Chapter 14

The trip back to DC was quiet and easy. Hollis found herself fiddling with the ring on her finger. She'd never been one to wear a lot of jewelry. It was going to take some getting used to.

"You should get a ring, too," she said.

Jethro grinned. "Not my job. That's the bride's job."

Hollis laughed. "Touche. I'll remember that. Any preferences?"

"Surprise me."

"But you've got to wear it. Don't you want to have some say?"

"You're the one who always wants to know. Surprise me."

Hollis just smiled and shook her head. "Okay. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

"You did." Jethro looked at the road for a few minutes. "So...what do you want to talk about first when we get back?"

"The wedding?" Hollis suggested.

"It's not like you to put things off, Holly."

"Never been engaged before. It's a new sensation."

"Okay. Wedding, first...but we're going to have to start talking about the other stuff, too. You're leaving tomorrow."

"I know...and I know we need to. The wedding comes first," Hollis said. "We can do it in chronological order."

"Right."

Hollis just smiled and leaned back to let Jethro get them home.

When they pulled up, Hollis grabbed her bag and went inside. Jethro followed her in.

"Hungry?"

"Not in the mood to cook, though."

"Takeout, then."

"Okay."

"What do you want?"

Hollis grinned. "Surprise me."

Jethro chuckled and pulled out his phone. Hollis went upstairs with the bags and set them down without bothering to unpack them. In spite of the negative events that had brought her here, she found she wasn't looking forward to going back to LA. It was kind of an anticlimactic end to a very exciting weekend. Still, she'd already taken an extra week off. She needed to get back to work.

When she came back down, Jethro was sitting on the couch, waiting for her. She sat down across from him; so they could look each other in the eye.

"So?" he asked.

"So what?" she returned.

"Wedding."

"Right. What do you want?" Hollis asked.

"I've already had every kind of wedding you could have. You can choose."

Hollis chuckled...but she found herself reluctant to say what she really wanted. Jethro seemed to notice.

"Holly, this something you deserve. What do you want?"

"A real wedding," she said. "Nothing huge, but a real wedding in a church...with a reception afterward." She blushed a little, even as it galled her to do something so girly as blush. "I want to wear a wedding dress."

"Honeymoon in Lana'i?"

Hollis laughed. "You read my mind."

"Holly, I'm fine with that. Really. ...as long as you don't make yourself miserable with it. I've seen it happen...and usually, I paid the price for it."

"Not likely. Simple and no intention of breaking the bank with it."

"I've heard that before," Jethro said.

"Feel free to rein me in if I get out of hand. I'll even tell Hettie the same thing."

"She'll keep you in line."

"That's right. Okay. So...where? My family isn't in any one place."

"They're willing to travel wherever?"

"Yeah. I think they won't believe I'm getting married unless they see it happening for themselves."

"We could do it here."

"I'd be okay with that. I still have friends here. It's close to your dad."

"Unless you want to do it in Lana'i."

"No. ...but I'll be inviting my running crew...but if we do get married around here, you'll have to help out because I'll still be in LA."

"That's what we really need to talk about, you know."

Hollis nodded. "What are we going to do? We could hardly be farther apart and still in the same country. I don't know if I'm ready to retire for a second time...and you're not either. What are we going to do about it?"

Jethro sat back and thought. He wasn't going to rush it, of course. He wasn't one to rush when he didn't have to.

"How many more years do you think you'll want to be in LA?" he asked finally.

Hollis also sat back to think.

"I don't know. I'm really enjoying it right now...even if Hettie could probably manage everyone, plus some other things on the side if she wanted to. You know...if it weren't for the fact that I love you, this wouldn't be difficult."

"Aren't I worth a bit of difficulty?" Jethro asked with a grin.

"I'm still deciding that," Hollis retorted. "Seriously...what about you?"

"Same boat."

"And we can't just jump around either...because if I know you, and I'd like to think I do, part of what makes you enjoy your job is because of the people you work with. It wouldn't be the same anywhere else."

Jethro nodded.

Hollis smiled suddenly. "You know what my mom would say if she were here?"

"What?"

"She'd say that I need to keep you and do whatever it takes because I'm not likely to find another man who could put up with my quirks."

"I don't think she would."

"You don't even know her."

"I've caught glimpses...and she'd want you not to give up what you love."

Hollis smiled. "Well, therein lies the problem. My two loves are on opposite sides of the continent. So, even if you're right, that does us no good. Now what?"

Jethro visibly hesitated.

"What?"

"Give me two more years."

"For what?"

"You stay in LA until we get married and then...come out here with me. Give me two years and we'll retire. ...to Lana'i."

Hollis smiled. "I don't have a basement on Lana'i."

"We'll be right near the ocean. I think we can find a place to put a boat."

"Put one, yes...but what about building one?"

Jethro was silent for a moment and then he smiled. "If I have to choose between building another boat and being with you, I think you'll win out, Holly."

"You think?"

"Don't push your luck."

Hollis considered what Jethro had suggested. It would require that she retire again long before she'd thought she would. ...and yet, the suggestion wasn't as disappointing as she had thought it might be. One of them would have to sacrifice for the other. Jethro had been here longer, had put down more roots. ...and she herself still had a lot of connections out here. ...and in reality, did they have to move permanently to Lana'i even when they had both retired? Was that really necessary? Right now, the renting had been going really well, more than offsetting her property taxes and mortgage. When they'd retired, they could go there whenever they wanted...and see if they really did want to stay there permanently.

Would I be happy living here in Jethro's home? Hollis asked herself. Yes. Yes, if I could do something to make it mine, too.

Jethro, for his part, just sat quietly, letting her think about his proposal. It was clear that he himself was aware of what he was asking and also aware of the difficulties involved in making them both happy, but he was trying.

"Would you listen to my counter-suggestion?" Hollis asked.

Jethro smiled. "What?"

"Give me a year more in LA, then we get married...and I come out here. You decide if you want to keep working. I see if Director Vance would be interested in using me in any capacity in this area. If not, then, I'll just retire for the second time..."

"You're not the only one of us who's already retired once, you know."

Hollis chuckled. "True. ...and then...we'll see if living permanently on Lana'i is enough for us both."

Jethro's eyes widened. Could it be she had managed to surprise him?

"Well, Jethro?"

"And if it's not enough?" he asked.

"Then, we stay here."

"And you'd be happy with that? With being in this house?"

"I think so. Won't know unless I try. I didn't know if I'd like working in LA until I tried it. I did. I'm willing to take another risk. ...if you're willing to let me make this my home as well as yours."

There were a lot of layers to that statement, Hollis knew. Although there was very little left of her in the main areas of the house, this was where Jethro kept his memories of Shannon and Kelly...and that was a place Hollis didn't want to intrude. She would go if invited but it was hard to know what to do with that part of Jethro's life.

Jethro looked around the room...the rather bland room that showed almost nothing of the man who had lived here for years. He smiled.

"It's hardly been my home. I'm okay with it being ours...but are you sure you want this?"

"Yes...or at least, I'm sure I want you, and this place comes with the territory...as does everything you are...boats, ex-wives and all. You've dealt with my past in the last week."

"And you've dealt with mine for the entire time we've been together."

"If neither of us have been driven away yet, I think we won't be. I think we can take it."

"And you'd be all right with only one more year?"

Hollis thought about it again, and nodded. The more she considered it, the more she liked the idea of coming back to DC. She remembered how excited she'd been to see it after a long time away. She'd lived in DC longer than she'd lived almost anywhere else, and the memories were mostly good ones.

"I'd just have to find something to do with my time...and I'm pretty sure I could."

"So...does that mean we've made a decision?"

"A tentative one, it sounds like. Are you all right with it?"

Jethro nodded. "You?"

"Yeah."

He held out his hand and gestured. Hollis smiled and joined him on the couch.

"That was relatively painless, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Relatively. You going to tell your brothers?"

"I think I'll let them wait until I get back. I can go show Marjorie the ring and she'll be happy for me. I can tell the others on the phone. We'll have to decide on a date."

"A year from now works for me."

Hollis just laughed and didn't press the point. They had time for that. There was a knock on the door, signaling the arrival of their dinner. Jethro went and got it. He set it out on the table and handed Hollis her chopsticks.

"You recreating our first meal together?"

"You noticed."

"Not too many people could claim cheap Chinese takeout as a first date."

"It wasn't a date."

"No...even better. How many people could claim to be investigating grisly murders while eating their first meal?"

Jethro smiled. "Not too many."

He handed her a box and then started eating himself.

"How many people do you think you're going to invite?" she asked in between bites.

Jethro shrugged. "Not much family. Few people at NCIS."

Hollis suppressed a chuckle and took another bite.

"What?" he asked, smiling a little himself.

"If you don't invite the people on your team, we'll look up and find them peeking in the doors."

Jethro didn't reply to that. He just moved on.

"You?"

"My family...which is bigger than yours. A few friends. I think we could easily get by with space for less than a hundred people."

Jethro nodded in agreement.

"Your job is to find the place."

"My job?" Jethro asked.

"Yes. I'm not going to search through the Internet, when you're here and can do it yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."

Hollis thought about it. There was going to be a lot of work.

"Maybe we should just elope."

"Nope. Too late for that. Dad won't let us."

"He going to help?"

"If you ask."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll do that."

"Good."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes.

"Anything else I'm not thinking of yet?" Hollis asked. "You have a lot more experience with marriages."

Jethro set down his chopsticks and began ticking off points. "Flowers, wedding line, food, music, drinks...if you want to do a cocktail hour...uh...how you want presents, invitations."

"Flowers can be minimal, same with the wedding line. Food, we'll get catered by someone. Cocktail hour? What's the point of that?"

"Give the bride and groom time to change if they're going to."

"Oh. Well...no. That's not necessary."

"Dancing?"

Hollis laughed. "Probably not...but I'm not overly opposed."

"Invitations?"

"We'll each have to make a list...and figure it out then."

"Okay. What about your dress?"

"I'll get it in LA. You're not supposed to see it until the wedding anyway." Hollis suddenly was struck by a thought. It made her stop with the details and smile wistfully.

"What is it?"

"I think I just realized one of the reasons my mom hoped I'd get married."

"Why?"

"Because she never did. She never got that experience...and she wanted me to have it. Now, I am. I wish she could see it."

Jethro put an arm around her shoulders.

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"She could be here hounding you."

Hollis laughed and sniffled just a little. "You're going to make me cry, Jethro, and I don't want to cry when I'm actually happy."

"Going soft on me?"

"Maybe diamonds have that effect on people."

"Don't see me crying."

Hollis slugged him and sat up.

"I didn't want to be so stereotypical."

"You're allowed."

"Thanks."

They finished eating and then sat together for the evening before going to bed.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro woke up early the next morning and slid out of bed without waking Hollis up. He went down to the basement. He wouldn't quite have it finished before Hollis had to go, but he could get most of it, and she'd see what it would be like...when she came back the next time.

As he smoothed out his work, he thought about the discussion they'd had the night before. In spite of how much Hollis had tried to stay practical, Jethro had seen how excited she was at the prospect of having a wedding. He was really glad he could do that for her...something else that would definitely separate him from her father.

"Jethro? Can I come down?"

"Sure. Not done yet, but you'll see what I'm doing."

Hollis came thumping down, pulling her hair back into her usual ponytail. She paused when she got near the bottom.

"Jethro..."

He smiled. He loved it when he could surprise her.

"The headboard...I thought it was just going to be...simple."

"It is."

"This isn't simple. This is...beautiful."

Jethro smiled and finished another stroke. The headboard was in two levels, connected by two short pillars. Then, there were some simple geometric patterns carved into each level. Each level was divided into three panels and the patterns were all connecting, forming one larger design.

"Wow," Hollis said. "This is gorgeous, Jethro."

"Thanks. Glad you like it."

"I love it. That means that next time I come, you'll have a decent bed."

Jethro grinned and brushed the sawdust off his hands.

"You ready to go?"

"No. ...but I'm packed."

"I'll give you a ride over."

"Coffee first?"

"Do you have time?"

"Yes."

Whether she really did or not, Jethro followed her up to the kitchen and they had a simple quick breakfast. Then, he drove her to the airport. She checked in and they walked together to the security line.

"Don't lose the ring."

"I won't. ...and you'll get your own ring soon enough."

Jethro kissed her and she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Then, he let her go and she got in line. He waited until she'd disappeared from view. Then, he took a breath and headed back home so he could get ready for work.

All in all, it had been an excellent weekend.