Written by MichaelJuly 8, 2020July 16, 2020

Episode 1026

Previously…
– Samantha planned to travel to Sun Valley and find out what is inside her late grandfather’s safe.
– After Molly was rushed to the hospital, Caleb concealed the fact that he’d fought with his mother right before she collapsed — leading everyone to believe that Claire had been the cause of Molly’s crisis.
– Sarah was furious after learning that Tori had been passed over for the receptionist job at Objection Designs.

Inviting, cheery sunshine spills into the kitchen of Molly Taylor’s home through the sliding glass door and the large window above the sink. Molly stands right before it, the water running as she rinses a carton of blueberries. Although she is operating normally today, she still feels a bit out-of-it following her brief hospitalization; to be honest, she has felt off for weeks, and only now is she able to identify her pre-eclampsia as the cause of that.

At the sound of footsteps shuffling behind her, she instinctively turns. She knows before her eyes land on the boy that it is Caleb, not Christian, trying to slip by undetected.

“Good morning,” she says louder than is necessary. It has the intended effect of stopping the footsteps in their tracks.

A few seconds later, Caleb’s head appears in the doorway. “Hi.”

She can tell that he is eager to disappear again. “Do you have everything you need?” she asks.

He holds up his backpack by one strap. “Yep. Gotta go.”

“Hold on.” She turns off the sink and walks toward him, feeling the extra weight of her pregnancy with every step that she takes. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

—–

“You look nice,” Zane Tanaka says as he steps out of the steamy bathroom and into the bedroom that he shares with Tori Gray. He has a gray towel wrapped around his waist, leaving his bulked and toned torso, still wet from the shower, on display. His dark hair sticks up wildly after being hastily dried.

“Oh. Thanks,” Tori replies bashfully. She gives herself another look in the mirror and frowns. The ruffled, mint green blouse and black pencil skirt go together nicely, but she fears that it’s all too formal, too forced.

“I’d even say hot.” Zane sidles up behind her and slips his arms around her waist.

“I don’t know that I’m going for hot,” she says with a laugh.

He plants his lips on her neck and lets them linger for several seconds. Finally he draws back, his hands still resting on her hips.

“Where are you going?” he asks. “Another job interview?”

Tori shakes her head. For the briefest of moments, she catches his eyes in the mirror, but she has to divert her gaze.

“Just to see my aunt,” she explains. “She’s home from the hospital.”

“The baby’s okay, right?”

“Mm-hmm. I just feel like– after what I went through, I can relate and maybe support her.”

She sees a dark cloud pass over Zane’s face.

“Totally,” he says at last, taking a step back.

Tori turns to face him. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“Mad?”

“About me seeing my family again. I know you’ve had concerns, but–”

“Tori, I know I can’t tell you what to do or whether you’re allowed to see your family. Personally, I don’t think they’ve treated you well. But I’m not trying to keep you from them.”

“Okay.” Momentarily reassured, she leans in and gives him a kiss on the lips. An all-too-familiar feeling of guilt churns within her, but she pushes it down for the umpteenth time. Logically, she knows that she is doing nothing wrong. She would’ve gone to visit a sick relative, anyway, but Molly’s phone call caught her off-guard. It sounded like it might have something to do with the receptionist job at Objection. Maybe her aunt simply feels bad and wants to smooth things over, but Tori has the sense that getting into all that with Zane isn’t worth it. It isn’t as if she actually has a job at Objection to tell him about.

“I’ll take care of dinner tonight,” she tells him. “It’ll be all ready when you get home from work.”

“You’re the best,” he says, smiling. “And I’m never, ever, ever gonna let you go.”

—–

Sarah Fisher Gray uses the water spout built into the front of her mother’s refrigerator to fill up her Swell water bottle. She is screwing on the cap when her husband strolls into the kitchen.

“Where are you headed?” Matt Gray asks, noticing the purse slung over her shoulder and the keys gripped in her hand.

“Just have a few errands to run.”

“Sarah.” He speaks her name firmly, in a way that he knows will convey his exact reservations.

She stops and sighs in defeat. “How do you always know?”

Matt grins. “Because I’ve married you twice. You kinda get to know somebody’s quirks that way. And that was totally your ‘I’m not telling you what I’m actually doing ‘cuz you’re gonna tell me it’s a bad idea’ face.”

“Ugh, fine. I’m going to see my sister.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to harass a pregnant woman who just got out of the hospital.”

“Harass? No! I just want to talk to her,” Sarah says.

“About…?”

“Just to see how she’s doing.” Sarah leaves it there until Matt’s piercing stare is too much to ignore. “Okay, and also her not hiring Tori at Objection.”

“You think this is the best time for that?”

“Is everyone supposed to tip-toe around her forever?”

“Not forever,” Matt says. “Maybe ’til she has the baby. Or at least a long weekend.”

“I swear, I only want to talk to her. See if there’s something else she can do to help. And don’t worry — my guilt-tripping her is dependent on not acting like I’m mad.”

“But you’re mad.”

“Of course I am.” Sarah smirks. “But if I play this right, Molly won’t even know that.”

—–

When Jaq Pearson rolls over in bed and opens their eyes, they are assaulted by the aggressive sun pouring through the wide-open curtains. Jaq lets out a groan and uses their hands to cover their eyes.

“It looks like you could use this,” Samantha Fisher tells her partner as she enters the bedroom of Jaq’s small but tidy apartment, carrying a mug of coffee fresh from the Keurig machine.

“How long have you been up?” Jaq asks, their voice croaky.

“About an hour. I thought it would be nice to let you sleep since you don’t have to work until later.”

“You’re the best.” Jaq pulls themselves up to a sitting position, pillows between their back and the wall, as Samantha hands them the coffee and then sits cross-legged on the bed.

“I think you’re mistaken,” Sam says. “That’s you.”

Sam stretches forward, and their lips meet in a sweet kiss. Jaq giggles as their noses continue to rub against each other.

“Are you sure we can’t stay like this all day?” Jaq asks.

“I wish. But I need to go pick up those lockets from my mom’s condo and then get on the road if I’m going to make it to Sun Valley by the end of the day.”

“I wish I could go with you.”

“I wish you could, too. But work is important.”

Jaq rolls their eyes. “Oooh, yeah. Wrangling a crowd of people who want free t-shirts or bumper stickers or concert tickets is definitely important work.”

Samantha laughs. “That doesn’t sound as bad as dealing with my Grandma Claudia.”

“Okay. Point for Sam.” Jaq sets their coffee on the salvaged wood crate that serves as a nightstand. “But I do think we have a few minutes before either of us has to get moving.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Definitely,” Jaq says as they roll on top of Samantha, two sets of hands already roaming over one another’s bodies.

—–

Caleb hovers in the kitchen doorway like he has just realized that he is in the scope of a sniper’s rifle.

“What?” he asks when his mother doesn’t volunteer anything further.

“It’s about when I went to the hospital,” Molly says. “Or beforehand, rather.”

He does his best not to flinch. “What about it? You feel okay, right?”

“I’m fine. Yeah.” She rests a hand atop her bulging stomach. “Trevor said you were upstairs when he got here and found me. Did you hear anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember Claire being here. And I remember things getting a little… thorny.” Molly closes her eyes, as if blocking out the present might help restore her understanding of the past. “But I don’t remember how it ended.”

An electric current of shock rushes through Caleb’s being. “You don’t?”

“No. I know Claire and I– we had words. But I don’t remember her leaving at all, or when I passed out.”

“I was playing Fortnite with my headphones on,” Caleb says. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I assumed as much. No harm in asking, though.”

“Nah. Of course not.” He slips his backpack over his shoulders. “Okay, I’ve gotta split.”

“Go ahead. Have a nice day,” Molly says. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he calls back as he jets toward the front door, unable to believe his luck.

—–

After Diane Bishop finishes co-hosting the morning show at KBAY, she foregoes another cup of coffee, gets into her car, and heads straight home. She had a restless night of sleep — largely spent pondering what Samantha might discover in Sun Valley and all the ways that the entire operation could go to hell — and now all she wants to do is fall into bed and be swallowed whole by her memory foam pillows and her duvet.

When she gets to her condo and slips the key into the lock, however, she instantly knows that she is not alone. The door is locked, but something feels… different. She turns the doorknob and opens the door quietly. Then she hears it:

“I’m hoping to be on the road in a few hours,” Samantha’s voice says from somewhere deeper in the condo, likely the bedroom that still serves as Sam’s any time she wants to stay here.

Diane sets down her purse and closes the front door just as stealthily as she opened it. Instead of announcing herself, she continues to listen, the conversation capturing her curiosity.

“Really? You’d come?” Samantha asks. “I mean… of course. If you can. Yeah!”

At first, Diane assumes that it must be Jaq whom Samantha is talking to — but she knows that Jaq has to work the KBAY event all weekend, and Jaq doesn’t strike Diane as the type of person to shirk work responsibilities like that.

“I’m just picking up the lockets from my mom’s,” Samantha tells the person on the other end of the presumptive phone call. “Then I have to go to my dad’s and get a few things. Meet me there?”

Realizing that the call is ending and Samantha might emerge at any moment, Diane does her best to look busy. She slips into the kitchen and starts preparing a pot of coffee that she has no intention of touching until after she has napped.

“Oh. Hi,” Samantha says as she enters from the short hallway that connects the bedrooms to the main living area. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Diane flashes her a sly grin. “People do tell me I’d make a great cat burglar.”

“Don’t joke about that, because I could see it.”

“What are you doing here?” Diane asks. “I thought you were heading to Sun Valley.”

“I am. I had to get these.” Samantha places her phone down on the table and pulls out the pair of old silver lockets that seem to be at the center of this entire Bishop family mystery. “I’m going over to Dad’s to pack up a few things, and then I’ll be on my way.”

Diane waits for her to volunteer more information, but it never comes.

“Are you sure you’re okay making that drive alone?” Diane asks. “It’s a long one.”

Samantha hesitates for only an instant, but Diane can see the decision to omit information flash over her face in that split-second.

“I’ll be fine,” Samantha says. “I have podcasts queued up. I’ll text you when I get there.”

“You’d better. Bring my AAA card with you, why don’t you? Just in case.”

“That seems like a good idea. Thanks.”

“It’s in the top drawer of the desk in my bedroom,” Diane tells her. “Right side.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Samantha retreats to the master bedroom, and Diane resentfully continues going through the motions of making the coffee she doesn’t even want — until she notices Samantha’s cell phone buzzing and lighting up on the table.

Unable to resist, she quickly tiptoes over and peeks at the display. The name and text message that she sees there confirm her worst fears.

—–

Sarah steers her SUV into the horseshoe-shaped driveway in front of Molly’s home. As she presses down on the brake, she regards the used black sedan already parked there with confusion.

“Tori?” she asks aloud, to no one, as she puts her own vehicle in park and hops out.

Although she already knew the answer, a closer inspection of the sedan confirms that it is, in fact, her daughter’s.

“That’s weird,” she says, heading for the house — completely unaware of the device stuck to the underside of her daughter’s car.

—–

Zane tosses his backpack onto the swivel chair at his desk in the KBAY offices. Before he so much as sits down or gets himself a cup of coffee, he pulls out his cell phone and swipes to an app that he keeps hidden within a folder of tech apps that would seem too boring for anyone who got their hands on his phone to even look at.

He opens the app and waits for the telltale blue dot to load. When it does, it takes him only a few seconds to confirm the location of Tori’s car — and the tracker he placed on it.

“At least you weren’t lying to me,” he says quietly before closing the app.

—–

“Be safe,” Diane tells Samantha at the open door of the condo. “Text me when you get there. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Samantha says. “And I promise, I’m going to find out what Grandpa Henry and Therese DeLuca were hiding.”

“Thank you,” Diane says, and with a warm smile, she closes the door as Samantha heads down the stairs leading to the parking lot. As soon as she turns the lock, however, she springs into motion, grabbing her own iPhone from her purse on the chair.

Her fingers fly over the screen as they find the contact info and dial.

“There’s something I think you should know,” she tells Jaq as soon as they pick up. “I think Tempest might be planning to tag along on Sam’s trip to Idaho.”

—–

At the sound of the doorbell, Molly sets her cup of lemon-ginger tea down on the kitchen table.

“I wonder who that could be,” she says. “Although I might’ve ordered something from Amazon and forgotten about it…”

Across the table from her, Tori laughs as she pushes out her chair. “I’ll get it. You relax.”

“Thanks, Tori,” Molly says, and her gratitude is evident. She is makeup-free, with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she wears head-to-toe LuluLemon.

Tori half-jogs to the entryway and looks through the glass panel to the side of the front door. Her utter surprise causes her to hesitate a moment before unlocking and opening the door.

“Mom? What are you doing here?” she asks.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Sarah responds. “I came to see your aunt.”

“Me, too.”

Molly appears in the doorway that leads to the kitchen.

“Sarah. Hi,” she says, a bit tense. “What brings you by?”

“Well,” Sarah says carefully, adjusting her purse on her shoulder, “I wanted to have a chat with you. But I think Tori and I might’ve had the same idea.”

“Actually,” Tori says, “Aunt Molly asked me to come over.”

Sarah looks from her daughter to her sister and back again. “Really? Why?”

“Human Resources let me know that they’d gone with another candidate over Tori for the receptionist position,” Molly explains. “Obviously I felt badly about that.”

“I’m pretty sure you have some sway there,” Sarah says, folding her arms. “I don’t want to make this a whole thing, but–”

“Neither do I,” Molly says. “That’s why I wanted to talk with Tori.”

Sarah exhales loudly and taps her foot against the hardwood floor. “You know, Molly, this girl has had a difficult few years. Yeah, some of that was my fault, and I take responsibility for it, but it wouldn’t kill you to try and–”

“Mom!” Tori interrupts. “Shut up.”

“I’m only trying to help you,” Sarah says.

“I know you are,” Molly says, “and I understand. Completely. That’s why I just offered Tori a job.”

Sarah’s next protest, already on the tip of her tongue, freezes in mid-air. “Wait. What?”

“The doctors really want me to scale back my workload until I have the baby. That’s why I’ve decided to hire a second assistant — and I think Tori would be the perfect fit.”

At first, the only reply Sarah can conjure is a confused furrowing of her brow. She looks to Tori, who nods enthusiastically.

“She just offered me the job,” Tori says. “Isn’t that awesome?”

“Yeah,” Sarah says, feeling dazed. “It is.”

“It’ll be a great way for her to learn the business and pick up some crucial skills,” Molly says. “I know she’ll be terrific at it.”

“Wow.” Sarah drops her arms to her sides, still processing the news. “Thanks, Molly. That’s great news. And Tori — congratulations.”

Tori beams at her mother. “Thanks. I’m so excited.”

“So am I,” Molly says, and Sarah finds herself having to brush away the sizable pile of facts, memories, and arguments that she brought with her today and instead smile appreciatively at her sister.

END OF EPISODE 1026

Will Tori be a good fit for her new job?
How will Zane react to the news?
Is Samantha really bringing Tempest to Sun Valley?
What will Jaq and Diane do if that’s the case?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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