Previously…
– After she offered him support in a vulnerable moment, Natalie and Spencer slept together again.
– Rosie and Travis reunited after she revealed her pregnancy to him. She vowed to help clear him of Loretta’s murder.
– Sarah and Landon hit dead ends on all the leads from the Edge of Winter security footage — leading them to question whether the vial of poison had been planted in Travis’s bag by someone inside the Jimenez home.

Despite the heavy rain outdoors, the Objection boutique in downtown King’s Bay feels bright and airy. The racks are perfectly spaced, and colorful stacks of sweaters and pants sit folded softly atop light oak tables. Natalie Bishop stands at one of the central displays, sliding a silk blouse off its hanger while a sales associate lingers nearby.

She steps toward a mirror to hold up the blouse in front of her body. As she does, she catches another figure in the reflection.

“Elly,” she says, lowering the blouse.

The other redhead looks up from her shopping. Finally she lets out a huff. “Natalie. Hi.”

Pretending not to hear, the sales associate busies herself with straightening another display several feet away.

Elly steps in closer as she scans the not-very-busy store.

“How’s Spencer doing?” she asks.

“I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about,” Natalie says as she studies the silk blouse.

Elly’s strained smile tightens further. “Thanks for the tip.”

“He’s angry,” Natalie continues without prompting. “And honestly? I can’t blame him.”

“I don’t need a lecture, Natalie.”

Hanging the blouse back on the rack, Natalie says, “Finding out someone he thought he could trust kept something that big from him… that the person who probably murdered his mother was at the scene of the crime right when it happened… that’s not the kind of thing he can just brush aside.”

“What are you, his spokesperson now?”

“No, Elly. I’m his wife.” Natalie levels a stare upon the younger woman, and soon a knowing grin curls the corners of her lips. “And I mean that in every way that counts.”

Elly opens her mouth, then closes it again, feeling like all the oxygen has just been sucked out of the store.

—–

The rain continues its steady assault on King’s Bay as Rosie Jimenez pulls up in front of the Brooks home. The place looks quiet, subdued. She can tell that the lights are on inside, but the curtains in the front room are drawn. Rosie sits behind the steering wheel of her car, wondering if the guarded look of the house is some kind of sign from the universe. She picks up her phone, which is resting in the center console, and sees that she has not yet received a response from Landon.

“Then I need to do this,” she tells herself. Pulling the hood of her windbreaker over her dark hair, she exits the vehicle and hurries up the walkway to the front door. A few seconds after she rings the doorbell, Finn Campbell answers the door.

“Finn. My name is Rosie Jimenez–“

“You’re Travis Fisher‘s wife, right?”

She nods. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

He narrows his eyes. “About what?”

“Loretta Ragan.”

Finn stiffens. “What? Why?” Then he sucks in a sharp breath. “You’re with the KBPD, aren’t you? I was cleared a long time ago. Right after Loretta died.”

“I resigned from the force before Loretta died,” she explains. “I’m here because of Travis.”

“What does Travis want with me?”

“He actually doesn’t know I’m here.” She shivers against the cold. “Can I please come in for a few minutes?”

He sighs loudly but steps aside. Rosie enters the house, careful to wipe her feet, as Finn closes the door. She glances around, noting how homey and suburban the house feels, which is not what she would have expected from Finn; she recalls learning that this is the house in which Trevor and his sister grew up, and that Trevor and Alex decided to rent it out after Patrick Brooks died. She assumes the furnishings and décor are vestiges of the Brooks family.

“I don’t think there’s much I can tell you,” Finn says. “I was taken into custody because I was standing with Loretta when she dropped dead. I had no idea what it was when it happened — I assumed, like, a heart attack or something. They let me go as soon as they realized she hadn’t died from an injury.”

“She was poisoned,” Rosie fills in.

He nods slowly. “I saw that on the news after Travis was–” He stops himself.

“Arrested. It’s not exactly a secret.” She pulls the hood off her head. “I’m trying to understand Loretta’s final night as fully as I can. Find any cracks that could help with Travis’s defense.”

“I don’t know much. I was at the Objection gala when Loretta showed up. She made a whole big scene. Afterward we were talking in the parking lot, and that’s when she died.”

“What were you talking about?”

She watches as he hesitates, just a split-second, but it is still enough to pique Rosie’s interest.

“Objection. The gala. Why she was there,” Finn explains. “I had been drinking. I was feeling bold. So I confronted her.”

“About crashing the gala?”

“Yeah. I kind of lost my temper.”

“See, that does make me wonder about something,” Rosie says. “Why did you care so much about Objection in the first place?”

—–

Conrad Halston‘s small, tidy office is dimmer than usual, as the rain outside streaks the windows in uneven lines. Sarah Fisher Gray stands at the open door as Conrad glances up from the laptop perched atop his desk.

“Your assistant said to come in,” Sarah says.

“Of course. Have a seat,” Conrad tells her. He closes the laptop. “Did you and Landon find something?”

“No. But yes.” Her posture is tense as she seats herself in a wooden-armed chair across from him.

Conrad tilts his head. “What does that mean?”

Sarah exhales. “We’ve been over the security footage every which way. We cannot pinpoint anyone suspicious who might’ve gone into that locker room to plant the vial in Travis’s bag. And when he brings it to work, it’s locked up in a locker. Meaning…”

Conrad leans back in his leather chair as realization dawns on him. “You think it was planted while the bag was at home.”

“Correct. And that means the people with easiest access to it, besides Travis, were Rosie and her mother.”

“That’s a hell of a theory,” he says, his expression tightening.

“I know,” Sarah says. “Even suggesting it could blow up Travis’s world. Landon and I don’t think we can just drop this bomb on him. And if we’re wrong… that’s both better and worse.”

“Yeah.” Conrad nods in agreement, touching a hand to his chin as he thinks. “You’re right to be careful. But you’re also right that we can’t ignore this. Not if we want to see him acquitted.”

Sarah drums her fingernails along the edge of the desk. “He already feels like everything he knows is slipping out from under him. I don’t know what to be the one who pushes him over the edge. And my brother Tim would kill me.”

“So we come at it sideways,” Conrad says. “Quietly and methodically. Let’s verify access to the house, timelines, all of that first, rather than lead with accusations.”

“You’re right.” She contemplates silently for another several seconds. “I can’t get my head around the idea that Rosie or her mother would have tried to frame Travis. Unless one of them stashed the vial in a hurry…”

“…and never meant for it to be found,” Conrad completes the thought for her. “Either way, we need to figure this out. You and Landon are correct — this could be the key to Travis’s defense.”

Sarah looks across the desk at him, a pleading look in her eyes even though she knows the attorney has no control over any of this.

“I want my nephew freed,” she says. “But if it has to come at the cost of blowing up his entire world? I don’t know anymore.”

—–

Inside the Objection boutique, something in the air has shifted — at least for Elly. But she scoffs loudly, maybe a little too loudly.

“Congratulations, Natalie. Do they give out medals for that kind of thing, or is it more of a certificate situation?”

Natalie’s jaw tightens. “Funny. But I do have a certificate, actually. A marriage certificate. And I have Spencer in my bed, too.”

The straightforward statement feels like a jab into Elly’s gut. She covers as best she can.

“I don’t care,” she says.

“But you do. You asked about him. And the truth is, you hurt him badly, Elly. You betrayed his trust by covering for Travis.”

“I came clean when it mattered. Travis is about to go on trial. If that’s what Spencer wants, he’s getting it.”

“What he wants is justice for his mother,” Natalie says.

“Because he’s hurting.”

“And he has me to comfort him.”

“Great.” Elly starts to turn, then stops herself and swings back toward Natalie. “Loretta was a monster. I know it, you know it, and Spencer knows it.”

“I’m not going to disagree with you there,” Natalie says, folding her arms. “But she still raised Spencer. She was a significant figure in his life. Someone murdered her under our roof. And you tried to cover for that person.”

“I told the truth when I had to,” Elly insists.

Natalie simply shakes her head in disgust. “There’s a coat over there I need to go look at. If you’ll excuse me–“

“Happily.”

Natalie brushes past Elly, who sucks in a hard breath and then breaks for the store’s entrance. She grabs her umbrella from the basket beside the door and opens it before darting out into the rain. But Natalie’s words follow her like tendrils of smoke: “I’m his wife. And I mean that in every way that counts.”

Elly quickens her pace, desperate to leave the store — and Natalie — behind her.

—–

The silence in the entryway of the Brooks home stretches painfully.

Finn rubs the bridge of his nose. “What do you mean? I worked at Objection.”

“You were a receptionist and then an executive assistant. Who got fired,” Rosie replies. “Why would you have been so invested in the company, months after, to confront a woman who interrupted a fashion show?”

“I told you. I was drunk. I was feeling bold. And you’d have to be walking around with your eyes and ears sown shut not to know what Loretta Ragan did to people — especially Molly.”

Rosie waits a beat as she processes that. “The same Molly you and your boss tried to overthrow?”

“Tried and failed,” he says with a humorless laugh. “I thought I was going to be something — someone — important at Objection. Then it all went to hell. I was feeling salty. I don’t know.”

“That’s it?” Rosie asks.

He holds both palms face-up. “What else do you want me to say? I got into it with a rude old lady who happened to drop dead while we were talking. I don’t know who poisoned her.”

Finn yanks open the door. “I think we’re done here.”

Reluctantly, Rosie steps toward the opening. The patter of rain fills the space between them.

“For now, at least,” she says. She steps out onto the patio and pulls her hood back over her hair. “You know, people don’t usually get that invested in something unless it means a lot to them. Objection was a company you worked at–“

“And had designs on,” he snaps. “Gia Vincent sold me a load of bullshit, and I bought into it. The end.”

“Mm-hmm,” Rosie murmurs, and with one final look, she turns and walks back to her waiting car. Something about Finn’s story isn’t clicking into place, but she doesn’t want to push too hard yet.

Inside the house, Finn closes the door and leans against it. He stares at the painting of Mount Rainier on the opposite wall, his jaw held tight.

“What the hell is she trying to dig up?” he wonders aloud to the empty house.

END OF EPISODE 1290

Will Rosie discover the truth about Finn’s parentage?
How should Conrad handle Sarah and Landon’s suspicions?
Do Elly and Spencer stand a chance of getting together?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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