A/N: All recognizable characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I use them for fun and not profit.

Portions of italicized flashbacks are taken from Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

Chapter 17

The dinner Ella left for us was, as always, wonderful. Ella was one of the few people who'd been aware of the pregnancy. I suspect she was also aware of the marriage, but I hadn't asked Ranger. She always included dessert for me and tonight was no exception. She had included a serving for Ranger as well and dessert looked suspiciously like wedding cake.

We ate in an easy silence sharing smiles and occasional touches. I was remembering our lovemaking after the shower and before the dinner and I was hoping there would be more lovemaking later. I was pretty sure Ranger was thinking along the same lines.

As I picked up a forkful of cake, I asked, "Is this wedding cake?"

"I think it is, Babe. It's Ella's way of saying welcome to you." He took a forkful of cake and held it toward me. I opened my mouth and in an unusually playful mood he smeared it on my nose. I scooped up a piece of cake in my hand and rubbed it across his lips. I lunged forward and licked it off his face. We were kissing and cake was flying and it was fun. It was more than fun. It was erotic. It was cake and Ranger and I couldn't tell where one wonderful taste sensation ended and the other began.

After a while, Ranger reluctantly pulled away from me. "Babe, I have to go down to five for awhile. I was out of the office all day and I have a couple of things to take care of. And I want to check with Tank. No news isn't good news regarding Shirley Blanco. Do you want to come down with me?"

"No," I said. "I'll stay here. I have some unpacking to do and I want to call my grandma to hear about the wedding plans."

"Babe, your grandma is probably down on four. I don't think Osbaldo has found a place to live yet." I smiled remembering Lester's vow to find them their own love nest.

After Ranger left I quickly cleaned up our dinner mess and called Ella to thank her for the cake. She came to the apartment and took away the dishes, but not before giving me a big hug.

I wandered into the bedroom and began unpacking the few things I'd brought with me. I'd stayed with Ranger before, but in the recent months I'd been totally absent. It was, in some ways, unbelievable we were together when just a few days ago I was sure it would never happen.

I laid on the bed in my thinking position and remembered the words Ranger and I'd had after we'd made love that very first time.

"I can't do this," I said, "This isn't going to work."

"I know," Ranger said. "You need to repair your relationship with Morelli. I'm being a good guy right now because it suits my purposes, but I'm an opportunist, and I'm attracted to you. And I'll be back in your bed if the Morelli time-out goes on for too long. I could make you forget Morelli if I put my mind to it. That wouldn't be good for either of us."

We thought we could walk away from the feelings we'd had for each other and we'd both tried. Ultimately we couldn't do it, and trying to walk away had hurt us both. I was happy we'd given in to what we felt for one another and I was happy to be moving forward. But I was worried too. There was no plan for our future. Life for us would happen just as it did, and I hoped we'd both be up to the challenges we were bound to face.

My phone woke me up and I rolled off the bed to find it in the bottom of my pocketbook. It was Morelli. "Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm staying with Ranger, Joe. It's a complicated story, but we're together." There was a moment's silence.

"Together?"

"Yes," I said. "Together. I'll be living at Haywood permanently from now on."

"Well, that'll save me a call. You can report what I'm about to tell you to Ranger. We were able to get good prints off the pen Ranger gave us. They match the prints from your door and the business card. It's Shirley Blanco. Now if we just had Shirley Blanco. At least you'll be safe at RangeMan."

"Joe," I said. "There's more. Ranger and I are…married. Not too many people know, but I wanted you to know." Again there was silence.

"I didn't see that coming."

"Joe, I…It happened almost eight months ago. It didn't look like it was going to work and we never told anyone. We've recommitted and we're going public with it. I told my family today. I wanted you to know."

"Well, I'm not sure what to say," Joe responded. "If you're happy then I'm happy for you. Good luck, Cupcake. I think you're going to need it." He disconnected. I looked up to see Ranger standing in the doorway.

"Morelli," I said. "They confirmed the prints on the business card and my door belong to Shirley Blanco. She's my stalker."

Ranger walked to the bed and laid down next to me. "And she's missing. Tank is working with the police, but no one's seen her. Until we get her I don't think you should be alone. I don't share Fenoglio's opinion she's not dangerous."

He rolled over onto me and rested his weight on his elbows. "Was Morelli upset with our news?"

"Maybe a little," I said. "It will be the talk of the Burg as soon as the talk of Grandma and Osbaldo dies down."

"Good," he said. "The sooner everyone knows the better," and then he lowered his body against mine and I forgot all about Morelli, the Burg and Grandma Mazur.

I awoke to see the pale light of a winter morning sneaking in around the draperies. There was a hand low on my belly and I became aware of warm breath teasing the curls at my temple. Ranger's lips traced a soft path across my cheek, past my jaw line and settled into an insistent barrage on the sensitive area at the base of my throat.

"Time to rise and shine, Babe," he murmured. I arched my back and rolled over to face him, burying my face against his warm chest. His arms went around me and I snuggled in as close as I could. The throbbing hardness I felt against my lower abdomen was proof Ranger was already up. The intimacy between us was easy and languid, with desire blooming and growing as naturally as breathing. I wasn't worried at all about the physical aspect of our relationship, but even as my lips and tongue traveled over a flat male nipple I had that little niggling thought we'd never really talked this whole thing out. As Ranger pulled me on top of him I pushed that thought into a remote corner of my brain.

A while later, after we'd showered and dressed, I ambled to the kitchen to find Ella had delivered bagels, fresh fruit, and egg white omelets. "How's this going to work?" I asked Ranger. "Is Ella going to do all our cooking?"

"It will be whatever way you want it, Babe. This is a work in progress and we'll figure out things as we go." Good news, because I was very content to let Ella do all the cooking.

Howdy was once again assigned to Stephanie duty. He drove me to the bonds office with a stop off at the Tasty Pastry. Ranger was spending the morning concentrating on finding Shirley Blanco.

I was more worried than I wanted to let on about Shirley. I hoped she meant no harm to me. Joe thought she was just trying to scare me away from Anthony and, while I trusted his instincts, I found myself remembering the old saying about a woman scorned.

My main concern of the morning, though, was telling Lula and Connie about Ranger and me. I wanted them to hear about us from me and not a malevolent Burg gossip monger and there were sure to be plenty of those.

As we pulled in front of the bonds office, I turned to Howdy. "I'll probably be here for awhile," I warned him. "You can come in, or if you want you can go back to RangeMan and I'll call you when I 'm ready to leave."

"Ranger told me you'd try to get rid of me," he said. "I'll just wait here in the car. After this I'm supposed to take you to your apartment so you can supervise the movers."

"The movers?"

"Yeah, Ranger said he's got a crew of movers coming to help you pack. You can take what you want to seven and they will store the rest."

"He never said a word to me," I said feeling a little manipulated and not knowing quite why I felt that way. It was going to take awhile to get used to being half of a couple. I hoped my current stalker situation wasn't going to set a precedent in Ranger's mind. I wasn't used to having my life planned for me. For the hundredth time I thought, we need to talk.

Howdy stayed in the SUV as I grabbed the bag of donuts and headed into the bonds office. Lula looked up as I walked in the door. "Which one was it?" she asked.

"Whaddaya mean?" I asked back.

Connie walked in from Vinnie's office. She turned to Lula, "My money's on Mr. Poughkeepsie."

Lula came over to me and stared into my eyes. She turned to Connie and said, "Yeah, you might be right. I don't think it was ole Anthony and Tank would've told me if it was Ranger."

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Come on, Stephanie," Lula said, "It's as plain as day. It had to be a man who put that glow in your cheeks and that spring in your step. We're just trying to figure out which one.

"Okay," I said. "You're right. But it wasn't Mr. Poughkeepsie or Anthony. You'd better talk to Tank about his communication skills, Lula." I held up my hand and showed them the rings sparkling on my finger. "It was my husband." It took a few minutes for the squeals to die down and then we sat, ate donuts and I told them about Ranger and me.

I told them mostly the truth, but I couldn't talk about the baby. I didn't know if I'd ever share that with anyone other than Ranger. Then I told them about Anthony, Shirley and Terry Gilman's role in delivering the lingerie.

Connie said, "I can't figure out what we're missing, but something is going on with Terry that just isn't right."

"You mean with Terry and Joe?" I asked.

"Yeah. Yesterday Lula and I saw her with Mooch and they were having one heck of an argument. We tried to get close enough to listen but we couldn't do it."

"Mooch told you Terry was trying to get him to come to work for her uncle," Lula added, "but me and Connie don't believe that."

Connie turned to me and asked, "Do you think Terry is after Mooch?"

"No" I said. "I don't think she's after him personally. Maybe she's talking to him for her uncle."

"I think it's more likely Mooch is after Terry to see if he can work for her uncle," Connie replied. "He's always looking for an easy way out. Why do you think they call him Mooch?"

Lula and I considered the point and Connie continued, "Terry has been shining her headlights at Joe Morelli since she was in high school," Connie said. "She played with him for awhile and then when he came back from the Navy and became a cop he tried to distance himself from her. Then she got serious about him. You were her only real competition and…" she hesitated and I knew what was coming. "I think Joe may have occasionally had something going on with her when you guys were in one of your 'off' periods."

"And maybe," I said, "when we weren't in one of our 'off' periods."

Connie seemed relieved at my response. "Well, I can't prove it, but I always suspected he wasn't entirely faithful to you. It's a Morelli family tradition. I dated Mooch for awhile in high school, until I caught him in the last stall of the girls' locker room with Yvonne Keesick. Anyway, I don't think he's being pursued by Terry. I think it's the other way around. He's doing his best to take Terry away from his cousin. I just can't see Terry giving up Joe for Mooch when she's finally got what she's been after."

I hoped Connie was wrong and right. Joe loved Terry in a way he'd never cared about me. I wanted him to get a chance with her. I hoped Mooch wasn't trying to come between Joe and his woman because Joe and Mooch were close. I was equally hopeful Terry wasn't after Mooch. If any part of Connie's supposition was true it would be a hard hit for Morelli.

"Tell her the rest," Lula said to Connie, but before she could, the bonds office door swung open and Joyce Barnhardt flounced into the room.

She looked around and curled her upper lip back to show two blindingly white porcelain caps. There were bruises showing through her concealer under her eyes and her upper lip was grotesquely swollen. I didn't know if we were seeing the remnant of her recent face plant into concrete or the result of some new cosmetic procedure. Either way it wasn't a good look for her. "Where's Vinnie?" she asked, her gaze sweeping over Lula and me and settling on Connie. Her swollen lip and new teeth gave her a beaverish appearance and I heard a snort from Lula before she turned away.

"He's at the cop shop," Connie said. "Was he expecting you?"

"No," she said, "but he'll be happy to see me. I have a little surprise for him. A gift for the kindness he's shown me." She patted her purse and I wondered what kind of a sex toy she had inside.

"You better hope Lucille don't find out about his kindness or your gift," Lula said. "Or else Lucille might have a little surprise for you."

"Shut up, fatso," Joyce yelled at Lula. "When I want your opinion I'll ask for …" Joyce broke off in mid-sentence to stare out the window. We turned to see what had grabbed her attention. "My, my," she continued, "this may be my lucky day."

Outside the bonds office, Osbaldo Santos-Ayres was walking around to the passenger side of his sleek black Mercedes. He was tall with broad shoulders and no stoop of age. Grandma had really snagged a good-looking man. He gave an impression of breeding and wealth. "What a handsome, elderly gentleman." Joyce was looking at him like he was lunch and I realized she probably did see a meal ticket.

"Stay away from him, Joyce," I warned, "he's taken." Osbaldo opened the door and my Grandma Mazur slipped out of the car.

"That's your granny!" Lula exclaimed.

"Yeah," I said. "And that's Osbaldo. I told you she hooked a hot one, and he just bought her an engagement ring."

They entered the bonds office and Grandma came up to me. "Stephanie, we've been trying to catch up to you this morning. I've got pictures of bridesmaid's dresses for you to look at and I wanted to introduce Baldy to Lula and Connie."

"Well let me introduce myself," Joyce said as she sidled up to Osbaldo. "I'm Joyce Barnhardt and I'm very happy to meet you. Perhaps we could have drinks sometime."

The distinct sound of a safety disengaging turned us all around. Grandma stood, arms extended, with the long-barreled revolver she'd bought at Carlucci's yard sale pointed at Joyce's head. "Step away from the man," she said. "He's already taken."

"You wouldn't shoot me, you senile old bat!" Joyce exclaimed.

"Sure she would," Lula said. "Joyce, you're out on bail for reckless discharge of a firearm and there's not a court in the nation who'd think Granny was guilty of anything but self defense." Joyce looked around the room to find everyone staring at her, everyone but Osbaldo. Osbaldo was staring with strange intensity at Grandma. Joyce apparently decided it was time to cut her losses. She stepped away from Osbaldo and walked out the door muttering obscenities about crazy old women.

Osbaldo looked at Grandma with a gleam in his eye. "Eddie, I didn't know you packed heat. That's a very attractive look for you and I'm feeling, well, uh, I'm feeling like we should make a stop back at Lester's apartment. Soon." Grandma giggled and slipped the safety back on. The gun disappeared into her pocketbook. She held out her hand to Osbaldo. He took it and they headed for the door.

"Catch you girls later," Grandma said. "At my age when an opportunity like this comes up I've just got to grab it."

Osbaldo winked at me and smiled at Connie and Lula. He bowed slightly in our direction. "Sorry to be so abrupt, ladies. Eddie's correct though. At our age we must live by the motto 'Carpe Diem'." They hurried out the door toward the Mercedes.

Connie, Lula and I stood in stunned silence for a moment.

Lula said, "Carpet what?"

"Carpe Diem," I replied. "Seize the day."

"I think they're gonna seize more than that," Lula said with a big smile.

I turned to Connie trying to remember where our conversation had been heading prior to Joyce's arrival. "What were you saying?" I asked.

Connie shook her head and grinned. "I was saying I had a date with Bert last night. We were just going to a movie. I told him about Mooch and how I thought he was up to something. Bert suggested we stake out Mooch. He's still living with his Uncle Leo, so we went to Leo's house and parked out front and waited to see what would happen. It was a lot more fun than the movie."

"You think stakeouts are fun?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was great. I never get to do the fun stuff like you guys do. I'm usually stuck in the office. We had a bottle of wine and some cheese and crackers and it was like a romantic picnic, until Mooch left then we had to put the wine away to follow him. And we saw proof that the Morelli men can't be satisfied with one woman. He went clear to Newark and picked up a woman and brought her home with him."

"Who'd he pick up?" I asked.

"I don't know," Connie said, "but Bert and I drove by Leo's this morning and Mooch's car still hasn't been moved." She flipped open her cell and handed it to me. "Here's a picture of them." It was a grainy photo showing Mooch and a woman standing close together. It looked like they'd been standing under a street light when the photo was snapped. Even though the quality wasn't good I could easily recognize Mooch. I took a closer look at the woman.

I plunged my hand into my pocketbook and pulled out my cell punching the button for Ranger.

"Yo," came the familiar response.

"Yo, yourself. I found Shirley Blanco."