Previously…
– Rosie and Travis accompanied Tim to Arizona, where he confronted Sonja and demanded the truth about her little boy, TJ. 
– After running into Samantha and Tempest having lunch together, Jaq reached out to Zane for help in keeping the two apart.
– Tori and Zane made secret plans to elope, but they were delayed when he was unable to get coverage for a night shift at KBAY.
– Samantha invited Tori out for drinks with her and Spencer — in hopes of convincing her not to marry Zane. 

Tim Fisher stands stiffly in the unfamiliar living room. A wooden sign on the wall reads “GATHER” in whimsical, cursive writing. Tim’s son and daughter-in-law perch uneasily on the sofa, which is upholstered in blue microsuede and a little too large for the space. Photos of the woman whom they saw leave in the Chevrolet SUV adorn the walls, as she poses with family members and friends; Tim notices a younger Sonja Kahele in one of the pictures. But he can barely pay any attention to questions that seemed so important just 24 hours ago: who is that woman? Why did she lend Sonja her car? What does she know?

“You okay, Dad?” Travis asks.

“I’m good. Yeah.” Tim is quick to nod his head, although the anxious energy winding through his veins doesn’t exactly feel good to him. He is filled with a perplexing cocktail of excitement and fear and disbelief.

Suddenly Rosie springs to her feet. “Dammit.”

Tim and Travis look toward her with concern.

“What?” Tim asks, as panic stirs itself into that mixture inside him.

“I’m so stupid,” Rosie mutters as she hurries toward the back hallway. “I should make sure she doesn’t go out the back–“

“That won’t be necessary,” a voice says, and a moment later, Sonja steps into view. “Look who’s awake.”

Holding her hand is a little boy, who bears both Sonja’s darker complexion and her black hair. He wears red pajamas with race cars on them and rubs his eyes with a small fist. 

“TJ,” Sonja says softly, “this is a very nice man named Tim. He’s very excited to meet you.”

TJ blinks uncertainly at Tim, then takes in the sight of the other two strangers in the room. Finally he looks back at his mother.

“It’s okay,” Tim says as gently as he can. “You can stay by your mom if you want. I just want to say hi.” He lifts one hand and waves it back and forth in an exaggerated fashion. 

After a lengthy pause, TJ raises the hand that isn’t attached to Sonja. He does so tentatively, as if he might yank it back down at any second.

“Hi,” the boy says in a tiny voice. 

Tim feels his throat tightening and does his best to fight the tears stinging his eyes. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

TJ continues to regard him with a curious gaze and then points suddenly toward the sofa.

“Who’s that?” he asks.

“I’m Travis, and this is Rosie,” Travis tells him. Tim can see the emotion brimming within Travis at meeting his younger brother for the first time.

“These nice people came a long way just to meet you,” Sonja tells her son. Tim notices her give his hand a little squeeze. “Isn’t that special?”

TJ thinks about this for a long moment and then asks his mother, “Do they like playing with race cars?”

“You bet we do,” Tim says, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face.

“Two margaritas and an Old Fashioned, coming in!” Kathleen Bundy announces. The blonde proprietor of The Wild Lady delivers the trio of drinks to one of the barrels that serves as a cocktail table; Samantha Fisher, Tori Gray, and Spencer Ragan are clustered around it. The bar is alive , with patrons swirling around, while “Private Eyes” by Hall & Oates plays over the sound system and squeals fly up from the back corner, where a young woman has dared to try a ride on the mechanical bull.

“Thanks, Kathleen,” Samantha says as she accepts one of the margaritas. The rim of the glass is generously coated in shimmering crystals of salt. 

“It’s always good to see you kids in here,” Kathleen replies cheerfully. She passes Tori the other margarita and Spencer the Old Fashioned. “I was thinking Travis and Rosie might be joining you.”

“I asked, but they couldn’t make it.”

“Why not? If they needed a sitter, they could’ve asked Jimmy and me!”

“They actually had to go to Arizona with my dad,” Samantha says. “It was a last-minute thing.”

“Well, I do hope everything’s okay,” Kathleen says before slapping a hand down on the table. “And y’all let me know if I can get you anything else, okay?”

The three of them thank her, and she retreats behind the bar once again.

“What’s Uncle Tim have going on in Arizona?” Tori asks. When Samantha hesitates, Tori swivels her head to look at Spencer.

“He thinks he found Sonja,” Spencer explains. “Your mom had some tip for him.”

“Oh, wow. I know they were talking about some kid Sonja had with her…”

“That’s why Rosie and Travis went with him,” Samantha says. “In case he needed law enforcement.”

Tori widens her eyes. “Yikes.”

“It sounds like a whole thing,” Spencer says before picking up his drinks. “Now can we toast?”

“To what?” Tori asks.

“To getting the three of us together for the first time in way too long,” he says. “Cheers.”

Tori and Sam clink their margaritas against his glass. 

“What’s up with you? Have you and Zane started in on wedding planning yet?” Spencer asks. 

From across the barrel, Samantha watches him warily. Spencer seems casual enough as he asks the questions and then takes a sip of the Old Fashioned. But Samantha hopes that Tori does not seem the way that he has steered the conversation — or that they came here tonight with a specific agenda.

If Tori suspects anything, however, she doesn’t let it show. Instead she lets out a groan.

“We’ve tried to start,” she admits.

“That doesn’t sound like it’s going well,” Spencer says.

Samantha takes a slug of her drink and then adds, “Did something happen?”

Tori looks as if she is going to answer — and then her jaw drops instead.

“You can’t be serious,” she says, clutching her glass tightly.

Spencer and Samantha both turn to see a group of girls entering the bar through the saloon doors at the front.

“Oh no,” Samantha says. “Is that…?”

“Fee C.,” Tori says, with daggers in her eyes as her friend-turned-nemesis catches sight of them.

In the basement offices of the KBAY radio station, Zane Tanaka sits in his cubicle, typing away furiously at his computer’s keyboard. The office is practically empty, given the late hour; only the production crew putting on the late-night show and a few other staffers are currently in the space.  As Zane reaches for the can of sparkling water sitting on his desk, he realizes that he has been clenching his jaw this entire time.

“What’d that keyboard ever do to you?” Jaq Pearson asks as they approach the cubicle. 

Zane turns to look at them over the partition. “Didn’t know you had gotten stuck on this miserable shift, too.”

“I’m taking a lot of odd shifts lately,” Jaq says. “Anything to keep me from having to work mornings and face Diane.”

“From what I hear about her, it’s a good thing you still have a job at all.”

“Don’t remind me.” Jaq brushes their dark bangs out of their eyes. They watch as Zane takes a sip from the can and then roughly slams it back down on the desk. “What’s got you in such a bad mood? I thought you didn’t mind night shifts.”

“I usually don’t,” he grumbles, “but Tori and I kinda had plans. Big plans.”

“Oh?”

Zane considers telling them the full story but thinks better of it, just in case Jaq were to have a run-in with Samantha or someone else who might get it in their head to try and stop him and Tori from eloping.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “Sorry we haven’t gotten to talk since you texted me.”

Jaq shrugs. “We said we’d talk next time we saw each other at work. And now we’re seeing each other at work.”

“So what happened?” Zane asks. “You really want my help getting back at Samantha and Tempest?”

—–

Some time later, Tim stares out the front window of the house. Through the dark, he can see the rental car parked across the street. He cannot believe how much his life has changed since they picked up that car at the airport mere hours ago.

“He seems like a really sweet kid,” Travis comments. He and Rosie are once again seated on the blue couch.

Tim turns around to face them. “He does. It’s just… surreal.”

“I bet,” Rosie says.

“I’m surprised he didn’t put up more of a fight about going to bed,” Sonja declares as she returns to the living room. “He must really be worn out.”

Tim finds himself smiling at her, in spite of how upset he is that she has kept TJ away from him for so long. “Thank you for letting me meet him. It means a lot.”

“It means a lot to me, too,” Sonja says. “I never wanted it to be like this. You have to believe me. I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done.”

He nods somberly. Travis and Rosie continue to watch Sonja carefully, not quite as convinced.

“This is a relief, in so many ways,” she continues, “even if it’s also… well, terrifying.”

“You don’t have to be afraid of Loretta,” Tim tells her. 

“Why not?” Sonja’s eyes widen with fright. “Didn’t she have you held captive for  years? And isn’t that why you wanted to find me in the first place — because you’re so afraid of what she might do?”

“That’s why we need your help,” Tim says. “All we need is help putting Loretta behind bars–“

“Like that’s going to stop her!” Sonja shrieks. 

Again Rosie stands up. “Something isn’t adding up here,” she says.

Tim, Travis, and Sonja all fix their gazes on her.

“What do you mean?” Travis asks.

“Loretta forced you to read Peter’s DNA results out loud at Jason and Natalie‘s wedding,” Rosie says. “But what else did she do to make you so scared of her? What aren’t you telling us?”

—–

With a wicked grin on her face, Fee C. saunters through the busy bar, right toward Tori’s table.

“I thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth,” the peroxide blonde says. “What hole did you crawl out of, Tori?”

“It’s great to see you, too, Fee,” Tori says with irritation.

“Why don’t you go back to your friends?” Spencer suggests.

Fee shoots him a derisive sideways look before continuing: “So where’ve you been, Tori?”

“She’s been working at Objection Designs,” Samantha says. “As the assistant to the Chief Creative Officer.”

Tori feels jittery as Fee silently appraises her. She nervously takes another sip of the margarita.

“Wait a minute,” Fee says. “I read all about your aunt getting arrested and kicked out of her job and stuff. Were you involved in that?”

“Why does it make you so happy to see me miserable?” Tori asks.

“Stay calm,” Samantha warns her cousin.

But Fee simply smirks back at her former friend. “Because you like to get all high-and-mighty and pretend you’re better than me–“

“–because I’m a decent human being!” Tori replies.

“Oh, pssh,” Fee says. “You’re a loser, Tori. Hey, what’s that?” She points at Tori’s ring finger. “Are you engaged?”

“She is,” Spencer interjects. “And now why don’t you get out of here–“

“Someone actually wants to marry a mess like you?” Fee asks.

“Yes, you bitch!” Tori shouts.

Fee grunts and then, in a flash of fury, grabs Samantha’s glass off the barrel and flings the margarita all over Tori. 

“What is wrong with you?” Tori squeals in shock.

“Jesus Christ,” Spencer says. He grabs the now-empty glass out of Fee’s hand and steps between the two women. “Get out of here, would you?”

“Hey!” Kathleen says loudly as she storms over toward their table. Other patrons have now stopped to watch the scene unfolding. “What in tarnation is going on over here?”

“She threw a drink on me!” Tori says.

“Because she’s a bitch!” Fee yells.

“It was all her,” Spencer says, indicating Fee. 

Kathleen steps right up to Fee and says, in a no-nonsense tone, “I’ve got half a mind to toss you outta here right this instant. Do you want that?”

“No,” Fee grumbles.

“Then get away from these folks, and stay away from them,” Kathleen says. “Do you hear me, little girl?”

With a final roll of her eyes, Fee retreats to join her friends. 

“What the heck was that all about?” Kathleen asks the three Fisher cousins.

“She’s a monster,” Tori says as she uses bar napkins to wipe her shirt and arms.

“I’m gonna get you a towel,” Kathleen says before pointing to Sam. “And another margarita for you.”

“Thank you,” Samantha says.

When she departs, the three of them cluster around the barrel again.

“Don’t let Fee get to you,” Sam says to Tori.

“I’m trying,” Tori says, her tone glum as she blots at her damp shirt.

—–

Jaq leans over the cubicle wall to talk to Zane in a hushed voice.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to them,” they say. “Not really. It’s just… they’re so smug.”

“That seems to be a thing with a lot of Samantha’s family,” Zane says. “Look at Tori’s parents.”

“It makes me so angry,” Jaq says. “I know I screwed up. Big time. But the way Sam was lying to me–“

“So you want to get back at her? Not get her back?”

Jaq shakes their head. “I don’t think we could be together again. Not after everything that’s happened.” 

“Never say never. Tori and I went through some shit, and we still wound up together.”

“I just don’t know,” Jaq says with a sigh. “I wish I could go back and change what I did.”

Zane winks. “Or at least change how you did it so you didn’t get caught.”

“It makes me so mad to think about the two of them getting to live happily ever after, and meanwhile, I’m all alone like some kind of pariah.”

“I’ll tell you where we can start,” Zane says. “Do some thinking about Samantha’s vulnerabilities. What are her weak spots? Stuff we can use to turn Tempest against her — that’s the gold.”

Jaq stews on this for a long moment.

“I don’t want to get in any more trouble,” they say. “So nothing illegal.”

“I promise, we can do this and stay on the right side of the law,” Zane says. “What’s important is that we make Sam and Tempest pay for what they’ve put you through.”

Jaq slowly nods their head in agreement.

—–

Sonja feels Rosie, Travis, and Tim’s stares boring into her. Her mind scrambles to get a handle on what is going on. Do they know something else? How could they know? She reminds herself to stay as calm as possible, at least on the outside. The last thing she needs is for any of them to discover that Loretta hired her to keep Spencer from regaining his memory while he was recuperating from his near-fatal fall down the stairs.

“She threatened my mother and ran me out of King’s Bay,” she says at last. “And now that my mother is gone, who is she going to turn that toward? Me? My son? I can’t have her knowing I even have a son–“

“That’s why I need you to trust me,” Tim says. “I want to protect TJ and you.”

Sonja folds her arms. “The best way for me to protect us is to stay far, far away from Loretta Ragan.”

“That’s why we all need to band together to put her away,” Tim counters.

Rosie says, “That’s why, if you do know something else, you need to tell us. It could be the key to getting rid of Loretta for good.”

Sonja shifts her eyes from Rosie to Tim to Travis and back again. 

“Please, come back to King’s Bay with us,” Tim says. “We’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“The KBPD has places we can put you. Safehouses and that kind of thing,” Rosie says. 

“It has to be better than being on the run,” Travis pipes in. 

Sonja shakes her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“Sonja,” Tim says, his voice growing in stony resolve, “I’m not leaving here without my son. And I don’t think you want me getting the legal system involved right now. So I’d strongly recommend that you come back to King’s Bay so we can all work through this together.”

All around Sonja, the room seems as though it is spinning. There is no telling what might happen if Tim gets the law involved — he could even take TJ away from her completely. And if Loretta finds out…

“Fine,” she says, her agony apparent. “TJ and I will go back to King’s Bay with you.”

END OF EPISODE 1117

Will Sonja come to regret her decision?
What will Zane and Jaq try next?
Will her encounter with Fee affect Tori’s mindset?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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