A/N: This chapter flowed super easily, and it's never been so easy to write something. It's making me a little nervous that it was so easy, so I hope it's good and you enjoy it.

Chapter Seven

For the next few days, I fell into a routine: working at RangeMan going on client calls with Lester, thirty minutes with Ram in the range practicing with my gun, followed by one hour of self-defense lessons with Bobby. I had worked out my schedule with Lula, and she and I went to the Y after that for an hour of working out. Since I preferred swimming, I decided to do on that Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I ran on the treadmill Tuesdays and Thursdays. The weekends were reserved for absolutely nothing since I was now working harder than I ever have.

I wrote in my journal every day, sometimes multiple times. Actually, I was sort of writing my memoirs, but I'd never call it that. That felt a bit too pretentious. And it's not like I ever planned on publishing them anyway. But a lot of crazy shit has happened to me. Who knows, when I'm old I might want to look back and laugh about my adventures. It helped me sort out my reactions to all those events too. I can't believe how stubborn I was about nearly everything to a fault. I nearly died several times for no other reason than I needed to feel independent. I have a feeling my mother and my past relationships had set that particular train in motion. If someone is pushing you constantly to live the way they want you to, it only makes sense that I might actively strive to do the opposite. Or maybe I was just an obstinate bitch. I felt bad about how much time, money, and effort I had cost some of the people in my life with my actions.

Ranger and I had dinner every night in my apartment, and then we hung out, watching movies or in the case of Thursday night, we played board games! We didn't have sex, so between that and his acting like 'Relaxed Ranger', he was completely throwing me off my game. Ranger had always said he wasn't a relationship type of guy, but except for the lack of sex, this was totally a relationship. And an easier one than the one I had with Morelli. We still kissed and snuggled together and some of those kisses were extremely friendly and not at all just friends, so I think something was happening, but I was so happy that he was back I decided to go with the flow. Even though I was desperately in love with him, I'd rather have a good friendship than lose him altogether. It seemed he wanted my friendship too.

On Friday morning, I woke up with just enough time to have the world's fastest shower, then I had to run out the door to make it to Bethany's on time.

"Whew, I made it!" I exclaimed as I dashed into her office.

"Hi, Stephanie," she said warmly.

"Good morning," I replied with a smile.

"Come on in, let's get started."

I followed Bethany into her inner office and sat down in the armchair across from hers.

"How are things going, Stephanie?" she asked.

"Things are going really well, actually. I set boundaries with my mom and she seemed to understand. She even apologized. I don't know if I trust it will last, but she was good during that dinner on Sunday night. And she hasn't called me in a snit since then about my work or any other rumour she may have heard. She hasn't nagged me about getting back together with my ex-boyfriend or tried to set me up with someone new. I'm a little freaked out, to be honest, but I'm trying to just take her at her word and not stress out about it."

Bethany smiled. "That's a very positive step forward. I think you're right, too. Take it at face value if she hasn't done anything to make you believe she's insincere. If you asserted your boundaries and told her what would happen if she ignored them, that's on her. It's not your responsibility to police someone else's reactions, only your own." After I nodded, she continued. "What else has been happening?"

"I wasn't getting enough work at my bounty hunter job, so I talked to Ranger's second-in-command at his company and asked him to hire me full-time, and he agreed. So I started working there this week, and I've been going on client calls all week. I'm enjoying it too. Whenever I worked there before part-time, I only did searches for the men and it was boring. Tank said he was going to try me in different areas to see what might fit me best, so hopefully I won't get stuck at a desk." I paused and poured a glass of water from the pitcher Bethany always had sitting on a little side table. "Ranger came home this week too, and we've been spending time together. Nothing romantic, just two friends hanging out." Except for the kissing and cuddling, I thought. "My training is going well too, and I feel strong and more like Wonder Woman than I ever have."

"That's wonderful, Stephanie!" It sounds like you're making some positive changes in your life, and you're feeling all the better for it."

"I can't believe it took me so long to get to this point. Writing everything down has helped a lot. I've been noticing patterns in my responses to certain situations, even if I was just thinking it. I am so ashamed of some of the things I've done, especially to Ranger. I'm not surprised he's not interested in a relationship with me. If I were him, I'd probably feel the same way," I trailed off with a sense of sorrow.

Bethany looked at me concernedly. "Where did you come up with that theory? Has he ever told you that your behaviour is why he isn't interested in a relationship?"

"No."

"Then I don't think it's the healthiest move to blame yourself. Your relationship with Ranger is a complicated one, and it doesn't do you any good to assume his reasons for avoiding a committed, romantic relationship with you. To get definitive answers on that, you'll need to talk to him openly and honestly," she finished.

"No more Denial Land, huh?" I mused ruefully.

"That hasn't ever been a helpful coping mechanism for you. It only served for you to avoid problems, which sometimes made them much bigger than they needed to be. I think, if you are willing to put in the work, your life is going to improve immeasurably."

We talked another fifteen minutes about how to control my actions when something unpleasant was happening and how to pause and think when I wanted to explode. She showed me how to meditate and suggested I meditate for five minutes every morning, explaining that five minutes felt like a long time when you're not used to it. I had a feeling this was going to be difficult. I mean, focusing all your thoughts onto each feeling in your body and turning off all external thought? Brutal. I don't do well with sitting around. But I guess I can try it for five minutes a day.

After I left, I drove to RangeMan and parked in the usual stall. I took the stairs up to the fifth floor and checked in with Tank. "Hey Tank, I just wanted to let you know I arrived."

"Hey Bomber. Lester is on a follow-up call right now at Morty's Jewelry, but he should be back by noon. You have a couple of choices. You can go see Rodriguez to see if he has any searches you can do until lunch, or you and I can go work on self-defense in the gym."

"Hm...if I choose self-defense now, does that mean my date with Bobby in the gym later is cancelled?" I asked.

He laughed. "Yeah, this would be your lesson for the day."

"Okay, I'm game, let's do it."

I detoured to Ranger's apartment to change clothes, giving him a quick hug as I rushed by him to the closet, then hurried back to the third floor to meet Tank.

Tank is obviously huge, but incredibly patient too. He showed me this one hold several times and said that even though "you're a skinny white woman," there are still ways to escape his grip. Which I did, exactly once. But I did wonder if he let me escape to make me feel better. After that, I went back up to Ranger's to take a quick shower, change back into my uniform and maybe score some lunch with Batman himself.

"Hey, babe, having a good day so far?" he asked as I came out of the bathroom towelling my hair dry.

"It's been pretty good. How about you, bored yet?" I teased.

Ranger chuckled. "A little, but it's important to ease back into the real world slowly after a mission, especially when it was as difficult as that one was." He didn't offer any further information, and I didn't ask. He'd tell me if he wanted me to know.

"Has Ella brought you any lunch?" I asked hopefully.

He took my hand and kissed it, then held it in his. "No, but I'll call her and she can have it here in ten minutes," he promised.

True to his word, ten minutes after he called, Ella was coming into the kitchen carrying a tray. She had brought homemade vegetable soup with delicious-looking crusty bread and a small platter of cut vegetables with ranch dip.

After grabbing a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, we sat down to eat our soup. It was heavenly, even if it was vegetable, and I savoured every bite.

Ranger kissed me softly after we were finished our lunch and I headed back downstairs to meet with Lester.

Lester and I spent the rest of the afternoon at a potential new client's mansion, advising him on the appropriate security for him and his family, including two teenaged sons. I pointed out some of the obvious pitfalls with two teenaged boys living in the house, recommended some options with smart home security, including cameras at all the entrances, glass-break sensors on the windows, sensors on all the windows and doors, smart heat and fire detectors, wifi-enabled tablet access, and remote-controlled access to the gate. In the end he not only signed up for everything I recommended for his house but also his three car dealerships and asked us to outfit his panic room.

Lester was vibrating with energy when we left and said excitedly, "Tank is going to bust when he hears how you charmed Mr. Johnson into signing that contract and even got him to switch to RangeMan for his dealerships."

I smiled at him and we got into the car to head back to Haywood.