Previously…
– Spencer told Natalie that he wants a divorce.
– Rosie realized that it was Sonja who planted the vial of poison in Travis’s gym bag to frame him for Loretta’s murder.
– Natalie came to see Sonja after Spencer’s announcement and found her in a confrontation with Rosie. Panicking that her secret role in paying Sonja to meddle with Spencer’s memory could come out, she attempted to divert Rosie’s attention.

Members of the Fisher family continue to swirl around the house, lingering in the living and dining rooms, in the aftermath of Travis‘s sad announcement.

With a half-full coffee cup in his hand, Tim Fisher drifts toward the edge of the living room, where his adult daughter sits, fidgeting with her iPhone.

“How are you holding up?” he asks.

“Still processing, I guess,” Samantha says as she looks up at him. “It’s a lot. I can’t imagine Travis going to jail for ten or fifteen years.”

“I don’t want to believe it, either,” Tim admits. “If you and Tempest want to hang around once everyone leaves, we could order something for dinner.”

Samantha forces a smile. “That could be nice.”

He takes a sip of his lukewarm coffee before asking, “Who was at the door earlier? Claire‘s waiting for something from FedEx, but I didn’t see anything.”

“Oh, it was my Aunt Natalie.”

Tim reacts with surprise. “Really? She heard about Travis?”

“No, I don’t think she had any idea. She wanted to know if Sonja was home.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tim shrugs. “Makes sense. It was so busy in here, I didn’t even see her come in.”

“I think they’re in the kitchen.”

Tim peers through the doorway and sees TJ sitting at the kitchen table, still eating, but there is no sign of Sonja or Natalie.

“Hey, I should make sure TJ’s okay,” he says. “Think about what you want for dinner, okay?”

Samantha nods and watches him move toward the kitchen. She finds herself wondering what brought her aunt here with such a sense of urgency, especially if it has nothing to do with Travis.

Full of restless energy, she drifts toward the kitchen, too.

—–

In the backyard, Rosie Jimenez stares at Natalie Bishop with shock.

“Give me my phone, Natalie,” Rosie says.

“Not until I explain.” Natalie breathes hard, the wheels in her mind spinning even harder, as Sonja Kahele looks on with an inscrutable expression. “I think I know what really happened to Loretta.”

Rosie narrows her eyes, unsure if she should let herself feel anything like hope right now.

“If you know what happened to Loretta, why didn’t you speak up until now?” Rosie asks.

“Because.” Natalie fills the space with hand gestures for a moment while she pulls her thoughts together. “It’s only now starting to make sense to me. Sonja and I didn’t kill Loretta.”

Again Rosie lunges for her phone, and again Natalie pulls it out of reach.

“Just hear me out, Rosie,” Natalie says.

“Who did it?” Sonja asks. “What do you know?”

“I know that Loretta was threatening a lot of people — including her own son.”

Rosie’s mouth gapes open. “Are you saying…?”

“I think it was my husband,” Natalie announces, a Cheshire cat grin spreading over her face. “It makes complete sense. Spencer is the person who killed Loretta.”

Spencer Ragan pushes through the saloon doors at the entrance of The Wild Lady. Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” fills the sparsely populated bar, where only a few afternoon patrons are enjoying beers at the moment. A middle-aged couple plays darts at the back of the room, laughing a little too loudly and loosely for a weekday while the sun is still out. Spencer locates Elly Vanderbilt immediately, seated at the bar with what looks like a club soda in front of her.

“Thanks for meeting me,” he says as he reaches the bar.

“You said it was urgent,” Elly replies, a little tense.

“It’s important, yeah.” He pulls out the barstool next to her and takes a seat. “I need to hire you.”

“Hire me?”

Spencer nods. “As my attorney.”

—–

Amidst the heavy and overly formal décor of District Attorney Audrey Tam’s office, Travis Fisher sits in a side chair, waiting as his own counsel finishes looking over the plea deal. He anxiously twirls the ballpoint pen in his hand.

Finally Conrad Halston sets down the document.

“Well?” Travis asks. A little voice inside his brain wonders if Conrad might pronounce it a terrible deal, if he might walk out of here today without signing it. But if he does that, Rosie is going to keep pushing, and if she continues to run herself ragged, there’s no telling what could happen to her or the baby…

“It’s pretty much textbook,” Conrad says.

Audrey Tam plants her hands on her hips. “I told you.”

“I still needed to review it before my client signs,” Conrad replies.

“There’s nothing, like, unexpected about it?” Travis questions. “And I’ll be eligible for parole after ten years?”

Conrad nods. “It’s all standard, yes. You know how I feel about this, Travis — but if you’re dead-set on doing this…”

Travis swallows the lump in his throat. “I am.”

Tam places the document in front of him. “Then go ahead and sign it.”

His hand trembling, Travis presses pen to paper and scrawls his signature on the plea deal.

—–

Tim steps out into the backyard just in time to hear Natalie declare, “Spencer is the person who killed Loretta.”

“What is going on out here?” Tim questions.

All three women — Natalie, Sonja, and Rosie — turn toward him, just as Samantha slips through the sliding door to join them in the backyard, as well.

“Rosie is throwing out all kinds of crazy theories because she’s so desperate to help Travis,” Natalie says. “So I’m trying to get to the bottom of what really happened.”

“I don’t think Spencer would have done that,” Tim says.

“Why not? You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Natalie flares her nostrils. “I’ve lived with the man for years, Tim. You never know what goes on behind closed doors.”

“Aunt Natalie,” Samantha interjects. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying it all makes perfect sense! Spencer had motive. Loretta was threatening to take Peter away from us the night she died, remember? We took him to the gala to keep him safe. And Loretta had been terrorizing his precious Elly, too.”

“I feel like I missed about ten steps here,” Samantha says.

“Will you just give me my phone?” Rosie snaps, again lunging for Natalie. Once again, Natalie jerks her hand away, keeping the phone out of Rosie’s reach.

Sonja stands nearby, her mouth half-open as if she intends to speak, but no words ever come out.

“You can’t tell me it doesn’t make sense,” Natalie presses. “It’s no secret how Spencer feels about Travis. If anyone would be okay letting him go down for this, it’s Spencer.”

Tim and Samantha trade troubled looks as Natalie’s accusation hangs in the air.

—–

At the Wild Lady, Spencer draws a breath and then spits it all out in an exhale: “I asked Natalie for a divorce today.”

“Oh. Wow.” She picks up the club soda, more to busy herself than because she needs a drink of it. “How did that go?”

“She didn’t set the house on fire or chase me into the street with a butcher knife, so better than it could’ve?” He grins. “But this is going to get ugly. I’m sure of it. I even told her I’d make sure she’s set financially, but this is Natalie, so…”

The bartender stops in front of them, causing Elly to bite her tongue before she responds.

“Can I get you anything?” the bartender asks.

Spencer weighs the question for a few seconds. “You know, a bourbon might be good right now. Woodford? Neat.”

“Coming right up,” the bartender says before moving away.

“I could recommend someone,” Elly tells Spencer. “Conrad has a lot of contacts. A really skilled divorce attorney–“

“No.” He shakes his head for emphasis. “It needs to be you.”

“Why me?”

“Because I trust you, Elly.” He catches her eyes and holds the contact. “As if that wasn’t obvious.”

She sets down her glass. “Is the obvious part in the room with us?”

“I’m serious. That talk we had in the park? Outside the courthouse?” He pauses as the bartender delivers his bourbon. “That was kind of a big deal.”

“I could tell you needed someone to talk to,” Elly says.

“Not just anyone. Those feelings, about Loretta — I’ve been holding a lot of that in for months. I was able to get all that out because of you.”

Elly shifts on the stool uncomfortably, though she also leans in toward him — a detail that does not go unnoticed by Spencer.

“I can’t trust just anybody with this, Elly.”

She lets out a sigh. “I’m flattered. I really am. But putting myself in the middle of this — and in Natalie’s crosshairs–“

“It has to be you,” he says, and when she lets that linger in the air, he reaches for his bourbon and downs a gulp.

“Why do I get the feeling that I’ll regret this later?” Elly says.

Spencer lowers his glass and raises an eyebrow. “So that’s a yes?”

“It’s a yes,” she says with a groan, though Spencer also notices the sparkle in her eye before she points to his glass and adds, “I’m gonna need one of those, too.”

—–

Samantha is the one to break the silence in Tim and Claire’s backyard.

“Did you come over here to accuse Spencer of killing Loretta?” she asks her aunt. “I thought you wanted to see Sonja.”

“I did,” Natalie says, “but then I found her out here, and Rosie was spewing all kinds of crazy ideas–“

“They’re not that crazy,” Rosie says. “Sonja had access to Travis’s gym bag to plant that poison.”

“When?” Tim asks.

“Do you remember that night we came over for dinner? Travis was flipping out because he couldn’t his keys. Sonja brought them down and said TJ must have picked them up. But Travis has that tomato keychain–“

“–and TJ won’t go within ten feet of a tomato,” Tim says as the blood drains from his face. His gaze shifts toward Sonja. “You wouldn’t…”

“I didn’t!” she cries. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

Rosie steps toward Tim. “Can I have your phone?”

“Sure. Yeah.” He hands it to her. “What are you doing?”

She quickly dashes off a text message and hits send.

“You can’t go spreading this around just because you have this– this theory,” Sonja says. “This is a serious accusation!”

“Then let’s find some proof, shall we?” Rosie says. She hands the phone back to Tim. “I need you to log in to something for me.”

Sonja and Natalie look on in horror as Rosie passes Tim the phone.

—–

Gravel crunches beneath Travis’s feet as he walks slowly up the driveway. An instinct tells him to pick up the pace, that the clock is ticking and he needs to make the most of it, but he cannot muster the energy anymore. Every movement feels like a slow trudge toward a decade — or more — of misery.

When he reaches the front door, he swallows hard, pushing down the lump that has appeared in his throat, and rings the doorbell. Moments later, Brent Taylor opens it.

“Travis,” he says, surprised. “What are you–“

“I need to talk to you and Aunt Molly,” Travis says. “Is she home?”

Brent nods and ushers him inside. In the kitchen, they find Molly at the kitchen table, reviewing something on her iPad. She looks up and takes off her tortoise-shell reading glasses.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, her voice a strange mixture of concern and accusation. “Why aren’t you in court?”

“The trial was postponed for the day,” he explains.

Molly gasps. “Is it Rosie? Is she–“

“She’s okay. She’s home,” Travis says.

“I heard that the trial wasn’t convening today,” Brent says as he leans against the counter. “Did something happen?”

Travis cracks his knuckles before explaining, “The trial isn’t convening ever again. I just came from signing a plea deal.”

“You did what?” Molly presses her palms against the table and stands. “Travis…”

“I didn’t have any other choice,” he explains despondently. “Rosie and the baby — if something even worse had happened while they were in New York…” He trails off, wagging his head sadly. “I needed to put an end to this, somehow. And the D.A. had me dead to rights. I don’t know how — I swear I did not kill that woman — but it wasn’t looking good.”

Brent swipes a hand over his face. “I heard something about a plea deal, too. But I assumed it was nonsense, or some gambit the D.A. was trying.”

“I’m the one who went to her for the deal,” Travis tells them. “Fifteen years, with the possibility of parole after ten. I could be out before the baby even turns ten, if everything lines up right.”

“Oh, Travis.” Molly comes toward him and wraps him in an embrace. She pulls him in tightly; he can feel the agony radiating from her body. The hug takes him back to so many from his youth, hugs from his aunt that seemed so normal back then — and it occurs to him that they have not shared one in several years. Not since everything with Gabrielle began.

“I have to turn myself in in the morning,” he explains as they step back. “But there’s someone I need to see before I do that.”

Brent nods with understanding. “Gabrielle is upstairs coloring.”

“I’ll take you up,” Molly says. “She’ll be so happy to see you.”

“Thanks,” Travis manages as she leads him out of the kitchen.

Brent remains in the kitchen, shell-shocked by the news. His hands grip the edge of the counter as he attempts to process Travis’s announcement. Then he feels his phone vibrating in the front pocket of his jeans. He reaches for it and sees Tim’s name on the display. Assuming it is a message containing the news about Travis, Brent opens the text thread — but when he actually reads it, his eyes bulge in disbelief.

He looks out toward the staircase, where Molly and Travis have just disappeared, and then back at the phone.

END OF EPISODE 1302

What news has Brent received?
Can Natalie spin her way out of this?
Is it finally too late for Travis?
Talk about it all in the comments below!