Previously…
– Tori and Zane shared the news of their engagement with her family.
– Molly apologized to Travis and Rosie for her comments about their fitness as foster parents, but she continued to feel drawn to baby Gabrielle.
– Fearing what Loretta might do if the effort proved successful, Elly grew nervous when Molly and Conrad discussing suing the hospital over the death of Molly and Brent’s baby.

“This is crazy. Like, batshit crazy. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?!”

Landon Esco holds his iPhone and stares at the screen in slack-jawed disbelief. 

“You’re not even close to the only one,” Travis Fisher comments. He sits in one of the wooden chairs at the table in the small dining area of the apartment in which he and his wife reside; baby Gabrielle sits on a zoo-themed play mat on the carpet, rattling a variety of toys. 

“Tori doesn’t seem to think it’s crazy,” Landon says from his post on the small, oatmeal-colored couch. “Look at the pictures of this rock she posted.”

Travis rolls his eyes. “I’ve seen it. I saw it in person, I saw it on Instagram, I saw it on Facebook. It’s nice. It’s whatever.”

“I mean — who even buys a green engagement ring?!”

“It’s an emerald. Zane bought it because it’s the birthstone of the baby Tori lost.”

“Great. Way to make me feel like an asshole.” Landon groans and tosses the phone onto the sofa cushion. “So she’s really gonna marry him.”

“I guess so. They seem excited.”

Landon stares at the bare, artificial Christmas tree in the corner of the apartment. 

“What’s with the naked tree?” he asks as he pulls his feet up beneath him on the couch. “Is Rosie into minimalism or something?”

“We actually got the tree up last night. By the time we got Gabrielle to bed, we were too tired to deal with lights and ornaments,” Travis explains. “You try getting anything done when you have a baby who’s constantly pulling herself upright and doing her damnedest to walk — see?”

He gestures toward Gabrielle, who has used one of the vacant dining chairs to steady herself enough to stand up. She bounces excitedly on unsteady legs before toppling onto her backside again. 

“Awww,” Landon says, momentarily brightening before his demeanor darkens again. “And your aunt and uncle are just, like, letting this happen?”

“What? Tori getting married?” Travis shakes his head in confusion. “I don’t know. They at least put on a happy face when Tori and Zane told everyone.”

“I thought they were fighting the good fight! After they–” But Landon stops himself mid-statement.

Travis leans forward, elbows on his knees. “After they what?”

“Uh, nothing,” Landon quickly says, all too aware that he can’t give away what he was actually doing at Tori and Zane’s apartment the night Zane attacked him — even if it all amounted to was a big, fat nothing. “It’s just — if even Tori’s parents aren’t gonna try to stop this, who will?”

“Maybe there’s nothing else anyone can do. Do you think I want my cousin marrying some loser who blackmailed my aunts and then beat the shit out of my best friend?”

“Well, if you don’t want it happening, either, help me!”

“Wait.” Travis lifts a hand to his face as his eyes flare with realization. “You really do have feelings for Tori, don’t you?!”

Spencer Ragan‘s Italian leather dress shoes tap a steady beat against the floor as he makes his way into the lobby of Vision Publishing. He first looks to the receptionist, Delia, but before he can address her, he notices the woman waiting in a chair by the entrance. He tosses Delia a wave of thanks before making his way over to Elly Vanderbilt.

“When they paged me to say I had a visitor, you are not who I was expecting,” he says, unconsciously making an effort to keep his voice down.

The red-headed woman stands. Her black trenchcoat covers her body down to the knees, and her bare legs peek out until they reach her shiny black high heels.

“I need to talk to you,” Elly says, a bit breathlessly.

Spencer narrows his eyes at her. “What’s up?”

Her front teeth bite down on her crimson-painted lower lip. “Can we go somewhere, uh, private?”

He recognizes the distress in her face and turns toward Delia.

“She’s with me,” he tells the receptionist, and then he motions for Elly to follow him. Spencer feels his heart rate increasing as he leads her into the depths of the office, anxious to here what has brought her here today.

—–

Travis levels a knowing glare upon his best friend. Landon feels himself begin to sweat, as if he is under the hottest and sharpest of spotlights.

“What? No, man, that’s not–” He cuts himself off, his tongue twisted around itself. “I just meant–“

“You do,” Travis says. “I didn’t realize it was like that.”

“It’s not!” Landon shrieks, and before Travis can hurl any more (accurate) accusations at him, there is a knock at the door. Travis stands from his chair to see who it is.

“Aunt Molly. Hey,” he says, a little befuddled, when he opens the door. Molly Taylor stands there in a long coat adorned with a hazy, cream-and-brown plaid that looks as if it were sketched. She holds a large box wrapped in red paper between her hands.

“Hi,” she says. Her words are tinged with a note of hesitance. “Could I come in?”

“Yeah. Of course.” Travis steps out of the way, admitting her to the apartment.

“Hi, Landon,” Molly says.

“Hi, Mrs. Taylor.”

She smiles at him before turning her attention toward Gabrielle, who is once again sitting down, legs in front of her as she shakes a toy unicorn.

“Hi, sweet girl,” Molly says to the infant. “This is actually for you.”

Travis furrows his brow. “You brought her a present?”

“It’s–” Molly breathes in sharply and then places the gift on the dining table. “I had ordered this rocking horse when I was pregnant, thinking our baby… that our baby would like it in the nursery when he or she got a little older. It’s been in our closet for a year, and I thought… I thought you and Rosie might like to have it for Gabrielle.”

“Oh. Wow,” Travis says, doing his best to offer a neutral reaction. 

A wild flash of desperation breaks over Molly’s face. “You’ll accept it, right? You’ll take the rocking horse for Gabrielle?”

—–

“Are you sure this is okay?” Elly asks as Spencer leads her into the corner office.

“Tim has meetings all day,” Spencer tells her before he shuts the door. “He won’t care.”

Elly folds her arms and strolls toward the large window that looks out over downtown King’s Bay.

“This is nice,” she says.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Elly, what’s going on? Why are you here?”

She rotates, first glancing back at him over her shoulder, then turning fully to face him.

“Do you swear this all stays between us?” she asks. “As in, does not go outside these walls.”

“I swear. You’ve got my word. Now what did my mother do?”

“What?”

“I know that’s why you’re here,” Spencer says. “This is about Loretta, isn’t it? What did she do?”

Elly exhales, though it doesn’t seem to release any of the tension that she carried into the office with her. 

“To say that she has me between a rock and a hard place would be an understatement,” she says after a lengthy pause. “It’s like she has me between two boulders, and they’re both closing in and trying to squeeze me to death, and I’m trapped and can’t get away.”

“That sounds about par for the course. What is she making you do?”

“I had a meeting with Molly. Conrad and I did. And I’m supposed to be advising her on her defense, but instead I feel like I have to — I don’t know, screw her over to save myself. I can’t quit, because Loretta won’t let me, and if this turns out too well for Molly, she’ll probably expose how my bar results were tampered with, and–” She stops mid-thought, her eyes flaring with panic. “I’m so screwed, Spencer. Unless you can help me.”

He can see the genuine fear in her face, and he is surprised by the way it begins to enshroud him, too. 

“I need your help neutralizing her,” Elly continues. “There has to be something–“

She is interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Both Elly and Spencer stiffen as Tim enters the office and takes in the sight of them.

“Elly?” Tim asks, confused. “What’s going on here?”

—–

Molly intertwines her fingers and works them together nervously as she awaits Travis’s response. 

“Aunt Molly,” he says, but there is no dangling statement there, and she clenches at his tone.

“I should get going,” Landon announces. He rises quickly from the sofa. “I have, uh, stuff to do.”

Travis turns toward him. “I’m not done with you.”

“I’ll catch you later!” Landon flashes him a peace sign and then quickly escapes the apartment.

When the door closes, Travis and Molly are left alone — at least, alone as two adults, while Gabrielle continues to babble and burble on her play mat.

“I understand if it’s awkward to accept this,” Molly blurts out. “I can take it–“

“No,” Travis says. He stops her from snatching the box off the table. Nephew and aunt make eye contact.

“We’d be happy to accept this– your generous gift,” Travis says. “I know it has to be hard for you to even see it. For you to wrap it up and bring it here…”

She smiles hopefully. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” He lifts the box off the table and places it down beside the play mat. “What do you say, Gabrielle? Do you want to open your new rocking horse?”

“Travis, thank you,” Molly says. “I planned on donating it, but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, and I… it seemed right to give this to Gabrielle, and to you and Rosie, as a sort of peace offering. I really hope she enjoys having it.”

“She will,” Travis says with a generous smile. He begins to tear off the wrapping paper. “Gabrielle, do you want to see?”

Molly kneels down, the plaid coat falling around her knees and feet. “Hello, sweet Gabrielle. I hope you like your rocking horse.” Then she turns to Travis. “Would it be okay if I held her?”

“Ummm… sure. Yeah. Of course.”

Without waiting another moment, Molly reaches for Gabrielle and scoops her up. 

“She’s doing a lot of kicking and wiggling these days,” Travis says.

“It’s okay. I remember this phase.” Molly stands as she hoists the little girl onto her hip and talks to her: “I bet you’re ready to take off walking, aren’t you? You’re ready to go.”

“She’s almost there,” Travis comments as he continues peeling paper away from the box, a vaguely unsettled feeling in his gut.

—–

Elly plasters a smile on her face as best she can.

“Hi, Mr. Fisher,” she says. “I just had to ask Spencer something–“

“It’s Loretta,” Spencer declares.

Elly smacks him in the arm. “You swore–“

“No, he should be part of this,” Spencer says before moving to close the door. 

Tim eyes both of them with worry.

“What did Loretta do now?” he asks. “Did she hurt you?”

Elly remains silent.

“Not yet,” Spencer explains. “My mother is, um–“

“Spencer,” Elly says sharply.

“I promise, this is going to help,” he says before addressing Tim head-on: “Can you be discreet about this? Elly’s career is on the line here.”

“This needs more than discretion,” she says with a huff. 

Tim mimes zipping his lips and tossing away the key. But still, all Elly can do is glare at him nervously.

“I’m not going to say exactly what it is, but Loretta has something that she’s using as leverage over Elly,” Spencer says. “It’s one of those things that Elly is completely innocent in, but it looks bad for her professionally, so Loretta has her over a barrel.”

Eyeing Elly warily, Tim asks, “We’re not talking dead bodies here, are we?”

“No!” Elly says. “No. Nothing like that. But — you know how I helped get the charges against Molly reduced?”

Tim  nods.

“She and Conrad asked me to be part of Molly’s legal team, which obviously I’d be happy to do,” Elly says. “She’s been so good to me over the years, and she’s going through something horrible.”

“And Loretta is trying to force you to tank the case,” Tim says.

Spencer and Elly both nod.

“First of all, I’m not going to let my sister be collateral damage in all of this,” Tim states. “Molly has been through enough. However this plays out, we need to make sure Molly is protected.”

“Of course. That’s why I came to ask Spencer for help,” Elly replies. “The last thing I’d want to do is hurt Molly.”

“There has to be some way we can play this so that we turn the tables on Loretta,” Spencer says.

“There must be,” Tim says. “This could be exactly what we need to get Loretta away from Molly and the rest of this family, once and for all.”

END OF EPISODE 1109

Will Tim be able to help Spencer and Elly?
Can Loretta be stopped before others get hurt?
Should Travis have accepted Molly’s gift?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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