"I...uh...I was looking for the room service menu," Roger said. "I didn't find it."
"It's in the other nightstand," Holly replied. They were holding each other's gaze, neither one wanting to look away. "I should have been more specific." A beat of silence followed. Then Holly said, "I didn't mean for you to find those. At least not yet."
"Then they are for us?" Roger asked hopefully.
"Yes," Holly replied. She crossed the room and sat down beside Roger on the edge of the bed.
Roger was completely flabbergasted. "How long have you had these?" he asked.
"Since May 27," she replied.
"That's the day you showed up at my door at the country club to tell me what Dinah and Hart were doing, and that you wanted me back," Roger said, amazed.
"Yes, it was," Holly replied. Holly gently pried the crumpled receipts from his hand, smoothed them out, and held them up one at a time. Both receipts were dated May 27, one for the purchase of the rings, the other for the engraving inside them.
"You..." Roger started to say, but then he stopped suddenly, his mind whirling. Holly had been thinking about marrying him! She had bought wedding rings for them to use!
"I didn't mention having bought the rings because we haven't discussed marriage," Holly said. "I didn't want to spook you, or push you into something you weren't ready for."
"I didn't want to spook you or push you into something you weren't ready for," Roger said.
"You've been thinking about it, though?" Holly asked.
"I've been thinking about it for years," Roger admitted.
"Since Cliff House," Holly said.
"A lot longer than that," Roger replied. "Ever since I was in the CIA. You and our daughter kept me alive back then. I always wanted to come back to you both and make up for everything I did so badly and wrongly. I started seriously thinking I might have the chance to do that someday after Acapulco. I was angry at finding out about your scheme with Alex, yeah, but you didn't really go through with it, and-"
"And for the first time in our history, you kept your anger under control. You didn't take it out on me," Holly finished.
"Yes. And by the time I was over being angry about the scheme, and free of Alex...and Mindy," he added ruefully, "you were seeing Daniel St. John."
Holly looked chagrined at the mention of Daniel St. John. "I was still fighting myself then, though it was at the end of that whole ordeal that I first admitted to myself that I thought of home as with you." Roger looked shocked all over again at this new revelation. "It's true," Holly said. "I've been thinking about marrying you again for years too."
Roger's eyes widened. "You have? Really?"
"Oh yes." She shifted slightly, turning to face him fully now. "Do you remember a couple of years ago when you went to Hong Kong, looking for information on who was trying to take over Spaulding Enterprises?"
Roger winced as if he'd been burned. "That was not my finest hour." He looked at Holly urgently, beseechingly. "You know that I don't care about Spaulding anymore, right? I'm happier than I ever thought I could be working with Michael at Hudson. That's where my professional future is."
"I know," Holly assured him, covering his hand that wasn't holding the rings with both of hers and crumpling the receipts she now held all over again in the process. "That's not why I mentioned it. You were gone for two weeks, and the day you got home, I had dinner waiting, I was in that little black dress, and you were preoccupied with something you were expecting to have arrived in the mail from Hong Kong, and I got mad and told you that you were treating me like the mail and the mail like your wife. Do you remember that?"
"Yeah, I remember," Roger said. He goggled at her. "You mean...since then?"
"That was a very long two weeks," Holly replied. "It was the first time we'd been apart since Bridget took me to you at the farm six months earlier. And I thought at the time that we had been getting closer, and we were in a good place, and so when I was lying awake those fourteen nights, I started thinking about what it could be like if we got married."
Now Roger looked stricken. "And I ruined it. I ruined everything."
Holly dropped the receipts on the bed behind her and grabbed Roger's upper arms. "We both ruined it," she said firmly. "We didn't trust each other enough then. We reverted to old patterns of behavior and yes, we hurt each other badly and destroyed our relationship in the process. But maybe we had to do that. Maybe we had to lose each other in order to fully realize that neither one of us is truly complete without the other. We had to make those last catastrophic mistakes in order to learn from them, in order to learn what not to do. And look at us, Roger. We did learn from it. We found our way back to each other, and we have a closeness and a connection on every level now in a way that we never did before, in a way we were never capable of before."
"You're right," he replied. It was at this moment that Roger fully realized that he and Holly truly had forgiven one another for the pain they had inflicted on each other when he let himself get caught in Alexandra's web and Holly had turned to Fletcher truly was forgiven, though, he thought ruefully, Michael was right about it being much harder for him to forgive himself than it was for him to forgive Holly, because he hadn't completely forgiven himself for driving her away two years ago.
But knowing that Holly forgave him would go a long way towards helping him finally forgive himself.
"Yes, we have learned from it," Roger agreed. He looked at her intently, earnestly. "I will never again put anything or anyone above you or our relationship."
"I know you won't," Holly replied confidently. "Just like I will never turn to some other man for any reason, because the only man I want is you, for the rest of my life."
Roger looked down at the rings in the box in his hand. "What did you have engraved on them?" he asked.
"Take a look," Holly replied.
Roger carefully pulled the smaller ring, the one meant for Holly to wear, out of the box and tilted it. Looking inside, he read the inscription aloud: "'Love Trust Fidelity Honesty Forever.'"
He looked up to meet her eyes again. "I went for a drive after I left you at the country club that day, after you said that you would give me the chance to prove that you could trust me again, and to prove that this time I'll stay with you forever," she began, "and I don't know how long I was driving for, but I found myself downtown, and I got out of the car and went for a walk and when I saw Zales on the corner, I went in there, and every display they had was related to weddings, because it was almost June.
"And I thought about how close we came before to getting married again, and I've known for months that marrying you again is ultimately what I want, and so I started looking at rings, and then a salesgirl came over and we started talking, and it turns out that platinum is the most durable metal that wedding rings are made from. Platinum symbolizes the endurance of love and true commitment. Our love has certainly endured. Neither one of us could keep from loving the other if we tried."
"And you tried for quite a while," Roger said, but he wasn't upset or judgmental in saying it; he was merely stating a fact.
"I did," she agreed with a nod. "But I'm not anymore. You said once that it must get so exhausting for me to keep pushing you away and telling myself that I don't love you, that I can't love you. You were right. The three words every man loves to hear from his..." She trailed off now, but she was smiling. "I spent so long running from my love for you, denying it, fighting it. But I know now what it's like to live without you, and I know that life without you is not what I want. That's why I chose that inscription for the rings...because that is what I want with you, Roger: Love...trust...fidelity...honesty...and forever."
Roger carefully replaced the ring meant for Holly in the box, and Holly then reached out and gently touched the open ring box still resting in Roger's palm with one fingertip. "Platinum wedding rings are a symbol of eternal love, unity and partnership. They say that you are wholly committed to another person. See how the velvet around where the box opens is more worn than the rest of the box?" She pointed this out to him. "That's because I've opened this box and looked at these rings about ten thousand times in the last six months, and that's not an exaggeration. Whenever I needed hope, or a reminder of exactly what I was fighting for, or it had been a really good, really promising day or night with you, I would look at them and think to myself that we were one step closer to being able to use these, one step closer to the day when we would make that whole commitment of eternal love and unity and partnership to each other. I even had it all planned out, how I would ask you."
"You were going to propose to me?" Roger asked, his heart swelling with so much love for Holly, he thought it would burst.
"Yeah," Holly said. "You've done this before."
"A few times," Roger said with a nod. "And I was going to do it again, when I thought you were...well...open to the idea."
"All those times before, I never gave you the answer you wanted, the answer we both wanted, because something was always holding me back," Holly said. "But nothing is holding me back anymore, and I hope that nothing is holding you back, because I thought that this time, I'd do the asking." She smiled wryly. "I've actually rehearsed what I would say to you when I did it. Of course, I won't do it now-"
"Why not?" Roger asked.
"Why not?" Holly repeated, surprised.
"There's nothing holding either one of us back anymore," Roger pointed out. "There's nothing in our way anymore, including us."
"That's true," Holly remarked.
"We have no more doubts about each other or our relationship," Roger continued. "I don't."
"I don't either," Holly said. "But there's no rush. I'm in this forever, with or without a marriage license."
"Me too," Roger said. "And you're right, there's no rush." He took a beat, then said, "But this isn't a sudden thing. Neither of us knew the other felt this way about marriage, but we've both wanted this for a very long time, and we're going to go on wanting it."
"That's also true," Holly agreed.
"You know what you would say?" Roger asked.
"I think so, yes," she replied.
"So ask me," he said.
Holly looked at Roger intently. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"I've never been more sure about anything in all my life," he said. They looked deep into each other's eyes. "Ask me, Holly," Roger whispered. "Right now."
Holly tucked her hair behind her ears, took the open ring box from Roger, and, as he had always done every time in the past he had proposed to her, got down on one knee. Holding the ring box in one hand, the platinum rings glinting in the lights of the room, she set the receipts on the comforter and took Roger's hand in her other hand.
Looking up at him, she said, "Roger, I love you, and I will love you beyond forever. I want to make a life with you and a home with you. I want to come home to you at the end of every day and fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up with you every morning for the rest of our lives. I want to fight with you and make up with you and make love with you and fight for you and laugh with you and cry with you and take care of you. I want to watch our grandchildren grow up with you. I want to grow old with you. And I want to do all these things as your wife." Holly swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump she found had formed in her throat. Roger's eyes shone with unshed tears as his gaze bored into hers. "Will you do all of this with me as my husband? Will you marry me?"
"Yes," Roger said thickly. "Yes. Yes. A million times yes, Holly, there's nothing I want more than to be your husband. Yes, I will definitely marry you. Yes."
And then Holly was on her feet, launching herself at Roger. He caught her in his arms and they fell back on the bed as her lips found his and she carefully set the open ring box beside them on the bed, stretching out on top of Roger as they held each other tightly, kissing passionately, urgently. They kissed until Holly tasted salt and pulled back. "You're crying," she said, realizing that the salt she had tasted was from Roger's tears.
"So are you," he replied, reaching out to gently wipe the tears tracking down her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.
Holly sniffled. "Happy tears," she said.
"Mine too," Roger said, touching his forehead to hers.
"When do you want to get married?" Holly asked.
"I'd marry you tonight if I could," Roger replied, tenderly lifting her chin to look into her eyes and brushing a quick kiss across her lips. "I don't want to wait any longer than we have to to be your husband."
Holly wiped the tears from his face. "How about tomorrow?" she asked. "We'll need to get a license, and if there's no waiting period-"
"I hope there's no waiting period," Roger said.
Holly moved off of Roger and picked up the phone from her nightstand, punching in a number. "I know who can answer those questions for us." She put the phone to her ear, and the person on the other end answered on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Cass?" Holly asked.
"Holly, hi," Cass Winthrop replied. "I'm afraid I don't know anything yet about the situation with Hart and Dinah-"
"That's not why I'm calling," Holly interrupted. "Where do you go in this town to get a marriage license?"
"City Hall," Cass replied, a grin taking hold of his entire face. "That's downtown, by the courthouse."
"Is there any kind of waiting period?" Holly asked.
"None at all," Cass said. "You do need to get a blood test, though."
"We can do that," Holly said. She heard Frankie asking Cass who was on the phone then. "You can tell Frankie," she said.
"It's Holly. She and Roger are getting married," Cass told Frankie.
"Wonderful!" Frankie enthused loudly enough for Holly to hear her. "Congratulations, Holly, Roger! When and where and what can we do to help?"
"We have to figure that out. Probably just the courthouse," Holly replied. Roger frowned slightly at this, wanting to give Holly better than a courthouse ceremony.
"If you need a place for the ceremony, you're welcome to use our house," Cass offered.
"That's very generous of you, but we don't want to put you out," Holly said.
"What about The Harbor Club?" Roger asked Holly in a stage whisper. "You know Donna would let us have The Harbor Club in a second."
The Harbor Club was a beautiful restaurant, with that excellent view of the bay. What Roger knew, however, and Holly didn't, is that the next night, the annual Parade of Lighted Ships would be taking place in the bay, with local yachts and schooners decked out in Christmas lights and finery, as the next night was the Friday before Thanksgiving. Michael had mentioned it to Roger last week, and though Michael was no more a sailor than Roger, Michael did know a few clients who would have ships in the parade. Roger could see the panoramic view of the bay with the lighted and decorated ships in his mind's eye, and he could see himself and Holly standing in front of that large picture window overlooking the bay, surrounded by Chrissy and Kevin and Jason and Michael and Donna and the rest of their friends. That was the kind of wedding Holly and he deserved, the kind of wedding he wanted them to have, one that was attended by people who cared about them, who were on their side, who were happy for them, not some quick five-minute ceremony at the courthouse in which they signed on the appropriate line and the judge or justice of the peace stamped the appropriate space. He and Holly had been through a crucible, and their marriage was something to celebrate, and it couldn't be properly celebrated at the courthouse.
"Can we get back to you on a location and time?" Holly asked Cass. "We definitely want you and Frankie there. We wouldn't be able to get married now if not for the two of you."
"Of course," Cass replied. "And congratulations to you and Roger, from both of us."
After ringing off with the Winthrops, Holly said, "The courthouse is fine, Roger, really. That might be our only option since we want to get married tomorrow."
"You...we...deserve better than a courthouse wedding," Roger insisted, taking the phone from Holly and punching in Michael and Donna's home number.
"Roger, I don't care where I marry you: the courthouse, the Harbor Club, the middle of nowhere. I just want to marry you."
"But if Donna will let us have the wedding at The Harbor Club, would you be okay with doing it there?" Roger asked.
Before Holly could reply to that, Donna answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Donna."
"Roger! I understand congratulations are in order!"
"You do?" Roger asked, bewildered. Donna couldn't possibly know he and Holly were getting married.
"Victoria and Marley saw you and Holly on the carousel at The Galleria this afternoon, and Victoria called to tell me that you two were...I believe her exact words were 'passionately making out,'" Donna said gleefully.
"Yes," Roger said, amused. "We were."
"Would you put Holly on the phone?" Donna asked then.
"If you'll get Michael to pick up the extension there," Roger replied. "Holly and I want to talk to both of you."
"Right away," Donna said. Then she bellowed, "MICHAEL! PICK UP THE EXTENSION! ROGER AND HOLLY ARE ON THE PHONE!"
Michael came on the line two seconds later. "Roger? Holly?" he asked eagerly.
Roger held the phone so he and Holly could both hear Michael and Donna. "Michael," Roger said. "Quick question: do you own a tux?"
"I own three," Michael replied. "Traditional black, white tie and tails, and white dinner jacket."
"Take the traditional black one out of mothballs ASAP," Roger replied. "Holly and I are getting married, hopefully tomorrow, and I want you to be my best man. Will you do it?"
"Absolutely!" Michael exclaimed. "But tomorrow? Are you sure you can get everything together that fast?"
"Well, I'm fine with a courthouse ceremony-" Holly began.
"-but I want more than that. Holly deserves more than that," Roger said. "Donna-"
"Say no more," Donna interrupted. "Marriages that start at the courthouse end at the courthouse. Michael and I were married in a judge's chambers the first time we got married, and it didn't even last a year. No, the two of you are getting married at The Harbor Club. I insist. And as for the short notice, don't worry about it. Bridget, Marley, and I pulled Victoria and Ryan's wedding together in three hours. All I need to know is what kind of cake you want, what you want for your wedding dinner, and what kind of flowers, and I'll take care of everything."
Roger and Holly exchanged a look. "If you're sure," Holly said.
"I'm positive," Donna replied in a tone that brooked no argument. "How many people will there be?"
"Well, Roger and me, Blake, the boys are too little to eat real food, you and Michael," Holly said. "Cass and Frankie...Rachel..."
"Dinner for eight. That's no trouble at all," Donna said. "What are you thinking for the main course?"
"Prime rib?" Roger suggested. The Harbor Club served an excellent prime rib.
"That would be good," Holly agreed.
"All right," Donna said. "Prime rib with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus?"
"Perfect," Holly said.
"And the cake. White or chocolate?" Donna asked.
Roger and Holly looked at each other. "White," they said in unison.
"Layers or tiers?" Donna asked.
"It doesn't need to be a very big cake," Holly said.
"Well, you're going to freeze the top tier or layer, aren't you?" Donna wanted to know. "If you are, tiers would be better than layers."
"Tiers it is, then," Roger said.
"Flowers?" Donna inquired.
"White roses and baby's breath," Holly replied.
"I'll take care of ordering the flowers for The Harbor Club. I can order the bouquets and boutonnieres as well," Donna offered. "Michael, you and Roger can go and get the bouquets and boutonnieres tomorrow before the ceremony."
"Sure," Michael agreed.
"Oh, the officiate!" Donna exclaimed then. "That is an absolute must!"
"Do you know anyone?" Roger asked.
"Of course," Donna said. "Reverend Watson. He married Victoria and Ryan, Marley and Jamie, John and Sharlene the last time they got married, and he christened Steven, Kirk and Christopher all three. He'll be glad to do it. All I have to do is call him, and I can do that first thing in the morning."
"Thank you, Donna," Holly said. "Really."
"You're my best friend, Holly," Donna replied. "You're not having a courthouse wedding while I'm around. Now, Roger, Michael will come over to The Bayshore in the morning...let's say 9 AM, give you time to get dressed and eat breakfast and get everything together that you'll need to bring with you for the wedding and reception later."
"If she didn't own The Harbor Club, she could have a hell of a career as a wedding planner," Michael said then.
"We have to go and get the license, and the blood test," Holly said.
Donna wasn't fazed. "All right, then, Michael will meet you in The Bayshore's lobby after you get the license and the blood test. I take it you'll be having John perform the blood test?"
"Do you think he would?" Roger asked.
"Of course he will," Michael said.
"So we'll get the license and the blood test," Roger said, "and then I'll go with Michael and run errands and pick up the bouquets and boutonnieres and stuff, and Holly, you and Chrissy can go and do whatever it is you need to do."
"So what time shall we set the ceremony for? Say 6:00 tomorrow night at The Harbor Club?" Donna asked.
Roger and Holly looked at each other again now and smiled. "Yes," Holly said. Roger took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "6:00 tomorrow night at The Harbor Club."
"I'll call your cell phone tomorrow with periodic updates throughout the day," Donna promised. "Just leave everything to me. You and Roger will have the perfect wedding!"
After finishing their call to Donna and Michael, Roger said, "Well, now that everything's settled, we should call Chrissy," but Holly was already punching in Blake and Ross's home number.
"Hello?" Blake answered, sounding harried and stressed.
"Blake?" Holly asked. "Is this a bad time?"
"It's been a bad day," Blake said tightly.
"Ross?" Roger asked.
"Ross...Dinah...Hart," Blake said. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, honey," Roger replied. "It sounds like you could stand some good news."
"Could I ever!" Blake exclaimed. She had a pretty good idea what her parents were going to say: that they were finally, officially back together.
But she was in for a surprise.
"Blake, your father and I are getting married tomorrow night in Bay City, and we want you and Kevin and Jason...and Ross too, if he'll come with you...to be here," Holly said.
"Married?" Blake squeaked out, shocked. "You're getting married? Tomorrow? For real?"
"For real and forever," Holly said happily. "We've been waiting a long time for this, and we don't want to wait one second longer than we absolutely have to to be husband and wife. And there's no way we're getting married without you there. I want you to be my matron of honor."
"Yes, yes, yes times ten million!" Blake enthused. "Kevin and Jason and I will be there first thing in the morning. Do you have a dress yet, Mom? What should I wear?"
"We'll have to go shopping for dresses tomorrow," Holly replied, "but that's about all we'll need to do. My friend Donna is taking care of most of the arrangements. We're getting married at her restaurant, The Harbor Club, at 6:00 tomorrow night."
"So all I have to do is bring the boys and go shopping for dresses with you and stand up with you at the wedding?" Blake asked.
"Disappointed you don't get to throw us a coronation?" Roger asked knowingly.
"Hardly," Blake said. "I don't think three adults and two four-month-olds qualifies as a coronation."
"Actually, there are going to be a few more people than just us at the wedding," Holly said. "Friends of ours. You met most of them yesterday at the police station."
"No one is going to object, are they?" Blake asked warily.
"If you didn't beat them up, Donna and Michael would," Roger said.
"No one's going to object," Holly said. "They're happy for us. They've been a big help to us these past several months."
"We'll be there. Kevin and Jason and I will absolutely be there. We'll meet you at The Bayshore first thing in the morning." Blake said.
Roger and Holly exchanged a look. "How did you know we're staying at The Bayshore?" Holly asked.
"You didn't mention that, did you?" Blake realized. She sighed, knowing she was busted. "I might have...sort of...listened in on a phone conversation you guys had a few months ago," she admitted. "The Bayshore came up then."
"The night you brought the boys over to my house?" Holly asked. "The night you asked if your father and I were back together and just not saying anything yet?"
"Yeah," Blake admitted. "I was hoping that's what was happening, but I didn't know when I asked that you were working things out. I didn't find that out until I heard you two on the phone, which I only picked up because I thought maybe it was Ross calling you looking for me, Mom. And you both said you weren't going to tell me anything until there was something to tell, so I kept quiet. It hasn't worked too well in the past when I've tried to push you two together. The one time I didn't do that, you found your way back together on your own." She paused. "Are you mad at me?"
"No," Holly said.
"Of course not, Chrissy," Roger said.
Blake heaved a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "And yes, this is the best possible news I could get right now. Let's see, the boys are usually up for the day at 6 in the morning, and I can have them and myself ready and be on the road by 8:30, so we'll be at The Bayshore shortly after nine."
"We have to go and get the marriage license and the blood test," Holly said. "Do you mind waiting for us in the lobby?"
"I'd wait outside in the cold for this," Blake said. "We'll see you in the morning. I love you both very much."
"We love you too," Roger said.
"We'll see you and the boys in the morning," Holly said. "Good night."
Rachel was ecstatic also when Holly broke the news of the wedding to her. "I'll provide the photographer and the videographer," she said. "There are two award-winning photojournalists on the staff of Brava, and Paulina is married to the best videographer in the state. I insist."
"That's very generous of you, Rachel," Roger said.
"Thank you, Rachel," Holly said.
"If anyone can pull together a nice wedding on 24 hours' notice, it's Donna. She did a wonderful job with Ryan and Vicky's wedding, and she had a lot less than 24 hours to prepare for theirs," Rachel said. "I'll call her and let her know about the photographer and the videographer, and if there's anything I can do to help, you just let me know."
John Hudson agreed to meet Roger and Holly in his office at Bay City General the next morning to do the blood test for them after they had gotten the marriage license. Then they called Cass and Frankie back and let them know that the wedding would be at The Harbor Club at 6:00 PM the next evening.
After all the phone calls had been made, Roger said, "Hey, we forgot something!"
"What?" Holly asked as she mentally ran through everything they had just discussed with everyone in her head.
"We forgot to order dinner," Roger said. Holly retrieved the new room service menu from the drawer of the nightstand on Roger's side of the bed. Before she could show the menu to Roger, though, he had stolen up behind her and was kissing and nuzzling the back of her neck. "And after dinner, I'm giving you that full body massage." His arms went around her waist, pulling her back against him.
"That is one of the perks of letting Donna do almost all the work for the wedding," Holly mused, a smile in her voice. "It frees us up for other things." She turned into his embrace, the room service menu dangling from her fingers as her arms went around his neck, and his arms wrapped around her waist. "I'm gonna make you so happy," she promised, leaning into him.
"I'm gonna make you happy too," he vowed, rubbing her back. "Do you realize that this time tomorrow night, we'll be husband and wife?" He beamed at her.
She beamed back at him. "We will," she said. She hugged him then, whispering in his ear, "I can't wait to be your wife."
"And I can't wait to be your husband," he whispered as he hugged her back. They held the embrace until Holly's rumbling stomach broke the reverie. She laughed, embarrassed.
"Let's see that room service menu," Roger said as Holly brought the menu out from behind his neck to where they both could see it. "We'll order a romantic dinner, a bottle of wine, and then that massage."
She kissed his cheek as he took the menu from her and opened it to the dinner selections.