Previously…
– Rosie was upset when Travis asked if she would consider Molly’s request that they come help ease Gabrielle’s transition to her new home.
– After spotting a bruise on her former coworker Lucy’s wrist, Tori expressed concerns to Matt that Lucy could be in an abusive relationship.
– After Claire broke the news that she accepted Tim’s invitation to move in with him, Tempest shut down and rushed out.

Inside 322 Bar & Grill, the sounds of Sabrina Carpenter’s perky summertime hit “Espresso” flit through the air, competing with the chatter of diners, the clinks of silverware against plates, and the hustle and bustle of activity from the kitchen. Tempest Banks waits in a booth not far from the host’s stand, distractedly perusing a menu. Finally, she sees the person she has been awaiting enter the restaurant.

Tempest shoots up a hand. It takes Samantha Fisher, who has stopped at the host’s stand, a second or two to spot her girlfriend. As Samantha hurries over, Tempest springs out of the booth.

“What’s going on?” Samantha asks with concern.

After a lengthy, wordless squeeze, Tempest lets go of Samantha and takes a step back.

“It’s a long story,” she says before dropping back into the booth.

With a puzzled expression on her face, Samantha sets her purse down on the opposite booth, then slides in across from Tempest.

“What’s wrong?” she asks. “You could’ve come over–“

“I’m not going there. Not now.”

“What? To my dad‘s house?”

Tempest nods sternly. But before Samantha can press any further, a mustache-bearing waiter in his 20s with tortoise-shell glasses stops beside their table.

“Evening,” he says. “Can I get you something to drink besides water?”

Samantha surveys their table for the first time and notices two full glasses of water, as well as the beer in front of Tempest.

“I’ll have, um, a glass of the house white wine,” she says with a smile.

“Gotcha,” the waiter says before scurrying away.

Refocusing on Tempest, Samantha asks, “Why wouldn’t you want to come to my dad’s house?”

“Because.” Tempest folds her hands on top of the table. “That’s the problem.”

“My dad’s house is the problem…? You’ve been there plenty of times–“

“That’s where she’s going.”

“Who? What have I missed?”

“Claire.” Tempest grabs her beer and takes a hearty gulp of it. “She’s moving in with your dad. Which means she’s leaving me all alone.”

—–

Sebastian Jimenez carries his rolling suitcase down the stairs of his mother‘s home with one hand, while he has an overstuffed duffel bag slung over the other shoulder. As he is setting both bags down by the front door, his sister emerges from the kitchen.

“Do you really have to go?” Rosie asks.

“I think it’s time,” Sebastian says. “I’ve pushed the working-remotely thing about as far as I can with my boss.”

Rosie, wearing a black tank top and loose, green, cotton-linen pants, frowns. “Your boss is a jerk.”

“Yeah… I might not say that to his face, especially after he gave me this much leeway.”

She shrugs. “Do you want me to drive you to the airport? I’m doing… exactly nothing.”

“I’ll call an Uber. But thanks. Travis is working late?”

She hesitates, then exhales loudly through a closed mouth, causing her lips to ripple. “Yeah. He’ll be there ’til close.”

“Are you guys okay? I know you’ve been through some serious shit. But remember, he’s on your team. You guys are the team.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“What does that mean?”

“His aunt asked him if we’d be willing to help her out with getting Gabrielle settled in with them,” Rosie explains. “They’ve had a tough few months. Which — no shit. You took a little girl out of the only home she ever knew and expected her to adjust like it was no big deal.”

Sebastian cocks his head to one side. “How is it Travis’s bad that his aunt asked him for help?”

“Because he turned around and asked me if I’d do it. Like, he basically agreed and told them he’d get me to do it, too.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm what?”

“Does Travis want to do it? Does he think it’s a good idea?”

“It sounds like it,” Rosie responds, “or he wouldn’t have promised them he’d ask me about doing it.”

“Okay. Are you mad that he asked you?” Sebastian asks. “Or are you mad that he would help them out at all?”

—–

“Saved you some dinner,” Matt Gray says from his spot on the couch in the living room of the Fisher home, as he watches his wife sling her purse onto the love seat and slip off the wedges she has been wearing all day.

“You’re a saint. Thank you,” Sarah Fisher Gray replies. “I’m starving.”

Matt diverts his attention away from the baseball game playing on TV and rises from his seat. “You were out a lot longer than I thought you’d be. Run into trouble?”

“If by trouble you mean bureaucratic nonsense, then yes.” She walks toward him and, grasping his firm biceps, plants a kiss on his lips. “The next time someone comments that being a P.I. must be so fun and glamorous, I’m going to invite them to spend eight hours with me digging through records at City Hall.”

“Well, I hope you were able to get what you needed for your case.”

She lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug. “I got something that’ll lead me to what I need. I think. So that’s progress. How was your day?”

“Pretty quiet. Although…” He glances back toward the staircase before continuing. “Question for you.”

She lifts one eyebrow curiously. “Uh-oh.”

“When you and Tori stopped by the restaurant to pick up food yesterday, you talked to Lucy who works in the kitchen?”

“Uh, yeah. Strawberry blonde? A little older than Tori?”

Matt nods. “That’s her. Did you notice anything off about her?”

After a beat of contemplation, Sarah replies, “I don’t think so. Is this some test of my P.I. aptitude? Because after today, I’m a little fried.”

“Tori mentioned that she noticed a bruise on Lucy’s wrist. And she said she’s caught a few similar things before — another bruise, her boyfriend picking her up and being kinda controlling.”

“Oh. Wow.” Sarah thinks back to yesterday. “I didn’t notice anything.”

“I think Tori had her eye out for it,” Matt says. “I just wonder…”

Now Sarah looks toward the staircase, too, before she speaks. “Have you noticed anything?”

Slowly, Matt shakes his head. “But I don’t get a lot of one-on-one time with her. Hell, I barely talk to Travis for more than 30 seconds at a time while we’re at work.”

“It’s pretty hectic there.”

“Typical restaurant. Yeah. But I told Tori I’d keep an eye out. If something’s going on with Lucy — I feel like I’d have to help. I’d want to.”

“Of course you would.” Sarah grasps both of his hands. “It’s totally possible something is going on. That kind of thing is way too common. I just…”

Matt lowers his voice, even though they are alone: “…worry that Tori is making something of nothing?”

Sarah pauses and draws in a breath. “She could be projecting, or reading into things… I don’t know. It’s such a sensitive situation either way. Coming at someone with a false accusation like that could be a disaster. But if she’s really in trouble…”

“I keep thinking about Jennie,” Matt says.

“Jennie?” It takes Sarah a moment to realize who he means. She drops his hands. “Jennie Burkle? The girl who locked me in a freezer on our wedding day?!”

“She had some really bad stuff going on at home. Her dad was– I don’t know the whole story, but it was bad. And it took me too long to notice it.”

“It wasn’t your responsibility to notice it, Matt,” Sarah says. “You showed that girl some kindness, and she turned around and accused you of raping her.”

“She was young, and she was desperate,” he says. “Not that it makes it okay, but if someone had figured out what she had going on at home — maybe she never would’ve got to that point.”

Sarah’s tooth works at her lower lip as she considers this.

“I just think it can be easy to miss this kinda thing,” Matt continues. “Sometimes I wonder if I’d been able to help Jennie out sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have gone off the deep end the way she did.”

“You’re a good man,” Sarah says. “To think about Jennie — after all these years, after what she did to both of us — in such a gracious way…”

Matt turns sheepish. “I don’t wanna see anyone get hurt. And if Tori thinks something is going on, it’s worth paying attention to. But I don’t wanna overstep, either.”

“Let me know if I can help at all. And I know Tori’s heart is in the right place, but I worry about her getting dragged back into what she went through with Zane. That panic attack she had was no joke.”

“Yeah.” This time, Matt reaches for his wife’s hands. “I’ll let you know if I notice anything. In the meantime, how about we get you some dinner?”

She grins. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

—–

“Wow. Claire and my dad are moving in together again?” Samantha says.

“That’s what she told me.” Tempest sets down her beer on the table, but her fingers continue to grip the pint glass.

“And you’re upset that she’s moving out.”

“I’m not upset,” Tempest snaps.

“I see.” Samantha nods along, waiting to respond as the server delivers her wine. “Thank you,” she tells him.

“You ladies need another minute?” the server asks.

Samantha defers to Tempest, who simply says, “Yeah.”

Once the server has departed, Samantha comments, “You seem kind of upset.”

With a scowl, Tempest replies, “I’m not. Claire’s allowed to do what she wants. Just kind of weird, you know?”

“Of course it’s weird. You and Claire have a routine. And you’ve lived together for a long time.”

Samantha picks up her wine and takes a small sip of it as she allows Tempest time to process and formulate a response.

“I don’t know where I’m gonna go,” Tempest says at last.

“You don’t have to go anywhere.”

“I can’t really afford that apartment by myself. And…”

Samantha offers a sympathetic look across the table. She can see the hurt in Tempest’s eyes, even if Tempest prefers to talk around it.

“I understand why this would stir up a lot of emotion for you,” Samantha says gently. “Claire’s been such a steady presence in your life for a long time.”

“And now she’s going away.”

“She’s not really going away. She’s going to a different house a few miles away.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But it makes you feel abandoned. I understand that.”

Tempest frowns at her. It’s an expression that Samantha recognizes well, one that means, I don’t want to admit that you have a point. Then she halfheartedly begins studying the menu.

“But Claire isn’t leaving you. Not really,” Samantha says. “I’m not, either. And you have Isaac back in your life. And Chase! Alex and Trevor are basically family at this point, too.”

“I know. But where am I gonna go?”

Suddenly Samantha’s eyes widen, and a smile spreads over her face. “You know, I have an idea…”

—–

Sebastian folds his arms as he awaits Rosie’s response. She glares back at him, annoyed at how maddeningly patient he can be in situations like this. She has always envied how even-keeled her brother manages to be. Finally she cracks under his gaze.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “But I don’t want to help them.”

“I get that. Would you want to help Gabrielle?”

“Obviously. But…”

Again Sebastian hangs in the silence until Rosie finds her words.

“But I don’t know if I can,” she says at last. “I don’t know if I could see her, let alone talk to her or hold her or– or anything.”

“Because it would be too much?”

“Yeah.” She touches the nearby banister, tracing a finger along the painted wood. “She’s my daughter. Was my daughter. It’s hard to even say that.”

“I understand. Why don’t you tell Travis that? Hell, tell him to tell Molly and Brent that. They’re not cruel people.”

Although she scowls at him, she doesn’t offer a verbal rebuttal.

“Okay, how would you feel if Travis went over to see her and help out, on his own?” Sebastian proposes.

“I don’t know,” Rosie says, sounding as lost as she feels. “I guess I’d rather just not have to think about any of it. At all. Because when I do…” She feels emotion begin to choke her, even make her eyes misty, which she hates.

“Hey. C’mere.” Sebastian pulls her into a hug. “You’re allowed to be sad about this. It sucks.”

“It does. Are you sure you have to leave?”

“Yeah. But I’ll be back. And you can always come visit if you need to get away for a minute?”

“I’m gonna take you up on that sometime soon,” Rosie says.

“First, promise me you’ll be honest with Travis about what you’re feeling,” Sebastian says. “Deal?”

“Fine. Yeah. Why do you always have to be so reasonable?”

“Isn’t that what big brothers are for?” he teases, as Rosie rests her head against his shoulder.

END OF EPISODE 1225

Will Sebastian’s advice help Rosie start to heal?
What idea does Samantha have for Tempest?
Does Lucy need Tori and Matt’s help at home?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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