Chapter 13
Time had rolled around again for a dinner at my parent's house. I decided to spare Adam by not making him accompany me. We hadn't spoken since that night. I figured he was trying to wait a few days before contacting me again. Make me sweat or something? I was sure sweating all right. I was worried that he'd found out that I'd squealed to Connie and Lula.
As I was driving down my parent's street, I could already see my mother waiting on the porch. She had an 1,000 yard pissed off Burg mom stare. When I pulled into the driveway I could see my grandmother standing in the doorway.
"Go set the table, mother," my mother said to Grandma Mazur. "I need to talk to Stephanie alone."
"I won't butt in" Grandma insisted. She wasn't going to let herself miss whatever it was that was going to befall me.
"Go. Inside," my mother said through her teeth. And my grandmother pouted her shriveled lips, and walked away.
"So, what's up?" I asked innocently.
"It was only your second date!" my mother scolded. "Have you no restraint!"
"I don't see how this is any of your business," I told her.
"When I get 7 calls from my social circle about it," my mother said. "It becomes my business."
"It was an accident, mom,"
"An accident? How can something like this be an accident? Things like that are conscious decisions!"
"You know what I meant," I told her.
"The fact that everyone knows about it," my mother said aloud, more to herself than to me. "How did it get out?"
"You better than anyone should know how the Burg works," I said. "You tell one person in confidence, they betray you and tell someone else. And Kablowwy! Everyone knows."
"Why would you tell anyone this?"
"Accident?"
"Stephanie Plum! What is wrong with you!"
"That's a very good question," someone's voice said behind me. Joe Morelli.
"What on earth are you doing here?" my mother asked him. I wanted to know the same thing.
"I was walking Bob," Morelli gestured to the big fat orange lab. Bob was panting heavily and looked like he wanted to jump on me, but his leash was too short. "I saw you two talking and thought I'd come over and say hello." My mother and I just stared at him. "Hello," he finally greeted us.
"If you don't mind," my mother said to him. "My daughter and I are having a private conversation, Joseph."
"It's not that private if I can be honest with you, Mrs. Plum," he said. "Your neighbors on the corner were talking about what you two were saying when I walked past them."
"Oh dear," my mother said looking devastated.
"Frank wants to eat now!" my grandmother called from the house.
"We should go," my mother told me.
"You guys start without me," I told her. "I need to talk to Joe for a minute." My mother didn't bother arguing with me. She went inside, and I'm pretty sure headed for the liquor cabinet.
"What do you know?" I flipped around and growled at Morelli. He just smirked, and leaned in to whisper.
"Heard you had a lousy night recently, brought to you by your new boyfriend."
"…Lies," I claimed.
"Really? That's not how everyone is telling it," Morelli snickered.
"Well 'everyone' needs to get a hobby," I said. That made him laugh again.
"Not to sound cocky…" Morelli began to say.
"Who? You?" I joked.
"But if you want to remember what it's like done right, give me a call."
"I won't be calling you any time soon," I told him.
"Well, the offer still stands," he told me.
"I hope you enjoy disappointment," I said rudely.
"Apparently you don't mind it," Morelli said in the same tone. And then he and Bob walked away.
"Adam is not a disappointment!" I called after him. Morelli didn't respond. I finally went into my parents' house. They had already started eating, and were awfully quiet. When they saw that I was inside, they immediately jumped into conversation amongst themselves. They had been listening. Great.
After dinner, Grandma and Mom immediately got to work cleaning up. Dad sidled over to the television. And I followed my sister and her family out the front door. Kloughn and the girls immediately went to the car. But my sister stayed on the porch with me.
"Albert isn't good in bed either," she told me. I was confused about what had brought this up, but I wasn't surprised by what she said. "But I've never told him that. He thinks he's just fine, and I have no desire to let him think otherwise."
"Okay?" I said. I could see she was trying to relate to my predicament.
"But Albert is my husband, the father of one of my children and the other on the way. He supports me, has no desire to hurt me, and he's the kindest man I've ever been with."
"Your point?" I asked.
"Just make sure that when you decide if you want to stay with Adam or not," she said. "Put the sex aside and think of everything else."
"I will," I said. I had indeed thought about that. And I unfortunately was still dealing with indecision.
When I got home, all my lights were out. There was no extra beer on the table. I had no messages. I hadn't seen Ranger in a while. It felt odd. I went into my bedroom to lye down. I had a lot to think about. I had started to rest my eyes, when I started to feel uneasy.
"Ranger?" I dared a guess and called out. I felt my bed tremble. I opened my eyes and saw Ranger standing right next to my bed. I sat up against the bedpost, and invited him to join me. He chose to sit in the armchair in the corner.
"I thought I'd give you a few days before I visited you again," he said.
"I appreciate that," I told him. "But still, I do have a doorbell. You might want to try it sometime."
"I'll consider it," he said. But no smile followed his joke. He was serious again.
"What is it this time?" I asked. "I'm sure you know what went on here the other night?"
"Yes," he replied. "That's why I chose to sit over here."
"Why?" I asked. "Afraid you'll get Adam cooties?"
"You haven't washed the sheets yet."
"Well, that seems like a pretty good reason." I chose then to stand up and strip the bed. Ranger didn't move from his seat. "So, what's on the docket for our heart to heart this time? A lesson on birth control? Sexually transmitted diseases?" He didn't answer me. "Jealousy?" I baited. I let that one sit for a bit.
"His ex-girlfriend is in town," Ranger finally said. I froze for a moment. "He met with her right after he left your apartment the other morning."
"You had someone watching me," I stated.
"I was watching," Ranger wasn't afraid to admit.
"You know, if it weren't for the fact that I'm slightly terrified of you," I said. I was lying. I was a lot terrified. "I would report you to the police."
"Then you'd have 3 of your love interests involved in your business," Ranger said. "And that's a square I know you have been avoiding." I had to give him that.
"Why are you so interested in my business?" I asked him.
"I'm being protective," he said.
"Adam isn't an FTA, or a nut job out to get me" I told him. "He's a harmless man."
"Boy," Ranger called him.
"Man," I fought back.
"You know my opinion of your relationship with him," Ranger said.
"Yeah, and I know you're jealous too," I said.
"I won't deny that," Ranger admitted. "I haven't stolen a kiss from you in a long time though. I've been respectful enough not to do that."
"I appreciate that," I said. "And I appreciate that you care."
"And I know that you aren't sure you even want to be with Adam," Ranger made me freeze again.
"I won't deny that," I copied him. "But only I can decide this."
"That is true."
"Then why won't you butt out?"
"Because I love you."
"Too bad…"I tried to tell him, but he had moved like lightning and had me in his arms. We kissed. It was pretty easy to tell the difference between his kisses and Adam's. Adam had been a fine kisser; he hadn't screwed up that one. But Ranger was better. And I reacted differently to Ranger's kisses. Ranger had more sway over me. We had more chemistry. I knew that if we kissed for much longer I'd be naked in seconds. But, Ranger chose to stop our make out session before anything happened.
"Just thought I'd give you something to consider in your decision process," Ranger whispered. I was still in his arms.
"And what is that, exactly?" I finally was able to say.
"Does Adam make you feel this way?" Ranger knew me too well. Damn him. He let go of me and went to my linen closet. He got out new sheets and started making my bed for me. I stood there thinking. I'd been doing that a lot lately, but Ranger's kiss had made me think a lot harder. I broke out of my trance and saw that my bed was completely remade.
"Thanks," I said.
"For the bed making, or the help?"
"Both," I said. I looked him in the eye. "I think I know my decision now."
"Glad to have helped," he said. And then he left.