Previously…
- Katherine and Brian renewed their friendship. She told him that she planned to leave King's Bay to live in Seattle with Andy.
- Claire made it clear to Ryan that she will have nothing further to do with him. She moved out of his loft.
- Danielle told Andy about her stint in rehab, and he encouraged her not to treat it like a dirty secret.
- Sarah woke up from her coma to discover that Matt had opted to terminate her pregnancy in order to save her life.

BRENT & MOLLY TAYLOR'S HOME

The new house is still a disorganized mess, full of boxes that need to be unpacked and furniture that needs to be arranged, but right now, it could not feel more like home. Danielle Taylor would be thrilled if she never had to spend time in a hospital again, and so, after helping Molly put the twins to bed, she settles in at the breakfast nook, where there is not a single fluorescent light or pair of scrubs to be found.

Molly moves between the refrigerator and the island, preparing something that will no doubt turn out to be a gourmet meal, even if all she has to work with are canned goods and leftover takeout. Danielle nibbles on the cheese and crackers that have been set out.

"I really need to work on the living room tomorrow," Molly says, casting an eye toward the cluttered area adjacent to the kitchen. "Do you think the couch should go along the long wall?"

Danielle turns to look, trying to muster the energy to care about furniture arrangements after the ordeal that they have all just been through. Luckily, Brent saves her by emerging from the hallway bathroom.

"I think I'm going to lie down," he announces.

"I'm making something to eat," Molly says. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Can you save some in case I wake up in the middle of the night and need a snack? I'm wiped, and my leg is killing me."

"Still?" Molly asks. "You should take some Aleve. It's under the sink in our bathroom."

"Will do. 'Night, ladies." Brent offers a wave and makes his way toward the stairs.

Then it is just Danielle and Molly, alone. Danielle knows what she has to do.

"Hey, Molly, can I talk to you about something?" she begins tentatively.

"Of course."

Danielle picks up another cracker and munches on it while she tries to figure out how to approach this. Her talk with Andy convinced her that she needs to come clean with Molly--with everyone in her life--about her time in rehab if she hopes to move forward. As it turns out, it is much easier to imagine saying the words than to actually say them.

"So… what is it?" Molly asks as she stirs something in a large mixing bowl.

Danielle points to the bowl. "What is that?"

"I'm making a frittata. It's an easy way to use some of this stuff we have lying around."

"Oh." Danielle reaches for another cracker. She can tell that Molly is waiting on her to spit out whatever it is that she asked to discuss.

"I had the chance to talk with Andy at the hospital," she begins.

"It was great to see him, wasn't it?" Suddenly, Molly sets down the fork she is using to beat the contents of the bowl. "Oh my gosh. You and Andy… are you still…"

"No! It was nice to see him, but no, that's in the past. Very much in the past." Danielle draws a deep breath before continuing. "But talking with him, and seeing how that's worked out, even though there was a time I didn't think I'd ever be able to look him in the face again… it helped me realize that I need to deal with other parts of my past."

"What past?" Molly's expression is a mixture of confusion and intrigue.

"There are some things I haven't been entirely honest about."

Molly fixes all her attention on her, the frittata fully forgotten.

"Danielle, what is it? Did something happen that you haven't told us about?"

There are a million ways that Danielle could go with this. She could avoid this subject forever, if she wanted to--and part of her does want to avoid it, but another part of her knows that she will never have peace, never be truly comfortable in Brent and Molly's house, until all her cards are on the table.

So she spits it out: "Before I came back to King's Bay, I wasn't traveling. I was in rehab."

That's it. She said it. Instinctively, she grabs another cracker and sits back, waiting for Molly's response.

RYAN MORIANI'S LOFT

Anxiety consumes Katherine Fitch as she lifts her hand to Ryan's door. She has no idea how to address her stepson in light of the revelation that he was the one who shot Nick--a crime for which, not too long ago, Katherine feared she herself might be punished. However, she knows that she cannot leave King's Bay without seeing Ryan one last time, so she knocks on the door and waits for an answer.

Except there is no answer. The crack beneath the door reveals that the light is on inside, and she can hear the faint sounds of the television from within. For a moment, Katherine's mind travels to a terrifying place, and she fears that Ryan has done the unthinkable. She forces that thought out of her head and knocks again, this time with greater force.

"Ryan! It's Katherine! Open this door at once!"

Still nothing. She pounds harder on the door, and that fear swells up again. There is no telling what Ryan might have done to himself after Nick revealed his crime. Claire rejected him, the Fishers rejected him, and he might have been despondent enough to--

And then the door opens.

"Came to get in your shots at me?" Ryan asks, his eyelids heavy.

"I came to see how you're doing. Are you drunk?"

"Can you blame me?"

Katherine forces her way past him and into the loft. The bottle of whiskey on the coffee table is half-full, at best, and Ryan's lopsided sneer clearly indicates where the other half has gone.

"I have something to tell you," she says.

"What? I'm a horrible person, I deserve exactly what I get, etcetera, etcetera? You can save your breath. I've heard it all already."

"No. And don't say those things."

Ryan laughs, a bitter little noise that comes equally from his nose and mouth.

"I'm serious, Ryan. What you did might have been… ill-advised, but you can't use it as a reason to give up on yourself entirely."

"Why not? Everyone else has."

Katherine does not know how to proceed with this. What Ryan did was despicable. She can understand why he did it, and how it came about without him having intended it from the outset, but the fact remains that he was going to allow a family member to be punished for a crime that he committed. She decides to change course for the moment.

"I've decided to leave King's Bay," she says. "I thought you should know."

She can tell that the news surprises Ryan; it is his first genuine, non-sarcastic expression of emotion since she arrived. He remains by the open door, speechless.

"Andrew came to see me in the hospital, and he proposed that I return to Seattle with him," she explains. "It's time for me to move on from this place, but I felt that I should see you one last time."

Ryan stumbles across the room and picks up the bottle of whiskey.

"Figures. The one person willing to come see me," he says, pausing for a slug from the bottle, "and you're hightailing it out of town."

"Stop that! It's repulsive." She takes the bottle from him. "Ryan, you listen to me."

His lack of a comeback surprises her. Capping the bottle, she looks him directly in the eye.

"Nick is dead and gone," she says, and despite the fact that she once married the man and thought she loved him, the words are an enormous relief. "No matter what has happened in the past, it is over now. There might be repercussions, and it might not be easy, but each of us has the choice to rebuild our lives now. You shouldn't throw that chance away."

"That's exactly it!" he counters. "I don't have a chance. I've lost Claire. My family hates me--rightfully so. I have nothing, Katherine."

He snatches the bottle back from her.

"That's where you are wrong," Katherine says. "If you allow that man to run your life from the grave, you have no one to blame but yourself."

Ryan teeters in front of her but makes no further move. She knows that she is only going to accomplish so much right now, but at least she has had the chance to say her part.

"I wish you nothing but the best, Ryan. I only hope you'll allow yourself to have it."

When he does not respond, she moves for the still-open door. She is out of the loft before she hears his voice:

"Thank you, Katherine. And goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ryan," she says, and she turns the corner, wondering herself if any of them can truly be free of Nick's legacy.

KING'S BAY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

With his daughter's hand clasped in his own, Matt Gray walks through the hospital corridor. Tori has been growing up so quickly that he often forgets how small and vulnerable she still is, but now, as they walk toward Sarah's room, he is reminded of what a little girl his daughter truly is.

He and Sarah have discussed how they will approach this conversation with Tori, but that does not make Matt any less nervous about having to tell her that the baby is gone. He knows how much Tori was looking forward to being a big sister, and explaining the specifics without scaring the hell out of her is not going to be an easy balancing act.

Sarah lights up as soon as they turn into her room. She has not seen Tori since the explosion; they thought it was best to keep her at home with Paula and Bill until they were ready to do this.

"Hey, Tor," Sarah says, clearly overcome. Tori walks carefully over to the bed and, when Sarah opens her arms, gives her mother a cautious hug.

"It's okay. You're not going to break me," Sarah says through a laugh. The reassurance seems to relax Tori, who hugs Sarah much harder.

"Have you been having fun?" Sarah asks.

Tori nods and lights up. "I made Grandma do karaoke with me. I don't think she likes 'My Humps' too much."

The thought of Paula trying to do karaoke, let alone that song, provokes a moment of genuine laughter among the three of them. Matt realizes once again how lucky he is to have this family, even with the black cloud that is hanging over them.

"I'm glad you're okay," Tori says when the laughter abates. She sounds surprisingly grown-up, throwing Matt for a loop all over again.

And then Tori brings it all to a dead stop:

"I thought of a name for the baby."

Matt's breath catches in his chest, and he can tell that the same happens to Sarah. They exchange a look--troubled, guilty.

Tori does not seem to notice. "If it's a boy. Scooter. For a nickname, I mean."

"Scooter?" Matt and Sarah ask in near-unison.

"Just for a nickname," Tori says enthusiastically. "Don't you think it would be funny?"

Sarah manages a slight grin, though Matt can see the pain behind it.

"Tori, there's something we need to talk to you about," Matt says. He cannot stand to have this go on for another second. This invisible curtain hanging between the three of them is only making this more difficult.

Another look passes between him and Sarah. They have to do this.

"We're very lucky that your mom is okay," Matt says, "after what happened at the restaurant."

Tori nods along. "I know."

"But it was a really bad accident," Sarah says. Matt doesn't know why she used that word--accident--but no one corrects her. The thought that Nick did all this deliberately makes it even more unbearable.

Sarah takes Tori's hand. "It was too much for the baby to take. He… he didn't live."

Tori is silent for a long time. Matt does not breathe until she finally opens her mouth again.

"The baby was a boy?" she asks.

As soon as Sarah confirms this, with a slight nod, Tori lets out a wail. The tears follow immediately afterward, and Matt huddles around her.

BRENT & MOLLY TAYLOR'S HOME

Danielle nibbles nervously on her cracker as she waits for Molly to say something. Anything.

"Rehab?" Molly finally repeats. "Like…?"

"For an alcohol addiction." Danielle gives the words a moment to settle. There is no turning back now, and more than anything, that is an enormous relief. "I should've told you sooner, I know, and I wanted to, but I was scared of how you'd react, with me being around the boys."

Then Molly turns sharply to her. "You haven't been drinking, have you? You're sober?"

There is something intimidating about her all of a sudden, something fierce and protective that Danielle has not seen, or at least not had directed at her. Luckily, this question is an easy one to answer:

"For over a year now."

"Good." Just like that, she reverts to the softer, kinder Molly that Danielle recognizes so well. "I'm glad you're doing all right. And thank you for telling me. That can't have been easy."

"I've wanted to," Danielle says, not even sure how she can justify having kept this to herself for so long. "But I've gotten so attached to the boys, and to being here, and I was worried you'd freak out and not want me around them."

"Danielle! You've done a great job with the twins, and having you around has been a godsend… whether I wanted the help or not." Molly offers a sly smile as she returns to mixing the frittata. "As long as you're healthy and you're doing all right, that's what is important."

"Thanks, Molly."

"So your recovery is going all right?" Molly asks as she transfers the contents of the bowl to a baking dish. "Shouldn't you be going to meetings?"

"You know that songwriters' group I've been saying I go to every week?"

"Ah." Molly slips the baking dish into the oven. "Thanks for being honest with me, Danielle. If there's anything we can do…"

"You've done enough just by taking me in. Having a routine to my days, helping take care of Caleb and Christian, that's what helping me stay sober."

"Having your help is probably helping me stay sober, too," Molly cracks.

The sisters-in-law share a moment of mutual appreciation, but it is cut short by a cry from the stairs:

"Molly!"

At the sound of Brent's voice, Molly is already on her way out of the kitchen. Danielle hurries after her.

"What is it?" Molly asks, as they find Brent sitting on the stairs, gripping his leg.

"I don't think Aleve is going to work on this," he says, gritting his teeth as he rolls up his pant leg. The women gasp at the sight of his lower leg, puffy and discolored.

"Has it been like that since we got home?" Molly wonders frantically. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Danielle dashes back to the kitchen and grabs the car keys. She helps Brent to his feet, or at least to the one foot on which he can put his weight without grimacing.

"Molly, you wait here with the boys," Danielle says. "I'm getting him back to the hospital."

Molly steps aside, watching Brent hobble down the steps. "I'll see if my mom can come over and sit with them. I'll meet you there."

Danielle tries to support her brother's weight as they make their way out of the house and to the car. She feels the need to say something, but everything she can think of leads back to the state of his leg, so she keeps her mouth shut and focuses on getting him to the hospital as quickly as she can.

KING'S BAY METROPOLITAN INN

"Goodness, Mother, I never knew that someone living in a hotel could have this many things," Andy Fitch says as the elevator doors open to the hotel lobby.

"It's hardly as though I've been shacking up at the local Rusty Bucket! I have a lifestyle to maintain, Andrew."

Suitcase in hand, Katherine exits the elevator, and Andy follows, his arms full of her possessions.

"I'm just glad this is the last of it," Andy says.

They make their way toward the hotel entrance, and Katherine looks over the lobby one last time. She never intended for this place to become a long-term residence, but after all the upheaval of the past few years, it has become a comforting presence in her life. It has certainly been more of a home than Nick's house ever was, as much as she tried and tried to feel at ease there. But she knows that she is ready for something more permanent now.

She should have known that her escape would not be so easy, though. She spots Marj, Dar, and Tenille emerging from the hotel's restaurant, and before she can race to the entry, the trio has spotted her, as well.

"Hold on a moment," Katherine tells Andy as she sets her fakest smile upon her face.

The ladies bustle over to her and Andy.

"Hello, Katherine," Tenille says in her trademark husky voice. She places a hand on Andy's arm. "Why didn't you tell us your son was back in town?"

"That would have been much easier if you hadn't stopped taking my calls months ago," Katherine fires back, though she maintains her cool impeccably.

"Hi, ladies," Andy greets them. His eyes never stop darting from one to the next, as if he expects them to pounce on him at any moment.

Knowing these three, that wouldn't be such a surprise, Katherine thinks.

Marj takes in the suitcases and various other belongings in their arms. "Finally moving out, are you? Don't tell me you found some other rich old fool to put you up."

"Let's hope this one isn't out to steal all your money," Dar interjects. As usual, her lips are a little too loose, her eyes a little too glassy. Katherine would expect nothing less.

Katherine keeps her smile strong and pleasant as she shakes her head. "No, no. I'm actually leaving King's Bay. I've decided to join Andrew in Seattle."

That elicits a flurry of gasps from her three former cronies.

"We saw on the news what that appalling Nick did down at the pier," Tenille says.

"That restaurant always looked like a real dump! No big loss," Dar adds.

Marj smacks Dar on the shoulder.

"You'll have to excuse her," Marj says. "She's been generously befriending martinis all evening."

Tenille looks Katherine in the eye. "We are glad to see that you're all right. Being held hostage with all those bombs and things--that must have given you a real scare!"

"It was certainly no jaunt to Paris, but I'll be fine. There are too many wonderful things in this world for me to spend time trapped in the past," Katherine says. "Now if you'll excuse us, ladies, Andrew and I should really be going."

"You have a nice life in Seattle, darling," Marj says, offering a wave.

Katherine picks up her suitcase. "I fully intend to."

With that, she takes the lead and heads for the door. Andy falls into step behind her. As they walk away, Katherine hears Tenille's unmistakably deep voice:

"She might have gotten herself into some messes, but that Katherine always was the toughest old broad I knew."

The slightest shadow of a smile touches Katherine's lips, and it lingers there as she and Andy exit the hotel. They load the rest of her things into the waiting car's stuffed backseat, and then Katherine pauses to breathe in the night air of King's Bay one last time before she gets into the car.

Andy starts the engine. "Are you all ready, Mother?"

"Absolutely." She rolls down her window as they pull out of the hotel's circular drive. "Goodbye, King's Bay, you wonderful, wacky town!"

"Mother, I'm not sure anything that's happened to you here was particularly wonderful or wacky."

"Oh, Andrew. Shut up and let me have my moment."

Andy just laughs and continues driving. Katherine feels a faint mist in her eyes, but a smile remains fixed on her face. She stares at the hotel's bright lights in the rearview mirror as the car carries them out of King's Bay.

END OF EPISODE #454

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