Chapter Six

At five minutes to six pm on Sunday evening, I stopped and parked in front of the house in which I grew up. As usual, my mother and grandmother had a sixth sense and were waiting on the front stoop for me. After I turned off the car, I sat for a moment and took in deep breaths. Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale. I make my own decisions and I do what makes me happy. I can do this.

I stepped out of the car and pasted a smile on my face as I walked towards the women. "Hi Mom, hi Grandma."

"Stephanie, come in before the roast is ruined," said my mom.

"Baby granddaughter, how are you?" Grandma Mazur said with a wide, denture-y smile.

"I'm doing good. How are you, Grandma?"

"Things are so boring lately. No car explosions, no dead bodies. I haven't seen the bounty hunter with the excellent package lately either," she complained.

I haven't seen him lately either. "He's out of town, Grandma."

We all went into the house and sat down at the dining room table. I was relieved to see there were only four place settings on the table; I could not have dealt with my mother trying any of her matchmaking crap tonight. My dad was already sitting down at the table, so I said hello and he said, "hi pumpkin."

"Stephanie, I wish I knew why you would possibly turn down Joe's proposal. Marriage and a family with a handsome husband who takes care of you is every woman's dream," my mother said as she spooned mashed potatoes onto her plate.

I sighed. "He didn't propose. He told me he wanted me to move to D.C. with him, get married and have kids. We would not have been happy, and that is definitely not my dream, Mom."

Grandma interjected, "Helen, she's not going to settle down with Officer Hottie. She needs to fly." Grandma winked at me, her eyes sparkling.

I shot a grateful look at her. "Thanks, Grandma."

My mom continued, ignoring everyone. "He was your last chance at a respectable life, Stephanie. You're not getting any younger and if you keep this up, you may never be married and settled. You need to quit that lousy job and call Joseph and tell him you'll come to him."

I get to make my own decisions and do what makes me feel good, I thought. I took a deep breath and said calmly, "Mom, it's my life. I get to make my own decisions and I'm asking you to respect that. If you can't, I won't come back anymore."

She sputtered, "I'm your mother!"

"Yes, and that's why I'm here. But you don't get to dictate my life, and you don't get to make me feel bad about my choices." Wow, this felt awesome finally telling her to back off!

Her mouth gaped open.

"Helen, put a sock in it. Stephie's right. She's a grown woman and she can make her own decisions," Grandma said, clicking her dentures together.

Dad grunted, "Pass the potatoes."

During the rest of dinner, my mother shot confused looks in my direction while I ignored her. Grandma kept up a running dialogue of gossip from the Clip 'n Curl, chatting lightly about whoever was doing whatever. I tried to ignore her too. I love her, but I don't care about what everyone else is doing.

After we finished dinner, Mom stood up to take our plates to the kitchen. "I'm going to get dessert. Stephanie, come help me."

I let out a small sigh, picked up my plate and followed my mom into the kitchen.

My mom set down the plates and turned to me. "Stephanie, I'm sorry. I know you're all grown up now, but it's hard for me to see you floundering. I do love you, and I want the best for you."

Oh my god, is she seriously apologizing? "Mom, I am happy. I know my life doesn't look like yours and it's not what you want for me, but right now I am doing exactly what I want to do. I've been married. I didn't like it. I may never get married again, and I may never have kids. Please accept that." I let out a deep breath as I waited for her to respond.

She patted my arm awkwardly and said, "let's get you some chocolate cake, dear."

Well, if that's not a declaration of love, then I don't know what is. Time will tell if we need to have this conversation again, but for now I'm going to take this as a win. We brought the cake back to the dining table and all dug in. I had two pieces. I can work them off on the treadmill tomorrow.

When I got home, I had a shower and shaved, buffed, exfoliated, moisturized, and made myself as beautiful as I could in preparation for seeing Ranger tomorrow. Assuming he gets home tomorrow. I hope he gets home tomorrow. I set my phone alarm for six am and fell asleep with a smile ghosting my lips.

The following morning, the alarm blared, and I reached my arm out and jabbed at the snooze button on the screen, covering my head with the pillow. Eight minutes later, I finally got up as the alarm sounded again.

I turned on the coffee pot and toasted a pair of strawberry Pop Tarts while it brewed. I gave Rex a tiny piece of one of them, changed his water and made kissy noises at him. He wasn't impressed. I sipped my coffee slowly while I put my hair in a ponytail and dressed in a pair of black lycra capri leggings, a black racerback tank top and black sneakers. I added my RangeMan uniform to my duffel bag along with a pair of Cat boots.

I drove to RangeMan an hour later and parked in Ranger's empty space next to the elevator. I grabbed my duffel bag from the backseat and took the elevator to the third-floor gym.

I waved to the guys that were already in the gym, did some quick stretching before I chose a treadmill and set a five-mile program. I noticed some of the guys looking at me, but I figured they just weren't used to seeing me here, and especially so early in the day!

When I decided I had enough, I took my bag up to Ranger's apartment. There still wasn't a women's changing room here, and since I didn't live here there wasn't anywhere else for me to shower and change. I remoted the door open and suddenly felt a tingle on the back of my neck. I closed the door behind me and walked towards the bedroom, hoping I'd see Ranger and it wasn't just a phantom tingle as a result of being in his space. When I got to the bedroom, I found Ranger in his walk-in closet, pulling on a pair of black sweats that hung low on his hips. He looked absolutely edible. He turned to look in my direction, and his face broke into a smile.

"Babe."

"Ranger! You're back!" I squealed, dropped my bag and ran into his arms. He held his open, then wrapped them around me in a bear hug. I pulled back to smile at him and he took that opportunity to kiss me hard, his hands splayed across my back and pulling me closer.

I pulled back again and my eyes scanned Ranger up and down. He's a bit thinner and looks tired, but no new scars I can see and nothing obviously wrong. Still drop dead gorgeous with all that delicious dark skin, though his hair is short now. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm great now, babe," he grinned at me. "I understand a welcome is in order."

"I hope it's okay that I'm here."

"You mean in my apartment or working for RangeMan?" he queried.

"Both."

"Of course it's okay, babe. I'm happy you're working for me and you're always welcome in my apartment."

"I just came up to take a shower after my workout. I didn't know you were back yet, no one told me." Suddenly, the sidelong glances from the guys in the gym made a lot more sense.

"Shower away, babe. Have you had breakfast yet?"

Pop Tarts don't count. "No. I figured I'd find something on the fifth floor before I start my shift."

"I'll ask Ella to bring some breakfast and we can eat together if that's okay. You can tell me what's new in your life."

I hurried off to the bathroom and Ranger went to call Ella.

After my shower, I blasted my hair with the dryer, dressed quickly and went towards the kitchen. Ranger still hadn't put on a shirt. Yum.

"Dining table or breakfast bar, babe?" he asked me.

"The breakfast bar is fine," I replied.

Ella had brought up bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, some cheese danish, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. We dug in and after a few bites, Ranger said, "so tell me what's been happening here, babe."

I swallowed and smiled. "I've been getting training. I started at the Y a few months ago and I've been swimming and running on the treadmill. You won't believe me but I'm actually starting to like it. I was taking some self-defense classes but Tank asked me to switch to RangeMan so we'll start those this week. I've been getting range time with Ram and he changed my gun to one that fits me better. And Vinnie's was really slow lately so I asked Tank if he could use me here full-time and he agreed."

He smiled. "That's great babe. I'm happy to hear you're getting some training, and that you're enjoying it."

"Yeah. I don't love the guns, but I have to admit when I was chasing skips my training was definitely helping."

"And what about Morelli?"

I paused. I'm guessing he already knows about Morelli. His tone is a bit too casual. And he's Batman. He just seems to know everything. With a shrug I said, "he's with the FBI in Washington D.C. now. I haven't talked to him since he moved."

"You didn't want to go with him?" he asked.

"No. He wanted me to commit to being a 'Burg housewife, just without the 'Burg. I don't want that life, so I stayed here, and he moved there. Hopefully we both find what we're looking for."

Ranger regarded me thoughtfully. "What are you looking for?"

"I want a relationship with someone who loves me, doesn't cheat on me and respects me and my choices," I said.

"You don't want to get married?"

"Not right now, maybe not ever. I've done that and it sucked."

He chuckled. "My marriage sucked too, babe."

I paused a moment. "Ranger, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd like to report to Tank."

He stiffened slightly. "Why?"

"You and I are friends. I'm friendly with Tank too, and I think he likes me, but we're not as close as you and I are. I think it would help to keep the boundaries clearer." I've been thinking about this since Bethany was helping me establish boundaries with my mom.

"Okay, babe. If that's what you want."

I nodded firmly. "Thank you."

"I'm going to be offline for about a week while I decompress from my mission, babe. How about I come over tonight with takeout and we can watch a movie or something?" he asked me.

"Sounds good, Ranger, I'd love to hang out with you. I better get down to the fifth floor and see what Tank wants me to do today."

With a last lingering kiss, I said goodbye to Ranger and took the stairs down to Tank's office.

I bounded into the control room. "Hi Tank, Zero, Binkie." I nodded to everyone with a smile.

"Hey Bomber," Tank said as he turned to face me. Zero and Binkie said hello but they didn't take their eyes from the monitors.

"What would you like me to do, Tank?"

"This week I'd like you to go with Lester on client and site visits. I have our brochures and pricing guides here, which I'd like you to study today. For the rest of the week, you should wear business appropriate clothes and you'll accompany him," Tank instructed.

"Alright." I don't think I have any business clothes. My bounty hunter uniform usually consisted of jeans, sneakers and tee shirts. I have plenty of clothes fit for distractions, but those won't work either. Hmm…did Tank just give me a reason to shop?!

I took the proffered binder and settled into my usual cubicle to start reading. I noted the different systems and setups and pricing – wow! Some of these packages are so expensive, but they include 24/7 monitoring and cameras everywhere, along with regular patrols.

After lunch, consisting of a turkey sandwich with mayo, an orange and a bottle of water, Lester stopped by my cubicle and waggled his eyebrows at me. "Hey Beautiful. I hear you're going to be riding along on client visits this week. Are you ready to spend time with the most handsome man in RangeMan?"

"I thought Ranger was offline this week," I teased.

"I'm wounded, Beautiful! My cousin wishes he were as pretty as me," he said with a grin.

I laughed. "Well, actually I realized I don't have any business wear, so I need to go shopping at the mall right after work."

He shook his head and muttered amusedly under his breath, "any excuse to go to the mall." With a cheery wave, he departed.

At three o'clock, I met Ram down in the range to continue practice. By now, I was mostly working with my Sig and trying to get better at groupings. By the end of the hour, I was excited to see that every single shot I aimed at the head of the little paper target was within 2 inches of each other.

"Bomber, that's excellent. Want to save the target and show the bosses?" he smiled.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm sure they'd love to see I'm keeping my eyes open now!" I joked.

At four o'clock, I was back in the gym working on self-defense. Bobby turned out to be my instructor. He's well-muscled like the rest of the Merry Men, but a bit leaner than them too, so I didn't feel like I was trying to defend against a wall. He showed me some methods to get out of holds and seemed pleased with my progress. Guess he forgot I was doing this for four months before I let RangeMan take over that aspect of my training.

When I was done, I asked Tank if I could talk to him privately in his office.

"What's up, Bomber?" he asked.

"I have a standing medical appointment every Friday morning at nine o'clock, so I just wanted to let you know that on Fridays I can't come in until about ten thirty or so," I informed him.

"Okay, sure. Everything alright?"

I assured him, "yeah, everything is fine. But um…could you please keep this to yourself?"

"Alright, Bomber, thanks for letting me know and yeah of course it's your business. Ranger advised me you'll be reporting directly to me and he's staying out of the chain of command. So if anything ever comes up, I'll be here."

"Thanks, Tank."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit card, then slid it across his desk to me. I tried, and failed, to raise a single eyebrow in question at his gesture.

He smirked and said, "Lester told me you needed to get some business clothes. You wouldn't need them if I wasn't sending you out on client calls, so please use this card to buy whatever you need for work."

I took a beat to think. My first reaction, always, to someone trying to give me money is to decline. But Tank's right. I wouldn't be buying these clothes if it wasn't for him assigning me to client visits. RangeMan buys my other uniforms. They buy the uniforms for everyone else. "Okay, I will. Thanks." I put the card in my pocket, smiled at him and went back to my cubicle. I sent Ranger a quick text asking what time he was coming over that night. I shoved everything in my bag and took the elevator down to my car. Ranger replied that he'd be at my house for seven o'clock, so I had about two and a half hours to hit the mall before meeting him at my house.

An hour and a half later, I bought two skirt suits, one in the requisite black and one in a charcoal grey pinstripe. I also picked up a black pantsuit, and one pair of black pumps with a more conservative two-inch heel. I decided to take a quick stroll through Victoria's Secret and found a few bra-and-panty sets that were super cute, so I bought those too. I used my own credit card and not RangeMan's, though.

I drove home, lugged my bags into the elevator and punched the button for the second floor. I made it into my apartment door and dumped all the bags on my bed. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth, blasted my hair with the dryer and dressed in a comfy pair of jeans and a stretchy tee.

Five minutes later, Ranger was opening the door. With one whiff, I could tell Ella made it. Ella's food is amazing though, so I didn't mind.

"Hi, babe," he greeted me with a kiss to my forehead. "Hungry?"

"Pfftt…as if you need to ask?"

He chuckled and took the bag of food into my kitchen. He came out a moment later and had two plates. He set them down on my dining table, went back to the kitchen and came back with two glasses of wine. I sat down at the table and smiled at him. "I'm glad you're here," I said.

"I'm glad too, babe."

We ate our dinner and chatted about everything and nothing. After we finished, I took our dishes to the kitchen and rinsed them off before sitting them on the counter. I refilled our wine glasses and brought them back out to the dining table. "What movie do you want to watch?" I asked Ranger.

"Whatever you want, babe," he answered.

We settled on my couch and Ranger put his arm around me and pulled me in closer. We snuggled and I turned on the TV and navigated to Netflix. We finally settled on the new Tarzan movie with Alexander Skarsgård. The movie sucked, but that actor is hot. Not as hot as Ranger, but still.

A couple of hours later, I was falling asleep. Ranger kissed my forehead and led me into my bedroom. He removed my jeans, shirt and bra and put one of his RangeMan tee shirts he found in a drawer and tugged it over my head. He tucked me in, gave me a soft kiss and it was lights out for Stephanie.