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Carlos' POV

Stephanie and I were up and moving around pretty early the next morning. I assumed that she would want to sleep in but she was raring to get more searches going before Ron arrived. As soon as 8 AM rolled around, I felt that it was early enough to call my brother. If he was out of the country or in another time zone, I'd just leave a message.

Alex answered after the 3rd ring. "Carlos, is that you calling? I haven't heard from you in a while. The folks have kept me up-to-date with the RangeMan happenings. I'm glad things are going well despite your troubles."

"Thanks Bro. I actually called to see whether or not you will be in town much nearing the end of September."

"Let me see," I could hear him flipping through a book. "I'm here the last half of the last week in September. Why's that?"

"I'm getting married the last week of September and I was checking to see if you were available to stand up with me."

"Wow Carlos, I'm really happy for you. I can't wait to meet the lucky lady. I'm also honoured that you asked me. Listen Carlos, I don't want to disappoint you by missing a flight or something and letting you down at the last minute. I will do my best to be there for the wedding, but I don't think that I am the best choice to stand up with you bro. My life is too unpredictable and I just don't want to cause problems."

I smiled sadly and said, "I understand Alex. I really appreciate that you'll try your best to be there. Please keep this to yourself. We're telling the rest of the family Friday. If you come to dinner at Ma and Pa's that night, you can meet Steph."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm leaving first thing Saturday morning and heading to Tokyo. I'll try. If I can't make it, I'll be home in two weeks. Maybe we can set something up then."

"Sure. Talk to you soon."

I hung up with my brother and thought about what his life was like. He worked for a pharmaceutical company and he spent most of his time abroad. He is married, but I'm not sure he and his wife are in the same place more than one week out of four. I never want my marriage to be like that. I will have to make sure that Stephanie can come with me if I need to travel or try and send another person in my place.

I called Bobby and get a 'Hell yeah' response. Lester asked if he could be the Best Man so if something happened to me or if I had cold feet, he could step in and marry Steph. I laughed and said that that post would be filled by Tank. Lester was disappointed, but when I reminded him that there was no way Lula would stand back and let Tank marry Stephanie. I also invited Bobby and Lester to the BBQ this evening. Bobby would come and Lester might arrive if his flight landed on time. Dan was back at work and in full swing up in Boston so Lester wss coming home a day early.

My next phone call was to Hal. He was very honoured to be asked and very shy about standing up in front of so many people. The only thing that convinced him was the free custom-made suit and paid time off to attend any wedding related fitting or errand. In reality, Hal was very pleased to be asked. I don't think he expected it at all. That's mostly why I asked. He's a nice guy, he's known me almost as long as the core team, and he's always had my back. He's an employee, but he's also a friend. He would also join us for the BBQ.

I walked past the library and heard the printer going. I assumed that meant that Babe had finished another search. I popped my head in the office and asked, "Can I get you anything Babe?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I could use a bottle of water. I'm a bit thirsty."

I walked out to the kitchen and pulled 2 bottles out of the fridge and returned to the library. I handed one to Steph and took a long pull from the other. After my thirst was quenched, I looked over at Steph and said, "How many searches do you have left?"

She looked at her list and said, "After this one that is almost complete, I have 2 more. There are 5 left on Lula's list, but we'll share them until they're finished. I'm just going to get the 2nd one started on the spare laptop."

I nodded and smiled. I then kissed my Babe lightly and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. I went into the kitchen and pulled a few things out of a cabinet. If I was going to make some salads for the BBQ tonight, I needed to cook a few things ahead of time. I know what you're thinking. I don't cook. You're wrong. I can cook. I just don't do it very often.

I wanted to have a few different salads, but I didn't want one of those unhealthy fat-filled potato salads that Ella usually makes. Instead, I was going to make three very healthy salads. The first and easiest could wait until later. It was just a green salad with a bunch of different vegetables in it. The one I'm going to make now is a bit more complicated. It requires 2 things to be cooked ahead of time and let to cool in the fridge for a few hours.

I pulled out a small pot and filled it ½ ways with water and set it on the stove to boil. I next pulled out a frying pan and started cooking some quinoa. Once the water was boiling, I dumped in some red and wild rice. I let both cook for 15 minutes and drained both, setting them in a bowl on the counter to cool. I'd stick them in the fridge a little later.

I washed up and was drying my hands when my phone rang. I looked at the caller id and smiled as I answered the phone.

"I'm just about there Batman. Shall I park in the garage again?"

"Sure thing. I'll go out and open the door now. See you soon Lula."

"Damn straight."

I laughed and hung up the phone. I double-checked that everything was put away and headed out to the garage. I opened the door just in time for Lula to pull in. I watched her jump out of the car and walk towards me. I don't know why, but I felt it necessary to hug and kiss this woman on the cheek. When she pulled back from me, she looked at me and said, "Damn, Batman. Are you going soft on us?"

I shook my head and said, "No. I've just come to realise your worth."

Lula grinned and said, "It's about damn time."

I laughed and said, "Steph's in the library. I'll bring in some coffee in about 30 minutes or so. I am just going to check that we have everything we need for the BBQ. The guest list has increased a bit and I'm not sure we have enough food anymore."

"Why? Who all did you invite?"

"Ron and the kids, you and Tank, Bobby, Lester, who will probably bring Fiona, Hal, Ella, Luis and, uh, I think that's it. So including me and Steph, that's 14 in total."

"Tank is coming early so he can stop and get whatever you need. I'm sure Ella would also be happy to help."

I nodded and said, "I'll make a few phone calls and make some arrangements."

Lula smiled and headed to the library and disappeared behind the door. I returned to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I put the rice mixture into the fridge and looked around the kitchen. The second salad was easy. I would leave it till a bit later and returned to the small sitting room where I had left my list of customers.

I thought about the volunteers who would be meeting us the next night and pulled out a notepad and started writing things down that came to me. RangeMan would be legally liable if something happened with one of these volunteers. As a result, I wanted to minimise the risk as much as possible.

When I was finished with my list, I phoned Tank.

"Hey, how are things out at the beach today? It looks like it's going to be a nice and warm day."

I smiled and said, "It sure is. Your boss might even let you off early so you can come out and enjoy the sunshine."

I heard Tank chuckle and went on to explain the reason for my call. "I was thinking about the volunteers we are going to get and I think we need to have a few stipulations put in place."

"I was thinking the same thing, but I haven't come up with much so far. I was going to talk to you about it later this evening."

"Well, let's discuss it now. I want this finalised in time to be printed along with the other consultant requirements that we'll hand out tomorrow night."

"OK. Go ahead Ranger. I have a pen at the ready."

I smiled at his silliness and said, "First of all, it will be mandatory for all consultants to wear a RangeMan uniform and a RangeMan issued Kevlar vest. Ours are better than the ones the police wear and offer much more protection."

"Got it, what's next?"

"All consultants must wear a RangeMan issued gun and prove that they can pass our basic firearms test. They are not allowed to wear any police issued weapons, but they are welcome to have a backup personal piece as long as the weapon is registered and has been inspected and passed by our team. We have to follow the law here as we will be held liable if anything happens."

"OK, next."

"All consultants will have a RangeMan partner. In other words, no two consultants can be out on patrol together unless an emergency is declared."

"Anything else?"

"That's all I have for now. Do you have any other ideas?"

"Actually, I do. I don't think that it is a good idea for the consultants to help out with skip tracing. Having a cop involved could actually hurt our chances because they'd be less likely to want to do what it takes to bring the skip in, if you know what I mean? I think they should stick to patrols, and responding to alerts."

"That's a good idea. Add that to the list."

I waited a few seconds and then Tank said, "Done. What do we want to say about shift-work and hours?"

I thought about that and said, "I think we'll stick with 4-hour shifts for now. I don't want anyone coming off a 12-hour shift and then directly onto a RangeMan shift. So, I guess they can't work more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period, including a 4-hour shift with RangeMan. My preference would be a 4-hour break beforehand as well, but 2 hours would be acceptable."

Tank was writing and then said, "What about the maximum number of RangeMan shifts in one day?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some cops work 6-day weeks for a month and then 4-day weeks for a month. That gives them a 3-day weekend where they could work for us if they wanted."

"Oh, I see what you mean. In that case, I'd approve 8-hour shifts. One shift per day."

"OK, I'll get this typed up along with all of the other Contractor stuff and bring a copy for you to review later. Is there anything you need me to pick up?"

"Yeah. I have invited Bobby, Lester and Hal. Steph invited Ella and Luis, so there are more people than we originally intended. We need some steaks, burgers and buns."

"OK. I'll pick some up and head over around 2."

"I'll likely be down at the beach, but Steph will be at the house. Just call when you're close so she knows to expect you."

I was just about to hand up when I had one final thought. "Wait. Who is on Martine duty today?"

"Um, I think Woody and Zip are with them. They will be relieved by Binkie and Ram later today."

"Can you contact Woody and Zip and tell them that they'll be joining us for the BBQ but they're shift will need to be extended. Also let Binkie and Zip that they're shift will start later. We'll call them so they are at Ron's place when they get home."

"No problem. I'm sure Woody and Zip will be fine with the extended shift if it involves the beach and food."

I laughed and hung up. I sat there and smiled and realised that there was nothing that I needed to do. I leaned back on the sofa and let my mind wander. I was thinking about my family and how they would treat Stephanie when I brought her to dinner on Friday. The thought of my Babe jolted me and I remembered that I had promised to bring some coffee to the ladies.

I jumped up and regretted it immediately. I must have jarred or twisted in a way and spend the next couple of minutes stretching and grimacing as I made my way to the kitchen. I poured three cups of coffee and put two on a tray and carefully carried it into the library.

Both women looked up at me as I entered the room and looked at me gratefully. I handed Lula her coffee and then I walked over to my Babe and placed the cup next to her. She watched me as I did this and frowned. "Are you alright Carlos?"

I nodded and said, "I twisted my back a bit and it hurts a bit."

She smiled up at me and stood. She took hold of my hand, grabbed her crutch and then led me out of the room and into our bedroom. She forced me to sit on the bed and then reached around me and pulled out a bottle of pain medication. She handed it to me and said, "Take two of these now. Ron and the kids will be here in about an hour and I don't want you to be hurting or in a bad mood because of the pain."

I took the bottle from her hand and leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I just held her close. After a few minutes, she shifted off the bed and said, "Why don't you lay down for a bit and let the meds take effect. I don't want you overdoing it and ending up back in the hospital."

I looked at the woman beside me. She was looking at me with a stern face, but it was also filled with such love. I smiled at her and agreed to rest. She hobbled back to the library. I grabbed a bottle of water and my phone and then retreated to the bedroom. I took two pain pills and then stretched out on the bed. I must have been tired because I was asleep within seconds.

Ron's POV

Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to get three kids ready for a day at the beach? Stephanie and Carlos were expecting us around 11. The plan was to have a picnic lunch at the house with Stephanie, Lula, Carlos and our muscle. Tank would join us a little later and then we'd all head back up to the house for a BBQ. I was excited for the kids, but I was also looking forward to spending some time with some adults.

I didn't really notice it when the kids were around, but I was feeling a bit isolated and I was beginning to crave some adult interaction. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids and I love being with them and spending time together. It's just that I'm used to doing it with a partner. I'm used to doing things with Rachel.

I didn't want to dwell on those thoughts so I checked and double-checked the bags the kids had left at the door. They each had a towel, a swim suit, a change of clothes and a sweater. I was satisfied with this and went to make sure I had everything. I had all the same things as the kids, but I also had a big bottle of sun block, a hat and my sunglasses.

As I picked up the hat, I called out to the kids and asked them each to find a hat. All three came running in a few minutes later and stuffed a hat into their bags. I smiled at them and asked, "Are you just about ready?"

All three grinned and shook their heads. "What's wrong? I thought you were looking forward to spending some time at the beach and visiting Stephanie and Carlos?"

Julie stepped forward and said, "We are looking forward to it. Ella gave us some art supplies and we decided to make something for them. We're almost done. We just need another 10 to 15 minutes."

I laughed and said, "OK. I'll load up the car and come back in to check on your progress."

Emma started to turn and then stopped. She looked at me and said, "No Daddy, you can't see. Just wait here and we'll be out as soon as we're done."

I took my time packing the bags in the back of the SUV. I put my sunglasses in the front and then went into the kitchen and put some water into a cooler. It wasn't that long of a drive, but I wanted to be prepared. After 15 minutes of waiting, the kids came out with what looked like some sort of a banner. They hurriedly rolled it up and put it in a shopping bag and then filed out to the car.

Zip and Woody had explained the whole 'defensive driving' routine while we waited for the kids. I was just supposed to follow the route mapped out by them. If they spotted anything, they'd call me en route and give me instructions as necessary. We pulled out in a caravan of sorts and headed to Point Pleasant.

I saw Woody pass us and let us pass him several times during our journey, but we made it all the way to the beach house. We both parked in the drive way and walked to the front door. We didn't even have to ring the bell because Carlos opened the door as if he expected us. I thought for a second and realised that Zip had probably called when we got close.

Carlos smiled at us all. He let both Julie and Emma give him a hug and then he shook hands with the men. Diego seemed to think he fit into that category and Carlos took it very seriously. Carlos even started calling Diego, 'Dude.'

We were given a brief tour of the house but Carlos kept us away from the library. He explained that Stephanie and Lula were hard at work in there and we didn't want to disrupt them just yet. They'd come out and join us for lunch shortly. We went out back and looked down at the beach and I had to agree, the view was spectacular.

A little while later, Stephanie and Lula came out of the library and joined in on the fun. The kids were excited to see them and they all went inside to help get lunch ready. I stayed out on the patio and took in the view. Carlos came out a few minutes later to join me. He looked over at me and said, "Ron, there's something I wanted to ask you."

I nodded and he said, "I was wondering if you'd be one of my groomsmen in our wedding."

I don't know how to explain how surprised I was by this. I looked at him for about 30 seconds before I managed to find my voice. "Are you sure you want me to stand up with you?"

Carlos nodded and said, "I know we have an odd relationship. You married my ex-wife and have raised my daughter as if she's your own, but I still consider you a friend. I don't have a lot of friends. In fact, if you accept, you'll be the only non-RangeMan groomsman."

I was touched and Carlos and I had gotten a lot closer over the past month. I looked at the man that I used to be wary of and said, "It would be an honour to stand up with you Carlos."

I watched as a hint of a smile erupted into a huge grin. Carlos laughed, shook my hand and pulled me into a manly hug. I laughed and asked, "Who else do I have the honour of sharing the stage with?"

Carlos listed off the names. Tank was his best man and Bobby, Lester, me and Hal rounded up the men. Stephanie's sister was going to be her matron of honour. Lula, Julie, and two women I hadn't met yet were going to be the bridesmaids. I was a bit surprised by the number of people involved. "What happened to a nice quiet wedding?"

Carlos laughed and said, "Well, when Stephan and I sat down and started planning, we both realised something that surprised us. We wanted it all. We want the big wedding party. We want a nice reception and we want a wonderful day to remember."

I could understand his feelings. I thought the same when I married Rachel. I must have frowned because Carlos asked me is something was wrong. I shook my head and said, "No, I'm fine. I just remembered my own wedding and having similar thoughts."

Carlos apologised for bringing up bad memories, but I got over them quickly when Carlos changed the subject. "All of the bridal party are going to meet at Pino's on Saturday afternoon. Do you think you can join us?"

"I was going to go up to Boston on Friday. I only want to go for a day, so I should be back in time. What's up?"

"it's a bit of a surprise, but it requires the entire wedding party to be present."

"OK. I'll be there. I'll have to bring the kids though."

"The kids are part of the wedding party. Besides, we could keep the kids for you and meet you there."

I agreed to this plan and shook hands with Carlos to seal the deal. We then went in search for the kids and lunch.

Stephanie's POV

As soon as Lula and I walked out of the library, we could hear the kids. Emma came running and hugged both Lula and me. She seemed to want to drag me into the kitchen, so I let her. The three of us came into the kitchen and I saw why she was so insistent. Above the table, the kids had hung a huge banner that read, Congratulations Mama Steffie and Papi Carlos. There was a picture of a sparkling ring, a picture of some doves and some flowers drawn all around the words. It was very sweet and the thoughtfulness of the whole thing actually brought tears to my eyes. Julie saw the tears and rushed over. "Are you sad that we called you Mama?"

"Oh no Julie, I love it. I really love it. I'm not sad at all. I'm just so happy to have you all in my life. Did your Papa see this?"

Julie nodded and said, "He had a similar reaction to you, although he's too manly to actually tear up." I hugged Julie and then Diego came over and hugged me. Normally he insisted on a handshake, but today he was in a hugging mood and I took full advantage of it. I didn't let him go until he squirmed and whined. As soon as he got away from me, Diego looked up at the banner and said, "We argued over whether or not to call you Steph or Steffie. Obviously Emma won. She also won the Papi or Papa debate as well."

Diego grinned and walked away and I went to help get lunch set up. We had a choice between eating at the dining table and eating outside. After a unanimous vote, we carted the food out to the patio table and we all squished ourselves around the table. Lunch today was pretty basic. We had a few loaves of whole wheat bread and platters of cold cuts, sliced cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. There were a few sauce options as well, but most of the adults avoided the mayo and opted for mustard or nothing at all.

We talked as we all ate our fill. Ron explained that he was flying to Boston Early Friday morning and returning Saturday. We discussed having the kids coming and staying with us. We'd pick them up on the way home after our consultant recruitment drive. Ron agreed, the kids were excited and we were looking forward to spending some time with them.

When everyone was finished with their sandwiches, Woody made a box of treats from Ella magically appear. At first, I was disappointed because I'd have to abstain from a fat and sugar filled delight. That is until Woody explained what was in the box. It was fruit and nut bars made from dates, raisins and nuts. They were very healthy and they really hit the sweet spot. No, I did not mean not *that* sweet spot. I meant that after eating one of them, I no longer had a sugar craving.

The guys were all going to take the kids down to the beach, but because Lula and I still had some work to do, they volunteered to clean up after lunch. I gladly took them up on this offer. Lula and I returned to the library after I had a quick kiss and a hug from Carlos.

We left our final searches running over lunch and we were happy to see that they were finished by the time we returned. This meant that we could concentrate on reviewing the information and ruling out as many of the people as possible. We printed out the last two searches and then moved away from the desks and sat on the sofa. We laid the folders out for each search in front of us and started to review them.

I would review a folder and pass it over to Lula. If neither of us caught anything, it would go in the reject pile. If something stood out to either of us, we'd put it in another pile and revisit it later. We were so engrossed in our task that we didn't hear the kids and the guys leave. We also didn't hear the phone ring and we didn't hear Ella or Luis when arrived.

At 4:30, Lula stood and stretched a little. We had reviewed over ½ the files and not a single file held anything of interest. I looked at Lula and said, "Let's call it quits for the day. We can go through the other ½ of the files tomorrow."

Lula agreed and we took the organised the files and put them away for the night in a lockable cabinet. We walked out into the kitchen to find Ella and Luis hard at work getting everything ready for the BBQ. I looked at them and said, "You didn't need to do that. You could have gone down to the beach and spent some time with the kids and the guys."

Ella smiled at me and said, "We were down there for a little while, but we thought we'd be of more help up here. Tank brought some extra food because Carlos invited a bunch more people, so we walked down with Tank. After a bit of sun and fresh air, we came back up."

"Oh, that's good. A day like today shouldn't' be spend indoors."

Lula and I delved in and helped get things ready. We sliced a bunch of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and various other burger toppings. Ella looked in the fridge and saw the bowl of rice that Carlos made earlier. She asked me what it was for and I shrugged and said, "Carlos wants to make some sort of salad. He said it would only take a few minutes."

"He did mention that he wanted to make a broccoli salad and a green salad. I can make them now and leave this other one for him."

Lula and I continued to slice vegetables and put things on platters as Lula brought some water to boil to cook the broccoli. I'm not a huge fan of the green stuff, so the idea of a broccoli salad doesn't really appeal to me, but who knows. This broccoli salad might turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread. Who was I to judge? Oh wait. It's going to be a healthy salad and so far, most healthy things don't taste all that great.

Lula and Luis carried a bunch of chairs and then the dining room table itself out onto the patio. Luckily the table wasn't too heavy and it was easily manoeuvrable. I looked around and noticed that the banner that the kids made was gone. I was a bit worried that something had happened to it. Luis must have seen me looking around because he reassured me and said, "Don't worry Steph. We moved the banner outside. We thought it would be more visible since we'll spend the evening outside."

With that mystery solved, I looked over at Lula and asked, "Would you like something to drink? I'm pretty sure we have loads of beer, wine and a few other soft drinks."

Lula nodded and said, "A glass of wine wouldn't go amiss. It's probably healthier than beer. I'm going to do my best to stick to my diet tonight."

"Good idea. I'll join you with some wine, red or white?"

I looked in the fridge and found a few bottles of chilled white wine. I also saw an open red on the counter, breathing. Lula looked at both options and said, "Well, the red is already open. I guess I'll have a glass of red."

I looked in a few cabinets and found some wine glasses. To save time later, I pulled out a few other glasses and put them on the counter. I poured 2 glasses of wine and handed one to Lula. She touched her glass with mine and we both took a sip. Since neither of us are big wine connoisseurs, we both shrugged and took a second sip.

Lula laughed at my expression and said, "I'm guessing you think it tastes pretty good too, but you don't want to sound stupid because wine isn't your forte."

I nodded and probably turned a bit red at the admission. I don't' know why I felt embarrassed because Lula was just as unknowledgeable about wine as I was, but there you go. I was embarrassed. I picked up the bottle itself and thought that reading its label might help. Nope, it didn't help one bit. The only thing I learned was that it was made in California and was a merlot.

My phone rang just as I was putting the bottle back on the counter, so I answered it without bothering to look at the caller id. "Hey Beautiful, Ranger told me to call you and tell you when we were a few minutes out so you weren't too surprised to have us at your door. We're just about to pull up in front of your house."

"I'll meet you at the door. You'll probably get there before me at my slow pace."

Lester laughed and hung up and I grabbed my 2nd crutch and swung my casted leg towards the door. I was right, Lester did beat me. He opened it just as I was about to reach out and grab the door handle. Luckily for him, he opened it slowly enough for me to back away from the door. I say lucky for him because if he'd caused me to fall, Carlos would probably have taken offence.

As soon as Lester was through the door, I found myself lifted off the floor and wrapped into his arms. "I'm so glad to see you that you're OK. When I heard about the plane and that you and Boss man were in the hospital, I was really worried."

"I'm OK Les. You can put me down now, just gently because I dropped my crutches."

Lester put me on my feet and then bent to pick up my crutches and handed them to me. It wasn't until then that I realised that Fiona was also standing in the open doorway. I smiled at her and said, "Fiona, it's great to see you again. How are you?"

"I'm great Steph." She reached around my crutches and gave me a huge hug. Lester left us at the door and went to greet Lula, Ella and Luis. I looked back at Fiona and smiled. She looked a bit sheepish and said, "As you probably already know, I decided to take a chance on Lester. So far, it's not been bad. We're taking things slow, but he seems OK with that. We've been on some pretty spectacular dates and I've held out on him and he hasn't run away yet."

I smiled at Fiona and looked over towards Lester. I wasn't surprised to see that he was looking our way, but I was surprised to see that he wasn't looking at me. He was just staring at Fiona with such a sappy look on his face. I turned back to Fiona and said, "I don't think he's going to run away Fiona. I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. I think you may have tamed the reigning playboy."

Fiona laughed and said, "I won't lie to you, but I hope that's the truth. I'm completely and totally falling head-over-heels for that man. I was so afraid of letting him into my bed that I forgot to guard my heart. Now I'm terrified because he has the power to crush me."

"I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way about Carlos. We stayed apart for so long because we were both afraid. I can't promise you that it will be perfect with Lester, but it could be. You just have to decide if he's a chance you're willing to take."

Fiona sighed and said, "I guess you're right. Being with him terrifies me, but being without him terrifies me more. I guess that's my answer really."

I hugged Fiona and agreed. "I guess you do have your answer. Now go tell him."

I watched as Fiona walked over to Lester. She took his hand and pulled him aside. A few seconds later, I saw her mouth move, but I couldn't tell what she said. It must have been good because Lester's face went from his usual cute smile to his devastatingly handsome full-on grin. He pulled Fiona towards him and kissed her with so much passion that I was afraid they would start a fire. When they finally came up for air, they were both flushed and the rest of us were wolf-whistling and clapping.

Lester and Fiona turned to face us with beaming faces. Lester said, "Fiona has just agreed to move to Trenton so we can try a real relationship. I'm so happy."

While we were congratulating them, my phone rang again. This time, it was Bobby. He was calling to tell me that he was about to knock on the door. He also told me that Hal was with him. I told him to just come in. Hal and Bobby joined us a few seconds later and Lester shared his news with them. They all did that complicated handshake thing and I pointed them towards the patio and had Luis carry out a cooler filled with bottles of beer.

The party was in full swing by the time that Ron, Carlos, Tank, Woody, Zip and the kids came back. I directed them to the various bathrooms and they all had a quick shower to rinse off the sea salt. The kids went first and then the men. Carlos came down about 20 minutes later. He decided that he'd shower last, and he gratefully accepted the bottle of water and the pain pills I handed him. I was guessing that a day in the sea would have been hard on his still healing body.

Carlos took the pills and then carried his water outside. He talked with each of the guys and checked to see if each of them could be at Pino's at 2PM on Saturday. Hal looked a bit apprehensive because he said, "I'm on monitor duty Saturday from 12 to 4."

Carlos smiled and said, "Not anymore. Tank will find somebody to cover for you. I need you all here Saturday at 2. If you can be there at 12, lunch will be provided."

"What's this about Ranger?" Bobby asked.

"It's a bit of a surprise. It's more of a surprise for Stephanie, but you men might appreciate it as well."

It was agreed that the guys would be there and we moved on to firing up the BBQ and taking turns with the tongs. Tank insisted on cooking the steaks, so we let him have his way. I didn't mind because Tank cooked a mean steak. The kids all voted for a burger or a hotdog, so plenty of each was added to the grill. Food was in the process of being set out and Carlos disappeared inside to put his salad together.

The two tables were filled with bowls of salad, buns, burger and hot dog toppings and all of the table sauces you could possibly imagine. I was looking at the spread and wondering how Ella could make broccoli so appetising. "Ella, what did you do to that broccoli? It actually looks edible."

Ella laughed and said, "I added some onion, a few quartered grapes, some turkey bacon and some homemade low-fat salad dressing."

"Well, it looks delicious. I can't wait to try it."

The very next second, Carlos carried out his salad. It also looked great. I asked him what he put in it. "It's got red rice, wild brown rice, quinoa, dried cranberries, almond pieces and a lemon dressing."

"Wow. It sounds healthy and tasty."

Carlos winked at me and handed me a plate. "Dig in then."

As I was adding a spoonful of the rice salad and the broccoli salad, Carlos told everyone to help themselves to the food. They let Lula, Ella, Fiona, me and the kids go first, but as soon as we were out of the way, the guys descended on the food as if it was their last meal. I'm so glad that Tank brought a bunch of food because we'd have definitely run out.

We ate, talked, joked and had a general good time. We watched the sunset and as soon as it got dark, Ron decided that he should take his kids home. It was 9PM after all. Ella and Luis also made moves to leave, saying that late nights were reserved for the young. We said our goodbyes and then I looked around at the people who remained. There was the core team, Fiona, Lula and me. The guys were chatting about something or other so I offered Fiona and Lula something to drink.

We all gathered in the living room and talked about a lot of things. At midnight, Fiona started to yawn, so Lester suggested that they leave. Carlos looked around and said, "It's too late to drive all the way back to Trenton. We have enough spare rooms here. Why don't you guys stay and head home in the morning?"

Bobby and Hal declined the offer because they both had to be in the office in the morning, but Tank and Lula as well as Lester and Fiona took us up on the offer. Once all the guests had left and rooms were allocated, we all headed to bed. Lula and Tank shared a room and Fiona and Lester shared a room. I could tell based on Lula's expression that she wasn't overly disappointed about having to share with Tank. Fiona on the other hand, looked afraid. I pulled her aside and told her that she could sleep in that last spare room, but she decided that sharing a bed with Lester wouldn't be the end of the world.

I bid everyone goodnight and then got ready for bed. I didn't last much longer, even with Carlos beside me, kissing my neck gently. I remember telling him that I loved him. I remember him telling him that he loved me, but beyond that, I have little memory.

Thanks for your patience, your reviews and the encouragement. More to come.