Richard Orr Senior dropped off the file as promised. Stephanie looked at the contracts for incorporation. RangeMan. Of course, it was Ranger's company. According to Val, the boys were ready to make the big expansion happen and they had the financial backing of and uncle and that German industrialist Ranger mentioned to her all those years ago. Before she walked away and started over. She remembered the discussion they had that last day in Puerto Rico. When she told him about her concerns…

"I love you. Ric, but sometimes love is just not enough, but emotion is unproductive. I'm not angry. To be honest, when I found out you wouldn't make it, I wasn't even surprised. RangeMan is your dream. I am a sorry second and I need more."

He tried to object but she held his hand to silence him.

"I have to let my love for you go or I won't survive walking away. Last time, when you left me, marrying Rachel when I was completely in love with you, I ended up in a horrible dark place and Mateo saved me. But I gave us the opportunity to try again. And now, over two years later, you want another chance but Ric, I can't help feeling like maybe we just aren't supposed to be married right now."

"Babe, please…"

"Now, there is only me. And I need to protect my heart. And make a life for myself."

"We can have a life together, with Julie."

"Ric, I need you to understand. It is like the universe is telling us to give it up. I am considering my options. Joe is taking Sonia to Italy to meet his extended family and needs somebody to housesit and take care of his dog. I offered to help them out. I will be able to see some old friends and decide where I want to be in five years. And I have interviews… I applied to New York University, Columbia University, and Fordham University. For law school."

Ric stood frozen, and Stephanie knew it was because he was surprised- he had known nothing about her applications, her dream.

"You already have your business plan; you know when and how you want to expand the services you offer and how many people you need to hire. I need to find my plan. I want to go to law school. I want to make something of myself. And who knows, maybe five years from now, we will find our way back to one another…"

That had been five years ago… Of course, he had argued, cajoled, but in the end he never asked her to stay- he would never hold her back from her dream. And she attended Fordham's law school, sharing a house with Mary Lou and Bobby while he went through Albert Einstein's school of Medicine. She helped Mary Lou as much as she could with all the children. And made sure she got her Depo without fail.

Her first summer, she interned at Orr, McMillan and Lee, a prestigious law firm in Midtown Manhattan, working directly with Richard Orr Senior, a contracts attorney. She worked alongside his son, who was a year ahead of her and attending NYU. During her second summer, she helped Dickie study for the Bar. It was then that Richard Orr Sr. asked her what she saw as her future.

"I want to be a partner in a law firm before I am thirty."

"Stephanie, you are smart enough and you are driven enough. But as a pretty single woman, I think it will be a very hard climb."

"What do you believe would help?"

"You need a husband to help you advance. That way you are not perceived as a threat."

Ric flashed through her mind before she continued. "I really do not have time to date. Nor do I have the interest, if I am honest."

"Stephanie, if you marry my son, you could have the partnership in our firm sooner than anywhere else. I would even help you with your capital contribution to the firm to purchase your share of the firm's equity. A not insubstantial wedding gift."

A bribe. But Stephanie had no other plans to marry. She wanted the partnership.

"In the pre-nup, you need to agree that I get the buy-in money unless I am at fault in any divorce proceedings."

Richard thought to himself that it was this cut-throat approach that would make her an excellent attorney.

"Agreed."

She and Dickie married at Christmas during her final year in Law School, a month after Dickie found out he failed his first attempt at the NYS Bar exam.

They moved into a pre-war apartment his father owned on Park Avenue and Dickie found out he failed the Bar a second time when the February test results were posted in May, just before Stephanie graduated. He grew surly about being an underpaid paralegal. Stephanie held her tongue. She knew Dickie made no real effort to study. He was living well off his father's money. And while he went out and partied with his friends, she stayed home and studied. They took the exam together that July, and she arrived home to their apartment one evening in November with the news that she had passed on her first attempt, only to find him naked in the dining room, fucking another paralegal, Joyce… what was her last name?

Unfortunately for Dickie, his parents were with her.

Stephanie cleared her throat. His parents stood frozen.

"Dickie, please give your friend carfare and escort her to the door." Stephanie's voice could have frozen the champagne in the bottle his father was holding.

Dickie struggled to find words as the Joyce one scurried to gather her clothes and made a hasty departure.

Stephanie spoke next to Dickie's parents, completely ignoring her husband of less than a year as he tried to put on his clothes. "I am going to pack my things. I will need several days to remove to another apartment. I would appreciate it if your son could stay with you until I am completely moved out."

"You are a frigid fucking bitch! You need to leave now. This is my fucking apartment." Dickie walked over to her, spewing his venom. "I have to fuck somebody else cause fucking you is like fucking an iceberg. You are an ice queen."

Stephanie stood her ground and said quietly, "Let me guess, you failed the Bar a third time?"

At that he lunged for her, punching her with a right cross before his father got hold of him. "For your information, Son, this is my apartment. And you are leaving right now."

Stephanie looked at Richard Senior, a man she respected. Then she looked at his son, a shadow of a man by comparison. She shook her head and walked to her bedroom and started to pack.

When she arrived in the office the next day, she explained she was struck accidently in a kickboxing class, and got straight to work. Richard Senior came by at lunchtime.

"I just heard you were here… and that kick boxing went awry." He lowered his voice. "Thank you for that, Stephanie. I thought I could take you out to lunch to celebrate and outline my plans for you."

And over lunch, Stephanie was told that Dickie was moving to Boston and that he would file for a no-fault divorce after one year to establish residency. Once finalized, Stephanie would be brought on as a partner, with Richard Senior paying off all her student loans and also, per the pre-nup, paying her buy-in.

She had finally been made a partner a couple of months ago, and a very young partner at that. Richard told her he had a special case he needed her to work on, the original attorney had been removed from the case and the contracts were needed in the next four days.

"You are licensed in Florida and know our staff in the office there. I would consider it a personal favor if you can work your magic and save the day."

RangeMan. Of course. Because no good deed goes unpunished.