Disclaimer: The characters belonging to Janet Evanovich are used strictly for entertainment purposes.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is shorter, I felt that it would get too long if I kept going and I wanted to dedicate the next chapter to the conversation at hand. Thanks so much for all your support, readers and reviewers. I've really enjoyed this ride with you and am happy I was able to provide entertainment to you. :)
A huge thank you to M and Alf for your constant support and pushing me to be better!
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Connie stood up. "I think now would be a good idea for me to run Lula back to the bank. I'll be back in a few."
Stephanie flicked her glance from Joe's face to Connie's and said, "Okay. You don't mind?"
Connie smiled and turned her gaze to Joe's. Stephanie watched as their eyes locked, held for a beat, and then they both smiled a secret smile full of love and tenderness. "No, I don't mind," she answered without looking away from Joe.
Guess not. Stephanie knew for certain Joe and Connie were right for each other by the way they looked at each other. Stephanie had never seen that look in Joe's eyes. Not with her, not with anyone.
The ladies gathered their things and headed toward the door. Joe gave Connie a not-so-small see you later kiss and then took her vacated seat. "So," he said with hard eyes staring into hers.
"So," she repeated slowly.
"A band, huh?"
Stephanie nodded.
He sucked in a breath through his teeth and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table top. "You happy?"
"More than I ever realized was possible," she answered.
He gave a slight smile and shook his head. "We never did fit in the right places, did we?"
Stephanie gave a quick puff of air out her nose. "Not where it mattered. You two fit where it matters."
"Yeah, we do." He gave her such a happy smile she couldn't help but smile in return. "I just have one question."
"Shoot."
"Could your life be happier?"
Joe's question caught her off guard. "Wow, that was direct. I can think of a hundred questions you might have asked instead of that one."
He leaned back in his seat and gave her a lazy smile. "Why waste time on a hundred other questions?"
Stephanie stared at him for all of thirty seconds, neither blinked. Joe's face showed amusement, Stephanie's annoyance. "Okay," she finally said. "I could be happier." He grinned and opened his mouth, but she held up a finger. "I didn't say it was going to happen now, if ever. I just said I could be."
The smile left Joe's face. "I know Ranger screwed up, but I can see now that he loves you." Before she could say anything, he kept on. "The way I figure it, you have a choice. You can choose a life that is just 'okay' or the life that will fulfill your dreams." He leaned forward slightly and rested his elbows on the table. "Look, I know you can be stubborn, but–"
"What the hell is it with people calling me stubborn today?" She stiffened her back in anger. When he stared at her, she slumped. "All right, I can admit I'm stubborn, but I have my reasons."
Joe shook his head slowly, never looking away from her eyes.
Deciding Joe wasn't the person she wanted to speak with about this topic, she changed gears. "I hear congratulations are in order."
Joe brightened and then smiled slightly. "Yes. I always thought that–" he broke off and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "She and I do fit."
Stephanie beamed a smile at him. "I'm really happy for you." And she meant it.
Joe grinned. "Hey, uh, Connie and I were talking and we wondered, that is, if your band is free that weekend, would you play at our wedding reception?" While he spoke, he reached behind him and pulled out a thick linen envelope from his back pocket and handed it to her.
She recognized the expensive stationery as an invitation and sent him a wry grin. "It won't be weird?"
Joe gave a slight, one-shouldered shrug. "I'm over it all. I've found the right woman for me. I want what she wants and she wants you there for her day. You're my friend and I want you there for my day, too."
Stephanie smiled and gave a quick nod. "How about if I finish the song I'm working on and sing it for her as she walks down the aisle? It could be my wedding gift to both of you. I mean, I'll check our band's schedule for the weekend to play at the reception, but I want to give you both a unique gift, too."
He grinned. "It's all I ask." They stood to leave and gave each other an awkward hug. "See you later, Stephanie."
Joe's question stayed with Stephanie throughout the rest of her day. Could she be happier? She thought about it during her brief stop at the police department and through the strangely calm dinner with her parents and Grandma Mazur. By the time her mother served the pineapple upside down cake, Stephanie decided her visit to Rangeman couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Her fingers dialed Lester's number as she drove away from the little house in the Burg with the two women standing on the porch. "Hey, I just left my mom and dad's. Mind some company?" she asked when he picked up.
She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered. "Sounds great. I'll open the gates for you."
"Be there in fifteen." The irony of her words wasn't lost on her as she closed the phone and turned in the opposite direction of Mary Lou's house.
Several minutes later, the Rangeman building loomed up ahead of her. She shook off the nerves that began to settle in her stomach and tightened her grip on the wheel. The gates were open and waiting for her by the time she reached them.
She parked and got out of the car to find Tank and Lester stepping off the elevator. The sight of them brought a rush of emotion that had her running. She flung herself into Lester's arms. He gripped her tight against him and just held her for a minute. She pulled back and looked at Tank, then found herself embraced by his thick, muscular arms.
"Hi," she said when she was finally standing on her feet in front of them and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
Lester ruffled her hair. "Hey."
"You guys wanna hit Shorty's or something?" If she and Lester hadn't patched up their friendship over the phone, including Tank wouldn't be possible. As it was, she and Lester were back to normal and she knew they'd be spending a lot more time together.
Lester hitched his thumb toward the building. "Actually, I asked Ella if she'd make the hazelnut coffee you love. She's whipping up a quick batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookies for you." He grinned.
Stephanie looked at the building and then back at Tank and Lester with a look of hesitation.
"He's out with Julie tonight," Tank said and pressed the button to open the elevator doors. He fixed her with a questioning look as they waited, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
She pressed her lips together and looked directly into Tank's eyes. "I'm going to talk to him, but I just had dinner with my parents. I'm still trying to figure out why it was so easy and feel maybe tomorrow would be best."
Tank accepted her answer after a short internal debate. "Okay, tomorrow then."
When they all got to Lester's apartment, she smelled the warm hazelnut smell of the coffee and the sweet chocolate smell from the cookies and closed her eyes to inhale the familiar scents. "Ah, everyone should walk into a room with Ella's handiwork awaiting them."
With coffee cups in hand, they sat in Lester's living room discussing Stephanie's day. She told them about Joe, stopping in to say hi to Eddie and Carl at the police department, and the visit with her family. "My parents were different. I expected my mother to make me feel bad, but she just seemed," she thought for a minute, "happy to see me. Grandma Mazur was definitely happy to see me and talked my ear off. She kept patting my hand, very unlike her in some ways, and yet, just like her. You know?"
Lester laughed. "Did you show her pictures of your band?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Yes, and before you ask, no, she didn't ask me about any of their 'attributes'. Actually, she seemed more docile than normal. I get the sense that they were disappointed in me and I hate that."
The men didn't have a response to her statement and she leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I told them I was sorry for my selfishness. Mom told me she understood why I left. Dad was quiet, as usual, but he did tell me he was glad to see me. Grandma Mazur just told me I missed a lot of gossip." She gave a small laugh. "I guess some things never change."
"So, all in all, it was a good visit?" Lester asked.
Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, they were accepting of me and my life now. Not what they would have wanted, but they don't really have a say in my choices anymore. Mom also didn't say one thing about Morelli and I was grateful for that."
A look passed Lester's face she couldn't interpret, but then it was gone. "I'm glad it went well," he said.
Tank smiled. "Sorry we missed your performance on Saturday. I babysat Mary Lou's kids so she could go."
Lester piped in. "I had a takedown. Couldn't get out of it."
Stephanie reached over and squeezed Lester's hand as she laughed. "You, Tank? Mary Lou's kids? I can't see you offering to watch someone's kids." She shook her head with a huge grin on her face.
Lester hooted. "He didn't. My boy here knocked Ranger on his ass the night you left town when he told Tank what he said to you. Ranger punished him by making him watch her kids."
Stephanie turned her shocked gaze back to Tank. "You punched him?"
Tank gave a curt nod. "He was a stupid son of a bitch that night. Let him know just what I thought of him."
Stephanie could only stare at Tank in open-mouthed horror.
Ignoring the moment, Lester said, "Ranger said you're amazing."
His words broke her out of her shock and she smiled at Lester. "I wish I'd thought to bring my guitar. I'd sing my song for you." Her cheeks warmed and she realized that even when Ranger wasn't around, his compliments brought her joy.
"You wrote a song?" Lester asked.
Stephanie nodded. "Yeah. It's a work in progress, but I have most of the lyrics down."
"Just a minute," Lester said. He stood up and left the room. Stephanie looked at Tank, who shrugged. A minute later Lester returned with a beautifully polished, tan Spanish guitar. It had a beautiful sunburst pattern hand painted around the sound hole. "Will this work?"
"Les, this is beautiful." She ran her hand over the sleek, smooth surface and tested the strings, adjusted the tuners on a few strings, and then strummed a chord. "It has a great sound. You play?"
His eyes turned sad and he looked down at the coffee mug he'd picked up. "No, uh, that was my dad's. He used to play it all the time, serenading my mother and singing bedtime songs to me. I'd be honored if you would play it for me." She looked in his eyes and knew that the guitar was his connection to the parents and the family life he lost.
She wouldn't have denied his request for the world. Keeping her gaze locked onto his, she began to play the opening chords to her song. When she opened her mouth to sing, she sensed others had entered the room through the front door Lester hadn't shut.
Her audience didn't make a sound as she sang her song, pouring her heart out into the words. Instead of making her sad, however, the song strengthened her resolve to speak with Ranger. She wanted to hear his side, to let him explain what happened. Her mind wandered over the lyrics and the memories that had inspired them and she realized it wasn't enough to sing about them and dream about them anymore. She wanted to find out if it was possible to actually live them again.
A low hum started in her lower back and worked its way up her spine as she sang through the final chorus and she knew Ranger had arrived. The energy in the room changed and she felt him standing behind her as she strummed the final chord and let the notes fade out.
Stephanie stood up and gently handed the guitar back to Lester, who had suspiciously glossy eyes. He stood and held the guitar out to the side as he hugged her. "Thank you. It meant more than you know to hear his guitar make music again."
Her hand came up to rest on his cheek and she leaned in to kiss the other. "Anytime I'm around. All you have to do is ask."
He pecked her cheek swiftly and left to put his guitar away. With a slow, deep breath, Stephanie turned around to see Ranger and Julie standing side by side behind the couch where she'd been seated. "Hey," she said to Ranger. She moved her eyes to Julie and smiled. "Hey Julie."
"Hi," Julie smiled. "Hal said you wrote that song. Did you?"
Stephanie nodded. "Yes, I did."
"Wow! How come you didn't sing it on Saturday?" Julie asked.
Slipping her hands into her pockets, Stephanie smiled. "They asked us for upbeat numbers." Her eyes slid over to Ranger and she was surprised by the mixture of emotions swimming in the depths of his eyes: sadness, pain, uncertainty, and his pride over her accomplishment. That familiar look was the reason she'd come back, despite the reason she'd given herself and others. She walked up to him and asked, "You have a few minutes?"
Ranger turned his head to look at Julie. He looked calm and cool, but Stephanie noticed the hand clenched at his side. "Do you mind staying with Lester for a while?"
Julie smiled, a happy expression on her face. "No problem, Dad. Ella's cookies are here."
He turned back to Stephanie with fire in his eyes and said, "All the time you need."