OK, so first I apologize for being absent, second this is a very short chapter but I am currently composing the next one and hope to have it up later tonight and Ranger will be in it I promise! Third I just finished Tricky Twenty Two...I am soooooo mad! So I had to write to forget the ending. I dont have anything against Morelli, I just prefer Ranger... a lot. So without further ado, here is a quick snippet to tide you over until I finish the next installment.
As always, I don't own the characters
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews, I apologize I cannot respond to them all, I just work full time and I am a full time student so I have to manage my time somewhere, but please know that I appreciate them greatly!
We dropped Lula off at the office after swinging through Cluck-n-a-Bucket. Santos turned to face me and a smile spread across his face.
"You want me to take you to the boss man or am I taking you home to hide?"
"I'd prefer to hide." I sighed and sat back in my seat.
"Would you like help with your capture? I have the day off tomorrow, I can have Hal run some addresses and help secure the guy."
"Thank you Lester, but I'm taking the day off tomorrow also. And I really have to do this one on my own."
"I get it, but I'm here if you need me." He put the car into drive and pulled back out onto the street.
"Thank you for understanding I said," looking out the window at nothing in particular, just thinking blankly as the building passed by. We were at my apartment in no time; I thanked Lester and walked myself up to my apartment. I was about to put my key into my door when the door swung open.
"Young lady where have you been. Marianne Viltuski's sister's cousin saw you on the side of I-95 in a field! Marianne's daughter works at the veterinary clinic downtown answering phones, why can't my daughter have a normal job. Why can't my daughter be married?"
"She almost was." My grandmother piped in from somewhere behind my mother who was taking up the entire doorway, glaring at me.
I pushed past her into my apartment and heard her semi-slam the door behind us.
"But Joseph got some girl knocked up and now he's the one getting married, that wedding should have been your wedding." Grandma Mazur pointed at me and I let out the hundredth heavy sigh of the day.
My mother took in a sharp breath, "It should have been your wedding. It was supposed to be your wedding." She stopped for a moment and then looked straight at me again with fervor in her eyes, "It still could be her wedding Mother." She glanced toward my liquor cabinet, not that there was normally anything in it. She had no idea I had had it fully stocked these days, mostly of wine and chocolate, but stocked none the less.
"It's not too late to get him back, put on a dress and march yourself over to his house. That man loves you!"
"We've had this discussion Mother, Morelli and I are over." I interjected.
"I don't care if you love him or not, I don't even care that he had some illegitimate child; you would make a good stepmother, and Joseph has a responsible job and a house and even a dog. It's past time you settled down Stephanie." She looked calmer now and thought she had put reason into my head.
I heaved a sigh and gave a direct "Mother, drop it"
She looked horrified, taken aback as though I'd just slapped her.
"That a girl Stephanie!" My grandmother shouted, swinging her arm and fist in a 'good job' pendulum motion. My mother stood wide mouthed.
"He is marrying another woman, it's over" I finished.
Yes, I loved him, Morelli and I had a long history together. Morelli had relieved me of my virginity and introduced me to the world of awkward sex and later on, the world of amazing sex. Yes, four months ago we were 'engaged to be engaged'. But there was never a ring and there were never vows, and there would never be either for us. And I was finally okay with that. That does not mean I am ready to go to his wedding and watch him kiss someone that was not me. And I couldn't go solo, that would look bad and the entire population of Trenton would be talking about me. And who would I take? Ranger? Morelli would be pissed, he hates Ranger; and as mad as I once was at Morelli for this pain I had endured via our breakup, I couldn't do that to him.
"Please go home" I looked to my mother and grandmother. I don't know if it was my stubborn treatment of her or the look that I could feel on my face of complete defeat and sadness, but my mother didn't say another word as she and grandma exited my apartment.
"Tell me all about that trip you had today later; I'm sure there's a pip of a story behind it." Grandma waved goodbye as she closed the door behind them. I wandered over to my couch and fell into it face first, letting out a muffled scream…or was it a cry? Into the cushions.