Friday, February 20, 2009, Episode #5506

Beth and Katie are shocked at the wedding interruption.

At the Marone mansion, Jackie announces that she won't let this wedding take place. Bath asks Jackie who she thinks she is to decide that. Jackie argues that she knows what kind of life her son wants, and she had to take matters into her own hands when she wasn't invited to the wedding. Katie snipes that Jackie is proving why she wasn't invited right now, but Jackie retorts that she's proving that Nick and Katie's relationship is based on a false hope created when Nick nobly granted Katie's dying wish. Nick tells Jackie to stop, but she keeps going and insists that Nick was in love with Bridget both before and after he took Katie to Catalina, and she challenges anyone to say that she's wrong. Katie asks Bridget if that's why she's here. Bridget replies that she doesn't want to interrupt Katie's special day, so Katie sees no reason to second guess her feelings for Nick, especially not for Jackie. Jackie charges that Katie's feelings, as real as they might seem, come from a deceitful, dishonest place that only a woman knows. Nick scolds his mother for saying that while Katie laughs at the accusation. Bridget asks Katie to believe that she's put her feelings for Nick behind her and has no concern about the wedding today.

Bridget tears into Katie.

Jackie begs Bridget to be honest that she still has feelings for Nick. Beth chimes in that Bridget's previous marriages to Nick sadly failed, so her feelings shouldn't be an issue, but Jackie counters that Bridget's last marriage to Nick only ended once a certain someone played on Nick's sympathetic heart and used her dying request to seduce him. "How dare you?" Katie fumes, but Bridget gets fed up and snarls at Katie, "How dare you?!" Bridget lets loose that Jackie's right: she said she was over Nick, but she was just repressing the incredible painful feelings she endured after Katie took advantage of her and betrayed her trust. Katie tells Bridget that they've talked about this, so she doesn't know what else to say. Bridget retorts that all their talking didn't matter since Katie kept pushing her buttons, and now her patience is waning. Nick suggests the ladies retreat to neutral corners to cool down, but Katie's sickened by all this and storms upstairs with Beth right behind her.

Jackie speaks her mind to her son.

Nick asks what just happened here. Jackie proclaims that the wedding is off, but Nick insists it's on, leaving the minister confused. Bridget suggests that Nick hear his mother out, but Nick wants no part of Jackie's stubborn, narrow-minded opinions. Jackie asserts that she just spoke the truth out of unconditional love for Nick. She truly believes that he doesn't love Katie and urges him to see that marrying Katie is a mistake. The uncomfortable minister offers to leave, but Nick tells him to stay put, since there will be a wedding here today. Nick then tells Jackie that she's not showing unconditional love, but she's controlling him. "When Katie comes back down these stairs, you will give us your blessing, and you will give it lovingly," he orders his mother.

Nick wants to reassure Katie.

When Katie comes back down, Jackie apologizes for barging on this special day and getting carried away, and Bridget admits that she was out of line as well. Katie states that this isn't the special day she envisioned, so Jackie and Bridget did what they set out to do. She asks everyone to leave so she can talk to Nick alone. Beth offers to stay, but Katie assures her mom that she'll be fine. Once everyone else leaves, a devastated Katie weeps to Nick about what a disaster that was. All she wanted was to marry him, but it's not going to happen. Nick assures that he still wants to marry her, but Katie points out that his mother and Bridget were kind of right. Nick tells her that they were wrong. Katie sighs that what happened between them was something she wanted and needed, but it destroyed his marriage to Bridget. She sobs that she loves him, but she just doesn't know what to do about that. Nick tries to protest, but Katie goes upstairs.

Jake wonders what's going on.

Ridge seethes as he watches Rick and Steffy embrace through the blinds on the shipping office window. As they pull away from the embrace, Steffy tells Rick again that they can only be together if he makes peace with her dad. Rick says that her father sees him as the devil and doesn't want him anywhere near her, so Ridge will never accept him. That's why he hoped to prove himself by joining the Army, but they rejected him. Steffy is glad he was rejected. Watching Rick in his military-style "get-up" charming Steffy and Steffy falling for it, Ridge bitterly walks away. Rick begs Steffy to believe that he can be the perfect man for her, but Steffy pleads with him to leave before her dad sees them together. Rick charges that her father is the only one standing in their way. Steffy sees why her dad is so afraid, since everything Ridge fears seems to come true; she reminds Rick how she was by his side in his car during the recent high speed chase, just as Phoebe was when she died. Rick says he wouldn't have been driving so fast if Ridge wasn't out to kill him, but Steffy counters that Phoebe would be alive if she hadn't gotten into his car. She thinks there are so many "ifs" related to bad things happening that she can understand how her dad feels, and that's why they can't go on this way. "Please don't do this to me," she begs. Rick moves close to her but then pulls away and leaves the office. As Rick walks away, Ridge follows him. Jake sees Ridge following the khaki-clad figure and then sees Steffy standing alone in the office.

Steffy tells Brooke that Rick isn't joining the Army.

Steffy goes to her father's office and finds Brooke there. Brooke asks Steffy if she heard about Rick joining the Army. Steffy tells Brooke that Rick got rejected for health reasons. Brooke is relieved. Steffy admits that she is, too. Brooke tells Steffy that Ridge predicted that Rick would be rejected for health issues and even accused Rick of grandstanding by signing up when he knew he'd be turned down. Steffy asks Brooke what she believes. Brooke states that she really thought Rick wanted to serve his country and become a better person. Steffy agrees, but she knows her dad won't. Brooke asks Steffy how she left things with Rick. Steffy replies that Rick came to the shipping office just before she came here but she asked him to leave, since being with him was just too painful. Brooke asks Steffy if she saw Ridge, who just left to see her downstairs a short time ago. Steffy says that she didn't see him. Steffy and Brooke realize that Ridge would have been downstairs when Steffy was talking to Rick. Steffy recalls that Jake was in the shipping office when she left and calls him upstairs. Brooke and Steffy ask Jake if he saw Ridge downstairs. Jake tells them that he saw Ridge in the hall, looking at something through the office window, and then Ridge followed some guy wearing military clothes into the stairwell. Unfortunately, he only saw the other guy from the back and didn't recognize him. After Jake leaves, Steffy tells Brooke that the other guy was Rick. Brooke sighs that they have to find Rick and Ridge before something terrible happens.

Rick wants to know why Ridge always sees the worst in him.

Ridge follows Rick up to the Forrester roof - it's an area that's apart from the Sky Lounge, since there's machinery around and the lounge is nowhere in sight. Ridge asks Rick what it's going to take to stop him. Rick contends that he had to tell Steffy something. Ridge guesses that Rick was telling her about his "noble" attempt to join the Army and suggests that Rick never really intended to serve. Rick insists that he wanted to enlist, since the discipline of the military would make him a better person. Ridge asks Rick when he ships out. Rick says that he won't be leaving, since the Army turned him down because of his recent injuries - the ones Ridge caused! Ridge thinks Rick knew he'd be turned down when he signed up and only tried to enlist as a ploy to make himself look good and impress Steffy. Rick accuses Ridge of messing up his chance to serve his country, but Ridge is sure that Rick never really intended to go into the Army. Rick thinks that's insane. Ridge points out how Rick proudly told his parents and Steffy about his plans to enlist and thinks it's sick that Rick would manipulate them that way. Rick asks Ridge why he always sees the worst in him. Ridge thinks Rick's actions speak the worst of him, since he always acts with some ulterior motive. Rick refuses to listen to this and starts to leave, but Ridge blocks him.