Previously…
– Tim was perplexed by Claire’s cool reactions toward him.
– Natalie interrupted Diane and Isaac’s official first date, but Isaac took the intrusion in stride.
– At a preliminary hearing in the custody case, the judge awarded temporary custody of Gabrielle to Travis and Rosie, much to Molly and Brent’s disappointment.

“Here, take this with you,” Molly Taylor says as she hurries out of her ex-husband‘s kitchen with several foil-covered paper plates in her hands. Her sons, who are by the front door putting on their coats, stop to look at Molly.

“Is that all leftover pizza?” Caleb asks.

“I over-ordered,” Molly tells them as she hands Caleb the stack. “Those should fit in that tiny freezer you guys have in your dorm room.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Christian says with a smile.

“Hey, what about me?” Brent Taylor asks. He leans against the gray wall that separates the staircase from the main living area.

“I told you, I over-ordered,” Molly says. “I promise there’s still plenty of pizza in the fridge.” She draws in a deep breath through her nose and then exhales. “Boys, thank you for coming back here to have dinner with us. After the way things went in court today… it means a lot for the four of us to be together.”

The mood in the house turns somber at the mention of how Travis and Rosie were granted continued custody of Gabrielle until the conclusion of the trial.

“We know how rough this is for you guys,” Christian says. “It’s rough for us, too. We have this little sister we don’t know at all. It’s weird.”

“I know it is,” Molly says, as she pulls Christian into a hug. When they separate, she looks to Caleb, who sighs quietly and then lets her embrace him, too, though he is careful to balance the pizza the entire time.

“Get back to the dorm safely, okay?” Brent says moments later, as he and Molly stand at the open door, watching the twins’ departure. When Christian’s Volkswagen goes past the stop sign at the end of the block, Brent closes the door.

“That was nice,” he says.

“It was.” Even in her agreement, Molly sounds troubled, and Brent feels the same weight of disappointment and frustration pressing down upon himself.

“I hate how today went, too,” he tells her. “But this is not the end of this. Not by any means.”

“I know. But I let myself dream… I really thought we might have Gabrielle home with us tonight. Where she belongs.” She shakes her head. “And we would have figured out a way to make things consistent for her. It’s not like you and I don’t speak. We can have dinner together, we can come to each other’s houses… For the judge to cite that as a reason not to give us temporary custody — it’s so frustrating.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking all day. And I have a solution to that.”

“We can’t just go back and ask the judge for a do-over.”

“No, but we can put on the strongest case we can once the trial begins,” Brent says. “So let’s do it, Molly. Let’s get remarried.”

—–

Tim Fisher knocks on the apartment door and then sticks his hands in the pockets of his black North Face jacket. He shifts nervously from side-to-side as he waits for the door to be opened. When it finally is, however, his mouth goes dry and his brain feels empty.

“Tim. Hi,” Claire Fisher says, drawing out the two syllables in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you,” he says. The words tumble out in a rush. “Can I come in? Is Tempest home?”

“No, she’s out.”

Tim takes this statement, as well as the fact that she doesn’t slam the door in his face, as invitation enough, and he enters the apartment. He can feel the same awkward chill between them that he felt during all their interactions at the courthouse earlier today; the strange vibe between him and Claire has been weighing on him all day.

“Is everything okay with Gabrielle?” she asks uncertainly. “I haven’t heard from Travis…”

“Everything’s fine,” Tim says. “With them, I mean. This is — look, I just need to ask you something.”

She narrows her eyes at him but does not respond otherwise.

“Did I do something to upset you?” he asks.

“What?”

“I’m getting a weird feeling from you. Not weird — if I did something, you have every right to be upset. But when we were at the courthouse, you would barely look me in the eyes. It was like you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

Once again she diverts her gaze as she says, “I was distracted. There was a lot going on, and everyone was on-edge.”

“So there’s nothing wrong, then?” he asks.

A lengthy pause ensues.

“Tim…” But she doesn’t add anything further.

“Things have been good between us,” he says. “Going back to when we went to Hawaii to find Sonja, at least. I’ve felt like we were… closer. Doing well. You came running over to help when TJ had strep throat.”

“TJ is a helpless little boy, and he was sick.”

“So you helped out in spite of me?” He waits, but again, all he receives in return is silence. “Claire, it’s like you can barely stand to be around me anymore.”

“It isn’t anything for you to worry about,” she says.

All that accomplishes is to make his heart rate quicken. “Are you okay, then? Did something happen that you’re not telling me about?”

“I’m fine. And I’m not mad. I feel… silly, I guess. That’s all. It will pass.”

“Silly? Why?”

He watches as she swallows a large lump in her throat.

“Because,” she says, “the day I brought over those antibiotics… I saw you and Sonja kissing.”

—–

The narrow staircase in Juanita Jimenez‘s home creaks as Travis Fisher descends it. He rounds a corner to see his sister waiting on the chocolate brown sofa in the living room.

“Bath time has commenced,” Travis tells Samantha.

“You’re sure I’m not in the way?”

“No. Not at all. Rosie and her mom have things under control upstairs. It gives us some time to catch up.”

“Well,” Sam says, leaning forward to plant her elbows on her knees, “I wanted to see how you’re both doing. I know today had to be a lot.”

“It was a lot.” Travis runs a hand over his sandy blond hair, which was freshly cut for today’s court appearance. “I’m relieved that it turned out the way it did, obviously. I couldn’t imagine not bringing Gabrielle home with us today. But it just makes me think…”

He trails off, but Samantha nods along, understanding what he has left unspoken.

“It sounds like the judge respects your role in Gabrielle’s life,” she offers in an attempt to reassure him. “That has to bode well for the trial.”

“I hope so.” He steps around the accent chair, with its slightly scratched wooden arms, and takes a seat in it. He faces Samantha over the rectangular coffee table. “Sam, I’m scared. Like, really scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared,” she says softly.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if they take her away from us. And I keep thinking about how Aunt Molly and Uncle Brent must feel. They’ve never gotten to spend a single night with her, and she’s their daughter. But she’s our daughter, too.”

“She is your daughter.”

“I can’t say any of this to Rosie,” Travis says. “I know she’s thinking it, too, but I don’t want to bring it up and make things worse.”

“You and Rosie need to be able to be open with each other.”

“I know. But it feels like talking about it would actually make the possibility real, and… I don’t want it to be real.”

“Oh, Travis.” Samantha feels her own heart breaking for her brother and his wife; she can only imagine how this must feel for them. “I’m so sorry you and Rosie have to go through this.”

He looks up at her, anguish clear in his eyes. “Thanks. I really don’t know what we’re going to do if Gabrielle is taken away from us.”

—–

“I can’t say I mind a surprise weeknight visit from my best friend,” Diane Bishop announces as she brings two glasses of white wine to the living room of her condominium. “To what do I owe the honor?”

“After the way things went in court today, I thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house for a while,” Sarah Fisher Gray, who is seated on the pink velvet sofa, explains. “You can imagine how much my mom was ranting and raving about how unfair the judge was being to Molly and Brent.”

Diane rolls her eyes. “Of course she was.”

She passes Sarah one of the glasses of wine and then takes a seat on the sofa, as well.

“Here’s to staying out of things that are only going to make my head explode,” Sarah says as she raises her glass.

“I’ll try and learn that lesson someday myself.”

The two women clink glasses and then take sips of their wine.

“Besides,” Sarah continues, “I wanted to hear all about your date with Isaac. We’ve been due for a catch-up.”

“It was nice. Like, really nice. Aside from the part where my sister showed up.”

“Natalie showed up? How? Why?”

“She was having drinks at Windmills and saw us, I guess,” Diane says. “Although it wouldn’t surprise me if she had some kind of homing beacon for situations where she isn’t wanted or needed…”

Sarah laughs. “I’m sure it was just a coincidence. But what did she do?”

“Nothing, really. Talked too much. Asked too many questions.”

“How did Isaac handle that?” Sarah says as she takes another sip of her wine.

“He didn’t run screaming, so that’s a positive.”

“Because he likes you.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Diane, the man was practically itching to go on a date with you,” Sarah says. “How would he not like you?”

Diane shrugs. “The night didn’t exactly end with a bang, if you get my drift.”

“Is bang a euphemism for… well, bang?”

“Yes. He was a perfect gentleman and made sure I got into a car safely at the end of the night. He texted me to make sure I got home all right.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It isn’t like we’re two blushing virgins,” Diane says. “For God’s sake, we’ve already done it in a car.”

“Let me get this straight: you’re taking it as a bad sign that he treated this as a serious date and not a casual hook-up.”

Diane brings the wine glass to her lips. “When you put it that way…”

“Take it from an old lady who’s on her fourth and final marriage,” Sarah says as she places her wine glass on the coffee table. “Going on a proper date is a good thing. Isaac being a gentleman is a good thing. You already know that the physical part works. Now you get to see if the romance part works. And it sounds like it does.”

With a grimace, Diane asks, “Is it bad that that terrifies me?”

“I mean, it’s not good. But it’s normal. You deserve a good, strong relationship, Diane. You’ve earned it. Please don’t psych yourself out.”

“I’m going to try my best,” Diane says, and then she takes another hearty gulp of wine.

—–

By the front door of Brent’s house, Molly gawks at him in shock.

“Brent,” she says. “Do you really think…?”

“That we should get married again? Yes!” He grabs both of her hands.

She beams up at him. “I did not think that’s what you were going to say.”

“I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?” he prattles excitedly. “That’s obviously the thing that swayed the judge. Sure, we could just move into the same house, but being married would really take that ammo away from them before the trial.”

“Of course. Yeah,” she says, suddenly more measured and reserved. “So you think this would be a… a very practical thing to do.”

“It is practical.”

“It is, yeah.”

An uneasy quiet falls over them.

“What do you say?” he asks. “Marry me again?”

Though he is still holding her hands, Molly feels the connection between them go cold. She understands the logic in what he is saying, and yet…

“I can’t,” she says.

“What?”

She pulls away her hands. “I’m sorry, Brent. I can’t marry you.”

He looks back at her in utter surprise. “Mol…”

“I’m sorry,” she says again, and she grabs her coat and purse from the hooks by the door. With her coat only slung over her arm, she hurries out of the house.

—–

“You saw that?” Tim asks Claire. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Claire shakes her head. “Because it’s none of my business.”

Folding her arms, she moves away from him and stands near the kitchen peninsula.

“I had no idea you’d seen that,” he says.

With her back turned toward him, she replies, “Because I walked in and saw you two, and then I backed out and made sure you heard me when I came in again. It doesn’t matter. What goes on between you and Sonja is between you. And the two of you share a child. You might still be together if she hadn’t been run out of town.”

“But she did leave, and she went on the run. A lot changed in that time.”

“And now she’s back,” Claire says, “and TJ is here. I felt awkward bringing it up, that’s all.”

“If you had,” Tim says, “I would’ve told you that I broke the kiss off very quickly.”

“But you were kissing.”

“Sonja kissed me. She was trying to make an appeal for me to let her and TJ leave the apartment and come stay at my house. She even suggested that we could get back together. But I told her no.”

Claire slowly turns back to face him. “You did?”

“Yes! What you saw was Sonja kissing me for a few seconds before I put a stop to it. Do you want to know why I did?”

She hesitates before responding, “Like I said, it’s none of my business.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Claire. It is your business. Because the reason I stopped Sonja — it was you.”

This admission hangs heavy between them. Neither is sure what to say next.

“What do you mean?” Claire finally asks.

“I mean that I couldn’t even think about Sonja that way anymore because I’ve… I’ve been thinking about you that way.”

She unfolds her arms slowly, as if not certain whether she will have to snap back into defensive mode right away.

“Maybe it’s crazy for me to admit this,” Tim says, “but ever since we went to Hawaii together, I’ve been thinking… I don’t know…”

“I’ve been thinking it, too,” she cuts in.

“You have?”

Claire bobs her head resolutely. “I thought I was crazy for even entertaining the thought. We’ve already been married and divorced. We have sons together. And yet…”

A smile forms on Tim’s lips. “And yet.” He takes several steps to close the gap between them. “Is it crazy if I do this?”

“Do what?”

Instead of answering, he presses his lips to hers. The sensation is both familiar and thrilling. It has been so long since they shared a kiss, and it takes Tim back to a younger version of himself — but it feels so good and so right. He feels Claire’s passion as she kisses him back.

Panting, she pulls back. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

“Me neither.” He kisses her again, years of pent-up longing and uncertainty melting between them. “Claire…”

“Tempest won’t be home for a few hours,” she says as her hands move down to his waist and tug at his shirt, pulling it from his chinos.

“Good.” Moving his mouth to hers once more, he presses their bodies together. When he comes up for air again, he asks breathlessly, “Should we…?”

“Yes,” she says with absolute conviction. They stagger as one, still kissing as they go, toward Claire’s bedroom, and Claire kicks the door closed behind them before they fall onto the bed together, consumed by one another.

END OF EPISODE 1177

Did Tim and Claire’s reunion surprise you?
Why did Molly run out on Brent so abruptly?
Did Sarah give Diane good advice?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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