Previously…
– Tori struggled with her decision to abort her pregnancy.
– Tim reeled from Sonja’s abrupt decision to leave town.
– Danielle announced that she had received an offer to move to L.A. to write music for major artists. After a visit to Ryan’s grave, she decided to accept the offer.
– Instead of arresting Caleb after catching him during a drug bust, Rosie called Brent, who convinced his son to give the police whatever information he had in order to avoid charges.

 

The chilly autumn air nips at Caleb Taylor’s nose and lips as he exits the locker bay. With his sleeves pulled over his hands, he scans the main courtyard of King’s Bay Academy for his twin brother, eager to get away from campus — even if it means returning to the prison that will be his room for as long as his grounding lasts. He is still searching for a sign of Christian when he hears a female voice diving toward him.

“Hey!” Jasmine Knight shouts, and before he even turns, Caleb can picture the way she is storming toward him.

Caleb groans. He managed to avoid her for the entire school day and was so close to being home-free.

“What the hell?” Jasmine says, clutching both of her backpack straps as she squares herself in front of him. “Are you trying to ghost me? We go to the same school, Caleb!”

“No,” he says, though his mouth feels mushy and useless. “It’s not that.”

“Really? You say we’re gonna hang out, then you blow me off with a super-vague text and avoid me all day. So what is it?”

The wildfire raging in her eyes makes it even more difficult for him to form words.

“I got in trouble,” he finally explains. “I…”

Jasmine’s demeanor shifts ever-so-slightly as it dawns on her. “You got caught? Had you bought it yet?”

“Yeah.”

“And your parents knew… Oh, god. Of course your dad did. He’s a cop.”

“It wasn’t my dad who caught me,” Caleb says. “It was another cop. At the park.”

“What?” Jasmine’s head swings left and then right before she grabs Caleb by the front of his sweatshirt. “You got arrested?”

“No. The cop… she was my cousin’s ex. She brought me in and called my dad.”

“Ugh. God, that sucks. Are you grounded, like, forever?”

“Yeah,” Caleb says. He kicks his black sneaker against the cement. “But that’s not all.”

Jasmine stares at him with renewed alarm.

—–

A sense of heaviness pervades Tori Gray’s body as she locks her car and crosses the parking lot on the north side of King’s Bay. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she made this appointment by phone, but right now, the women’s health clinic seems like any other drab doctor’s office, with its lot half-full of cars and white letters stenciled onto its front window. There is no angry mob waiting outside to scream and harass her, no vicious strikes of thunder and lightning trying to scare her away.

Still, she finds her breaths growing more labored as she approaches the clinic. Maybe it is a physical symptom of her pregnancy, or maybe it is an emotional effect, or maybe it’s a combination of the two. Regardless, she steers herself toward a bench on the sidewalk and sits down, hoping to steel herself before going inside.

She pulls her purse onto her lap as she braces against the cool weather. Several storefronts down, a woman in a denim jacket talks on her cell phone, but otherwise, there is no one to be seen. Tori is suddenly stricken by a sense of how alone she is right now. She wonders how differently she might feel if she had someone by her side, someone she could trust and draw strength from. Then again, there is no one she would feel comfortable with today — not in light of the fact that she is pregnant with Zane’s baby. 

But this would be easier if she had someone. Maybe she should have confided in her mom. But that would have made this a thing. Her mom would tell her dad, and then it would always be something they brought up, something she’d have to be reminded of — of how she was stupid enough to fall for Zane’s game, of how she is so irresponsible that she had to abort her own baby. 

She is so consumed with trying to gather the strength to go inside that she fails to notice she is no longer alone until the other person speaks.

“Tori? Are you okay?”

“Frankly, I never liked her,” Diane Bishop says as she curls her fingers around the cappuccino sitting before her on the white lacquered table. “Is it too soon to say that you dodged a bullet?”

Across from her, Tim Fisher sighs. “A little soon, yeah.”

“Sorry. I know that I, of all people, don’t really get to weigh in on your personal life. If Sonja had treated you well, I’d be onboard and keep my mouth shut. But I always got a really judgmental vibe from her.”

“Fair enough,” Tim says. They sit at a small, round table inside Thaw Coffee & Tea, catching up over beverages as a Sia song plays over the café’s sound system.

“I’m sorry she did this to you, though,” Diane continues. “You, of all people, deserve some peace and happiness.”

He takes a thoughtful sip of his Americano and then sets it down. “Well, Sonja is clearly not going to be the one to give me that. Maybe it’s a sign that I need to focus on being a father for a while.”

“Tim, you’re never not focused on being a father. You’re basically running a boarding house for your grown children to come and go as they need.”

He cracks a faint smile. “True. But that’s what we’re supposed to do, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“I wish Spencer weren’t moving out so quickly,” he says, “but I understand that he feels like he should be set up in his own home if he’s going after custody of Peter.”

“All he needs to do to win custody is parade my sister in front of a judge for five minutes,” Diane replies. “Or that’s how it should be.”

“He doesn’t want to take Peter away completely. Just be a part of his son’s life.”

“I know, and as much as I can’t tolerate her, I sympathize with Natalie. Losing custody of Samantha for those few years was…” Diane’s gaze falls to the table as she shakes her head sadly. “I can never make up for that.”

“If Natalie can change her ways as much as you did, it’ll be a miracle,” Tim says. “I still can’t get over what she did to Jason.”

“I should’ve warned him. We all should’ve. I knew she’d wind up doing something like this.”

“Well, we can’t change what’s happened.” He picks up his coffee again. “Samantha seems like she’s doing better. And she said you guys had a nice moment at the wedding.”

“We did. I’m optimistic,” Diane tells him. “As much as I never wanted everything to come out…” She pauses, the gravity of the conversation hitting her. “Maybe this will ultimately help us get to a better place.”

“I hope so,” Tim says solemnly. “She and Tempest went out together the other night.”

“They did?”

“Yeah. They got drinks, I think.”

“I saw them looking pretty friendly at the wedding.”

“Could be that enough time has passed that things are settling down,” Tim says. “They were happy before.”

Diane bites her lower lip and picks up her drink.

“I know you aren’t Tempest’s biggest fan,” he adds, “but I want to see Samantha happy.”

“Of course. So do I.” Over the rim of her cup, Diane asks, “Did she seem excited? Did it go well?”

“Sounds like it. I’ll never approve of what Tempest did — treating our family history like cannon fodder–”

“That was your story to share with Samantha if and when you wanted. Not Tempest’s.”

“I know.” Tim holds up a palm as a sort of white flag. “But if she’s remorseful and has learned from this and won’t cause Sam that kind of pain again… then I think it’s worth giving Tempest the chance to prove herself.”

“Could be,” Diane says quietly, as her mind whirls.

—–

Paula Fisher finishes cutting a perfect square of the fudge she made earlier and lifts it onto a small dessert plate.

“I’m so happy for you,” she tells her guest, who sits patiently at her kitchen table.

“Thank you, Paula,” Danielle Taylor says as she accepts the plate. She picks up her fork, dips it into the fudge, and goes wide-eyed as she tastes it. “This is amazing.”

Paula smiles as she cuts herself a square of the treat. “Oh, thank you. I know it’s early, but… is it really ever too early for dessert?”

“I don’t think so.”

“This really is such an achievement,” Paula says. “I’m very proud of you. And I know that Ryan would be, too.”

A somber shadow falls over Danielle’s face. “I hope so. It’s weird to think about him not being here for this new adventure with me. We had so many plans…”

“I tell myself that he’s always watching over us. Bill, too. It makes it a little bit easier when I think about how they’re not physically here.”

Danielle nods. “I’ll come back and visit, of course. Being able to go to his grave and talk to him has been a big part of my recovery.”

“You’ll have an excellent support system down in L.A., too, with Josh and Lauren being there.” Paula dunks her piece of fudge into the steaming coffee. “Ooh, that’s good.”

“I’m going to have to try that,” Danielle says before mimicking the move. She savors the gooey bite. “Wow.”

“See?” Paula says with a smile. “I’m sure Christian and Caleb will miss having their aunt around, though.”

“That’s the one reason I wish I were sticking around,” Danielle says gravely.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You should talk to Molly. She has quite the update for you.”

“Everyone’s okay, I hope.”

“Everyone is fine,” Danielle tells her. “Caleb got himself into some trouble. Molly and Brent have it under control, but…”

“Oh, dear.” Paula sets down her fork and rubs her hand over her forehead. “I’ll have to call Molly later today.”

“I know I can’t pass up this opportunity, and the twins don’t really need a nanny anymore, but part of me feels like I should stay just to act as backup. They’re definitely teenagers now.”

“There are plenty of us to pick up the slack on that front,” Paula says. “I suppose the excitement never ends.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Danielle says as she picks up her fudge to take another bite.

—–

“Why would you tell them my name?!” Jasmine asks with outrage.

Caleb, who has just finished explaining the tale of his near-arrest, shuffles from one foot to the other for a moment. “I had to. It’s part of some huge case–”

“So now I’m part of this huge case? Great.” She throws her arms up in the air and lets them fall to her sides. “Awesome, Caleb. What now? Do they come arrest me?”

“No. I don’t think–” He scrambles for words. “It’s more, like, making sure all their bases are covered. They’re going to say they arrested some kid buying from your dealer, then go after him, and then make a deal with him to give up his boss. Something like that.”

“Then why am I getting dragged into this?”

“Because it’s my dad, and he would’ve put me under arrest if I didn’t tell him how I got in touch with that guy in the first place.”

She folds her arms in front of her body. “Is he gonna call my parents? I didn’t even do anything. I gave you the guy’s info–”

“You asked me to buy shit for you because you couldn’t go. It’s not like I decided to do it on my own.”

“Don’t blame me for this.” She lets out a guttural groan and then exclaims, “Dammit! My parents are gonna kill me if the police chief calls them about this.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Caleb says, before lowering his voice as a pair of girls walk right by them, clearly intrigued by the argument. “I didn’t have a choice. And nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. They’ll get the guy they want–”

“And I’ll be linked to some, like, huge drug bust? Awesome.” She shakes her head. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me. You’re the one who fucked up and got caught!”

“Because I was doing you a favor! How was I supposed to know that guy was being followed?”

Jasmine lets out another huff. “Guess one good thing will come out of this.”

“What?” Caleb asks, confused.

“Your parents probably won’t let you see me anymore — so I don’t have to worry about you bothering me,” she says as she turns on her heels. “Go to hell, Caleb.”

Although he wants to call after her, he stops himself, realizing that he isn’t even sure what he would say. He feels bad about having to give her name, but she’s the one who asked him to make the purchase, and she should understand the risks that came with it. He watches her stalk back toward the locker bay and disappear from sight.

—–

The voice startles Tori, and when her head whips up, she sees her teenage cousin standing several feet away from the bench.

“Marcus,” she says quickly, sitting up straighter. “What are you doing here?”

“This is our day off from practice, so I’m doing some of my community service hours for school at the church up the street.” He studies her curiously for several seconds. “What about you? You didn’t move up here, did you?”

“No. I…” She draws a deep breath. “I’m still living with Travis.”

“Oh. Cool.”

His uncertainty is evident; she can tell that he is aware he has stumbled upon a sensitive situation and has no idea how to proceed. She hopes that he will move along to his community service and decide not to involve himself.

“I’m just waiting for a friend,” she adds hastily.

She sees him glance up and take in the name of the business on the window behind her.

“I’m fine, really,” Tori says. “Just tired. How’s, uh, how’s school going?”

“It’s good,” he answers with a shrug. He sticks his hands into the pockets of his dark skinny jeans. “Busy, that’s all.”

“I bet. Don’t let me hold you up. But I should come by your house sometime for dinner. I need to see Uncle Jake and Aunt Mia.”

“That’d be cool,” Marcus says. His body twitches, as if about to move, but he goes nowhere. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

She forces a smile. “Totally. Just waiting.”

“Okay.” He hesitates for another split-second. “Text me or something.”

“I will.” With a wave, she sends him off. She watches him turn a corner and then breathes a faint sigh of relief. Then she attempts to compel herself to stand up. All she has to do is go inside, and this will be over. The appointment is made. The staff knows what she is here to do.

But she cannot make herself go in. Not yet. She remains glued to that bench, her body nearly as weary as her mind, as she tries to make her decision.

END OF EPISODE 948

Will Tori go through with the abortion?
Are things over between Caleb and Jasmine?
Will Diane be able to leave Sam and Tempest alone?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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