," Lester groaned. "Did you make enough for me?"

"Of course I did," I smiled. "Okay Mike…we have about three minutes."

"Already," he frowned.

"Yea," I smiled.

"We need wine," he clapped his hand together. "How about we open a nice merlot?"

"Good," I nodded.

"Good," he hurried for the bar. When he returned with the wineglasses, he had someone else in tow. He had my husband. I was just putting the skillet of mushrooms on the stainless steel counter when they joined us.

"Uh…look who I found," Mike said. He mouthed 'I'm sorry' to me.

I just nodded and reached for some small bread plates off the shelf behind us. "Where's the silverware."

"To the right," he nodded.

I went to get the silverware and when I returned they were pouring the wine. Everyone but Lester had a glass.

"You made the mushrooms," Ranger said blankly.

"We're thinking of adding them to the menu," Mike said quickly. "Stephanie thinks that if we change the menu just a little bit for women and for men who like salads that our client base will increase."

Ranger sighed, "Well, I can't speak for the salad, but if you serve the mushrooms here I'll be here to eat even if the girls don't come."

"If he comes, the women will come," I said quietly and began gathering ingredients for the next item on our list. I could feel his eyes following me as I made several dressings and put them aside to chill. I chopped some salad stuff and studied my ingredients.

He cleared his throat. "Er…you should make him the flounder with the er…crab and lobster stuffing. That would be a big hit."

"It sounds good," Mike frowned at Ranger and then at my stiff back.

"And," Ranger went on after a few seconds pause, "you should maybe make your mother's lemon cake."

I nodded but didn't say anything.

"And any of the cheesecakes you've been working on," he finally uttered. "The hmmm…the peanut butter chocolate one is really good and I love the pineapple one too."

I nodded again and tears dripped down my cheeks and onto the counter, "excuse me." I said and ran for the ladies room. I stood in the stall trying to get my shit together. This was why I couldn't live here after we were over. I couldn't do this. I wasn't strong enough to see him. I felt a constriction in my chest the size of Chambersburg and there was no letting loose from that. After I'd calmed down I rinsed my face and congratulated myself for my new minimal makeup policy. There was no mascara running down my face and no track marks on my face to hide. I dusted powder on my nose to conceal the red and took a deep breath and headed back for the kitchen.

I paused at the door when I heard their voices.

"Man…he's an idiot. Why doesn't he just tell her how he feels?" Mike sounded annoyed. I had a feeling that Ranger wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

"Are you kidding," Lester laughed. "He's big bad Ranger Manoso. If he admits to anyone that this is destroying him…he loses his rep."

"Well," Mitch's voice added to the mix, "if that's the rep he wants to have, then she's better off without him."

"You okay," Ranger asked in a whisper.

I jumped, "jeez…you scared me."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I do that a lot to you don't I?"

"If you'd gotten the bells," I started.

"No bells," he said and a hint of a smile popped up in his eyes. "Do you…do you think that you can find some time to talk to me? I mean, if it's okay. You just name the time and the place and I'll be there."

I frowned.

"If you don't want to," he backed away and the blank mask he'd perfected attempted to come down and failed. I could see the misery on his face.

"When do you want to talk to me?"

"Now," he laughed humorlessly, "but you're with friends and I don't want to interrupt that."

"Okay," I nodded. "Then…tomorrow or…"

"When you're done," he said hopefully. "No…I'm sorry. I don't mean to push."

I frowned again. Who was this guy? It wasn't the guy I knew before I married him and it wasn't the guy I was married to. I didn't know him. I took a deep breath, "all right. I'm just doing the salad and I brought the lemon cake already made. That was a good idea we had."

"Yea," he smiled. "That cake hooked me on sugar."

"Yea," I bit my lip.

His eyes focused on my mouth until he tore his gaze away. "Should I meet you somewhere or…"

"Why don't you stay and sample the salad dressings and the cake. I've never made you the salad dressing before. It's a new thing I was working on when… Anyway, you get to have some of Mom's cake."

He nodded. "If you're sure I won't be in the way?"

"Sure. You can take me home afterward and let Lester go."

He nodded.

They were quiet when we entered the kitchen. I suspect they heard voices and knew it was us and deliberately got quiet. Either they wanted to hear what we were saying or they just worried there might be a big bang.

They devoured the cake. Okay, the truth is that only Ranger ever said that his body was a temple. Mike and Mitch were both junk food junkies and Lester just liked to eat. I had one sliver of the cake and I only ate a couple of bites. Ranger finished my cake.

Mike sat back in his chair. "You've won Stephanie. We'll be adding all the things you brought to the table to the menu. But we need more. We need to test the fish dish and we need more desserts."

"I've got some ideas," I nodded.

"The cheesecakes," Ranger reminded me.

"Definitely," I agreed.

"So…how about we meet here again tomorrow night and test some more recipes?"

"You've got it," I agreed.

"We also need to find a way to pay you for this," he frowned.

"It's not important," I smiled. "I have money. I'm doing this for the joy of cooking."

"Oh," Lester moaned. "That was so bad."

"Shut up," I smacked at his arm with a grin.

"Well then," Ranger got to his feet. "I guess…"

"Err…yea," I took a deep breath. "Lester, Ranger has offered to take me home."

"Oh," Lester blinked.

"So…you are off the hook on babysitting duty tonight."

"No…"

"Yes," Ranger nodded. "I've got it."

Lester met Ranger's eyes steadily and after a few moments of silent conversation he got to his feet. "All right, then I'll see you tomorrow night," he leaned over to kiss me. "I'll see you later beautiful."

"Count on it," I smiled.

"And I am going to get some sleep and a ride home with Lester," Mitch nodded.

"And I am going to finish closing this place up," Mike grinned.

"See you tomorrow," I said accepting Mike's kiss on my cheek.

"I look forward to it."

"Me too," I assured him.

I followed Ranger outside and then in front of him to the truck. He was more aware than he'd been earlier that day, but I still wished I had a gun on me. If word was out that he was distracted, there was a good chance that he'd become a target for any of the lunatics on the street.

He settled me into the SUV and got into the driver's seat. "Are you sure about this Stephanie?"

"Sure," I nodded.

"Okay," he said and put the truck into gear.

I'm sure it would have been a difficult, but very useful conversation we were about to have. If only the restaurant hadn't started exploding as we left the parking lot.