I do not own JE's characters. I just like to play with them.
A/N: This a new story. Brace yourself, Babes, this is a TART. I welcome your reviews and input. The rating is for future scenes.
Lester POV
Leaving Mitch was so fucking hard. She was so beautiful and brave. I rub my finger where my ring had sat and sighed. It would be a long mission, but it was a worthwhile mission so I was all in. The taxi dropped me off at the gate to Ric's house in Deal. It was a half hour long ride, but it was worth it.
I paid the taxi and went into the house and dropped my bag in the guest room I was using. I knew the guys would be in our version of a war room. We had protocols we followed and we were leaving tomorrow, so today we packed.
Ranger looks up when I come into the room. "He returns. Did you say goodbye?" I smile at him.
"No, I said I will see you later." Bobby and Tank laugh. Robert Brown was our medic and my partner and Pierre Thibodaux, or Tank was Ranger's partner.
"Did she believe you?" This was from Antonio Chavez, or Axe. He was to partner with Michael Ramsey who we called Ram.
"Of course she believed me. I was telling her the truth. Just drop it, Axe." I gave him a glare. Ranger cleared his throat.
"Focus gentlemen. We go in for our last orders at 0500. If you have any changes to make to your paperwork at that time, do so. Here are the checklists for packing. Make sure you have all the necessary supplies. We will lay down our cover in the first few months, and after our first check in, we will get any revisions to our orders." We all nod at him and get to work.
Hours later, I log onto my secure email and send a note to Mitch. I tell her that I miss her already and that I am proud of her for going after her dream. I remind her that she can send any emails she wanted, but that I may be slow to respond. I told her that I loved her and asked that she take care of my wife for me.
I closed the program and unpacked my bag. Inside was the sash from her wedding dress. I smelled it and rubbed it between my fingers. I immediately had a flashback of undressing Mitch and of our activities after that. She promised that the next time we made love; we would not need condoms because she would use the birth control shots.
Damn I love her. I do not need pictures of her to remember what she had looked like in her bikini and dancing with me on the beach. I had to shake these thoughts and get into the right mindset, but I said a prayer anyway. I prayed for her safety and that I would come home to her.
It was time for our ritual of getting just a little drunk and playing I never. We sat in the lounge and had shots of tequila lined up. Tank started it with, "I never got arrested." We all laughed and drank a shot and poured another.
Lester was next with, "I never got shot." We repeated the gesture.
"I never fell in love." I drank and so did Bobby. The guys just stare at me.
"What?' Ranger decides to take the question.
"Who did you fall in love with?" I smile and shake my head.
"I would rather not say, man." He was not letting me go though.
"Tell us about her, Lester." I sigh.
"She is smart, funny and beautiful. She has attitude and she does not take shit from anyone and she is good at revenge." I laughed remembering her running over that guy.
"So you think she will wait for you, man?" I smiled a huge smile.
"Yes, Tank. I really do. Ok, who is next?" Axe went next.
"I never slept with a married woman." Heh heh. I drank my shot along with Ram.
I went next. "I never got beat by a girl." I drank along with Bobby.
He said, "Pool, what about you?" I fist bumped him.
"Go karts, man. She is a demon." Ranger went next.
"I never had a threesome." He drank and so did Ram, Tank and Bobby. They stared at me again.
"Santos, we saw you leave the bar that time with two women and the next day they were hugging you and telling you to call them. Take your drink, man." I stared at them.
"I did not sleep with them. They had boyfriend troubles and they wanted to talk. Nothing happened. I am not lying and that is enough drinking gentlemen. Take your vitamins and drink your water." They grumble and we eat stew that Carlos made. He is a good cook.
We went to bed and we were up at 0400 running five miles and then we dressed and loaded the cars and headed to the base. I stopped and turned in my paperwork. I gave them the address of Mitch's lawyer to use as a contact. I signed some more forms and met up with the guys in the conference room.
By noon, we were ready for our flight. I sent one more email telling Mitch that I love her and that I will think of her and we were airborne. I made it through one day so far. I just have 720 more to go.
Stephanie POV
"Mr. Grisham, here are copies of my marriage license and name change documents. Please file them, but quietly." He smiles at me.
"Congratulations, Stephanie." I nod and continue with my list.
"I am moving to Georgia for a couple of years and I would appreciate it if we could just communicate via fedex or emails. Also, I want an account to use with just the interest from the investments. Can you do that?" He nods.
"Yes, of course. Anything else?" I take a deep breath.
"I need you to keep my husband's name confidential. He may correspond with you or you will be notified if there is an emergency with him. I will give you this phone that has the number to another burner phone. You can put it in my file and call me if you need me, Mr. Grisham."
"Okay. Your grandmother knows you better than everyone else and she had me create a black amex for you that is tied to her account just in case. Here you are." I take the card and wipe away tears. Gram wanted me to escape whether I got married or not.
'Thank you, Mr. Grisham." I take the card and put it into my bag. I stand up and put my papers away.
"Have a good day, Stephanie and I will file the papers for you."
I drive to the Golden Nugget and get some food at the buffet and sit in Gram's favorite booth. Eventually she will come on by. I eat seafood and I get an alert on my email, so I open it and read Les' message. I will miss him, too.
"Hey Baby Granddaughter! Don't you look all aglow this fine afternoon!" I knew she would notice.
She sits down with her plate and kisses my cheek.
"Girly, I delivered those notes like you asked and it was like a shit storm hit town. The wedding is supposed to be tomorrow and the scandal is huge!" She drinks some of her lemonade and grins at me.
"Somehow the pictures got sent to the newspapers and now Dickie Orr will not be running for district attorney like he planned. People are saying you left him because of the cheating and your mother is drunk out of her mind. She has a living room full of wedding favors and she has that fugly wedding dress there, too." She eats a biscuit.
"Your father is very blasé about the whole thing. It is like nothing gets through to him. Your friend Mary Lou came back and told everybody that you guys split up and that she does not know where you went. She said you wanted to take some time to think. That plus the letters and everyone knows the wedding is called off. Good job. Now tell me all about who you married. Nice rings."
I blush and tell Gram all about Lester. She asks about his size and I refuse to tell her. "Look, Stephie, I am glad you got away from all of that madness. You don't have to make the same choices as your mother. She likes all of that recipe nonsense. I enjoy cooking, but it is not my life. Now, where are you going?"
"Gram, I am going to Georgia to get my masters' degrees with my friend Lula. I will keep in touch with you, but I will probably be gone for two years. Maybe you can come and visit us sometimes." She hugs me.
"Live your life. I want you to follow your dreams. I love you, Stephie. I never did agree with the way your mother raised you girls. Your sister became her clone and she only treated you decent when you played house or something like that. You deserve better. Now give me another hug and get going. I want lots of postcards. Have fun, Stephie!"
I hugged Gram and left feeling great. I knew she would be happy for me. I drove to Walmart and bought a cooler and some supplies. It was road trip time. Next stop, the ATL!