Previously…
– After Spencer impulsively kidnapped Peter, he called Elly for legal advice. She helped broker a deal between him and Natalie, and they shocked everyone by eloping at the courthouse.
– Travis was pleased to hear how carefully Rosie had handled Caleb’s involvement in the drug bust and reached out to her, asking if they could get together.
– Diane asked an assistant at KBAY, Jaq, to befriend Samantha, in hopes of keeping Sam from reuniting with Tempest.

“I’m still having trouble believing that it’s real,” Jason Fisher says as he sets his now-empty coffee cup down on the table with a hollow thunk.

He sits inside Thaw Coffee & Tea with Sabrina, who is still wearing the ice-blue apron that is part of her uniform despite being on break. Lush garland decorated with tiny white lights winds its way around the shop, adding a touch of holiday cheer to the normally stark setting.

“It sounds like it happened so fast,” Sabrina responds.

“‘Fast’ doesn’t even begin to describe how this wedding went down. I still have whiplash.” Jason drums his fingertips on the lacquered white tabletop. “And I know that they’re lying. I just know it. They cooked up some kind of deal after Spencer kidnapped Peter.”

Sabrina picks up her tea and watches the curls of steam waft off its surface as she thinks.

“Would it help if you could prove that it isn’t genuine?” she asks.

“I don’t know. They obviously consented to marry one another. But if I could prove that Spencer flew off the handle and took Peter, and Natalie only refrained from turning him in because she could get something out of it…”

“Maybe you can.”

He shrugs, and his shoulders sink as if actual weights have been dumped upon them.

“I wouldn’t know where to begin. They’re the biological parents, and they’re married,” he says. “I’m going to have a hell of a time going up against that in court.”

“You’ve been Peter’s father for his entire life so far.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Jason. I can only imagine what it’s like.”

“Thanks.” He momentarily gets lost in his thoughts again as he recalls the wedding at the courthouse. “It was completely crazy watching Natalie stand there, marrying someone else — my nephew, of all people.”

“It sounds really weird,” Sabrina agrees.

“She was even wearing the same dress she was going to marry me in. To add insult to injury, I guess.” 

Sabrina studies him quietly for several seconds. When she speaks again, her words are soft and have a glitchy, start-and-stop rhythm to them.

“I hope I won’t offend you by asking this,” she says, “but there’s something I’m wondering about all of this.”

He looks up again. “What’s that?”

“Are you sure that you’re only upset about this wedding because of what it means for the custody case?” Sabrina asks. “Do you think you might be upset because… you still have feelings for Natalie?”

“Jimenez!” a voice calls across the main bullpen of the King’s Bay Police Department.

The uniformed young officer swivels to find the source of the voice; she recognizes it instantly. She spots the police commander, in slacks and a gray blazer, standing near the station’s “Giving Tree” — a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments each bearing the name of a family in need this holiday season, intended for KBPD employees to take an ornament and then provide items from that family’s wishlist. As she approaches, Rosie is glad to see that many of the tree’s branches have been stripped of their ornaments already.

“What’s up?” she asks Brent. “My shift actually just ended. I’m supposed to go meet–”

“I have an update for you.”

“Oh.” Rosie’s pulse quickens; she knows immediately what this is about. Any anxiety about being late for her plans, as much as she is looking forward to them, falls away. “What kind of update?”

“I just got off a call with the D.A.,” he explains. “We’re ready to make a move on Jesse.”

“Really?”

“We’ve got all our ducks in a row. With the amount of stuff we have on him, there’s no way he doesn’t roll on Diego Barrera.”

“Wow.” Rosie has been hoping for this for months, knowing that her future in law enforcement could hinge upon it, but now that it is happening, she feels as much dread as she does excitement.

Brent furrows his brow. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just taking it in. There’s still this part of me that worries that once we get Diego, he’ll find a way to trace it back to me, and he’ll come after me, or even worse, my family.”

“We’ve covered our bases,” he reassures her. “This started with a low-level arrest and grew. There’s absolutely nothing on file to indicate that you were involved.”

She gulps. All she can do now is believe in that.

“At least this will get Audrey Tam off our backs,” she says.

Brent cracks a grin. “Off your back. I have to deal with her on a thousand different fronts.”

“You have my sympathies. And thank you for seeing this through. I could’ve lost my whole career after it came out that I lied about my father’s murder. You’ve had my back, and I won’t forget that.”

“I know you won’t. You’re a great cop. We need those,” he says. “Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. You said somewhere to be?”

She nods.

“Anything fun?” Brent asks.

“You could say that,” Rosie says with a hint of a smile.

—–

Travis Fisher waits in line for the host’s stand inside 322 Bar & Grill. The place is more mobbed than he expected, as holiday shoppers take breaks from their errands. Colorful shopping bags seem to rest beside every table and booth that he sees, as the chatter in the air competes with Jimmy Eat World’s cover of “Last Christmas” playing over the sound system.

He purposely arrived a bit early, suspecting that it might be busy. He didn’t want to get stuck waiting for a table with Rosie, awkwardly trying to find space to stand as they catch up and have conversations that they should have had months ago. Now he can only pray that they’ll be seated at all.

Travis has just finished leaving his name with the host when he feels a finger tap him on the shoulder. He turns to see Elly Vanderbilt behind him, her red hair falling over the shoulders of her black trench coat and the green plaid scarf wrapped around her neck.

“Hey! Happy holidays,” she says. “Meeting someone?”

“Hi. And yeah, I am,” he says, a chill in his voice.

Elly reacts to his tone, her head snapping back and her eyes blinking. “Is everything okay?”

He breathes in sharply through his nose.

“You know, Elly, I don’t think I’m off-base being a little pissed at you,” he tells her. “Not after what you did.”

“Oh.” Her gaze drops momentarily to the tips of her high-heeled leather boots. “All I did was my job, Travis. Spencer retained me as his attorney–”

“Wasn’t that the first sign of trouble?”

“I know there’s no love lost between the two of you.”

“You know what? Until this, we were actually getting to be okay. I even felt a little bad for him after everything came out about Peter,” Travis says. “But now? He took that kid and sent everyone into a total panic, and then he screwed over my Uncle Jason. And you were a party to that.”

Strings of oversized bulbs in a variety of colors hang on the walls of Cassie’s Coffee House, adding a festive, seasonal glow to the slightly bohemian, mismatched interior of the cozy space. The scents of gingerbread and peppermint mingle throughout the space as the baristas work overtime to fill orders.

At one table near the small stage, which is not currently in use, Diane Bishop hunches over a napkin with a pen that she found in her purse, sketching a crude diagram.

“So if your half-brother is married to my sister…” She screws up her face as she looks at the rough family tree she has drawn. “…that makes us not only mother and daughter, but sisters-in-law? Kind of?”

Across from her, Samantha Fisher crumbles into a laugh. “This is crazy.”

“‘Crazy’ barely begins to describe it.” Diane sets down the pen. “But when your Aunt Natalie gets something in her head, she does it. She wanted to marry into the Fisher family, and she found a way. God help us all if she ever sets her sights on something important.”

“What are Grandma and Grandpa going to think?” Samantha asks.

Diane purses her lips, her mind straying momentarily to  her conversation with her father, in which he pleaded with her not to reveal his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer to the rest of the family. She has largely been able to put it out of her head, given the lack of news since her parents returned to their home, but their impending visit for Christmas threatens to dredge it all up again — if Henry is even well enough to travel at all.

“I’m sure they’ll find a way to be in full support of Natalie, per usual,” Diane says with a groan. “Whatever. How are you? Has work been busy because of the holidays?”

“A little bit,” Samantha says, “but most of the holiday rush happened for our department months ago. Trevor actually let me leave early yesterday because it was so quiet.”

“That’s nice!”

“Yeah.”

Diane sees her daughter hesitate.

“Was it not nice?” Diane asks, noting the sudden shift.

“No, it was.” Samantha cradles her eggnog latte between her hands. “This is still a little awkward, though.”

“Awkward? How so?”

“Because after he let me leave, I went Christmas shopping. With Tempest.”

“Oh.” Diane sits back in her chair, careful to control her outward reaction. “You’re an adult. You’re allowed to do that.”

“I know, but it’s still…”

“All I want is for you to be happy, Samantha — and that means being with someone who respects you and who makes your happiness her priority.”

“Diane?” a female voice says, drawing both her and Samantha’s attention.

“Hi!” Diane says, motioning for the nearby young woman to come to their table. “Jaq, this is my daughter, Samantha. Sam, this is Jaq — she’s the best production assistant at KBAY.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jaq says. She wears a black leather jacket over artfully ripped jeans, and a red beanie covers her head, revealing only glimpses of her short, black hair. “It’s nice to meet you, Samantha.”

“Same,” Samantha responds as the two young women shake hands.

“What do you do?” Jaq asks her.

“I work at Objection Designs.”

“Fashion. Whoa! That’s so not my thing.” Jaq laughs.

“You have great style,” Samantha says. “It’s not my thing. I’m a copywriter in the marketing department.”

Diane observes the interaction between the two of them with great interest. It fills her with joy to see Samantha genuinely connecting with someone.

“Your mom makes work at KBAY a lot of fun,” Jaq says. “She always has some clever remark about whatever’s going on.”

Samantha looks to Diane knowingly. “That’s how she is at home, too.”

“You aren’t wrong,” Diane says.

Jaq quickly checks the time on the iPhone in her palm.

“I have to get going because I’m meeting some friends,” she says, “but Sam, why don’t I add you on Facebook?”

Samantha replies with a relaxed smile, “That’d be great.”

Diane watches the two of them exchanging information, trying to hide just how pleased she is by this turn of events.

—–

Jason’s eyes bulge.

“Feelings for Natalie? After what she did? Are you insane?”

“Sorry,” Sabrina says with haste. “I didn’t mean…” She fiddles with the tea bag hanging out of her cup. “All I mean is, maybe there’s some part of you that’s upset because things ended so suddenly between you and Natalie.”

Jason frowns. “I could never love her again. The person I loved wasn’t even the real Natalie. It was a role she was playing — an image she wanted me to see.”

“That doesn’t mean the feelings just vanish.”

“I guess not.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “I really did think we might be able to co-parent, though. Natalie had just asked me if we could work something out. That was barely twelve hours before this all went down!”

“I think what that tells you is what an opportunist Natalie is.” She picks up her tea and takes a sip. “At least you’ll be with your family for Christmas. Especially Sophie. Try and focus on that.”

“You’re right, and I should,” he says. “How about you? Are you excited to go back to Iowa?”

“I’m excited to see my parents,” she tells him. “But it feels less and less like home there each time I go. King’s Bay is where so much of my adult life has happened, since…”

“Because of the coma.”

“Yeah. It’s odd that I spent so many years lying in hospitals and my parents’ house, and I have no memory of any of it.”

“You don’t talk about your accident or recovery much,” Jason says, “so I’ve never wanted to push you to… but if you ever do want to open up about it, I hope you know that I’m hear to listen.”

Her face lights up with surprise. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course! You’ve been listening to me complain about Natalie and Spencer for your entire break.”

“That’s what friends do,” she says humbly.

Jason reaches over the table and places his hand over hers. “Exactly. So if and when you need a friend to talk to about what you’ve been through, you come and find me. Deal?”

“Deal,” Sabrina says.

Elly purses her brilliant red lips as she absorbs Travis’s vitriol. She is about to respond when another customer wedges between them to get to the door. Travis shuffles a few steps to the side, putting them against the front window as Elly responds:

“My intention was never for your uncle to get hurt. This was about that little boy and doing what’s best for him.”

“What’s best for him?” A sarcastic laugh rattles out of Travis’s throat. “What would be best is being with Jason. Between Spencer and Natalie, I don’t know who’s worse.”

“They’re Peter’s parents,” she says firmly.

“So? I was raised by people who weren’t my birth parents, and I turned out fine. Same with you.”

“Because Danielle and Jimmy decided to have my parents raise me because they weren’t ready to,” Elly says. “Same with Kathleen and you. We weren’t taken away by a court.”

“Now you’re taking Peter away from the only dad he’s ever known!” Travis shakes his head. “I thought you hated Spencer.”

“I don’t hate him. I hate things he did. And I’ve forgiven you–”

Elly stops mid-rant when a dark-haired woman in a navy blue fleece jacket and jeans steps up beside them. Travis turns to see Rosie standing right there.

“Hey,” he says uneasily.

“Am I interrupting something?” Rosie asks.

“No. Just a… spirited discussion,” Travis says. “Rosie, this is Elly. Elly, Rosie.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Elly says, extending her hand for a shake. “Try and talk some sense into this guy, would you?”

Travis huffs. “Merry Christmas, Elly.”

“Merry Christmas,” she says before pushing through the door and out of the restaurant.

Rosie looks at Travis quizzically. “What was all that?”

“I’ll fill you in over lunch. What’s going on with you?”

“Well,” she says, “I got some exciting news at work. Nothing I can talk about yet, but… you’ll hear soon enough.”

“Mysterious.” He grins. “I put my name in for a table. Let me go check how long it’ll be.”

“Okay.”

He hesitates before going. “It’s really good to see you, Rosie.”

“You, too, Travis,” she says, smiling back at him. “Really good.”

—–

Outside Cassie’s, Diane gives her daughter a hug.

“I’m so happy we did this,” Diane says. “Thanks for giving me another chance.”

“You’re my mom,” Samantha tells her. “We just needed some time to heal.”

“It’s the best Christmas present I could ever get.”

Samantha takes her car keys from the pocket of her heavy down vest, which is layered over a sweater and a collared shirt.

“I’ll see you soon, Mom.”

“Love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The women move for their respective cars. Diane gets into hers and takes a moment to get settled, taking her cell phone from her purse. She watches Samantha pull out of the lot and then places a call over her own Bluetooth system.

“Hello?” Jaq’s voice crackles over the speakers.

“I didn’t want to text because I don’t want any of this in writing,” Diane says, “but thanks for playing that so flawlessly. It felt like a completely random run-in. You’re a natural.”

“Samantha seems really nice. It’s not, like, a huge chore for me to hang out with her.”

“Good. I want you two to get along famously. And if it keeps her from getting back together with that conniving ex of hers…” Diane glances at herself in the rearview mirror as the edges of her full lips curl up. “…even better.”

END OF EPISODE 955

Should Diane leave Samantha’s personal life alone?
Was Travis wrong to call out Elly for helping Spencer?
Could Jason and Sabrina’s friendship turn to more?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

Next Episode