EPILOGUE

The automatic doors swished open and a rush of cool air swept over him as Ranger entered the store. He strode in far enough to be out of the way of the people coming in after him, then stopped to scan the layout. As he reconnoitered, he absently toyed with the items in his jeans pocket. Dipping his chin down, he checked the time on his watch, then looked at the signs overhead. Looked like aisle 24 might be his target. Sighing internally, he headed toward the far side of the store, weaving past a double handful of shoppers lined up at the checkouts. Christmas was still three weeks away but the shoppers were out in force.

As he rounded the corner into the aisle lined with beauty items, he nearly collided with a cart going the opposite way. The woman pushing it rattled past, letting loose a harried "Watch it!" as Ranger quickly sidestepped. Then the aisle was empty but for Ranger and a woman down at the other end. Her back was to him as she stood staring into the displays that lined the far end. Her curly brown hair had a life of its own as it tumbled over her shoulders. The dress she wore was simple, patterned in sky blue and white, with a flowing skirt, short sleeves and a neckline that dipped nicely to a V at her cleavage. Now he discovered it was just as flattering from behind.

Reaching out, he rested his hand on her back and said, "Querida, your five minutes were up ten minutes ago."

Her head jerked up at the contact, recognition quickly replacing surprise. Smiling, she turned to face him. "I know, but there's so many to choose from that I can't make up my mind."

She opened one nearly overflowing hand to demonstrate her dilemma, but the various little tubes took the opportunity to make a run for it, scattering over the floor. Cursing under her breath, she went to kneel down to pick up the mess but he quickly stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"I've got it." Ranger dropped to one knee, very pleased by how his knee responded. Not the slightest twinge of pain, even when the hard floor pressed on the joint. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why he'd put off the surgery for so long. He quickly rounded up the escapees, taking a moment to examine them, and the ones she was still holding, as he stood.

She'd come in for lip balm, nothing else. In his mind that meant a quick trip to the shelves filled with impulse items, strategically located next to the registers. Grab one, pay, head out. He had no idea there were so many brands and types. He knew about the kind with sunscreen, since that was his preference, but he'd never noticed the others - tinted, medicated, flavored, softening, organic, and dozens of combinations. Some were even packaged in little boxes instead of the basic blister packs. If she'd mentioned it before they'd left the parking garage, he could've run back into Rangeman and gotten one. Stopping took time, and they'd already lost fifteen minutes to decision paralysis. Maybe it was time to nudge this along, especially as he'd already sent the texts that would set everything in motion.

"How about the SPF?" he asked.

They'd be outdoors for a while today, not that she knew that, so the SPF would be the best. That went double considering their plans for later.

Steph squished up her face and made a non-committal humming noise. "Nothing tinted?"

"Babe. Your lips are already the perfect color."

Wrapping his hand around her neck, his thumb stroking the smooth skin by her ear, Ranger leaned in and gave her the softest little kiss of appreciation. This time the hum she made was a happy sound, ending in a sigh as she pulled back. For about thirty seconds she was a whirl of motion as she returned every item but one to its place in the displays.

Holding up the SPF with aloe, she said, "Okay, Batman. Let's roll."

When they were finally back under way, Ranger settled into the driver's seat. Stephanie would say that he was in his zone, and she was right. He did some of his best thinking in the car. Usually, he'd be planning ahead, but this time he cast his mind back to last night, when he'd shown her the outfit he'd put together for today.

Steph had come home with the dress a few weeks ago, after a Saturday shopping trip with one of her new friends from work. For some reason, the deep pockets in the dress made her nearly giddy with delight. She also loved the fullness of the skirt, and demonstrated by holding it by the hanger and swishing it around the living room until Mr. Pants got too enthusiastic about chasing it. Ranger re-directed the cat with a toss of a felt mouse while Stephanie hurried to hang the dress in the closet.

As she did, she commented that she couldn't wait to see what he would be wearing, and a chill of what could best be described as dismay ran through him. There was a reason he usually wore black, or shades of brown. Ranger spoke several languages, but "fashion" wasn't one of them. He'd been in high school when he first learned that neutrals were his friend. Normally he'd consult Lester, but given the covert nature of the event, that hadn't been possible.

Then fortune smiled upon him during, of all things, the annual security gig for The Women's League Fall fundraiser. Most of the men were assigned stations for the duration of the event, while Ranger and the Core Team worked the room in rotation. Midway through the dinner portion of the evening he'd arrived at Gator's post along the side wall, close to one of the tables.

Judging from some of the topics of conversation, the women had either forgotten the men were there, or didn't think they could be heard. They were particularly energized by a discussion of couples' outfits. The group thoroughly reviled a concept they referred to as 'matchy-matchy'. Two of the women even made gagging gestures. They were, however, in favor of the outfits complementing each other in some way, whether through similar color schemes, or similar pieces of clothing, or both. Ranger listened intently during that part of the conversation, taking mental notes and strategizing.

Plan in place, he began with an inventory of his closet and a Google search. It took longer than expected to decide on the outfit, and even longer to find the main piece. More than once he'd purchased one, snuck it into the closet to compare, only to find it lacking. He learned two things through that process. One was that with a little practice he'd be as good as Lester at fashion and style. The other was that returning items, whether purchased online or in a store, was an incredible hassle specifically designed to make the dissatisfied customer give up, item unreturned, money still spent. At the lowest point, he'd had to remind himself that if he could survive three days at the hands of Colombian rebels, he could get through another deliberately convoluted return. Mostly, he reminded himself that he was doing this for her. This was important, and he wanted to do more than not let her down. He wanted to make her happy.

And he had.

Last night after dinner, Ranger had laid her dress on the bed, her new wedge sandals on the floor. Steph had been nearly as giddy about the built-in arch support of her pretty sandals as she had been about dress pockets. Next to the dress, he'd assembled his outfit, taking the time to put the long sleeved ivory dress shirt into the dark blue tweed vest and roll up the cuffs. His best pair of dark blue jeans went down next, his good brown leather belt threaded through the loops. He put his brown boots on the floor next to her sandals.

"Babe? Can you come here?" Ranger called from the bedroom, feeling more nervous than he had in a long time. While he didn't want to admit how much effort he'd put into this, he was really hoping it was a success.

"Oh hey!" Stephanie's eyes lit up as she looked from his clothes to her dress and back again, a pleased smile brightening her face. "That's the same color family as my dress. We'll look so good together!"

The butterflies in his stomach dissipated when she threw herself into his arms for a hug. They were counting down in hours now, instead of weeks and days, and the mood turned serious under the weight of their intentions.

With their arms still firmly around each other, Ranger drew his head back to look Steph in the eyes and a different kind of fluttering started up. This time the butterflies weren't just in his stomach but flittering through his chest and up his throat. His voice was ragged as he spoke around them.

"I love you, Stephanie."

Her breath hitched as she replied, "I love you too, Ranger."

The heat that always simmered between them turned incandescent as Ranger kissed her deeply, his tongue searching out hers. Steph moaned in response, rolling her hips into him. Pushing the clothes to the side, he laid her down on the bed and spent the next few hours showing her the intensity of his passions.

From the passenger seat next to him, Steph brought him back to the present with a hesitant inquiry. "Um, shouldn't we be heading the other way?"

Ranger took her left hand in his right, kissing the back of it before releasing it. "Babe, you deserve better than a courthouse."

"But … we told them to meet us there." She sounded both worried and confused.

"I know that was the original plan, but I wanted more for you. Private and low-key doesn't have to mean boring or institutional. Would you like to know the new plan or would you like to be surprised?"

Stephanie shifted restlessly, making that thin sound under her breath that meant she was trying to make up her mind. A full minute went by before she replied.

"I want to be surprised by where we end up, but I'm also dying to know what you told them."

Her curiosity always came out somewhere. He was surprised she managed to restrain herself from wanting all the information right now.

"I told them we wanted to get together for a leisurely lunch and sightseeing of sorts, and that we wanted to take some family photos in a beautiful setting."

She nodded to show she'd heard, but he could tell her mind was already disseminating what information she had.

"So, you gave them a heads up about the photos so they can dress up if they want. Plus they already know the venue which gives them a guide for clothing. We've passed the last causeway, so South Beach is out, as is anything beachside …" Trailing off, she paused for more thinking as she muttered to herself. "Sightseeing. But 'of a sort'. Well, wherever it is, it has to be stroller friendly. And baby friendly. And it has to be a place we'd all like."

Ranger enjoyed watching her work through a problem. Her mind was quick and agile even when she didn't have much to go on, or, like now, too little to solve it.

"You said you wanted to be surprised," he pointed out, "but you're trying to guess. Would you like a hint?"

Her immediate response was a forceful, "Yes!"

"This place was mentioned during Thanksgiving at Lester's house."

That wasn't much of a clue. There'd been a lot of talk and laughter throughout the day with Lester and his family. Plus Bobby and his wife Sandy dropped by as did Tank, Livy, and their son Beau. But Stephanie's clever mind made the connection right away.

Eyes bright with excitement, she flapped her hand as she rattled off the words, as if batting each out of the way to make room for the next to pop out. "Oh! That old jungle, parrot, tourist place! Some city owns it now. That botanical garden." She tapped her knee as she tried to recall the name then snapped her fingers. "Pinecrest! Pinecrest Gardens!"

Ranger gave her a big smile, the one she called 200-watts. Pointing to a sign that had just come into view, he turned into the entrance. "And we're here."

Ranger had studied the satellite view of the parking lot and headed toward an area that would offer the most shade at this time of day. Based on the state of the lot, mid-morning Friday was busy, but not crowded, so it seemed they'd picked a good time.

"There they are," Stephanie said as they neared the end of a row.

Alec and Julie were just pulling into a spot ahead of them. There were several open spots nearby and Ranger was able to park beside them. The next few minutes were a flurry of greetings and unpacking the young couple's car. They both looked good in their jeans and dressy casual shirts. The baby looked adorable in a sundress with a matching floppy sun hat and sandals.

Little Rosa Louise Mason was only nine months old but already had more gear than the rest of them combined. The stroller was set up, then packed with the diaper bag, an insulated lunch box, various toys, and one very special bright pink otter that was dear to her heart. Ranger knew it was just chance that made his granddaughter love the stuffed toy that he'd bought in Chicago, but couldn't help feeling happy that she favored something that had come from him. Alec slipped on the baby harness, then he and Julie got Rosa settled, facing out so she could see everything, and the group got underway.

Ranger wished there had been baby slings back when Julie was little. He would have liked that. Maybe there had been and he didn't know, or didn't remember them. He'd been deployed several times in that first two years, so he'd missed out on most of her babyhood. He did remember pushing one-year old Julie in a collapsible, umbrella-style stroller that had no padding, no storage, no canopy, and folded away into nothing. Those were fine, but he'd made sure, with her parent's approval, that his granddaughter had top of the line, safety-rated equipment. Both his Panamera and Steph's car had the same model of car seat and stroller, and another set was stored in Control for emergency backup.

Ranger scanned the area around the entrance as they approached. The person he was expecting stepped out of the shade cast by the roof of the ticketing area. About Julie's height and age, she had short blonde hair, and a complexion that his mom used to call peaches and cream. She wore a khaki colored a-line skirt with a pale pink, short sleeve polo and tan and white lace up sneakers. He'd met with her twice before, finding her as refreshingly direct in person as she was in her emails and texts.

Stepping forward, she held out her hand. "Good morning, Mr. Manoso."

Shaking it, he replied, "Ms. Leggett."

Smiling, she said, "Please, call me Sylvie. Everything's all set, so if you'd like to come this way."

The questioning glances from Alec and Julie were nothing compared to the one from Steph, that had added elements of perplexity. Ranger had gone even farther off script than just changing the venue from the courthouse in South Beach to a botanical garden twenty miles in a different direction. As before, he could see the gears turning as her mind worked on the puzzle.

Sylvie led them past the ticket counter with a friendly wave at the employee manning the window, and continued out the far side and down the middle of three pathways. In a short time, they were in front of a small building with a clay tile roof and walls covered in coquina rock. The doorway, positioned in the center of the wall, was covered by a portico. Sylvie ushered them inside.

The interior was one long narrow room open to the timbers supporting the roof. The dark color of the wood contrasted with the off white walls. The room had been marked off into three distinct areas. In the middle where they stood the polished wooden floor was empty, save for a pedestal with a large floral arrangement against the far wall, though in this case far was only about fifteen feet. It really was a small building. The flowers were flanked by a man and a woman. Both were wearing linen suits in shades of light gray, though the woman's had a skirt instead of pants. To the left, a round table was set for five with four chairs and a high chair. Against the wall, there was a small rectangular table with a buffet. Each table had a smaller version of the floral arrangement.

Ranger had sent Sylvie a photo of Steph's dress and asked if the flowers could match. He didn't want to be part of the design decision, asking only for the right of refusal prior to ordering. He knew the large blue sprays were delphinium and the smaller ones snapdragons. They'd had a nearly comical text exchange about the white ones, before he caught on that the sprays of white flowers weren't just in stock but were called stock. The arrangements looked even better in person than they had in the photos.

Looking to the right, Ranger could see that Sylvie had really outdone herself with the parent and child rest area he'd requested. A plush beige rug outlined the area along with a portable crib. There was even a simple wooden rocking chair with cushions. The rest of the chairs looked to be the same high backed wooden ones that surrounded the table, but there was an assortment of throw pillows placed on and around them.

Sylvie, in her role of hostess, gestured toward the people in the suits. "Meet your officiant, Deborah Thurgood, and your photographer, Lars Bjørklund." Spreading her hands wide to encompass the whole group, she added, "Welcome to the wedding."

Behind him, Ranger heard Julie gasp and Alec mutter "whoa". Next to him, Stephanie was taking in the whole room, a wide smile on her glowing face.

"Better than a civil servant at the courthouse?" he asked her.

"Way better, Batman." She took his hand and kissed his cheek. "Everything is so beautiful." Pointing from the flowers to her dress then to his vest, she added, "And I love that everything blends without being matchy-matchy."

"Ugh," Julie agreed. "Matchy-matchy is the worst." There was excitement in her voice as she asked. "So, is this really your wedding?"

When Ranger nodded confirmation, she squealed and hugged them both. With Rosa strapped to his chest, Alec had to settle for shaking hands. Rosa burbled and kicked her legs, making them laugh.

Grinning, Alec said, "She's happy for you, too."

"We didn't want a fuss," Stephanie explained. "Thanks to my first go-round, I'm allergic to big weddings as it is. And neither of us are fans of being a public spectacle. So we decided to go with immediate family only. And here we are."

"If you're amenable," Ranger said, "we'd like you to be the best man and matron of honor. Rosita of course," he tickled the baby under her chin making her giggle and kick some more, "will be the flower girl."

"We'd be honored," Alec said solemnly.

Ranger pulled a small velvet pouch from his pocket, handing it to Alec. "The rings."

"What about the Uncles?" Julie asked. "They won't be upset at being left out, will they?"

"They'll understand," Ranger said dryly. "They've been waiting for us to elope."

The first time the guys had mentioned it was at the beginning of the summer, when he and Steph had returned from a long weekend in the Keys. Then it was after another long weekend in the Bahamas. Now, they checked his hand for a ring every Monday before the informal morning meeting started.

This week, Tank had made a big show of inspecting Ranger's hand, then tsked and said, "You know, there's only so much recon you can do before you gotta jump into action."

"You still haven't?" Bobby shook his head sorrowfully. "There's slow and then there's glacial."

Lester snorted "Yeah, and then there's these two."

Ranger had bounced a paper clip off his cousin's forehead and flipped off the others.

All wedding roles filled, Ranger outlined the plans for the day. Ceremony and photos first, then lunch, then a leisurely day at the park for as long as they liked. The building was theirs for the entire day, so they could pop in and out as they pleased. They could even stay until closing time, though Ranger doubted that would happen.

Everything went smoothly after that. The officiant, Deborah, spoke on the nature of love and resilience as Lars, the photographer, took candid snaps of the ceremony in progress. Ranger and Stephanie had opted to write their own vows. Judging by Deborah's protracted hesitation after each of them had spoken, she was used to lengthier declarations from the bride and groom.

Ranger had thought long and hard about what he would say. It felt as if they had already told each other everything that mattered in private. And even though he'd agreed to speak his own words, and even though the audience was extremely limited, there was only so much he'd say in public. A summary seemed to fit the need best.

When prompted, Ranger took his bride's hands. "Stephanie Michelle Plum, I love you with my whole heart, my body, and my soul. I will always love you, cherish you, and support you."

Their hands still joined, Stephanie looked deeply into his eyes and said softly, "Carlos Manoso, I never truly knew love until I met you. I'm happiest in your arms and I will be by your side always and forever."

The exchange of rings had felt far more significant than he'd expected. She had chosen a channel set band of diamonds and sapphires. He'd felt her hand tremble as the ring progressed up her finger. She gasped and looked at him with awe when it settled into place, and he knew that something significant had transpired for her.

Then it was his turn. His ring was titanium, polished to a silvery sheen with a band of forged carbon fiber glimmering in swirls of black and grey down the center. As Stephanie slid the band up his finger, it was like watching the last buckle on his spec ops load bearing harness snap shut. That last click had meant that he was secured in place and ready to go. This time, instead of leading his men through a mission, his place was with her, and they were ready to go forward together.

Their first kiss as husband and wife was brief and respectful, but he felt a tingle run through him that he hadn't felt the first time he'd been called a husband. He felt different, as if Deborah's pronouncement had truly been transformative in some way.

The newlyweds received congratulatory hugs and kisses from the best man and matron of honor then Lars began posing them for the formal photos. After fifteen minutes of that, Steph suddenly said, "Hey! What about cake?"

Sylvie went into action at that, making haste for the little buffet table.

"Don't worry, querida," Ranger assured her, "we've got you covered."

Sylvie returned holding a silver tray. "Everything you need is here," she said, nodding to the dishes, each with a fork and a tasty-looking confection, "in case you'd prefer to stand instead of sitting at the table."

Stephanie audibly inhaled then blinked twice at the offering, a smile forming on her lips. "Is that –"

Ranger grinned, very pleased at her reaction. "Pineapple upside down cupcakes."

The rest of the day had gone as well as he'd hoped. The cupcakes had gone over well, and no one seemed to notice they were a low-fat, low-sugar version of the sweet treat. Regardless, he'd only eaten half of his. Healthier didn't always mean healthy. Steph very kindly offered to take the leftover half off his hands.

Everyone enjoyed the luncheon, then they took their first stroll around the park. The photographer followed along for the first few minutes to get photos with the beautiful plants in the background. Ranger made sure that quite a few of the shots were of Julie and her family, either as a group or individually.

At one point Rosa began to fuss, so they all went back to the building and made use of the special area that he'd had set up. Rosa had been tired enough that she went straight into the crib. Steph ended up in the rocking chair, and managed to rock herself to sleep within minutes. The others lounged, chatting occasionally. Stephanie and Rosa woke around the same time and they all went back out to complete their exploration of the garden.

It was late afternoon before they were ready to leave. Ranger and his family slowly made their way back through the garden. He and Stephanie were holding hands. Julie was pushing Rosa in her stroller, with Alec's hand on her back.

Julie asked, "How long will you be on your honeymoon? You won't miss Christmas, will you?"

"And miss my granddaughter's first Christmas?" Ranger replied. Besides, it was his first Christmas as Abuelo. He didn't want to miss either milestone. "We'll only be gone a week."

"Plus," Stephanie told Julie, "I don't want to miss celebrating the holidays with all of my old friends. After Thanksgiving, I'm really looking forward to the gathering with Lester's family before we make our way to your house Christmas Day. And I've heard so much about the combined holidays open house on Rangeman's first floor that there's no way I'll miss that."

"Agreed," Alec said. "That open house is awesome. Rangeman always goes all out, and it's really cool to see everyone from different holiday backgrounds show up and mingle. It's always fun."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Julie said. "Though I'm kind of surprised you didn't wait until after Christmas and New Year's Eve to get married. Maybe in January. We," she gestured to Alec, "thought about getting married on Valentine's Day but then reality set in. Getting married around a major holiday makes it harder to get away because every place is booked, travel is awful, and the anniversary gets forgotten and overshadowed by the holiday."

"True," Ranger said, then paused. He and Steph had already discussed this, and he was the one to make the suggestion, but he didn't want it to sound sappy or like something out of a Hallmark movie. "But this is only the anniversary of our wedding. The more important anniversary is in August."

Alec and Julie both looked at him curiously but it was Stephanie who answered.

"That was the day we first met at a diner in Trenton. That's the important date because that's the day this all started." Leaning over, she kissed Ranger on the cheek. "And my life is so much better for it."

A few minutes later they were out of the garden and trekking through the parking lot. Finally, all the baby gear was stowed. Goodbyes were said amongst hugs and kisses. Ranger and Steph waved as Alec drove off.

Ranger beeped open the doors to the Panamera and helped Stephanie in. Rounding the car to the driver's side, he got into his seat and closed the door, but didn't start the car. After a moment, Stephanie looked over.

"You seem pensive."

"I was just thinking how happy I am to be married to you," Ranger said, "but it took such a long time to get here. We nearly didn't make it."

"But we did make it," she reminded him as she put her hand on his thigh in a reassuring gesture, "and it's all due to the stuff you said would kill me."

Wracking his memory he said, "Not takedowns."

"Nope," Stephanie said, then grinned. "Frozen waffles!"

Surprised by the answer, Ranger barked out a laugh. "Well since it all started with lunch at a diner, frozen waffles seem fitting."

Leaning over, he kissed her. "Now we'll take it up a notch and start the next chapter with lobster in St. Croix."

"Here's to lobster and the future,' Stephanie said.

"Here's to forever," Ranger replied and he kissed her again.

END

Author's Note:

I'd like to thank all of the readers that came on this journey of discovery with me. When I posted the first chapter on 10-13-2023, it was supposed to be an angsty 4,500 word one-shot. Instead here it is 04-16-2024 and there are 21 chapters with over 100,000 words. As I've mentioned before, the person you have to thank for that is my friend and beta KathyJoK.

I have to thank her, too, for looking over each draft and making it "beta". (She's rolling her eyes right now at this terrible pun and itching to take her red pencil to it.) As I told her once after she had tackled a run on sentence and wrestled it into submission – I'm the sentence mangler and she's the sentence wrangler. Behind the scenes, she's improved every story before I've posted it. I'm grateful for her friendship and her talents.

Thank you, Kathy. You are invaluable.

P.S. If there are any mistakes in this end note, it's because I wanted to surprise her. She'll see this when everyone else does and she'll probably be itching to take her red pencil to it.