Disclaimer - Not mine; wish they were. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.
Chapter Two
On Wednesday morning, Ranger, Stephanie and Bobby were on the RangeMan private jet to Atlanta. For Stephanie, flying in a private jet was the way to go. You can come and go as you please, and you don't have fool around with airport security, long lines, or delays. Plus you can stock the plane with all the Tastycakes you want. Well, not all the Tastycakes you want, especially if you have a husband that's into eating twigs and berries. But, all in all, it's definitely the best way to travel.
Two hours later they landed at a private airstrip, and descend the steps to a waiting black SUV. Danny, one of RangeMan Atlanta's newest recruits, took their luggage and stowed it in the back before retreating to a 2nd black SUV and driving away. Ranger got into the driver's side and they headed west.
Thirty minutes later the SUV pulled up to a large brick building that read Field's Transportation Services above the huge overhead doors. As they exited the vehicle, Stephanie could hear "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains blaring through one of the open doors. She had a puzzled look on her face when she turned to Bobby and Ranger.
"Sam always cranks up the loud metal when she's feeling stressed," Bobby explained. "When Brian was in the hospital, towards the end, she wore her IPod almost all the time because he was only conscious for a few minutes each day. Her nerves were shot and it helped to calm her. It was the only thing that kept her from constantly crying. Her current situation must be worse than we thought," he said with a serious expression on his face.
"Well, let's get in there and show her the Calvary is here" Stephanie exclaimed! "I already like her taste in music and I'm excited to meet her."
They walked through the gravel parking lot and into an open door. Ranger motioned to the small figure under the enormous commercial tractor and indicated it was Sam. Stephanie could see Sam was dressed in workman's coveralls even though only two legs sticking out. Bobby smiled and went over to the sound system and shut it off. They immediately heard her continuing to sing along with the song until she realized the music has stopped.
"What the hell? Damn it, Rocky, if this is your way of telling me to turn down the music, you better start running," Sam shouted, as she rolled out from under the big rig.
When she saw the three of them standing there, her face broke into a huge grin and her bright green eyes lit up. She ran over and jumped into Bobby's arms giving him a big hug while he effortlessly swung her around. Sam was only about 5' 4" and stood almost a foot shorter than Bobby, and she almost seemed to disappear in his massive embrace. He dropped her gently to the ground and she kissed his cheek with a loud smack before letting go.
"What are you guys doing here early?" she said in a breathy southern accent, "I didn't expect you for another couple of hours. You sneaky old pole cats."
Stephanie looked at Ranger and mouthed, "pole cat?".
"It slang for skunk, Babe."
Stephanie smiled and shook her head. She guessed she should be ready to learn a few new words while she was there.
Realizing she was ignoring them, Sam turned to Ranger and Stephanie.
"Ranger, it's so good to see you again" she walked over and hugged him before stepping back with an embarrassed gasp. "I'm so sorry, I'm probably covered in grease, and you always look so nice; even though the only color I've ever seen you in is black," she grinned.
"No problem, Sam. I've been covered in worse, and so has Stephanie, right Babe?"
Stephanie glared at him and turned her attention to Sam.
"Sam, it's so great to finally meet you. Ranger has told me so much about you. I'm really impressed."
"Impressed?" Sam questioned. "Believe me, it's not that impressive. Look at me, I'm covered in filth and I'm sure my hair looks great too," she said, removing her ball cap to reveal her wavy, auburn hair.
"Nonsense, I'm talking about everything you've been through in the past three years." Sam shrugged her shoulders, and turned up her palms. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," she said like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Stephanie quickly reached out and hugged Sam even knowing her current state of dress. When they released from Stephanie's impulsive show of emotion, Sam laughed, and said, "Well, Ranger, I can certainly see the big heart you told me she has. I always knew it would take somebody special to catch the big, bad Manoso."
Before anybody could speak, the sound of loud arguing came into the garage, as a 30-something man and another man about 60 come through the door. "I'm telling you old man, you don't know shit. This ain't the good old days of trucking. You are out of your league. You should just leave it to the young studs like me."
Hearing the discord, Sam spun around to address the two men. "Damn it! I've had enough of the two of you bickering about which one is the better driver. I swear to God if you two don't cut it out, I'm going to put you both out on the road for so long that even your own families won't recognize you when you get back home!"
"Sorry, Sam" the younger man replied. While the older man said quietly, "Got it boss lady" before they both retreated outside. Sam looked sheepish, and said, "Sorry, I have to be a bad ass sometimes. Otherwise they'll run right over me." She looked tired and stressed. Stephanie couldn't believe that such a tiny person ran a trucking company, dealt with hyped up male egos, and still had time to play mechanic.
"No problem, Sam," Bobby smiled, "I know the real you, and you would never hurt anybody intentionally." She smiled back at him, and mouthed 'thank you'.
"So," Stephanie said, "it's 11:30 and I'm thinking I need some lunch. We haven't eaten since this morning, and I'm sure you know what Ranger's idea of breakfast is." As if on cue, Stephanie's stomach started to make itself known.
"Gotta feed the beast, Babe," Ranger smirked. "Sam, is there a good place we can have lunch to catch up, and discuss what's been happening around here?"
"Yeah, there's a pretty good meat and three place around the corner, or if you're in the mood, we can always have BBQ," Sam responded.
"What's a meat and three?" Stephanie asked totally confused.
"It's a place where you get your choice of meat, three sides, plus cornbread or a biscuit, tea and dessert." Sam explained. The fact that dessert was included hooked Stephanie right away. "Sounds good to me," she said.
"Okay, just give me a minute to get out of these and freshen up," Sam stated while she started shrugging off her coveralls. Stephanie watched Bobby as Sam wiggled her ass out of the work clothes and a slight smile showed on his face. Oh goody, Stephanie thought to herself, playing matchmaker was going to be fun!