Chapter 15 - Thanksgiving and a Restraining Order

/Stephanie's Point of View/

The trip to Atlantic City had gone well enough that I decided to head back to town a month later to drop in on Connie and Lula and make a surprise visit to my parents. I truly missed my dad, grandma, and nieces. I sort of missed Val, and I had hope that my mom would be happy to see me despite knowing that hope was futile.

I flew back with Bobby on Wednesday morning. Rangeman held an impromptu Thanksgiving celebration in my honor on Wednesday afternoon since many were headed out that evening as contractors would be brought in for the holiday.

I spent the night ensconced in the calm that is Ranger's apartment…sleeping in his shirt in his heavenly sheets and showering in Bvlgari on Thursday morning.

I started the day with a big breakfast I cooked myself…scrambled eggs and toast were now in my repertoire. Some might not see that as an accomplishment, but I did and it made me smile.

Grandma had told my mom she would have a guest for Thanksgiving. I'm sure my parents were worried about what would show up, but I'm sure they weren't expecting me.

At 1600, I headed towards the Burg in a black Rangeman SUV with blacked out windows. Grandma met me on the porch, but Mom was nowhere to be seen. Guess her radar had malfunctioned in my absence.

Grandma gave me a big hug and told me that if I had to leave, I'd understand.

When I entered the house, you could have heard a pin drop. I can't believe I'm more astonishing than whatever playboy they expected Grandma had invited. The silence was broken by Mary Alice's squeal as she ran and jumped in my arms. I missed that girl.

I made my rounds giving hugs to my dad, sister, and nieces. Albert said hello and stood there awkwardly; I told him it was good to see him and turned to my mother.

My mother gave me a tentative hug and admonished me for not telling her I was coming. I told her, I hadn't wanted a fuss.

"Mom, I didn't want a big fuss about my coming," I said.

"Well, you should have told me so I could have made more food and invited Joe. I'll call him now, he might be able to drop by for a late dessert.

"No!" I responded with a little more force than I should have. She looked ashamed. I was confused. She headed to the kitchen muttering about needing to get food on the table.

I watched some football with my dad until Mom called us to the table. Dinner was as would be expected with a little less harping on my current activities because they had no idea what I'd been up to.

Grandma and I talked of what we'd each been doing but I was careful to keep the details vague and not indicate where I might be living, but that didn't keep my mother from asking.

"I'm working for several Rangeman offices," I stated. I can work remotely, so some days I don't even have to go to the office.

"But are you staying in hotels? Are you going from office to office? It isn't proper for a woman to live like a transient," my mother offered.

"I don't feel like a transient. I'm enjoying my freedom, meeting new people, and earning a good living. You should be happy for me."

Luckily, Albert started asking my Dad questions about the football game. It became painfully obvious that he knew nothing of the game, but we let him drone on.

Dessert was my favorite. I hadn't had my mothers pecan pie since last Thanksgiving and any of her desserts in months. I may have eaten three slices.

As dinner was wrapping up, there was a quick rap on the door. Mom went to answer the door and came back with Joe.

I'm sure my face dropped. I know my heart did. How could she?

I reached into my pocket and hit my panic button once. Tank had insisted I either took backup or the panic button. Agreeing on the panic button, I was to hit it once upon seeing Joe and again if immediate help was requested. There was a patrol in the area that would be at my side in under five minutes if requested.

"Cupcake," he started.

"No!" I answered emphatically. "I'm not interested." Turning to my mom, I added, "I told you not to call him. How could you?"

She didn't even look ashamed. Instead she proceeded telling me, "You should talk to him. You two are meant to be together."

"No, mom. We aren't," I replied. Turning to Joe I added, "I've asked you to leave me alone. I'm not interested." I turned, picked up my handbag at the door, and headed to my car.

Suddenly, I felt a firm grip on my arm forcing me to turn around. I lost my footing and slammed into the side of the SUV.

"Joe, stop. That hurt!" I growled. "I've told you I'm done."

"We aren't done, Stephanie. We are meant to be. We are destined to be together. You need to accept it."

"No," I stated. I was starting to feel like he just couldn't hear me, but his eyes turned dark.

"Joe, why?" I asked giving myself time to slip my hand in my pocket and hit my panic button twice. Five minutes, I thought.

We spat back and forth but our words got us nowhere. He was ranting and waving his hands as I had remembered.

It all went to hell from there. He began cursing me under my breath. I fought to keep calm. "You aren't listening, Steph," he growled in my ear. "You belong to me. You aren't anything without me." He pinned me against the vehicle.

I pushed against him but he was intent on not moving. What he didn't know is I'd been training for months, and my training kicked in. I no longer was playing nice. I slammed my arms up against his breaking the pin and rolled away from him.

He grabbed me from behind as I started to move away. I turned and placed a kick straight to his abdomen. He went down hard. He rose cursing.

"Morelli, I haven't even broken a sweat yet. I wouldn't touch me again," I warned. He didn't look convinced.

"I would heed that warning. If you touch her again, you're going to have to get through all of us," I heard Junior say from behind me. Joe backed down and I turned to see Junior and Jarod, one of the contract workers, standing arms crossed in front of their SUV facing us.

I turned back to Joe, and saw the anger was back. "You, bitch. You can't attack a cop."

The next voice came from the porch. "You aren't here as a cop, and if you lay another hand on my daughter, I'll put a bullet in you." My dad stood there with a rifle in his hand. Behind him stood my mother with a look of horror and my grandmother with a look at glee.

Joe cursed again and walked back to his car. He ground the clutch as he tried to get away.

The conversation that followed the encounter highlighted that my mother didn't have my back but my father did. I left them there on the porch, climbed into my SUV and headed back to Rangeman with the guys following.

The next day, my dad met me and my armed escort at the precinct to file a police report with the chief of police. The Rangeman lawyer was our next stop for a restraining order. The lawyer was efficient and filed all the necessary forms with the courthouse on Monday and got the need for a hearing waived since we had eye witness accounts as well as the video footage from Junior's SUV. By the time I left Tenton on Tuesday, the restraining order was filed and in full effect.

I couldn't believe my relationship with Joe had deteriorated so spectacularly.