"I think this one," Donna said decisively.
"Black? Really?" Holly asked, surprised.
"Black does not automatically mean 'slutty,'" Donna replied. "White is for virginal ingénues, I don't do pastels, and I already have several pieces of lingerie in red. The purple makes me look hippy, the green makes me look poochy, and I'm not much for blue. That leaves black. Besides, Michael will like it...for the 30 seconds or so I'm wearing it." She grinned mischievously. "And it is his birthday."
"Black it is, then," Holly agreed.
As Donna pulled the black negligee from the rack and checked the size tag, she asked Holly, "So, when are we going to buy something like this for you?"
"Oh, not for quite some time yet," Holly said with a laugh.
"Really?" Donna asked, surprised.
"You don't have to sound so surprised," Holly said. "At the moment, sex would just complicate things for Roger and me."
"Yes, I guess that's true," Donna reflected. "It certainly complicated things for Michael and me the first time we...well...got together after Michael moved back here. Still, it has to be frustrating for you."
"Celibacy is not a new concept in my life," Holly replied. "Let's just say my fantasy life is very healthy and active these days and leave it at that."
"Ryan and Jamie both belong to this fantasy football league thing on the computer," Donna said.
"Okay, I don't know much about football, but I really doubt it's the same thing," Holly said dryly.
Donna laughed. "Of course not. You're not fantasizing about a football team. You're fantasizing about Roger."
"Boy, am I," Holly muttered.
"Oh ho, then you are frustrated," Donna said.
"A little," Holly admitted. "But I'm not going to do anything to risk ruining our chances for a happy future together. It will happen when it's right for both of us." They were interrupted by a muffled ringing sound.
"Your purse is ringing," Donna said.
"Cellular phone," Holly replied, removing the phone from her purse and answering it. "Hello?"
"Hello," Roger greeted her on the other end of the line.
"Well, hi there," Holly said happily.
Donna, realizing it was Roger by the tone of Holly's voice and the way her eyes lit up and a soft smile bloomed on her face, discreetly stepped away to give her friend some privacy.
"We're still subscribing to the wooing each other theory, right?" Roger asked.
"Right," Holly replied.
"I just wanted to make sure," Roger said. "To that end, there's an art exhibit tonight at the local museum. Would you like to go?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" Holly asked.
"Yes. Yes, I am," Roger replied. "We can get dinner before or after, whatever you want."
"I would love to go to the art exhibit with you," Holly replied.
"Great," Roger said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll pick you up at 7:30. Are you at The Bayshore or at home?"
"The Bayshore," Holly said.
"Okay, then I'll pick you up at your room tonight at 7:30."
"I'll be waiting."
After they said goodbye, Donna returned, her purchase in a pink-and-white-striped shopping bag. "That was obviously good news," she greeted Holly.
"I have a date with Roger tonight," Holly said happily.
"He asked you?" Donna asked excitedly.
"Yes!" Holly exclaimed.
If the few people in the lingerie shop thought the two middle-aged women acting like giddy teenage girls who had just been asked to the prom by the boys they had had huge crushes on all year was odd, they kept their comments and thoughts to themselves. "And you're absolutely sure you won't be needing anything from here?" Donna asked, gesturing at the store around them with both arms.
"Positive," Holly said firmly.
"All right," Donna said, lowering her arms. "But you'll need a sensational outfit for tonight, something to knock his socks off. What are you doing? Did he tell you?"
"Dinner and an art exhibit," Holly replied as they left the lingerie shop.
Donna scanned the shop windows across the way with an appraising eye. "Hmm..." she said thoughtfully.
Holly followed Donna's gaze and was surprised when she spotted Rachel Cory exiting one of the stores carrying a garment bag. Rachel spotted Holly with Donna and lifted a hand in greeting as she crossed the concourse. Holly waved back. "Why are you flagging Rachel down?" Donna asked.
"She's a friend of mine," Holly replied. "I bought KBAY from her last week."
"You bought KBAY? Why didn't you tell me?" Donna asked, shocked.
"Because you've been planning a celebration to rival Mardi Gras for Michael's birthday, and Roger and I have both been pulled into it to try and keep Michael from finding out, and I realize I don't know Michael that well yet, but if he's anything like Roger, he at least knows you're up to something, even if he doesn't know exactly what it is."
"Well, of course he knows we're doing something for his birthday," Donna replied. "He just doesn't know exactly what. And if he has somehow figured it out..." Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Roger wouldn't tell him," Holly declared loyally.
"Of course he wouldn't, because Roger doesn't know everything," Donna said. "But if Michael has somehow figured out exactly what I have planned for tonight, he'll fake that he doesn't. But that's the things he'll fake tonight, especially once I get him alone." She grinned saucily.
Rachel arrived then. "Hello, Holly," she said. Then she nodded at Donna. "Donna."
"Rachel," Donna said shortly.
Holly looked from Donna to Rachel, back to Donna, then back to Rachel. Deciding not to get involved in whatever this was, she greeted Rachel warmly. "Hello, Rachel. I was just helping Donna with some shopping. It's Michael's birthday."
"Ah, yes, Jamie and Ryan both mentioned that recently," Rachel replied. "I just picked up my dress for tonight's art exhibit."
"You're going to the art exhibit tonight?" Holly asked. "I am too."
"With Roger?" Rachel asked interestedly.
"Yes," Holly said happily. "He asked me."
Rachel beamed. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, isn't it?" Donna inquired. "We were just on our way to find Holly an outfit for tonight. We don't want to keep you, Rachel, busy as you are."
"Actually, I'm not as busy as you, Donna," Rachel replied sweetly. "After all, you own and run The Harbor Club. I sold KBAY to Holly, Matthew is running things over there until the sale is final and Holly can take over, and Iris is handling the day-to-day operations at Cory Publishing, so my schedule is wide open for today. I'd love to help you find something for tonight, Holly."
Donna bristled slightly, but before Holly could figure out what to say, Donna said, "That's just fine." Then she pinned Rachel with a hard stare. "And for your information, The Harbor Club is not open for breakfast, and I took the whole day and night off today because it is Michael's birthday."
Now, Holly had borne witness to more than one fight Roger had had with Ed Bauer over her years and years ago, but being fought over by two of her female contemporaries, both of whom she considered friends, was a new experience for Holly. She didn't think that Donna and Rachel would come to blows over her as Roger and Ed had once upon a time, but still, the best course of action Holly could see was finding an outfit quickly so the three of them could go their separate ways. "Is this black tie? I forgot to ask Roger," Holly said.
"No, it's not black tie," Rachel replied as she, Holly, and Donna crossed the concourse toward the womens' apparel shops. "You could wear a skirt and blouse, if you wanted, or a nice summery casual dress."
"No, no, no, she wants some slinky, sexy number to make Roger's eyes pop out of his head," Donna disagreed.
"Um, actually-" Holly began.
Rachel sighed. "It's like talking to Amanda," she said. "You know, Donna, some women prefer not to dress as walking advertisements for sex."
"Are you comparing me to your prodigal strumpet of a daughter?" Donna asked, insulted.
"If the shoe fits," Rachel said. "And do not call Amanda a strumpet."
"'Strumpet' is the polite term for Amanda," Donna sniffed.
Rachel ignored Donna and turned her attention to Holly. "What do you have in mind?"
"I would rather not do slinky or sexy just yet," Holly replied with a half-apologetic look at Donna.
"Of course," Rachel said with a sage nod. "There's no rush."
"There may not be any rush, but I'm sure Holly would like to get there eventually," Donna muttered.
"Oh? The way you got there with Michael the night before you married my son?" Rachel challenged.
This was news to Holly, but she carefully schooled her features not to show her shock. "I regret hurting Matthew. How many times do I have to say it?" Donna wanted to know as Holly realized that the younger man Donna had married was one of Rachel's sons.
"Oh really," Rachel said. "I'm supposed to believe that when you had no trouble at all using him to make Michael jealous?"
"My entire relationship with Matthew was not about making Michael jealous," Donna said in a low, firm voice.
"I suppose not. Just the part where you slept with Michael the night before marrying Matthew, and then when Michael didn't propose to you the morning after, you rushed to marry Matthew," Rachel retorted.
"Oh, like you never made a mistake and married the wrong man?" Donna demanded. "Two words, Rachel: Carl Hutchins."
"I believe you made that particular mistake before I did," Rachel replied haughtily.
"Well, at least I never professed to love Carl," Donna said primly. "It was a marriage of convenience, period. And you have a lot of room to talk to me about cheating. How many times did you cheat on Mac? There was Steve Frame, although I suppose I can understand that, given your history and, of course, your deep-seated need to once again stick it to Alice Matthews after Steve miraculously returned from the dead with plastic surgery after seven years.
"And then there was Mitch Blake. He was shacking up with Janice Frame, Janice married Mac for his money and almost poisoned him to death while keeping Mitch on the side, and you valiantly threw yourself on Mitch's penis so you could find out where Janice had taken Mac to finish him off...only it didn't end there. Afterwards, you decided to keep seeing Mitch on the side yourself, to the point that Mac divorced you when he found out that the baby you were carrying was Mitch's and not his. And then, of course, when Mitch returned from prison years later, you almost fell into bed with him again, and everyone in town could see how he fawned all over you after Mac's passing, neglecting his own wife, who just happened to be your best friend Felicia, to hold your hand and try to get back into your pants again."
"You weren't even living here when that whole mess with Janice happened, you don't know anything about it, and how dare you make it sound so tawdry. And yes, Mitch was there for me after Mac died, but only as a friend. He wanted more, but I didn't, and he and Felicia were already having problems that had nothing whatsoever to do with me by then. But if you insist on discussing past relationship peccadilloes, I would like to point out that unlike you, I have never slept with a man after he married one of my daughters and had a sexual relationship with the other," Rachel shot back angrily.
"Oh, look, that's nice," Holly blurted, and Rachel and Donna stopped arguing long enough to look in the shop window that Holly was looking in, at the black dress on the mannequin in the window.
"If you're going to a funeral," Donna said with a distasteful twist of her mouth. "All that's missing is a veil."
"That's a very somber dress," Rachel added. "It's nice, but...well...is that the kind of statement you want to make?"
"No," Holly agreed, relieved that Rachel and Donna had stopped bickering. "I definitely want something more colorful."
"Then that's what we'll find," Donna pledged.
The next forty-five minutes were comprised of several argumentative comments between Donna and Rachel while Holly tried on dress after dress.
"She looks like a rainbow exploded," Rachel said when Holly emerged from the dressing room wearing a dress of red, yellow, green, blue, and white vertical stripes that Donna had suggested she try on.
"It's a date, not an audition for the community playhouse's production of Godspell," Donna said when Holly had tried on Rachel's choice, a maroon ankle-length dress with cap sleeves and a white lace collar that Holly had been trying to diplomatically find a way to tell Rachel she would not be caught dead in.
Finally, Holly found a summer dress in a deep gold, with a matching belt at the waist, spaghetti straps, and the skirt of which hit just below her knees. Relieved, she tried it on, decided she would take that dress no matter what Rachel and Donna thought, and when they saw her in it just outside the dressing room, they stopped sniping at one another over dresses and actually agreed that it was the ideal dress for Holly.
Rachel took her leave after the dress had been paid for and zipped into a garment bag. When it was just Holly and Donna again, Donna began somewhat haltingly, "I used to work with Matthew at KBAY. He's the ex I worked with awkwardly for awhile after we broke up."
Holly nodded. "I get it," she said.
"Get what?" Donna wanted to know.
"I get why you and Rachel don't really get along," Holly said.
"We're usually not that bad," Donna said sheepishly. "But without Jamie and Ryan here, or the grandchildren..."
"Plus you were jealous," Holly said knowingly. Donna looked even more sheepish now. "I've never had one good female friend in my adult life, let alone two, but it's not a contest. There's room in my life for both you and Rachel. Although I think from now on, I'll keep the two of you apart."
"That would probably be best," Donna agreed, more relieved that Holly isn't angry at her than anything else. "I've never had a good female friend in my entire life, so I'm still feeling my way with this whole friendship thing," she admitted. "But I'll get better, I promise. The important thing here is that you got a fantastic dress for tonight."
"Yeah, I did," Holly agreed, adjusting the garment bag since her fingers were turning white.
"It was inevitable that Michael and I...well, that what happened the night before I married Matthew happened," Donna went on. "We had been circling each other for several months by then, and I admit, it was not a planned seduction, but I did seek him out hoping that, since that was his last chance, so to speak, he would do something, say something, to let me know that he still loved me as I still loved him. I really admire you for having the strength and the intelligence to wait until you're both ready and you're both absolutely sure that you're going to be together, and not just for that one night."
"Well, we've made that mistake before," Holly admitted. "It's not a mistake I want to make again. I want to marry Roger someday."
Donna goggled. "After everything that's happened, you actually want to marry him?" she asked, surprised.
"Very much," Holly replied with absolute certainty.
"Why?" Donna asked. "Not that I'm against marriage," she added hastily, "but as a five-time loser in that department myself, three of those with Michael, I figure that the head of the aisle about to march down it again is the last place I'll ever find myself again."
"How do I explain it?" Holly asked rhetorically. She thought for several seconds as she framed her response in her head. "I'm already fully committed to Roger. He's not there yet, and that's okay. But when he is, I want to stand beside him in front of a minister or a judge and vow to him that I'm going to be by his side for the rest of our lives. I want to join my life to his. I want to be his wife, I want him to know that I'll belong to him and he will belong to me forever, no doubts, no fears that I'm going to leave him again or change my mind. I want him to know without question that I want him, I choose him and only him, for all eternity. And I want the world to know it too, but it's more important that Roger knows it."
Months from now, Donna would look back on this conversation, this moment, and fully realize the profound effect it had had on her. But in that moment, all she said was, "Wow. That's very deep."
"I've spent a lifetime ignoring and denying and trying to push aside or get over what I feel for Roger," Holly continued. "I've finally come to know that that is never going to happen, and more than that, I would never want it to. We've lost and wasted enough time. I don't want to lose or waste one more second. And no matter how long it takes...no matter how much time Roger needs...whatever I need to do to earn back his trust and make him see, make him know without any doubts or questions that I'm going to be with him from now on...it's all right, because he's worth it. We are worth it. And I've never wanted anything in my life more than I want a life and a marriage with him, only this time, it's going to last forever." She looked at Donna sharply. "And you are not to breathe one word of this to Michael or anyone else. I was always so skittish about marriage in the past. I'm not anymore, obviously, but Roger doesn't know that yet, and I don't want to scare him or send him running. We're a long, long way away from being ready to get married. When the time is right, I'll broach the subject with him, but to do it now would be relationship suicide, and there's no way I'm going to do anything to mess things up."
"My lips are sealed," Donna said. "They could cut off my arms and legs and throw me off a cliff and I wouldn't say one word, not one syllable."
"I don't think anyone will be trying to do that to you, but thank you, I appreciate you keeping this quiet," Holly said.
"That's what a good friend does," Donna said with a proud smile.
At 7:30 on the dot that evening, Roger was knocking on the door of Holly's suite at The Bayshore. In the few seconds before she opened the door, he thought back to another night long ago when he had knocked on the door of her hotel suite in Acapulco. How far we've come since then, he thought. And the distance we have to go feels like it's getting smaller every day.
She opened the door and greeted him with a radiant smile that stole his breath. The joy and love shining in her eyes, and the dress of deep gold that she wore, made her shine brighter than the sun. "Hi," she said.
"Hello," he replied, wondering if she noticed that he sounded breathless when he uttered that one-word greeting.
Of course she noticed. But the sight of Roger standing at her door in a light gray poplin suit with a navy blue tie with a pattern of little white diamonds on it with his hands behind his back, staring at her with open admiration and adoration both gleaming in his eyes, left her a bit breathless as well.
They stood there gazing at each other for a long moment in silence before Roger spoke. "You look lovely," he said.
"Thank you. You're looking very handsome yourself," she replied.
Roger brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a small box containing an orchid corsage. "I know it's not a prom or the 1950s, but, well..." He trailed off. He had agonized over several different kinds of bouquets, flustering and exasperating three different employees at the florist two blocks from The Bayshore, until finally in desperation the one of those three that hadn't escaped to the back to either scream in frustration or curse him behind his back had suggested a corsage, and he had latched on to that, becoming increasingly sold on the idea when she had explained the meanings of the three different color orchids in the particular corsage he was now holding in his hand.
Roger opened the lid of the box and Holly saw that the corsage contained three different colors of orchids: white, yellow, and lavender. "It's beautiful," Holly said softly. Seeing that it was a wrist corsage, she held up her right hand. "Would you put it on for me?"
"Sure," Roger said, removing the corsage from the box and carefully, gently slipping it onto Holly's wrist, feeling the electricity when his fingers brushed her skin in the process, and knowing by the quick, sharp inhalation of breath she took that she felt it too. "The florist said that the white orchids symbolize beauty and elegance, the yellow symbolizes friendship and new beginnings, and the lavender symbolizes grace, elegance, and feminine beauty. So I guess the meanings of the white and the lavender overlap somewhat, but you are elegant, and very beautiful, so it's fitting."
"It's wonderful, and I love it. Thank you," she said. After making sure she had her room key, she pulled the door closed and locked it behind her. "So, dinner first or the art exhibit?"
"I leave that up to you," Roger replied. "Frankie and Cass recommended a place, TOPS. We haven't been there yet, so I thought we'd give it a try."
"Sounds great," Holly said with a smile. "I'm not really hungry yet, though, so how about we go to the art exhibit first, and then head to TOPS for dinner afterward?"
"All right," Roger replied. "So, how was your day?"
"Interesting," Holly said. "I went shopping with Donna, and we ran into Rachel Cory. She's going to the art exhibit tonight too. Rachel, not Donna."
"No, I wouldn't guess Donna would be there, since it's Michael's birthday," Roger replied. He held the car door for her and once they were on their way to the art exhibit, Holly continued her story.
"Anyway, it turns out that Rachel and Donna don't really like each other," Holly continued. "So I'm standing in the middle of The Galleria concourse, listening to them argue about Donna having married Rachel's son Matthew to make Michael jealous, and then they were insulting each other about past indiscretions each of them had made. Apparently they both married Carl Hutchins, and...well, both of those marriages were a big mess. Without going into any of the sordid details, I had my work cut out for me getting them to stop sniping at each other long enough to help me find a dress for tonight. I'm still amazed they agreed with me on this one."
"They reminded you of Ed and me, didn't they?" Roger asked knowingly.
"No punches were thrown, nobody got any hair yanked out or eyes scratched out, but yes, they did sort of remind me of you and Ed fighting over me a million years ago," Holly admitted.
"Well, if Donna Love and Rachel Cory started catfighting in the middle of The Galleria concourse, you could charge admission and make a bundle," Roger joked.
"Yeah, but then the police would have to come and break it up, and Donna is Ryan's mother-in-law, and Rachel is Ryan's stepmother, and that would just be unpleasant for everybody," Holly replied. "It was new, though, having the two of them fighting like that. Donna admitted after Rachel left that part of the reason she started in on Rachel was that she was jealous."
"Donna is a force of nature," Roger said. "Rachel strikes me as much more reformed. She may have had wild ways and wild days, but those are far behind her. They probably automatically clash because of the difference in their personalities, and then when you add in the fact that Donna was jealous of Rachel for being your friend, and Rachel was probably also jealous of Donna being your friend, it's no wonder they started sniping at each other."
"I guess. I'm kind of out of my element here," Holly admitted. "I've never had close female friends my own age before. But there's room for both of them in my life. I'll just have to do a better job of keeping them separate from each other from now on."
"That sounds like a wise idea," Roger said.
"How was your day?" Holly asked.
"Boring compared to yours," Roger replied. "I heard from Frankie today. She doesn't have anything yet on Dinah and Hart trying to gaslight me."
"She'll get it," Holly said confidently. "These things take time."
Roger glanced over at Holly. "You're so sure," he said.
"I am," Holly said with a nod.
"How?" Roger asked, looking back at the road. "How are you so sure?"
"I'm with you on this gorgeous summer night," Holly said, "and we're getting closer every day. We're going to get it right this time. I know we are. I believe that with everything in me. So yes, Frankie will get the proof of what Dinah and Hart are doing. My divorce is waiting to be heard. Once we have the proof of what Dinah and Hart have really been trying to do to you, you'll get your divorce. No one is trying to come between us. Neither one of us wants anyone else. And for the first time in our lives, we have no secrets from each other. We're on our way, Roger. We'll get there."
They had reached the museum by now, and Roger parked the car and turned it off. He turned to look at Holly in the fading light and said, "I'm starting to believe we will, Holly."
Holly blinked rapidly when she felt a sheen of moisture welling up in her eyes. She reached across the console for Roger's hand, and when he took hold of her hand, he bent his head to kiss the back of her hand. She swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Let's go look at some art."
"Yes, let's," Roger agreed.
They walked into the museum arm in arm, smiling at each other. Rachel spotted them and smiled when she saw them together.
"What are you smiling at?" Amanda Cory asked her mother.
Startled, Rachel turned to look at her daughter, who was clad in a tight red halter dress with a short, flared skirt that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"It's a free country," Amanda retorted, taking a sip from the champagne glass in her hand. "Besides, everybody else is busy, and I'm sick of hearing about Dennis and Kelsey's wedding."
"It's in two months, and you know Iris well enough to know that she'll make her only son's wedding a big production," Rachel replied.
"Yeah, a big production that includes most of the family. Paulina's not going to be in it, but only because she practically just had a baby. Jamie and Matthew are standing up with Dennis, Ryan is giving the bride away, Vicky is the matron of honor-"
"Kelsey is Ryan's cousin, and her father is deceased, so of course Ryan and Vicky are going to be in the wedding. And Jamie and Dennis have been best friends since they were twelve years old, or have you forgotten that's how your father and I met, through Jamie and Dennis when I went to pick Jamie up at Mac's house when he went swimming there with Dennis that day?" Rachel interrupted her.
"I'm just curious, do you give Matt this much grief? Because he's divorced too, you know," Amanda reminded Rachel.
"I have no reason to question Matthew's behavior or choices," Rachel pointed out, "whereas you give me ample reason to question both your behavior and your choices on a daily basis."
"Whatever," Amanda said dismissively. "You didn't answer my original question: what are you smiling at?" Amanda followed her mother's gaze, and Rachel saw the predatory gleam come into Amanda's eyes when she spotted Roger Thorpe, completely ignoring the fact that Holly was on his arm, their heads bent together as they laughed at something.
"Amanda," Rachel said sternly. "Your father and grandmother and I did not raise you to be a homewrecker."
"Well, I'm guessing Grandma didn't raise you to be a homewrecker either, but you had no qualms about breaking up Steve Frame's engagement to Alice Matthews because you wanted him for yourself," Amanda retorted.
"Yes, I broke up Steve and Alice. But first of all, I was a lot younger than you are, secondly, I'm not proud of my behavior now, and lastly, we're not talking about me, we're talking about you," Rachel replied. "Roger and Holly are working through some things. He is not available, Amanda."
"He's not married. He's not even engaged like Steve was when you went after him," Amanda said.
"Amanda," Rachel said warningly.
"Mom, relax," Amanda chided. "You may have sworn off men and sex now that you've finally seen the light and are divorcing Carl, but I'm still young, and I have needs."
Rachel shook her head in bewilderment. "Maybe you're not ashamed of your behavior, but you know damned well that your father would be, and so would your grandmother, and I certainly am."
Amanda looked at Rachel defiantly. "Yes, I know, I'm such a disappointment. I'm not like Paulina. I'm not even like Iris. And I'm not like any of your precious daughters-in-law, although it boggles the mind how you couldn't stand it when Vicky was married to Jamie, and when Blaine was married to Jamie before that, but you love Vicky now that she's married to Ryan, and you adore Blaine ever since she got together with Sandy, to the point that you and Daddy shared your last wedding day with Sandy and Blaine."
"All I've ever wanted is for my kids...all of my kids, and yes, that includes Paulina and Sandy and Ryan...to be happy and healthy, and they all are except you. Jamie was not happy with Vicky, or with Blaine. Ryan is happy with Vicky, and Sandy is happy with Blaine."
"Well, that shows what you know, because I am very happy with my life," Amanda said, her chin jutting out.
"No, you're not," Rachel said sadly. "You weren't happy with Sam, and I didn't want you to stay with him if you weren't happy. But you're not any happier now than you were when you divorced Sam and gave him custody of Allie and went off to Europe to find yourself."
"That's Iris talking, or Vicky," Amanda said angrily. "All Amanda found was her way into half the bedrooms in Europe. Don't even try to deny they've said it. I know they have."
Rachel sighed. "Amanda, leave Roger alone," she ordered.
"I can't do that, Mom, because I want him, and I'm going to do everything I can to have him. I don't want to marry the guy, I just want to have some fun," Amanda said. Then she walked off, leaving Rachel looking heavenward in exasperation, silently apologizing to Holly and Roger, then giving Amanda several seconds' head start before following after her at a discreet distance.
Roger and Holly were strolling through the museum, still arm in arm, taking in the paintings, all of which were by American Impressionists. Amanda followed after them, plotting how to make a move on Roger. The first step was getting the woman on his arm out of the vicinity.
Roger and Holly stopped in front of a painting of a woman in a long black dress and a black hat. "Lilla Cabot Perry, The Black Hat, 1914," Holly read aloud from the plaque beneath the painting.
"Victorian era?" Roger asked.
"Not quite," Holly replied. She leaned in closer and said, "We've acquired a shadow. Or I should say, you've acquired one."
Roger looked at her, puzzled. "A shadow?" he asked.
"Amanda Cory is following us," Holly whispered. "And looking at you like a starving man eyes a seven-course meal."
Roger made a face. "That girl does not know how take a hint," he said distastefully.
"You've met her before?" Holly asked, surprised.
"Technically," Roger replied as they moved on, Amanda still trailing after them. "I was waiting for my meeting with Rachel Cory outside her office, and Amanda tried desperately to get my attention. I told her point blank that my interests lie elsewhere, but she obviously didn't get the message." He looked Holly in the eye, and she saw the urgency and pleading in his gaze. "You know that I did nothing to encourage her, right?" he said. "I'm not interested in her. I'm not interested in anyone but you."
"I know," Holly assured him, squeezing his arm reassuringly.
"She can clearly see that I'm with you," Roger went on. "How does that go over her head?"
"I don't think it's a matter of going over her head, I think it's a matter of she just doesn't care," Holly replied. "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Let that little hussy chase us out of here? No," Roger said. "No, we're staying."
When they did leave after looking at all the paintings, though, Amanda followed them to TOPS, and Rachel followed Amanda.
Roger and Holly both found TOPS greatly reminiscent of The Towers Club in Springfield. They had to take an elevator to the restaurant, which occupied the whole top floor of a building in downtown Bay City, and the place had a balcony that overlooked downtown, just as The Towers Club had. TOPS was slightly smaller than The Towers Club, though. There was a brief wait for a table. "I'm going to powder my nose," Holly said after the maître d' had informed them of this fact.
"Meet me on the balcony when you're done?" Roger suggested.
"Yes," Holly agreed with a smile. "Excuse me."
Roger headed out to the balcony, enjoying the fact that, unlike at The Towers Club, no one inside TOPS was staring at him, casting judgmental or disapproving looks at him and Holly for being there. All right, sure, he deserved those judgmental and disapproving looks in Springfield, but here in Bay City, it really was a whole new fresh start. When people here looked at him and Holly, all they saw was a man and a woman. It was a new, and very pleasant, experience, and although they hadn't discussed it yet, Roger was sure that Holly noticed and enjoyed this fact as much as he did.
"Well, hello," purred a seductive female voice not belonging to Holly.
Of course, there's no such thing as the perfect place, Roger thought ruefully as he looked over his shoulder to find Amanda Cory standing there, one hand on her hip, one ankle crossed over the other, giving him what she obviously thought was a 'come hither' look. Inwardly sighing, he moved to the far end of the balcony, where he stood with his back to the doors leading back into the restaurant and folded his arms tightly across his chest.
Meanwhile, when Holly emerged from the ladies' room, she found a worried-looking Rachel waiting in the hall outside the restrooms for her. "Rachel?" she asked.
"I'm so sorry, Holly," Rachel said.
"For what?" Holly asked, confused.
"My daughter," Rachel said in a tone that mixed anger and regret. "She has set her cap for Roger, and she followed the two of you here, so I followed her here. I haven't seen Amanda yet, but I know she's here. I saw her get on the elevator, and she took it straight up here, and there's nothing else on this floor but TOPS. I take it she wasn't in the ladies' room?"
"No," Holly replied.
"Where is Roger?" Rachel asked.
"Waiting for me on the balcony," Holly said. "You don't think-"
"Oh, yes, I do," Rachel replied grimly. "Come on." They hurried through the restaurant proper and toward the balcony, Rachel in the lead. She stopped so suddenly that Holly bumped into her back. When Holly stepped to Rachel's side, she saw Roger with his back to the doors that lead back into the restaurant, his posture stiff, his body language screaming that he is deeply uncomfortable, while the blithely oblivious Amanda Cory half-stalked, half-strutted across the balcony toward him until she invaded his personal space.
"Why are you being like that?" Amanda asked, the exaggerated pout on her face clearly evident in her voice as she brushed up against Roger, walking two fingers across his shoulder blades. Roger jerked away from her as if he'd been burned, taking long, backward strides so he could keep his eyes on her. Holly could tell that his arms were folded tightly across his chest. "I don't bite," Amanda continued as she against half-stalked and half-strutted towards him. "Well, unless you want me to."
"I'm with someone," Roger insisted firmly.
"She never has to know," Amanda replied.
"No, I don't just mean I'm with someone tonight. I mean I'm with someone," he continued, emphasizing the last two words.
"So you're with someone," Amanda said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm not looking for a commitment. I don't want to screw up your relationship, I just want to screw you." She gave him what he guessed was supposed to be a saucy smile, but he didn't find it the least bit appealing in any way.
Roger was appalled at how crass this girl was being. Amanda Cory, despite her pedigree, was completely devoid of the least little vestige of class. "What do I have to do to get you to take 'no' for an answer?" he asked tightly.
"I have an uncanny knack for turning 'no's into 'yes's," Amanda said, reaching behind herself to untie the halter holding up the top of her dress.
"What are you doing?" Roger asked, alarmed. He slammed his eyes shut, then tipped his head back to stare straight up into the black night sky.
"Oh, come on, Roger, you know you want to look," Amanda taunted.
"My god," Rachel said, disgusted. She took a step forward, intent on corralling her out-of-control daughter, but Holly stayed her with a hand on her arm.
"Roger will handle this," Holly said.
"No, actually, I don't want to look," Roger said. "And I would suggest you cover up before the police show up. I could go inside and call them right now, in fact. I know the commissioner personally." That was a bit of a stretch, but he could truthfully say he'd met the police commissioner.
"He's my stepbrother," Amanda said.
"Well, then, I really don't think he would appreciate you being half-naked on a public balcony," Roger said. "And suppose he wasn't the officer who responded? Who do you think they would arrest-the topless girl, or the man with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed, doing everything possible not to look?"
"I'm a good twenty years younger than that woman you're with," Amanda persisted. "How can you not want me?"
"Very easily," Roger said. "You're not her."
"Well, what does she have that I don't?" Amanda wanted to know.
"Everything," Roger replied. His neck was starting to get stiff, so he covered his still-closed eyes with his hands, brought his head down, and said, "Understand this, and understand it now: I don't want you. I have made this particular mistake too many times in my life. This could be my last chance to get it right with the only woman I've ever loved, and I'm not going to let you or anyone or anything get in our way or mess things up for us. Not again. Not ever again."
"Love doesn't have anything to do with it," Amanda said stubbornly. "I'm talking about sex. Just sex. No strings, no commitments, just fun."
"Fun? No, that's not fun. Not to me," Roger replied. "I don't take sex that lightly. Not anymore. To me, it is a commitment. You're barking up the wrong tree."
"Did you just call me a dog?" Amanda asked, insulted.
"You're acting like a bitch in heat, yes," Roger said. He turned around then, dropped his hands from his eyes...and found himself looking at Holly and Rachel.
That was when Rachel rushed out to the balcony. "For God's sake, Amanda, cover yourself! This is a public place that happens to be owned by my oldest and dearest friend, and you're out here flashing your breasts to a man that has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't want you! What is wrong with you?"
Roger didn't hear one word Amanda said to her mother, and didn't notice or care whether she covered herself. All he could see was Holly. "I didn't-" he began.
"I know," she assured him. "I saw. I heard you. It was all her, it wasn't you." Then Holly went out on the balcony, where Rachel had finally gotten Amanda to dress herself again, and mother and daughter were heatedly arguing with one another as Rachel was trying to order Amanda home while Amanda insisted that she was adult and perfectly capable of running her own life.
"Excuse me," Holly interrupted them, her intense gaze boring into Amanda with the fire of an exploding volcano. "Hello, we haven't been formally introduced yet. I'm Holly Lindsey, the woman whose significant other you just tried to screw on this balcony."
"He came on to me," Amanda insisted.
"No, he didn't," Holly replied evenly. "I know you're lying because first of all, I know Roger, and I trust him completely. He's not cheating on me. He won't cheat on me. Secondly," here Holly waved one hand in the vicinity of Amanda's now-covered breasts. "...those are fake."
"They are not!" Amanda shrieked indignantly. Behind and to the side of Holly, Roger coughed to cover a laugh, while Rachel, standing next to Amanda, wordlessly watched Holly lambaste Amanda.
"Please. You move, and they don't. That means they're fake," Holly continued. "And Roger has had his share of pretty young things, but he doesn't go for surgically enhanced pretty young things. Finally, I was watching the whole thing from right inside. You followed Roger out here, you came on to him, he rejected you, and now you're trying to salve your ego by claiming that he came on to you." She shook her head. "I feel sorry for you, Amanda. The world is not so enlightened that a woman who behaves the way you do, jumping from man to man and bed to bed, will be labeled and whispered about and known as anything other than...what's a polite term for what I'm trying to say...a strumpet." She remembered what Donna had called Amanda that morning and went with that. "And yes, it's hypocritical, because a man who does the same thing doesn't get half the judgment and half the garbage that a woman does. But still, man or woman, there comes a point where it stops being amusing and becomes unbearably sad. Clearly, the way you were throwing yourself at Roger half-naked a minute ago, you haven't reached that point yet. I don't know how many more public humiliations like this it's going to take for you to reach that point, and I don't care. But Roger and I are not going to be a part of any future public humiliations like this, because if we are, I won't be nearly as nice to you about it again as I'm being right now, are we clear?" Holly's tone left no room for argument or misunderstanding, even with Amanda's tendency toward obtuseness, if not blatant stupidity.
Amanda stubbornly refused to acknowledge Holly, so Holly repeated in a hard, icy tone of voice. "Are we clear?"
"Yes," Amanda all but snarled.
"Rachel, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Holly said, turning her full attention to Rachel now. Rachel murmured acknowledgement of Holly's comment.
Holly then turned to Roger. "Do you want to get out of here? I find I don't like the atmosphere," she said.
"Neither do I," Roger replied. "Yes, by all means, let's go." But before they left, he looked at Amanda and said seriously but without rancor, "You really need to learn some self-respect. Maybe you're fine for now being a sex object, but sooner or later you're going to have to start respecting yourself if you expect anyone else to respect you." Then Roger and Holly left TOPS.
Roger leaned his head back against the elevator wall as they rode down to the parking garage and sighed. "What? What's the matter?" Holly asked worriedly.
Roger looked at her. "This is not the top drawer evening I had planned. Some half-naked stalker bimbo who doesn't understand what 'I'm with someone' means ruining everything. The way you handled her was magnificent, though."
"She didn't ruin anything," Holly said. Roger raised his head from the elevator wall and looked at her skeptically. "All right, yes, she annoyed me, and she bothered you. I can't say I don't understand why she found you appealing."
"I hope you want me for a lot more than she did," Roger said.
"Don't worry, I do," Holly assured him. "Anyway, I said what I had to say, you said what you had to say, and it's over and done with. I'm not going to let her take anything away from tonight."
"Then I won't either," Roger said.
The elevator doors opened on the parking garage then. "We probably can't get reservations anywhere else," Roger said regretfully as they walked to the car.
"I don't need dinner at a five-star restaurant," Holly said. "Anywhere is fine, as long as we're there together."
"So, what, we just get in the car and drive and stop at the first place that looks good?" Roger asked.
"Why not?" Holly asked as she stopped beside the car.
Roger stopped too and looked at her. She looked beautiful, as always, and happy, as she did lately whenever they were together. But there was something else: she looked free. She looked freer than he had ever seen her look, and it hit Roger that she looked so free, that she was so free, because she was with him. All she wanted was to be with him. That's what she kept saying; that's what she kept showing him.
He had meant it earlier in the evening when he had told Holly that he was starting to believe that they would find their way back together. He was beginning to trust her in a way he had never trusted her before. He knew Holly well enough to know that if she was really angry about that scene with Amanda Cory, she couldn't fake this kind of contentment, the air of freedom she wore like a shawl around her shoulders.
It was a glorious summer night, and he was with Holly. That was all that mattered to her. It would be all that mattered to him.
"Yeah, why not?" he agreed. He held her car door for her, then hurried around to the driver's side.
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in the dimly lit back booth of a pizzeria that was otherwise inhabited with high school and college kids enjoying the summer night. The deep dish pizza was baked in a brick oven and served by the slice. Holly was torn between the sausage and the mushroom. "Why don't you get the mushroom and I'll get the sausage, and we'll share?" Roger suggested. "Those are huge slices." Holly's answering smile was all the confirmation Roger needed, and a few minutes later, a waitress brought two huge, square slices of pizza, one sausage and one mushroom, on plates with knives and forks, two frosted glasses filled with ice, and a pitcher of Coca-Cola to their booth.
Roger smiled when he saw Holly pick the mushrooms off her pizza one at a time and eat them. She had always done that, as far back as he could recall. "What?" she asked, reaching for a napkin to wipe her fingers before taking a sip of her Coke.
"Just remembering," Roger said as he cut into his own slice of pizza.
"The cheese is always hotter than the mushrooms," Holly said. "Besides, I like the mushrooms the best." She plucked another mushroom from her slice of pizza and held it out to him. "Try one," she said.
Roger surprised her by eating the mushroom from her fingers instead of taking it in his own hand before popping it in his mouth, then kissing each of her fingertips tenderly, one by one, causing Holly to give a little shiver that she and Roger both knew was not caused by the arctic temperature of the air conditioning blasting through the pizzeria.
Then Roger plucked a piece of sausage from his own slice of pizza and held it out to Holly, who ate the piece of sausage from his hand just as he had eaten the mushroom from hers a moment ago, taking care to lick from his fingers the little bit of pizza sauce that clung there, and causing Roger to give her a smoldering look that Holly half-thought would cause the building to catch fire around them.
The moment was broken by a loud crashing noise; a group of high school kids at a large table nearby were hooting and hollering because one of the boys had tried to jerk the tablecloth from the table and had brought all of the dishes, glasses, and the remaining pizza and drinks crashing loudly to the floor in a mess of sticky soda, melting ice, pizza crusts and cold, unfinished slices, scattered silverware, and broken glass.
"Kids," Roger said with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah," Holly replied, also laughing nervously.
Roger leaned across the table. "It's not that I don't want you," he said softly. "You know that, right?"
"I know," Holly said just as softly, leaning across the table as well so that their faces were almost touching as they gazed into each other's eyes. "And I'm sure you know that I want you, too." He nodded briefly, once, holding her gaze all the while.
"I've probably set the world's record for the greatest number of cold showers in the past few months," Roger continued ruefully.
"Do they really work?" Holly asked. "I might start taking them myself if they do."
"They do okay as a stopgap measure," Roger replied. He paused for a beat, then said, "Sometimes."
"I think about us like that too," Holly said. "A lot. But I don't want anything to happen between us-" At his bemused look she said, "You know what I mean. I do, but I don't. Not until there are no doubts and no fears and no questions. But if and when it does happen-"
"When," Roger said.
"When?" Holly repeated, hoping she didn't sound too hopeful.
"When," Roger replied.
"That's good to know," Holly said with a soft smile. "So, when it happens, I'm not going to be pacing the balcony in the middle of the night, I'm not going to freak out and run away from you the next morning. And I don't want you pacing in the middle of the night or running away from me the next morning either."
"Neither do I," Roger agreed. "I want it to be the beginning of everything." Now he looked apologetic. "I need to know that's where we are before it happens: at the beginning of everything, and that when we finally do make love again, it will be a new start to a life together with you."
"Then we're agreed," Holly said.
"We're not on the same page yet, but we're reading the same book," Roger replied. "I'm getting there, Holly. I'm just...not there yet."
"I know that we're making progress. I feel it," she assured him. "And you...we...are worth the time and effort."
Roger leaned back. "So what do you say we finish eating, and then go home? To The Bayshore, I mean?"
"Yes, let's," Holly replied, also leaning back.
When they arrived back at The Bayshore, they were surprised to see Frankie Frame and Cass Winthrop sitting in the lobby, apparently waiting for them. When Frankie spotted them, she bolted to her feet and rushed across the lobby to meet them, Cass trailing in her wake.
"I must have called your cell phone a dozen times!" Frankie greeted them, looking right at Roger.
"I was out with Holly tonight, I turned the phone off," Roger replied.
"It's probably not a good idea to do that while this investigation is ongoing," Frankie said.
"You have news," Holly said.
"Yeah, and we'd better go someplace private to discuss this," Frankie said.
"Upstairs," Roger said. The quartet boarded the elevator, and when they reached the seventeenth floor, everyone went to Roger's suite.
"Okay, what's the news?" Roger asked.
"Dinah and Hart returned to Springfield from Chicago this afternoon, and I was following them the whole time," Frankie began. "They're running out of patience. They're going to turn up the heat because they are determined to push you over the edge and have you confined to a mental hospital, preferably in a straitjacket, within the next forty-eight hours."
"Is that all?" Roger asked.
"'Is that all'?" Frankie and Cass echoed incredulously in unison.
"Roger, they want to railroad you into a mental hospital!" Frankie exclaimed.
"You do realize that it's not like a regular hospital, where you can check yourself out, against medical advice if you feel it's necessary, right?" Cass asked.
Holly knew what the Winthrops did not: that Roger had been planning for just such a contingency. "I know," Roger replied as he walked over to the phone. "But if you're never actually a patient in the mental hospital in the first place, then it's no problem."
"What are you driving at?" Cass asked.
Roger picked up the phone and dialed, getting the answering machine he was expecting. "Rotorhead," he said after the beep, "it's me. You know that favor you offered? The one involving Jack Nicholson? It's a go. Call me back in the morning to go over the details."
Holly figured it out first. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," she said.
"That's a code I knew he'd get but that was vague enough that anyone who might potentially have tapped the phone line wouldn't know specifically what I was referring to," Roger said.
Frankie figured it out next. "Whoever this 'Rotorhead' is, he has an in with a doctor somewhere so he can get you into a mental hospital, but not so you have to stay as an actual, real patient," she said.
"Yes," Roger said.
"So who is the mysterious Rotorhead?" Cass asked.
"Michael Hudson," Roger replied.
"Of course!" Frankie exclaimed. "John is the Chief of Staff at Bay City General, and they have an excellent psychiatric ward."
"You know John Hudson?" Holly asked.
"I've known him for years. He's my aunt, Sharlene's, husband," Frankie replied.
"Is everyone related around here?" Holly asked.
"Nah, it just seems like it," Frankie said. "This could work, Roger."
"It will work," Roger corrected her determinedly. He looked at Holly now. "I have too much on the line for it not to work." Holly looked back at him, and for the first time since they had begun this journey of finding their way back to each other, she saw Roger's heart in his eyes. For the first time in two years, Roger let her see his heart in his eyes. Though he hadn't actually used the word 'trust' yet, this was a strong indication to Holly that he was learning to trust her again. He had told her earlier that he was starting to believe they would find their way together again. They were making progress.
Holly was standing close to Roger, and she reached out for his hand now. Once his hand was in hers, she looked from Roger, to Frankie and Cass, and back again. "So," she said, "what's the plan?"