Episodes 656 – 691
Though she was hesitant because of her recent divorce, Molly Taylor took a bold step on New Year’s Eve and decided to assert her feelings for Philip Ragan. She went to his loft and slipped a letter under the door. But then Molly spotted Philip downtown with his new girlfriend, Adrienne. Feeling like a fool, Molly went back to retrieve the envelope–but Philip arrived home early and caught her. He explained that he and Adrienne had had a disagreement and decided to stop seeing each other. In a moment of impulse, Molly kissed him. They slept together for the first time that night and began a tentative relationship. Molly was worried about her sons (and her ex, Brent Taylor) finding out about it, so they decided to take it slow. But Brent eventually learned about the relationship, and he knew he had to move on from his marriage. He leaned on his friendship with Claire Fisher. Brent and Molly’s twins saw their mother and Philip kissing, and she had to explain the new relationship to them.
That same night, Matt Gray and Danielle Taylor ran into one another at the grocery store. They decided to spend their lonely New Year’s Eves together, and as a result, began spending more time together. Matt continued to have a strong bond with his ex-wife, Sarah, which did not escape the notice of her current husband, Graham Colville. Sarah was pregnant with Graham’s child, and since being rejected by his grown son, Alex Marshall, Graham was more determined than ever to hold onto his new family. Desperate to eliminate Matt from their lives, Graham devised a plan.
Matt returned home one night to find a note on his door from Sarah, asking him to meet her at Pier 22 but not to contact her by phone. Matt found the note suspicious but feared that Graham had done something to her, so he went. When he arrived, he was assaulted and knocked unconscious. He awoke to find himself tied up in a dark, empty room.
The next morning, Danielle brought Matt bagels and found the note from Sarah on the ground. She decided it was none of her business–until she spotted Matt’s truck parked by the pier and became concerned. Danielle ran into Sarah and realized that she had no idea about the note. Meanwhile, Graham had a run-in with Alex, during which Alex softened toward him. Between that and a warm interaction with Sarah about their future, Graham began to regret what he’d done and decided to stop the plan he had set in motion. He went to the construction site on Pier 23, where he was having a building demolished for a new commercial real estate venture–the building Matt was inside! Graham realized that he couldn’t stop the demolition without implicating himself in Matt’s kidnapping. A weakened Matt frantically tried to escape, to no avail.
Sarah and Danielle contacted Brent, who had the police begin a search. They went down to Pier 22 and spotted Graham on the adjacent pier. Brent had his officers search the building that was about to be demolished, and they found Matt. He was rushed to the hospital. Matt’s prognosis was okay, but the police found a needle on the floor of the room and heroin in Matt’s system. They wondered if his kidnapping was part of a drug deal gone bad. While recovering, Matt told Sarah about the note, and she swore she didn’t write it. She immediately suspected Graham and feared what her husband might be capable of.
Danielle took Matt back to his place to help with his recovery. The intimacy made it difficult for them to deny their mutual attraction. After Matt accompanied Danielle to her brother’s wedding, they slept together for the first time. Brent questioned Matt about possible drug use, which Matt flatly denied. But they were unable to find the note to prove his story. Sarah and Brent compared notes, and she confessed her suspicion of Graham. Brent warned her not to do anything rash that might set him off. Graham suggested that Tori should not spend time with Matt if he had a drug problem, which made Matt irate. Sarah struggled not to reveal her suspicions as she and Brent continued investigating. Matt was devastated when he was fired from his job in the Windmills kitchen because of the drug allegations. Sarah spoke to her father and asked him to hire Matt at his own restaurant, which Bill did.
Sarah went into labor. With Graham by her side, she gave birth to a boy. Graham overheard Bill and Paula talking about how Sarah went to Bill on Matt’s behalf. He was irate. Diane Bishop advised Sarah to leave Graham, but Sarah felt torn: she didn’t want to set him off even further, but she also didn’t want her children around him anymore. Graham came to Sarah’s hospital room with a plan: to take the kids and move to Denver for a fresh start. Tori overheard and, upset, went to Matt. A confrontation among the adults ensued, and Graham admitted that he’d seen Sarah and Matt kissing months before. He demanded to know if the new baby was even his. Graham finally lost his cool and nearly struck Sarah, but Matt intervened. When Matt threw Graham against the wall, Graham began screaming at them both and then collapsed. The doctors quickly tended to Graham, but he was pronounced dead from a sudden brain hemorrhage.
In the aftermath of Graham’s shocking death, Alex was devastated that he never got to make amends with his father. He lashed out at Sarah, blaming her and Matt for having driven Graham mad. Matt was vindicated by Graham’s final words, in which he admitted to having kidnapped Matt and set him up with drugs. Sarah had no idea how to feel, since the man she’d married turned out to be someone else entirely. She and her new son, whom she named Billy after her father, went to live with her parents for the time being. Alex’s aggression toward Sarah and Matt continued, and he even made noise about Sarah being unfit to raise Billy. Alex’s best friend, Jason Fisher, warned him that he was doing exactly what Helen Chase had done to Jason, and Alex’s aggressions threatened to destroy the long-standing friendship. Finally, Alex tried to make peace with the loss of his father and apologized to Sarah. He said that he wanted to be a part of Billy’s life, and Sarah promised that he would be.
Josh Taylor moved to Los Angeles to begin his new job doing marketing for a movie studio. His fiancée, Lauren Brooks, stayed behind in King’s Bay to finish her job at Willis Advertising and plan their wedding. Lauren’s brother, Trevor, returned to King’s Bay for the wedding. Lauren and Josh were married in a lovely summer wedding and moved to Los Angeles.
Natalie Bishop came to Jason Fisher’s Edge of Winter Arena to inquire about figure skating lessons for her daughter, Bree, who had been taking them back home. She wanted the best coach available and demanded that Sandy James evaluate Bree. Jason Fisher said he would try but knew Sandy wouldn’t take on a student at a lower level. Sandy suggested that Jason take up coaching again. He had to admit that he missed being on the ice but was unsure. Jason was planning a fundraiser in honor of his late wife, Courtney. Natalie offered to help with the party planning–something she had experience with–in exchange for Jason giving Bree some lessons. In need of help, Jason reluctantly agreed. Natalie quickly proved herself to be a stage mother from hell, and the two clashed, but he was also impressed with her work on the party.
Ryan Moriani also helped with the fundraiser, and he secured some big-name donors from King’s Bay’s past: Katherine Fitch and her son, Andy; Katherine’s old society frenemies, Tenille, Marj, and Dar; and Brian Hamilton. Lauren and Josh returned from Los Angeles for the party, and they announced that they were expecting a child. Jason was impressed with Natalie’s work until he realized that she had carelessly gone over-budget, planning to use the ‘proceeds’ to cover the overages. They once again found themselves at odds.
When Tim Fisher came upon Spencer Ragan stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, he eagerly helped the young man, unaware that they were actually father and son. Later, Tim ran into Spencer, who was doing classwork, and offered him an internship at Vision Publishing. Spencer was interested, but Tim’s son, Travis, hit the roof when he learned about his father’s growing bond with Spencer. Travis’s mother, Claire, was harboring a secret about the two young men–that Spencer, not Travis, was really her and Tim’s biological son–and was alarmed to learn about Tim growing closer to Spencer. She knew she had to figure out a way to tell everyone the truth. At work, Tim gained some insight into Spencer’s troubled upbringing with Loretta Ragan. Philip attempted to be a father figure to his adopted brother, Spencer, since Loretta was now in prison, but Spencer resisted his efforts.
On the night of Jason’s fundraiser, Claire was finishing her shift as a nurse when she saw Spencer brought into the hospital following a drunk-driving accident in which he had been a passenger. He needed a blood transfusion, and the hospital was running low on his blood type. Claire knew that Tim and Spencer had the same blood type, so she called Tim and asked him to come to the hospital and donate. Philip overheard Claire and Brent talking about the biological tie between Spencer and Tim. Claire begged him not to say anything yet, because she wanted to reveal the news in the right way. Philip reluctantly agreed. Spencer was primed for a full recovery. He insisted on moving back into the fraternity house, despite Philip’s resistance. Philip went to see Loretta in prison and demanded answers about the Spencer/Travis switch. She reiterated that she wanted Claire to suffer. Claire tried to tell Tim the truth, but they were interrupted by Travis, and she lost her nerve.
Elly Vanderbilt asked her biological mother, Danielle, if she could finally meet her biological father. Danielle was hesitant to return to that period of her life but also knew she couldn’t deny Elly the opportunity. Jimmy Trask arrived in King’s Bay and was exactly the same carefree guy Danielle remembered from two decades before. When Elly met Jimmy, she was nervous, but he quickly charmed her, and they began to develop a relationship.
Diane Bishop struggled to find work in the publishing industry after being let go from Vision Publishing. Her daughter, Samantha, hesitated to accept the admissions granted by two of her top colleges, since she was worried about Diane’s finances. Diane and Samantha’s father, Tim, assured the young woman that they could handle tuition, but Samantha decided to stay near home and attend King’s Bay University. Diane was plagued by guilt and a sense of worthlessness. She found reassurance from an unlikely place: Ryan Moriani, the man she had drunkenly married in Las Vegas and could hardly tolerate most of the time.
Jimmy flirted with Diane as they helped Elly and Samantha move into the dorm room they would be sharing. Later, he brought over her wallet, which she had left behind. Diane was attracted to him but resisted his advances. Ryan interrupted by showing up with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the fact that their annulment had finally gone through. Diane invited him in so that she could turn Jimmy away. Diane and Ryan got drunk together and wound up having sex. Sarah nearly caught them together, but they covered.
Jimmy decided to stay in King’s Bay for a while after an old buddy, Keith Huff, announced plans to buy a used bookstore and run it. When Jimmy heard that Diane was looking for work, he offered her a job managing the store, which she declined at first. Then Diane was horrified to discover that she was pregnant from her one-night stand with Ryan. Strapped for money, she decided to swallow her pride and take the job at the bookstore. Diane was evasive with Ryan as she kept the pregnancy to herself, trying to decide what to do about it.
In light of Diane’s exit from Vision, Tim took over handling Alex. He thought they should look at having Alex’s debut novel adapted into a film. They began interviewing potential screenwriters. Jason and Molly got the idea to set Alex up with her assistant, Cameron, but Alex was noncommittal. When Trevor Brooks returned to King’s Bay the night before Lauren’s wedding, he had a chance run-in with Alex. The exes got to talking and drinking. Alex walked Trevor back to his hotel, and one thing led to another. They slept together. The next day, at the wedding, Alex was shocked to see Trevor with a date: his fiancé, Liam Cassel, who’d just flown in from London! Alex was shellshocked. He told Jason about his tryst with Trevor but, when Liam interrupted him and Trevor talking, decided not to tell Liam.
When Alex arrived for a meeting Tim had set up with a screenwriter from out of town, the writer turned out to be Liam. Alex was reluctant to commit to working with him, even though Liam was the writer he liked most of all the ones they met. Trevor met with Molly about working behind-the-scenes at Objection Designs, now that he was no longer modeling. Molly hired Trevor to consult on Objection’s employee lookbooks. Trevor again apologized to Alex, who was working to let go of his anger toward Graham and realized that he could not hold a grudge against Trevor, too. They began to mend fences. Alex finally visited Graham’s grave and said goodbye to his father, looking to move forward with his life.