Previously…
– Travis and Rosie were married. After the ceremony, Travis suggested to Rosie that they officially adopt Gabrielle, the baby they have been fostering. Meanwhile, Molly told Brent that she wants to adopt the infant.
– Landon was shocked when Zane apologized for having assaulted him.
– Diane succumbed to her attraction to Isaac and fell into a heated kiss with him — but Tempest walked in on them.

In the main space of The Wild Lady, Travis Fisher and Rosie Jimenez‘s wedding reception is in full swing. With slices of the cake having been served, the guests have moved to the dance floor, where the DJ is playing “We Found Love” by Rihanna. 

Down the back hallway, in a supply room that has been transformed into the groom’s dressing suite for the day, Tempest Banks stands at the open door in shock. Her jaw hangs down as her brain processes what her eyes have just seen. Inside the room, her older brother and Diane Bishop stand, still facing one another, residual sparks of their passionate kiss still floating between them like electricity.

“I know I didn’t just see what I just saw,” Tempest finally says.

“I can explain,” Isaac replies.

“What the hell are you gonna explain? That you’re creepin’ with a lady who hates me? I can see that for myself.” Then Tempest’s eyes flare even wider. “Oh my god. That’s why you came here in the first place, isn’t it?”

“Tempest,” Isaac says.

But she cuts him off. “You only showed up in King’s Bay ‘cuz you were chasing after Diane?”

Diane touches her hand to her lips, unsure — possibly for the first time in her life — what or how to interject. 

“I told you, we met on that cruise,” Isaac tells his sister. “I said I came here to see her–“

“You said you came to check out the radio station!” Tempest fires back. “Which I should’ve known was a dumbass reason for showing up in a city where you don’t have any business being. Stupid me, though.”

She shakes her head, an expression of disgust upon her face.

“Forget you,” she says. “Forget both of you.”

Turning on her heels, Tempest storms out of the supply room. Isaac glances over at Diane, who simply closes her eyes. As her long lashes flutter, she lets out a heavy sigh.

—–

Out on the dance floor, the high-energy Rihanna song gives way to Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé’s duet of “Perfect.” Samantha Fisher and Jaq Pearson go from jumping up and down excitedly to linking their bodies closely as they slow-dance to the song’s waltz rhythm. They sway with it for several seconds before Samantha notices Jaq fighting a wince.

“What’s wrong?” Samantha asks.

“Nothing. My stomach just feels a little…” Jaq lets the grimace overtake their face. “I probably shouldn’t have had cake on top of everything else I ate. Sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“We’re in this beautiful, romantic place,” Jaq says. “I’m sure you don’t need to hear about my stomachache.”

“It’s fine,” Samantha assures them with a smile. 

Before Jaq can respond, they both notice Tempest come tearing out of the back hallway and making a beeline for her seat. Samantha guiltily does her best to pretend that she hasn’t seen anything, but she can tell that Jaq has taken note of it, too.

“I wonder what’s up with her,” Jaq says in confusion.

Samantha shrugs as they continue to dance. “No idea.”

Tempest rushes right past the dance floor and toward the table, where Claire Fisher is finishing her cake and coffee as she chats with Rosie’s mother, Juanita. 

“There you are,” Claire says as she sets down her fork and picks something up from the chair beside her. “Look what turned up.”

She holds up a small black purse.

“Where was it?” Tempest asks in surprise.

“Kathleen found it behind the bar,” Claire explains. “Someone must have picked it up.”

Tempest lets out a huff and grabs the purse. “Well, good. Now I can get outta here.”

“You’re leaving?” Claire asks.

“I gotta go,” Tempest says simply. “I’ll see you at home.”

Claire stands from her chair. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just gotta get out of here.”

Without saying anything further, Tempest sweeps away from the table and toward the back exit that leads directly to the parking lot.

“Is she all right?” Juanita asks as Claire sinks back into her chair.

Claire watches Tempest disappear into the back of the bar. “I hope so.”

—–

Elsewhere at the reception, Tim Fisher holds the little girl that his son and new daughter-in-law have been fostering. He bounces her up and down in his arms, trying to maintain her tenuous good mood after a long bout of fussing and on-and-off crying. 

“It’s getting late for her,” Molly Taylor says.

Tim turns toward his sister. “We tried to put her down for a nap up in Jimmy and Kathleen’s apartment, but she didn’t want to sleep.”

“Poor thing. She must be all out of sorts.”

“I got her to take a bottle and changed her,” Tim says, “so we’re not doing too badly.”

“Did Travis and Rosie really think this through? Having a baby at a wedding reception…”

“We’ve all got it under control. Rosie’s mom is going to take her home in a few minutes.”

“That’s good,” Molly says, though she remains tight-lipped. “She really is adorable.”

“She is.” Tim beams as he tells her, “Travis and Rosie are going to move ahead with formally adopting her. They just told us a little while ago.”

“Really? Wow.”

Tim furrows his brow. “You seem a little dubious.”

Molly stares at the baby, who despite her still-flushed cheeks is now showing off her toothless smile. “They’ve done a great thing by taking Gabrielle in when she needed it. But they’re still kids…”

“They just got married.”

“You know what I mean. They’re– I’m sure they’ve gotten swept up in the romance of today. But they’re young, and they’re newlyweds. They should enjoy being married first.”

“Gabrielle is part of their family, whether they planned for it or not,” Tim says.

“Well, maybe they did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Brent said Rosie isn’t only fostering Gabrielle — she’s the one who found her outside the station,” Molly says. “So she was leading the charge to try and find out who left her there. Don’t you think… since she got so attached to this precious little baby… maybe she didn’t try that hard? Maybe she decided how this should all turn out and then made it a reality?”

Tim hesitates in responding, and Molly is about to prompt him again when she realizes that he is looking just past her, over her shoulder. She turns and is shocked to see Rosie and Travis standing there. Molly freezes, feeling stabs of embarrassment all over her body.

“Hi, you guys,” she says awkwardly. “Um, congratulations again.”

Rosie moves past her and takes Gabrielle from Tim.

“We’re going to get her ready to leave with my mom,” she says. “And for the record, I exhausted every lead I could find in trying to locate whoever left Gabrielle at the station.”

“I’m sure you did,” Molly hastens to say. “I was just– I’m sorry.”

Rosie waves her free hand. “It doesn’t need to be a whole thing.” Then she runs a hand over Gabrielle’s head and her still-growing dark brown hair. “C’mon. Let’s get you ready for Abuela to take you home. Thanks for watching her, Tim.”

With a pointed look at Molly, Rosie walks off with the baby.

Travis lingers just long enough to tell his aunt, “That wasn’t cool.”

“I’m sorry,” Molly says, but all Travis gives her is a disappointed scowl before he, too, departs.

“What was that all about?” Tim asks his sister, his tone a mixture of annoyance and genuine confusion.

“It doesn’t matter. Excuse me,” Molly says, not wasting a moment before she hurries toward the restrooms.

—–

Samantha sits at her table sipping a cup of tea. She sees her mother’s things resting on an empty chair, but when she glances around the venue, there is no sign of Diane. Just as she is about to get up and go talk to Tori — in spite of Zane‘s presence — she sees Jaq returning from the restroom.

“Was my mom in there?” Samantha asks.

Jaq shakes their head. “I didn’t see her. But, um… I think I might need to go home.”

“Your stomach?”

“Yeah, it’s…” Jaq bows their head, and their asymmetrical black hair falls slightly over their eyes. “Not especially sexy. Would you mind if I left early? You can meet me at home later.”

“I can go with you,” Samantha says, standing up. 

“It’s your brother’s wedding. You don’t have to leave.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I’ll be fine.” Jaq smiles and takes Samantha’s hand. “I’ll see you at home in a little, okay?”

“Are you sure you can get home okay?”

“I have a stomachache, not brain damage,” Jaq says with a laugh. “I’ll call a ride.”

“Text me when you get home, okay?”

“I will.” Jaq gathers their things and then gives Samantha a peck on the lips. “I don’t think I need to do the rounds and tell everyone my stomach is killing me. I doubt anyone will notice.”

“I’ll cover for you.”

“Just don’t make it sound too gross. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

With one final kiss, Jaq quickly moves to the bar’s front door, pushing through the saloon doors to the entryway.

—–

Without breaking her determined stride, Tempest pushes the metal bar to open the back door of the bar and exits to the parking lot. The nighttime sky is still a dark shade of blue, but she is too irate to notice its calming beauty as she storms straight for the car.

“Tempest! Wait!” Isaac shouts as he runs after her.

“Nothing to wait for,” she calls back without even turning to look at him.

But she hears Isaac’s footsteps picking up speed over the pavement, and soon he is beside her.

“You have to listen to me,” he says.

Tempest stops short and whips around toward him. “Why? So you can lie to my damn face some more?”

“Why is this such a big deal?” Isaac asks.

“Because you’re my brother. And she’s… Diane.”

“So?”

Tempest sets her jaw, as she is nearly quaking with rage. Isaac is still awaiting her response when Diane emerges from the back of the bar as well.

“Don’t be mad at Isaac,” Diane says.

“The audacity you have, trying to tell me how to feel,” Tempest spits at her.

Isaac cuts in, “She’s not telling you how to feel–“

“Oh, she’s not?” Tempest rolls her eyes. “I’m going home. You and this nasty old heffa can do whatever you want.”

“Old?!” Diane says with a gasp.

“But ‘heffa’ didn’t bother you?” Isaac asks.

Diane ignores the aside and continues, “Tempest, I know you and I have a long, ugly history — but when Isaac and I met, we had no idea about the connection. We didn’t even know each other’s real names at first. It was only once he showed up in King’s Bay and you saw us together that we realized.”

“And then you kept doing what you were doing,” Tempest says.

“It isn’t like that,” Diane says. “Tonight was — we got caught up in old memories. It was nothing more than that. Isn’t that right, Isaac?”

She sees Isaac’s face fall, and as much as she wants to tell him that it was more than that — a lot more than that — to her, she knows instinctively that she has to protect his relationship with his sister first and foremost. 

“Right,” he says quietly.

“I’ll go back inside and let you two talk,” Diane says.

“Nothing I wanna talk about now,” Tempest replies, still full of venom. “You are shameless, lady! And you are, too.” She gives Isaac a pointed jab of her index finger. “Now have a blessed night, you hear?”

She stomps the remaining few yards to her car and gets into the driver’s seat. Although she starts the engine, she simply sits there, eyes closed as she takes deep breaths in through her nose.

Diane’s phone, clutched in her hand, vibrates, and she sees that it is a text from Samantha:

Are you still here? Jaq had to leave.

“Let’s go back inside,” Diane says to Isaac as they watch Tempest put the car into reverse and back out of the parking space.

Isaac stares after the sedan as it turns left out of the parking lot. Finally he turns back toward Diane.

“What the hell was that?” he asks.

“I think it was pretty damn clear.”

“No. This thing with you and Tempest.” He gazes directly into her eyes. “What actually happened between the two of you?”

Diane doesn’t know what gets into her — maybe it’s the wine she had during dinner, or the lingering memory of their kiss a few minutes ago, or the sheer emotion of the confrontation with Tempest. But she feels her guard dropping like a felled tree, simply too weakened to remain upright and at attention anymore. And she knows that she has nothing left to lose.

“I never wanted to have to tell you this,” she says. “But now I realize that I have to.”

—–

“Mr. and Mrs. Gray,” Zane Tanaka says as he approaches his girlfriend’s parents, with Tori‘s hand clutched in his and her walking by his side. “Beautiful wedding, isn’t it?”

Matt looks up from the plate of items from the dessert buffet that he and Sarah have been sharing. He draws a deep breath before replying:

“Yeah, it’s great. Are you two having fun?”

“We are,” Tori says with a sweet smile, perhaps trying a little too hard.

“It’s a shame we weren’t seated with you two,” Zane adds. 

Sarah shrugs. “I guess Travis and Rosie wanted to mix things up.”

“Well, I did get to have a long debate with Christian about Real Housewives during dinner,” Tori says. “So that’s something.”

Matt and Sarah chuckle in response, but then an uneasy awkwardness settles down over the foursome. Even the lively sounds of Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” filling the space do little to alleviate the discomfort. 

“There’s something I want both of you to know,” Zane says.

Sarah and Matt both snap to attention.

“Which is that I apologized to Landon for the incident the other night,” he goes on. “I was out-of-line — it was a misunderstanding and I overreacted. I want to apologize to both of you, too. I’m sorry you had to see or hear about any of that.”

Matt uses the cloth napkin to wipe his mouth and then manages to choke out, “That’s big of you. Thank you.”

Zane simply grins with pride and nods his head. 

“Wanna get a drink and do some dancing?” he asks Tori.

“Sounds good,” she says, squeezing his hand. “We’ll see you in a little, Mom and Dad.”

The young couple heads toward the bar, leaving Sarah and Matt to process the encounter. Sarah grabs a miniature brownie from the plate and bites into it. 

“I think I like him even less when he’s pulling the Eddie Haskell act,” she says as she chews.

“You’re telling me,” Matt replies. “I don’t get how Tori can even stand to be around him — let alone stand there smiling and go dance with him.”

“That’s what an abusive relationship is. She’s under whatever spell he’s managed to cast on her. Or she’s scared to cross him even if she wants to, deep down.”

Matt cringes. “Even thinking about our little girl being in an abusive relationship… it makes my skin crawl.”

“Well, that’s what this is,” Sarah says as she picks up the rest of the brownie bite. “And I don’t care if we couldn’t prove that he hacked Objection — we’re going to find something to get Tori away from that asshole.”

—–

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rosie asks her mother near the front entrance of the bar.

“Mija, I raised two children. I can handle one night with an infant,” Juanita says jovially as she rubs the baby’s back.

“Mama knows what she’s doing,” Sebastian Jimenez says as he picks up Gabrielle’s overnight. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, sis. Enjoy your night.”

“Thanks,” Rosie tells her brother. “And thank you for coming in for this. It means a lot.”

Sebastian merely grins. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Travis, who is standing right beside Rosie, extends his hand to Sebastian. “Seriously, thanks, man. Glad we finally got to meet. It meant a ton to both of us.”

Sebastian clasps his hand with Travis and pulls him in to give him a pat on the back. “Congratulations, brother. Take care of my sister, okay?”

“You can count on it,” Travis says. 

After final goodbyes are exchanged, Travis and Rosie watch as Sebastian helps Juanita through the saloon doors and outside with Gabrielle and all her accessories. 

“Is it bad I’m both excited to have a night off and already wanting to go steal her back?” Rosie asks Travis.

He shakes his head. “I feel the same way.”

Rosie’s face falls. “It sounded like your aunt doesn’t think we’re responsible enough for this.”

“Aunt Molly’s dealing with a lot,” Travis says. “She must be– I don’t know– projecting because of the baby she lost. She was still way out of line.”

“To say the least.”

“But…” He leans in and kisses her. “I think we can make excellent use of a night alone. Especially on our wedding night.”

Rosie raises one eyebrow. “You think?”

Travis’s response is to kiss her again. “I know.”

—–

After she texts her mother, Samantha passes time chatting with her cousin Sophie and uncle Jason. She is just stepping away from them when she sees her phone lighting up with the notice of an incoming call. Spotting Jaq’s name on the screen, she swiftly answers.

“Did you get home okay?” she asks.

“There’s another one,” Jaq says, their voice trembling over the line. “Someone left me another threatening letter.”

END OF EPISODE 1089

Will the person leaving letters for Jaq be caught soon?
Is Diane going to follow through and tell Isaac the truth?
Will Molly continue to spiral over her fixation on Gabrielle?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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