by Hilary Rose
Toward that end, she agreed to attend the cocktail party that Hope had arranged at her mother’s—Hope’s way of thanking Caroline for her help with the designs. It was also Hope’s intention, Caroline suspected, of doing a little matchmaking by bringing Rick and Caroline together in a family setting. She and Rick had both been so busy at work that there hadn’t been as many romantic dinners alone together, only quick lunches between meetings. Caroline still cared about Rick—she couldn’t just turn love on and off like a faucet—but the intensity wasn’t there, and she knew it. She had invested her whole heart and soul in him when they were married and he had abused her devotion, shredded it, thrown it away on a night of mindless pleasure with Maya, and she couldn’t summon up the energy to get the intensity back even if she’d wanted to—even if that intensity hadn’t been transferred to Ridge.
Yes, she thought. My feelings for Ridge Forrester, the man I’d once loathed, the man I’d viewed as a self-important bully who always got what he wanted no matter whom he hurt, are real and growing and passionate, and they aren’t going away any time soon. He’s changed and I’ve changed, and someday we … Well, who knows what the future might bring?
Though Ridge’s vision was still bothersome, he wasn’t letting it keep him from interacting with the rest of the team. He rode them hard, demanded answers to questions about every facet of the fundraiser; was a fully engaged CEO despite having to delegate the actual hands-on work. His face still lit up when Caroline walked into his office and he traded barbs with her over fabrics and models and her tendency to speak her mind, but there hadn’t been anymore after-hours field trips due to their crammed schedules. She missed their outings, missed her private moments with him outside the office, and she vowed that she would arrange at least one more before the big night, before she had to make a decision about whether to stay in LA or go home.
“Lovely as always,” said Rick, appraising Caroline as they waited outside Brooke Logan’s front door. “You dazzle me, you know that? Amazing dress.”
Caroline laughed. “You’ve seen me in it before, Rick, but I’ll happily take the compliment. Thank you.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I love you. Still. Always. Nothing’s changed. Maybe you’ll believe that after tonight.”
“Why? What’s happening tonight?” Caroline asked as she arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re not planning another one of your surprises, are you?”
“So impatient, Ms Spencer.” He grinned. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
He’s the handsomest man I’ve ever seen, Caroline thought for the hundredth time—a Prince Charming straight from a fairy tale. There was nothing imperfect about his appearance, not the slightest flaw, not a feature out of proportion, and yet …
And yet it was Ridge’s rugged face that floated constantly into her consciousness—from the craggy lines on his forehead and the slight bend at the bridge of his nose to the unruly beard and lumberjack hair. She giggled to herself about that beard; it had given her skin a bad case of beard burn after he’d kissed her in the limo. Her chin and cheeks had felt raw and inflamed the next morning, and she’d had to doctor the redness with makeup before going into the office, but it had been so worth it.
“Caroline! How nice to see you!” Brooke Logan swung open the door for them and promptly gave Caroline a hug. “I’m sorry I haven’t been at the office to welcome you back, but I hope our little get-together will make up for it.”
“Absolutely. Thanks for having me,” said Caroline.
Brooke swept them into her house, aromatic with fresh flowers and scented candles. She was as beautiful as ever, a stunner with her long flaxen hair and vixen figure. Never one to shrink from her seductive appeal, she wore a geometric, black-and-white, silk-jersey wrap dress with a plunging neckline, a diamond pendant resting inside the folds of her cleavage. Caroline wondered how Ridge was able to resist her after all their years together, and she felt intimidated suddenly; maybe it was farcical to imagine that he could be attracted to her after having been with a goddess like Brooke. But then she reminded herself that he’d returned from Paris and ended their long relationship, announcing that he’d outgrown Brooke and their so-called destiny, that she was no longer the woman he needed, that she brought too much drama and turmoil to his life and that it was time for him to move on. Caroline wondered if Brooke would ever really move on. Though she seemed to be handling her coparenting of RJ reasonably well, she’d taken the breakup with Ridge hard. While she and Uncle Bill had shared a special bond and he’d campaigned aggressively to marry her, Brooke was directionless these days, searching for her purpose in life—not always a good place to be, as Caroline knew all too well.
Caroline and Rick greeted the others. Hope had brought along Caroline’s cousin, Liam Spencer, and it was always good to see him. Those two star-crossed lovers had been engaged more times than Caroline could count and nobody knew if they’d ever get together and make it stick, but in the meantime they enjoyed each other’s company. And off in the corner, fixing himself a scotch, was Uncle Bill, looking like this gathering was the last place on earth he wanted to be.
Caroline tiptoed up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and dropped an ice cube on his foot.
“Jeez. You scared me, kid.”
Caroline laughed. “Nobody scares you, Uncle Bill.”
“Good point. How’s it going?” He nodded at Rick after taking a sip of his drink. “You two hitting it off? You know how I feel about the Forresters, but if you and Rick can get it together again, I’ll force myself to show up at Eric’s house for another wedding.”
“You’re incorrigible,” said Caroline, shaking her head at her uncle. He was brash and in a hurry and expected people to have the same opinions as he did. Everything was clear to him—you were either in or out, yes or no, all or nothing—and it was always a task to explain to him that life was complicated and making decisions as important as the one he was telling her to make weren’t easy. “I’ve been much too busy with the fundraiser to focus on my love life. You’re coming, by the way, right? I know you’re on the guest list.”
He rolled his eyes. “I can’t remember the last time I had to put on a monkey suit. Tuxes aren’t my thing, but yeah, of course I’m coming. And Jarrett Maxwell, our crack reporter, will be covering the event for Eye on Fashion. Jarrett knows all and sees all, so you guys better be on your toes.”
“I’m not worried. The rehearsals are going well and the designs are spectacular.”
He smirked. “So you and the dressmaker have figured out how to get around his eyesight thing?”
Caroline groaned to herself. Her uncle loved coming up with putdowns for Ridge. He wrote him off as a prima donna and considered him unworthy both as a CEO and a romantic rival for Brooke, and he would explode at the mere thought of his niece swooning over him.
“Ridge and I had a bit of a bumpy start,” Caroline said in a measured tone, “but we’ve worked together very well and we’re both proud of what we’ve accomplished. He’s really not the evil genius you make him out to be.”
Bill scoffed. “Who said he was a genius? Your word, kid, not mine.”
“You have a low opinion of him, I get it, Uncle Bill, but he is a genius when it comes to couture,” said Caroline. “And he’s well read and cultured and a huge sports fan, and if you took the time to get to know him, I think you’d—”
“Whoa! What do we have here?” He set his glass down on the coffee table and gave her a withering look. “You used to defend Rick with that kind of ferocity. Now you’re singing the dressmaker’s praises?”
“I’m just saying that some people are an acquired taste, Uncle Bill.”
“Like rat poison is an acquired taste? Now be a good girl and go play with Rick.” He spun her around and gave her a little shove.
The evening went smoothly, as everyone nibbled on hors d’oeuvres and chatted congenially, and while most of the conversation centered around Caroline, she fie
lded with good humor questions about how it felt to be back in LA, which design for the fashion show she was most excited about and which model would wear the show-stopper to close the show. Rick frequently wound his arm proprietarily around her waist and held her hand, acting as if they were a committed couple, and Caroline, not wanting to rock the boat, didn’t make waves.
“What’s new with RJ?” she asked Brooke at one point, sorry he wasn’t home that evening.
“He’s spending the night at Ridge’s,” said Brooke, her lips pursing with displeasure. “I do worry about the two of them alone in that big house. If something were to happen, Ridge wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. The Stone Canyon Road area of Bel Air can be prone to wildfires, just like Malibu.”
“But RJ’s learned what to do in the event of a fire,” Caroline said. “Ridge taught him all the dos and don’ts.”
“And you know this how?” Rick asked her.
“Ridge told me,” said Caroline. “He’s very proud of his son and the way he takes his responsibilities seriously.”
“Yes, well, that’s all fine and good,” said Brooke, “but the grown-up in that house isn’t capable of taking charge in an emergency.”
“That’s not true,” said Caroline. “Ridge manages very well and he can call Ben at a moment’s notice if he needs help.”
“Who the hell is Ben?” said Rick.
“He’s a waiter at the Bel Air,” Brooke said with a skeptical sigh. “As if that’s a solution.”
“I think it is,” said Caroline, who explained about Ridge’s arrangement with Ben with such specificity that they looked at her as if she’d sprouted three heads.
“What’s any of this got to do with you?” asked Rick. “Have you met this guy?”
“Sure. I’ve been over there for work a few times,” she said, realizing she’d again leaped to Ridge’s defense without a second thought and her behavior had not gone unnoticed. “It gets crazy at the office with all the interruptions, so Ridge suggested I come to the house.”
“Sounds like him,” Rick said with a scowl. “He’s all about making his loyal subjects bow down to him. Sounds cozy, too. All those dim lights, that moody music he likes, a little wine …”
Caroline felt her cheeks flush, both with the memory of Ridge’s kisses in the limo and the anger at being backed into a corner by the man who’d betrayed her with another woman. “Do I look like anyone’s ‘loyal subject?’” she said more hotly than she meant to. “And I’ve been working hard for Forrester Creations since I came back, so it’s logical that I’d go wherever and whenever I’m needed.”
“Caroline’s right, Rick,” said Hope, rubbing her brother’s shoulder to calm him down. “She and Ridge are business partners right now and you need to apologize for insinuating anything else.”
Brooke laughed. “You really should apologize, honey,” she scolded her son. “To think that anything could be going on between Ridge and Caroline is absurd.”
Absurd, is it? Caroline thought, stung by Brooke’s dismissal of her as a potential rival and irritated by Rick’s relentless jealousy wherever Ridge was concerned.
“I’m sorry,” said Rick, taking Caroline’s hand and bringing it to his lips. “I love you, that’s all.” He glanced up at the others and his expression brightened. “Actually, I was planning to share our good news with everybody tonight.”
Before Caroline could say “What good news?”, Brooke and Hope squealed with delight.
“Is it what we’re all hoping for?” Brooke asked, pressing her hands together.
Rick smiled. “Caroline has given me reason to believe I might have another shot at being her husband—not tomorrow or the next day, but someday soon.” He reached into the pocket of his navy blue blazer and pulled out a small velvet box. He flipped it open and plucked out an exquisite ring. It was not the diamond-and-emerald beauty he’d given her with his last proposal, but an evening-sky blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. He threaded it onto Caroline’s finger, no bended knee this time but standing upright, shoulders squared, posture perfect. “In ancient customs, a gift of a sapphire was a pledge of trust and loyalty, which is what I pledge to you, Caroline, if you’re willing.”
As the others cooed with excitement over Rick’s grand gesture, Caroline froze. She was overwhelmed, completely blindsided. A marriage proposal so quickly? After only a handful of dinners together? After having had no contact for six months while she was in New York? She knew he could be impulsive and she’d loved that about him once, but this—this surprise in front of his family was more than she could handle.
Still, with everyone regarding her expectantly, with Rick beseeching her with his eyes, Caroline needed to respond in a way that would be true to herself and fair to him. She needed to be honest, in other words, not about Ridge—this really was about her and Rick, no third party—and she wasn’t sure how. What she was sure of in that moment was that she would never go back to him no matter how ardently he courted her, and she couldn’t let him think otherwise. Stringing him along would be cruel and she wasn’t that. Breaking the news to him in front of his mother and sister, however, would be a tricky business.
Don’t just stand there like a mannequin. Think fast, Caroline, she urged herself. Think of something diplomatic.
“To say it’s beautiful is an understatement, Rick.” She gazed at the ring admiringly. The diamonds glistened and the sapphire was a shade of blue that was truly mesmerizing; he had good taste, no question about that. “And I’m incredibly flattered that you want us to begin again. We were a dynamite team the first time around and it was never boring being married to you, as your surprise tonight demonstrates.” The others laughed affectionately. “But …” She slid the ring off her finger and handed it back to the man who was no longer her one true love. “I’m going to let you hang onto it. It wouldn’t be right for either of us to jump back into a relationship. Not now.”
The room fell into a brief and awkward silence. Then a beaming Rick said, “See why I love this woman, everybody? She tells it like it is, no baloney. And hey, I’ll take her answer any day. A ‘not now’ is a whole lot better than a ‘never.’”
Except that she had implied a “never.” She could have sworn she had. He just wasn’t hearing it.
Chapter Twelve
“And here’s my next appointment,” said Eric, rising to greet Caroline as she breezed into the room.
“Don’t get up,” Caroline urged, bouncing onto the seat cushion next to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. “I thought you were supposed to be resting, not entertaining a parade of women.”
“Always the spitfire,” Eric said with a chuckle, clearly enjoying the implication.
“My cue to leave,” said Pam, diving into her purse for her phone and in the process knocking Eric’s reading glasses and legal pad off the coffee table. “Sorry. Very discombobulated today. If one more person texts me using the letters ASAP, I’ll tear my hair out.”
“Poor Pam,” said Caroline, acknowledging how frazzled she must be, and with good reason. Everybody at the office was moving at warp speed, trying to remember to dot every i and cross every t, but Pam was more highly strung than most. According to Donna, she was forgetting to relay phone messages and misplacing files—even letting her famously moist lemon bars go stale. “It’ll all be over in a couple of days.”
“Right.” Pam tried to gather her belongings yet again only to have her own glasses slip out of her purse, along with a lipstick, and become wedged between the sofa cushions. “I’m going, I’m going,” she said, finally retrieving her odds and ends.
When she was out the door, Eric sighed and took Caroline’s hand. “Tell me. How are you?”
“Tired but invigorated too. I’ve loved every minute of the work here, Eric. Designing for the Forrester Creations couture line has been a privilege, and getting to show it off at the fundraiser will be that much more of a thrill.”
“Then you were the right person for the job, and I�
�m so glad you agreed to take it,” he said. “Now, about your other job, your less public one. My spies over there tell me my oldest son has been much more involved in Forrester Creations’ business since you and I launched Project Ridge. From what I hear, he’s not sitting alone in his office brooding, and it’s all because of you and your nimble way of handling any assignment thrown at you. I asked you to come up with an idea for bringing back Ridge’s spirit, his appetite for life, for the sake of the fundraiser and to silence all those buyers who’ve been skittish about the company’s stability, and apparently you managed to do just that. Well done, Caroline.”
“Truthfully, Eric, all I did was ask Ridge to help me expand my horizons.” She laughed. “It sounds silly, I know, but he told me I should explore interests outside of the fashion industry, ‘get out of the bubble,’ as he calls it. So I came up with things I thought would be broadening for me—and not coincidentally appealing to him—and coaxed him into coming along for the ride. The idea was to drag him out of the house, pull him out of his sense of hopelessness, inspire him to embrace life again, and it worked. We went to a hockey game, the symphony, East LA for a sampling from all the food trucks … There were some rocky moments, but overall he really seemed to enjoy it.”