Chapter 22 - Ranger returns

/Ranger's Point of View/

Ten months was a long time to be gone. Then, I found out that Stephanie had moved on. I couldn't wrap my head around her being gone, but Tank had assured me she wasn't running from me or Rangeman. I couldn't be sure until I spoke to her myself though. I pondered the options as I took a shower.

After a shower, I went to retrieve a t-shirt and cargos from my closet only to find there was only one t-shirt in my closet. I left it there and chose to go shirtless and save that shirt for the morning.

I stepped into the kitchen to speak with Ella who was dropping off my dinner.

"What happened to my t-shirts?" I asked. "There was only one. Are you washing them?"

"You should have a stack in there as always," Ella replied. She walked past me into the closet and saw what I had. She had a curious expression until she started to smile.

"Stephanie has stayed here three times. She was insistent that I didn't need to do her laundry while she was here. I'd bet she borrowed them," she said with a smile. "I've got some new ones downstairs, I'll have them restocked by the time you are done in the gym tomorrow morning unless you need them sooner."

I chuckled. "Tomorrow is fine, thank you." The fact that she'd stayed here over the last several months settled the churning in my stomach.

I sat down to eat my dinner and couldn't help but smile thinking about the missing shirts. There had to have been eight or more when I left. I finished my dinner and put the dishes in the sink.

I couldn't wait anymore to hear her voice. I placed the video call.

"Ranger!" she exclaimed. "You're back! Are you okay? All in one piece?"

I chuckled and responded with, "Babe" smiling.

"Are you okay?" She asked again.

"I'm good, other than someone stealing all my shirts."

Stephanie blushed. I missed that! "I didn't take them all!" She countered.

"Babe, you left one."

"That's not all!" She argued. I sighed and smiled.

"I've missed you, Babe."

"I've missed you, too, Ranger," she replied.

"It's not the same coming home when you aren't in Trenton."

"I'm sorry I'm not there, but I couldn't…"

"Don't apologize for prioritizing you, Stephanie. You did the right thing."

"How are you liking the new office? Are you happy there?" I asked. I wasn't sure what I hoped her answer would be…I want her happy but I want her here. But who's fault is that?

She smiled that smile that always took my breath away. "The team here is great. I've found several new lifetime friends. I love the house. But I'm not sure if this is my ultimate destination. I don't know exactly what it is I'm missing, you know?" she stated with a shrug.

I nodded but wasn't sure what to say. For me, I was pretty sure I'd figured out that I just needed her.

We chatted for a few minutes about what she'd been up to, the house, and her new car. She seemed to be happy which made me happy, but I needed to be sure there was room for me in the life she'd built from scratch.

I knew the core team expected me to need to head towards Stephanie, but I'd told them we'd depart in 48 hours. They'd all go, providing a formal introduction to the office there, and provide us the ability to assess the new office and catch up on Rangeman in general.

After my talk with Stephanie though, I couldn't wait. I called Tank.

"I'm headed out shortly. You all can join me now or catch a commercial flight in the next day or two."

Tank chuckled. "We all have our bags packed. We can leave in thirty." That upped the ante. I had to call Ella for additional shirts and scrambled to pack a bag. The guys were in the lobby when I hit the door twenty eight minutes later. They all had smug looks on their faces.

The ride to the airport was relatively quiet other than Lester yammering on about some hottie he'd met. The fact he called her a hottie told me he'd never be serious about her so I tuned him out. Bobby was entertaining the conversation which left me to think about my need to get to Steph and what it meant that I couldn't wait 48 hours. Truth is, I'd realized my dependence on her while I was gone on a short mission about a year ago, but now I was fully aware she was an addiction I didn't have the desire to break.

Once we were on the corporate jet, we were able to focus on business. I got debriefs on all the offices. There were various break-ins with clients, a potential lawsuit my legal team had been able to sort out, and various departures and new hires. Nothing stood out.

The reports on the new office were positive. It sounds like we'd made a good choice in Zulu, but the core team credited Stephanie's people skills and ability to turn situations around for really setting the new office on the right path. Zulu was the leader for the team, but it seems it was Stephanie that was the reason the business was thriving. Not that I was surprised. I know she's a brilliant people-person and savvier than people give her credit for. I'm happy she could spread her wings and prove it to herself and my team without feeling like I was the one advocating for her…though I always would.

We landed just after 1700. Tank texted Zulu to expect us in the morning rather than the afternoon a day later. I called Stephanie but got back an auto generated, "I'm away at the moment" response.

We headed directly to the house which was about an hour from the airport. Stephanie had given me some basic info and they guys had shown me photos and the listing info on the flight. I could tell they were a bit nervous having selected such a large and expensive house, but they had rightly known that I would accept anything that kept Stephanie safe and happy. The fact that they'd been able to stay on site with her full time for several months left me satisfied. Yes, the house seemed large, but it accommodated everything we needed and was in a safe, unassuming location within the security zone of the Rangeman office.

When we entered, the guys carried their gear to their respective rooms. I left mine at the base of the stairs near the foyer. I knew I wanted to wrap my arms around my babe tonight, but that would be her decision. Bobby gave me the house tour and indicated the extra guest room if needed. He left me to explore the master suite on my own.

It was clear that this was Stephanie's lair. The scent of her lingered here, And I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The bed was torn apart from her constant flopping. The thought that she didn't seem to sleep still except when wrapped in my arms made me think about smiling. There were clothes and accessories on most every surface except the upholstered chair in the corner of the space. That made me smile…she'd kept an empty chair for me for several years now.

The primary bedroom wasn't huge but did have large windows overlooking the pool in the backyard. There was a large, nearly empty closet off the bedroom which made me do a double take. Were all her clothes strewn across the bedroom? I proceeded into the primary bath with a large shower and soaker tub which had the same pool view as the bedroom. Off the bathroom was another closet partially filled with Stephanie's clothes and her shoe collection. That woman loved shoes, but I was surprised there weren't more.

I made my way back to the main living area and found Lester pulling a beer from the large refrigerator. He silently offered me one, which I accepted. He opened his beer, took a long draw, and walked over to an impressive control panel. I watched him turn on the hot tub to warm up.

I walked into the seating area and settled into a large leather chair with my beer. Tank joined me and turned on a baseball game on mute.

We chatted further about the new office. Apparently, they tend to run about an hour later here with shifts and hours corresponding with Trenton's. The guys agreed they expected Stephanie to show up between 1800 and 1830.

About 1800 Bobby suggested Chinese food delivery and began pulling together an order. Seems like everyone was sure what Stephanie would eat. They had all eaten Chinese food at least once a week with her when staying here.

Given the mild weather, we decided to move out to the deck. All the others would be notified remotely as soon as anyone approached the main door so we wouldn't miss the food. We took our beers and sat on the deck as dusk set in. Sometimes we chatted, but mostly we were silent.

At 1820, Lester used an army hand sign to indicate silence. Three minutes later, the woman of my dreams came slipping silently around the corner of the patio with a handgun trained on us.

"Shit, Lester. I told you I hate that! You could give me a heart attack," she scolded.

"Gotta keep you on your toes. Consider it training," he retorted.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and looked at the other men and finally settled her gaze on me. "The rest of you, I expected better. You're lucky I saw Ranger's missed call or I would have entered with an intent to shoot."

"Babe?" I responded and stood.

"Maybe not intent, but a quicker trigger finger," she stated walking into my open arms and wrapping hers around my waist.

This was home.

This was right.

Now to convince her.