Gabi ran into Philip and they talked about the good time they had. She said they couldn’t let HR find out what they did. He said it wouldn’t matter if he quit. Philip said he had enough of Xander, but he didn’t want to leave her or the other employees in a lurch. Gabi advised him to do what made him happy, but he shouldn’t do anything rash. Xander went to Marlena’s for his anger management session. He told her that he wanted to be a hero in Victoria’s eyes. Xander said no one looked at him like the way Victoria did. He said Sarah used to look at him like that but she didn’t any more. Xander said he was nothing but a thug who wore expensive suits and ran a corporation. He said he spent most of his life doing Victor’s bidding, Marlena reminded him that Victor was no longer here so Xander could be who he wanted. Xander didn’t believe it was possible because certain people made him want to beat them up. He said he expected it from Philip but not Sarah. While Xander was talking to Marlena, he told her about Philip’s forged letter. He also told her that Sarah knew about it and didn’t tell him. Xander said Philip’s presence reminded him of the pain between him and Sarah. While Gabi was in her kitchen, she listened to Xander and Philip’s conversation through the listening device. Xander told Philip that Marlena knows the truth about him using a forged letter to get the company. Gabi was shocked when she heard it.
Cat helps Aaron finish packing to move in to the dorms. Aaron jokes that he’s excited to spend all his money on textbooks and ramen noodles. Cat encourages that he might learn things and meet new friend. Aaron admits he’s excited to be living with Tate. Cat encourages that he deserves some fun after all he sacrificed for their mom. Aaron talks about how Cat is going to have to making the rounds visiting him at the dorms, visiting their mom, and visiting their brother Mark in prison. Cat responds that hopefully Mark will be getting out soon and the whole family will be back together.
Brady goes home and asks Tate how it went with Sophia. Tate says she surprisingly said yes to giving him the adoption papers and will bring it to work today. Brady says that’s good that she didn’t up a fight. Tate wonders if it’s possible that they are wrong and she’s not hiding anything. Brady asks how that could be when she gave him the stock photo. Tate agrees, questioning why she would do that if she had nothing to hide. Brady instructs Tate to get the papers and says he’ll take it from there.
Holly finishes packing for college at the Kiriakis Mansion. Maggie can’t believe she’s off to college and asks how she’s feeling. Holly says she’s excited and nervous but will only be a couple miles away. Maggie points out that she could come home every other weekend and encourages her to study hard. Maggie tells Holly that college will be a wonderful adventure for her.
Marlena is at the bookstore, picking up a book.
Xander works in his office at Titan-DiMera.
Gabi sits at home, listening in from her recording device that she planted on Xander’s desk.
Philip enters the office and tells Xander that he needs to talk to him. Xander says not now as he has an appointment but Philip says too bad because this is important. Xander says his appointment is important too. Philip demands Xander show him respect and listen to what he has to say.
Gabi listens in on Xander and Philip’s conversation until Arianna walks in and questions who she’s talking to.
Holly finishes a video chat with Nicole, promising to send pictures and videos when she gets to college. Maggie is still amazed that she can talk to Nicole and see her across the ocean with just the push of a button. Holly says she misses Nicole. Maggie says she will miss Holly too. Maggie says that Holly going off on this new adventure is inspiring her to do the same. Maggie isn’t sure what that adventure is but it has to be something to keep her on her toes. Maggie repeats that she will miss her so much as they hug.
Cat tells Aaron that the car is all packed and he’s ready to embark on his new life adventure. Aaron jokes that she sounds just like their mom. Cat says she’s super honored to be able to do this with him. Aaron thanks her and calls her the best. Aaron adds that he’s so glad she’s finally settling in and seems happy. Aaron thinks he knows why since Felicity told him that she’s in love with Chad DiMera. Aaron thinks he saw some sparks flying too but Cat says he’s imagining things and that she and Chad are just friends.
Marlena hugs Tate as he talks about how he will still come visit. Brady mentions that he will bring Rachel by his dorm room when he’s all moved in. Tate decides he should get going. Tate tells Marlena that he loves her and exits with Brady. Marlena sits down and begins to read the book she got at the bookstore titled “Calm the Mind”.
Gabi claims to Arianna that she was listening to a podcast. Arianna asks if it’s anything she’d be interested in. Gabi claims it was just nutrition and eating healthy. Arianna talks about being excited for her dorm room. Gabi tells her that she’s so proud of her and gets emotional. Gabi talks about learning so much at Salem U. Arianna says they should get going.
Philip is tired of Xander treating him like the enemy when they agreed to peacefully co-exist but he’s been nothing but nasty to him 24/7. Xander complains that Philip is so annoying. Philip argues that he’s trying to make this work while Xander says he’s driving him insane. Xander asks if he wants him to pretend everything is fine between them when it isn’t and never will be. Philip warns him to dial it down before their employees hear them. Philip asks what the hell happened to anger management therapy. Xander says that’s where he’s trying to get to if Philip would get out of his way. Xander then storms out of the office.
Gabi brings Arianna to her dorm room where Maggie and Holly are inside. Arianna and Holly excitedly hug while Gabi jokes about the room being small. Holly says she can’t believe this is finally happening. Arianna sees she was sent a plant from Will and Sonny. Holly takes Arianna to see the lounge down the hall. Gabi jokes to Maggie that she will set it all up and Arianna will change everything. Maggie informs Gabi that she’s throwing a birthday party for JJ and that she will invite Arianna but she’ll probably be too busy here to come. Maggie adds that Gabi is still more than welcome. Gabi thanks her but says it would probably be awkward since her and JJ aren’t dating anymore, plus Julie being there. Maggie tries to say Julie will be nice but Gabi disagrees. Gabi remarks that at least Julie found someone else to hate besides her, in Cat Green.
Brady helps Tate carry his boxes in to his new dorm room. Aaron arrives behind and greets them. Cat then comes in with some of Aaron’s boxes. Tate and Aaron go to get more of their boxes. Cat asks Brady how Marlena is.
Xander goes to see Marlena. She apologizes for not seeing him at her office but she’s taking a leave of absence and is only seeing a few private patients, but assures this is a very safe and secure environment. Xander says he’s very glad to have made the cut. Marlena responds that she would like to help him. Marlena asks what he thinks is going on. Xander admits he’s there because Sarah forced him to as it’s the only way he can keep custody of his daughter. Marlena thought Xander agreed with Sarah that he needed some anger management. Xander explains that tomorrow is Victoria’s 2nd birthday and while he’s been trying to get ready to celebrate, his lasting memory of her birthday last year is him losing control which he never wants to happen again.
Holly says she and Arianna will get everything set up. Gabi tells Arianna that she’s going to miss her so much. Holly hugs Maggie and thanks her for everything. Maggie feels she didn’t do that much but Holly says she’s been an amazing grandmother and substitute mother, so she doesn’t know what she’d do without her love and support. Maggie feels she’s been the lucky one since the day Holly was born. Maggie promises to always be there for her as they hug. Gabi says to send pictures of the room when they are done as she and Maggie then exit.
Brady tells Cat that Marlena is doing as well as can be expected after a rough couple months. Cat sends her best. Brady hopes her leave of absence didn’t cost her a job. Cat says it’s fine and she understands that Marlena needed time after losing John. Cat adds that she will forever be in debt to John for what he did for her mother. Brady mentions hearing that her mother was being transferred to a facility near Salem. Cat confirms that and says everything is moving in a good direction. Brady asks how Cat is doing. Cat says she’s good and reveals she got another job at the hospital working for EJ. Brady admits he’s not a fan of EJ and asks her to tell him if he gives her any trouble since he’s on the board. Cat says she appreciates that.
Xander tells Marlena that Victoria is his heart, soul, and everything. Xander says Victoria sees him as a loving and caring hero, so that’s what he wants to be for her. Xander adds that no one looks at him like she does, though Sarah used to. Marlena asks how they see him now. Xander says how he sees himself as a thug. Marlena points out that he’s running a global corporation. Xander says he may wear expensive suits and sit in the executive suite, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was Victor’s enforcer for most of his life and he was very good at his job. Marlena asks how he felt about doing that. Xander says that didn’t matter as he wanted to prove he was a true Kiriakis, worthy of Victor’s approval and that was the only way available to him. Xander says in that line of work, what you do becomes who you are so he couldn’t just shake it off and become a different person. Marlena states that Victor is gone, so he can be whoever he wants to be but Xander doesn’t think that’s possible.
Tate and Aaron begin to unpack their boxes. Brady and Cat offer to help and joke about making sure to change their sheets. Brady and Cat hug Tate and Aaron. Brady tells Tate he loves him. Cat tells Aaron to call if he needs anything. Aaron thanks her for helping him. Brady and Cat then exit. Aaron and Tate start talking about plans but Tate first wants to go check in with Holly.
Arianna and Holly talk about being glad to be out of their family homes and in to their own place. Holly mentions that Tate’s going to come check out their room at some point. Arianna then gets a text from Sophia and mentions that Sophia hadn’t made up her mind about living in the dorms. Arianna notes that she can’t imagine Sophia’s mom letting her live on campus. Holly admits that she hopes not and complains that Sophia is stalking Tate as she’s working at the Pub with him and just signed up for the same film class as him. Arianna suggests Holly sign up for the class too which Holly admits Tate suggested too. Holly then opens her laptop and decides to sign up for the film class.
Philip runs in to Gabi in the town square and asks if she’s headed to the office. Gabi says she had to drop her daughter off at Salem U so she’s working remotely today. Philip calls it huge that Arianna is starting college. Gabi talks about being happy that she’s still so close, but she knows she has to back up and let her live her own life. Philip points out that Gabi has to live her life too which Gabi says she did the other night with Philip. They agree they had a really good time. Gabi adds that they just have to make sure HR never finds out. Philip then remarks that it wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t her boss anymore if he quit Titan.
Marlena encourages Xander that anybody can change and that Victor is gone so he can no longer dictate who he is. Xander remarks that no one is ever free of Victor Kiriakis, especially not his son, so what he was is in his DNA. Xander states that anytime someone sets him off, his first instinct is to turn them in to oblivion. Marlena asks for an example of what triggers him. Xander lists lying, scheming, and cheating. Marlena asks who has done that. Xander says Philip and Sarah. Xander says Philip is to be expected but he loved Sarah with all his heart and she betrayed him with a huge lie by not sharing something with him that was life changing because she didn’t trust him. Xander doesn’t think he could ever get past that.
Tate goes to visit Holly in her dorm and kisses her. Arianna decides to go to the bookstore and exits. Tate and Holly think they are going to like college as they continue kissing.
Gabi questions Philip quitting Titan. Philip responds that he’s seriously thinking about it. Gabi doesn’t understand since his father left him half the company. Philip complains that Xander is being a total jerk and it’s getting to the point where he’s had enough. Philip declares that he doesn’t want to leave Gabi and the other employees in the lurch. Gabi says that’s sweet but assures they’ll be fine and that he should do what’s best for him. Gabi asks him to just promise not to do anything rash.
Marlena asks Xander about the secret that Sarah kept from him. Xander responds that it was life changing. Marlena asks if he wants to talk about it. Xander confirms that whatever he says is confidential and stays between them. Marlena says that’s unless she thinks he’s a danger to himself or others. Xander says it’s hard for him to say. Marlena tells him to take his time. Xander then reveals to Marlena that the letter Philip used to claim half of Victor’s estate was a forgery and Vivian Alamain wrote it, Sarah found out and chose to keep him in the dark, allowing Philip to play him for a fool and now he’s stuck with him. Marlena questions why he didn’t fire Philip immediately. Xander explains that it would jeopardize the DiMera takeover which is too big of a risk, so they have to play nice. Marlena sees why he’s caring around so much anger then. Xander admits it’s pushing him to the edge because every time he sees Philip, he’s reminded of the profound pain inflicted upon him and the intense rage inside of him brought on by Philip and Sarah.
Tate and Holly kiss in bed in her dorm. Tate comments on how quickly they got the place decorated. Tate jokes that they won’t have anyone walking in on them as they continue kissing.
Aaron comes out of his dorm and runs in to Arianna, reminding her that they met at senior night. Arianna asks if he’s all moved in. Aaron confirms that they just finished unpacking and invites her in. Arianna agrees to come in for a bit since she can’t go back to her room right now since Tate and Holly are getting busy. Aaron invites Arianna to play his Nintendo Switch which she accepts and comes in.
Cat returns home and finds flowers at her door with a card that says “Looking forward to another round or two, of mini golf”
Brady goes home and tells Marlena that Tate is all settled in. Brady says he just wants him to have a good year after everything he’s been through. Brady asks if Marlena is okay. Marlena responds that she’s not as she just saw a patient and sometimes the burden of keeping other people’s secrets is just too much…
Xander returns to the office where Philip is inside. Philip asks how his session with Marlena went. Xander says it was fine and that they talked about what happened.
Gabi listens in to Xander and Philip’s conversation from home on her recording device.
Xander tells Philip that it was about what happened between them which Philip says is what he wanted to talk to him about earlier. Philip thought eventually they’d be able to get past all of it, but now he’s not so sure.
Gabi urges them to keep talking as she listens in.
Xander questions Philip not being sure they can get past it and suggests he should’ve thought of that before claiming Victor left him half of his company, using a letter that was forged.
Gabi is excitedly shocked by hearing the truth through her recording device.
Kai and Trina decide to burn the file Drew had with the evidence against Portia.
Stella arrives looking for Curtis.
Anna calls Kai and tells him that Drew had been shot. Anna asks Kai to go to the hospital because she has some questions for him.
Tracy tells Michael that she saw him sitting in his car outside Drew’s house. Tracy advises Michael to find an alibi and she assures him she won’t tell anyone that she saw him at Drew’s house.
Anna questions Willow who tells her she took a break from her shift to take a walk.
Nina lies to Anna and tells her she took a walk with Willow. Dante goes to Alexis’s house to question her. Alexis tells Dante that she won’t talk to him without a lawyer.
Alexis asks Kristina to be her alibi.
Lucas and Portia take the bullets out of Drew’s back although Drew has a hemorrhage and codes once Portia stops the bleeding and saves Drew’s life. Lucas tells Willow that Drew is in critical condition but he is expected to recover.
Lily once again asks Cane what his plans are in Genoa City. Cane tells Lily that he plans to get back his family. Phyllis interrupts Cane and Lily’s conversation and tells Cane that she thought he was putting his plans on hold for a while not stop them. Lily thinks Cane is lying to her again and leaves angry with Cane.
Victor talks to Victoria, Nick, and Adam at the ranch. Victor tells Victoria, Nick, and Adam that he has proof that Colin conned a woman out of her money and used the money to start Arabesque. Victor also tells Victor, Nick, and Victoria about Cane’s AI program that he intends to use the program to take over all the companies in Genoa City. Victor wants to force Cane to give him control of the program.
Michael tells Victor that Cane offered him a job and Victor wants Michael to take it and tell him all of Cane’s plans.
Chad tells Cat that the other day, she asked if she kissed him but he said she was dreaming and he thought she should know it wasn’t a dream. Cat can’t believe it and says she’s so sorry as she was delirious and sick. Chad says it just wasn’t how he imagined kissing her for the first time for real as they then kiss. Chad says that was as they continue kissing.
Javi brings Tesoro to the Brady Pub and runs in to Steve. Javi mentions Leo buying Tesoro’s outfit as Steve comments that it looks like they are taking good care of him. Javi tells Steve that he really needs to thank him since the day Tesoro was dropped off at the fire station, he was ready to give him to foster care until Steve shared his experience with him and he got the idea that his family could take him in. Steve says he’s glad it al worked out. Javi says he is too as he’s starting to wonder what they’d do without Tesoro.
Sophia goes to see Melinda in her office and asks what was so urgent. Melinda reveals that she went to see Patsy McGowan right after Brady did which shocks Sophia.
Tate reveals to Brady that the picture in the frame is a photo of his baby with the adoptive parents. Brady is shocked as he reveals to Tate that it’s just the picture that came with the frame, leaving Tate confused. Tate questions why Sophia would give him a fake photo. Brady says he doesn’t know but it’s the latest in a growing list of details about his baby’s adoption that just doesn’t add up.
Marlena goes to sleep and has nightmares about her time as Stefano’s Queen of the Night. In her sleep, she says “no, this isn’t right.” She says she doesn’t want to be his queen and doesn’t want to be separated from her children again.
Tate still can’t believe Sophia would give him a fake photo. Brady says too many things about his baby’s adoption feels way off. Brady goes over Sophia going to Chicago to meet the adoptive parents but then she just happens to go in to labor right then and there. Tate mentions not even getting a chance to meet her. Brady then reveals that he’s not sure his baby is a “her”.
Sophia questions what Brady was doing there and begins to panic that she gave Tate the lawyer’s name when she was actually planning on using her, so he must have given it to Brady. Melinda tells her to take it easy because Patsy stuck to their story.
Brady tells Tate about how Sophia referred to the baby as “him” and said she just misspoke. Tate agrees that it’s weird. Brady brings up Sarah being very surprised that the baby was a girl and when he asked her about it, she again looked uncomfortable. Tate argues that he has a right to know the truth and wants to go find Sarah. Brady reminds him that Sarah can’t violate the confidentiality as Sophia’s doctor, but admits he feels like Sarah was hiding something. Tate complains that he needs to know what happened to his baby.
Steve tells Javi that Tesoro is really lucky to be in such a loving home and repeats that he’s happy that everything worked out well. Javi brings up that Tesoro will be available for adoption soon, but he doesn’t think he’s ready to say goodbye.
Chad and Cat kiss until Rachel runs up and interrupts them. They try to explain that Cat was helping Chad with his swing. Rachel asks Chad if they can go home and says she’s not having fun since she’s terrible at golf too. Chad agrees to get the kids home before tomorrow’s first day of school. Chad and Cat decide that Rachel must not have seen them kissing. Cat then goes to check on Aaron and Felicity.
Steve tells Javi that he doesn’t usually give unsolicited advice, but maybe his reluctance to give Tesoro up is a sign that he’s meant to be with him permanently. Steve says Javi obviously loves him and seems heartbroken at the thought of giving him up. Javi says there are so many families who will want him. Steve brings up his experience in the system and says foster families get priority when it comes to adoption.
Sophia tells Melinda that besides them and Patsy, the only other person who knows her baby is a boy is Sarah who said she’s bound to confidentiality. Melinda questions how else Brady could’ve found out. Sophia admits she slipped up and referred to the baby as him. Melinda asks what she was doing talking to Brady about it in the first place. Sophia explains that she ran in to him in the Pub and he brought it up, but it’s fine because she covered for it. Melinda says not good enough since Brady’s still sniffing around and asked Patsy for a copy of the adoption papers. Melinda assures that Patsy turned him down but Tate might ask her. Sophia asks what she’s supposed to do if he does. Melinda says she will get her a copy to give to him which will say the baby is female and leave out the adoptive parents’ name. Sophia points out that Tate wanted an open adoption while Melinda says she will say they only agreed to a semi-open adoption which would keep their names private and any communication would be done through a third party. Sophia worries that Tate said he was letting it go but she knows he was still sad about losing the baby and now he’s going to lose his mind.
Tate repeats that he wants the truth. Brady says he wants that too, so he went to Steve for help. Tate realizes this is why Brady asked for the name of the adoption lawyer. Brady explains that he didn’t want to worry him for no reason if there was nothing to his suspicions. Tate says he’s now worried and asks what Steve said they should do. Brady says they need to get a copy of the adoption papers, so he went to the attorney but he got shut down pretty badly, so he asks if Tate can get a copy from Sophia without raising her suspicions. Tate agrees to try while Brady says he will take the stock photo to Steve. Brady warns Tate not to let on that he knows the picture is fake so they don’t give Sophia room to cover her tracks again. Brady promises they are going to figure this out as he exits.
Marlena wakes up in a panic before realizing it was just a dream. Marlena then screams, causing Tate to run in to her room and find that Rachel’s snake got in to Marlena’s bed.
Chad goes back to Cat’s apartment with her and says everyone is accounted for as Aaron and Felicity went for pizza and they dropped off Thomas and Rachel back at their homes. Cat asks if Chad is sure that Rachel didn’t see them kissing. Chad insists that if she did, they never would’ve heard the end of it but if she showed up a few seconds earlier, it would’ve been a close call. They agree that they should be more careful. Cat remarks that she can tell Chad would’ve hated it if Rachel saw them kissing which she guesses is because Chad feels like it was a mistake.
Tate apologizes to Marlena, guessing he didn’t put the lid on the aquarium tight enough after the snake escaped this morning and says he’ll talk to Brady about getting him a more secure home and keeping Rachel’s door closed. Tate asks if everything else is okay since she seems pretty shaken up. Marlena guesses it was just a bad dream. Tate asks what it was about but Marlena claims not to remember. Tate promises she won’t get any more visits from the snake and says to let him know if she needs anything as he exits.
Brady goes back to Steve and shows him the photo that Sophia claimed to be of the adoptive parents along with the photo from the picture frame Marlena bought. Steve uses it to do a reverse image search and confirms that Sophia got the image online from a stock website. Brady questions why Sophia would give Tate a fake picture which Steve calls a damn good question.
Sophia complains that Melinda is the one who told her to lie about the baby being a girl. Melinda asks how she was supposed to know that her doctor and Tate’s dad were best friends. Sophia panics while Melinda tells her to calm down. Sophia worries that Brady won’t stop until he finds out the truth and then her mom will force her to take the baby back which she can’t. Melinda encourages her to stop and breathe but Sophia declares it’s over because when Tate finds out what she did, he’s going to hate her forever.
Cat guesses she has her answer. Chad doesn’t think she understands. Cat says she asked if Chad regretted kissing her and he couldn’t even respond which means he does. Chad clarifies that if he regrets anything, it’s not admitting how he felt about her sooner. Chad says after he found out she was pretending to be Abigail, he thought his feelings were just residual confusion because he wanted to believe she was his wife. Chad talks about finding out she did what she did because she was under enormous pressure to save her mother. Chad talks about forgiving her, becoming friends with her, and admits he started caring about her as more than a friend. Chad jokes that now she’s not saying anything. Cat admits she felt the same way he did and she thought after pretending to be Abigail, her feelings would go away but they didn’t and only got stronger. They comment on their hearts both beating fast. Cat asks where they go from here and if he’s able to get past everything to give this a try.
Rachel joins Marlena in her room. Rachel tells her that Tate told her about her snake getting out and waking her up.
Melinda assures Sophia that Tate and Brady don’t know anything and aren’t going to as long as they continue to cover their tracks. Sophia cries that she’s scared and doesn’t think she can do this anymore. Melinda reminds her that she’s not alone and they are still in this together. Sophia apologizes for blaming her when she’s done nothing but help her. Melinda tells Sophia that she can show her gratitude by living her best life. Melinda talks about people trying to make decisions for her and take away her rights to control her future, but she didn’t let them. Melinda encourages Sophia for staying strong and making the right decision for her and her baby. Melinda says she will never stop supporting that and tells her not to stop believing that she did the right thing. Sophia admits she needed to hear that. Melinda tells her that everything will be okay as she will start college and her baby will be placed for adoption where there are a lot of interested families. Sophia asks if she doesn’t get to know who gets the baby which Melinda confirms. Sophia admits it’s been nice knowing where he is and that he’s been with a loving family. Melinda reminds Sophia of how panicked and worried she gets when running in to Leo and Javi while now her mother and Tate have also seen him. Sophia knows adoption is for the best, but cries that it’s really hard. There’s a knock at the office door so Sophia asks who that is. Melinda responds that it’s just a delivery she’s expecting. Melinda answers the door and it’s Javi with Tesoro, leaving Sophia shocked.
Brady complains to Steve that this is his grandchild they are talking about. Steve assures they are not giving up. Brady hopes Tate can get Sophia to hand over the adoption papers. Steve says she’s obviously hiding something so she’ll probably turn him down. Brady asks what to do next. Steve tells him about running all this by Kayla since she treated Sophia early in her pregnancy and she couldn’t break confidentiality but she did review Sophia’s records and when he asked if they should stop looking in to this, Kayla didn’t say no, so that makes him think they are right to look in to it. Brady concludes that Sophia not only lied about who she gave the baby to but also the sex of the baby and questions why she wouldn’t want Tate to know that. Steve guesses she was trying to throw him off the scent in case the baby stayed local. Steve mentions running in to Javi, who came in with the baby that was brought in to the fire house. Brady questions what he’s thinking.
Marlena asks Rachel how things are going in therapy. Rachel says pretty good and they’ve talked a lot about her mom. Rachel adds that kids at school might say stuff about Kristen shooting EJ and her therapist told her to say that her mom made a mistake, broke the law, but they still love each other. Marlena calls that taking the high road and praises Rachel having courage and strength which Rachel says is just like her as Marlena hugs her.
Javi comes in and greets Sophia. Sophia thanks Melinda for the advice and says she has to run as she quickly hurries out of the office. Javi introduces himself to Melinda, who says they must have ran in to each other when they both worked at DiMera. Javi jokes that he’s trying to block that out. Melinda asks how she can help him. Javi apologizes for showing up without an appointment but says he really needs an adoption attorney and when he looked online, her name came up first. Javi introduces Melinda to Tesoro, explaining that his family has been fostering him since her mother gave him up at the fire station. Melinda mentions reading about that and seeing his picture. Melinda comments that Javi’s really been giving him a gift. Javi responds that he’s the one that has been given a gift and he’s not ready to part with that gift. Melinda asks what he means. Javi explains that he’s exploring an idea and wants to know if it’s even possible. Javi asks Melinda what the chances are that he and Leo could adopt Tesoro and raise him right here in Salem.
Brady tells Steve that Sophia was panicked when Johnny and Chanel backed out of the adoption and she was very afraid that her mother would force her to keep the baby if they didn’t find adoptive parents before the birth. Steve wonders if it’s possible that Sophia gave birth in Salem and not Chicago. Brady says they know it wasn’t at University Hospital. Steve points out that there are several clinics. Brady asks when the baby was born and found at the firehouse. Steve recalls it was the night before the 4th of July because he was at the hospital with Kayla when Javi brought him in. Brady declares that couldn’t have been his grandchild then because he saw Sophia around that time and she was still pregnant.
Sophia runs in to Tate in the town square. Tate says they need to talk but Sophia says she doesn’t have time right now. Tate tells her to make time so Sophia asks what he wants. Tate responds that he wants a copy of their baby’s adoption papers.
Cat asks Chad if they are taking turns now. Chad says he keeps telling himself that he shouldn’t consider how Abigail’s family would react to them becoming more than friends, but admits it really weighs on him since he cares about them a lot and they’ve been through hell from losing their daughter in such a horrible way. Chad is struggling with how he could ever make them understand. Cat knows they will never see her as anything other than the woman who conned him in to believing his wife had returned. Cat declares that she understands it’s not in the cards for them.
Marlena asks Rachel how mini golf was. Rachel guesses it was okay except for Thomas bragging about how much better he is at it than her. Rachel then reveals she did see something she wasn’t supposed to and admits she saw Chad kissing Cat.
Melinda questions Javi wanting to adopt a baby with Leo, bringing up Leo’s rap sheet. Javi insists that Leo has changed and worked so hard to be a better person, adding that he’s amazing with Tesoro. Melinda questions if they are legally partners. Javi says they haven’t made it official yet but they are living together and everyone adores Tesoro. Javi adds that Rafe is the foster parent on record but he and Leo have been his primary caretakers. Melinda wishes she could be more optimistic but says the odds of he and Leo getting approved are slim to none. Melinda suggests Javi could adopt as a single father where he’d be subjected to a thorough background check, so she assumes that wouldn’t be a problem but Javi informs her that it might be. Melinda asks why that is. Javi then reveals that he had a child who died.
Sophia tells Tate that she’ll get him a copy of the adoption papers which surprises him as he expected her to argue against it. Sophia declares that she’s done fighting so if giving him the papers will put an end to all the questions, she’s glad to do that. Tate thanks her and says he really appreciates it. Sophia says she’ll bring it to work tomorrow so they agree to see each other then as Tate walks away.
Melinda tells Javi that she is so sorry as she lost a child too so her heart goes out to him. Melinda says she didn’t mean to pry. Javi asks if that would be a dealbreaker in terms of him adopting Tesoro. Melinda responds that it shouldn’t be, but they will do a thorough investigation in to the child’s death which upsets Javi, who thanks Melinda for her time and quickly exits with Tesoro.
Steve tells Brady that now that they’ve ruled out that the baby is with Javi and Leo, they need to get a copy of the adoption papers to get all the answers they need about the adoptive parents and the sex of the baby. Brady adds that there’s one more thing he should mention as a couple weeks ago, he sent a gift to the baby and Tate included a letter, asking to visit his baby, to a PO box in Chicago that the adoption attorney set up because the parents were not willing to disclose their home address. Steve asks if Tate heard back. Brady says they e-mailed and turned him down. Steve decides he’ll check out the e-mail. Brady feels bad for Tate as that e-mail hit him hard. Brady says Tate was handling the whole thing with compassion and maturity but then he finds out Sophia has been lying to him this whole time. Brady argues that Tate deserves to know what happened to his child. Steve assures that he will. Brady feels he should’ve done more as he feels like he failed his son. Steve encourages that Brady is doing everything he can to get to the truth. Steve assures that he’s got his back and he’s here for him, just like John would be.
Marlena tells Rachel that it’s really none of their business who Chad decides to spend his time with, so if she happens to notice Chad having a private moment with somebody, they need to stay quiet about it which Rachel promises to do. Rachel gives her word that no one will hear from her about Chad and Cat kissing.
Cat thanks Chad for the golf outing and imagines he needs to be getting home now, so she opens the door for him to leave but Chad shuts the door and says he has more to say. Chad tells her that after he lost his wife, he swore he would never fall for anyone else ever again because he convinced himself it would be a betrayal or cheating on Abigail. Chad thought he would never feel a strong connection with anyone else ever again. Cat asks why he’s telling her all of this. Chad says because he feels a strong connection with her. Chad admits he comes with a lot of baggage and he’ll have to be really cautious because of his kids, his in-laws, and Julie, so he just wants her to know that’s something they will have to think about. Chad declares that right now in this moment, he doesn’t want to think about anything as he kisses Cat.
Britt goes to the room where Josslyn and Vaughn are. Josslyn tells Britt that she and Vaughn are WSB agents. Josslyn asks Britt to help her and Vaughn get out of the resort and come with them. Britt tells Josslyn and Vaughn that she can’t leave with them and that they will need to find their own way out of the resort. Britt leaves a pair of manicure scissors in the room for Josslyn and Vaughn to use to help themselves.
Britt calls Jason on the burner phone he gave her to tell him that he has to come back to help Josslyn and Vaughn. The reception isn’t very good and the call keeps cutting out and Jason can’t understand what Britt is telling him.
Kai and Trina are hiding in Drew’s room and, with the door closed, they only hear the gunshots but don’t see who shot Drew. Once Kai hears the shooter leave the house, he and Trina come out of Drew’s room and see Drew bleeding on the floor. Trina feels for a pulse and finds one.She wants to call 911. Kai hears a car coming and tells Trina they need to leave out of the back door. Kai sees Drew’s safe is open and finds the file with the evidence against Portia and takes the file before he leaves the house.
Tracy arrives and calls 911. Drew is taken to the hospital.
Lucas and Elizabeth work on Drew. Lucas tells Willow that they have to rush Drew to surgery. Lucas also tells Willow that Drew could be paralyzed, but if they get him into surgery, they could save his mobility. Anna and Chase begin to put together a long suspect list in Drew’s shooting.
Audra arrives at Society and sees Claire having drinks with Holden and starts taunting Claire about Kyle. Claire tells Audra to go away but Audra continues to tell Claire about her time in Nice with Kyle. Claire calls Audra a selfish vicious b word and Holden holds Audra back so Audra doesn’t slap Claire.
Holden takes Claire to Crimson Lights to get coffee. Claire asks Holden to tell her what happened in Los Angeles with Audra so she can have something to make Audra leave her alone. Holden doesn’t want to tell her what happened in Los Angeles. Claire apologizes to Holden for putting him on the spot.
Cane asks Michael to be his Fixer but Michael tells him he has retired. Cane shows Michael what his salary would be and Michael still refuses the job. Michael wants to know what Cane needs fixed but Cane doesn’t want to tell him the problem until he decides to take the job.
Nikki surprises Victor with a romantic evening showing him how special he is to her.
Cat returns home with Felicity and Aaron from getting their mom in an assisted living facility near Salem. They talk about being glad Aaron is back since they missed each other and being happy that their mom was well enough to come back to Salem.
Chad walks through the town square with Thomas and asks if they are all set for school. Thomas says if they forget something, they can always come back. Thomas brings up how Abigail used to buy him an eraser and tell him to erase his fears as it’s going to be a great year. Thomas then tells Chad that he’s worried about something.
Marlena brings Rachel to the Brady Pub where Tate greets them and asks if they had fun at the pool. Marlena informs him that Rachel was feeling too tired to go in the pool. Tate says he has just the thing to wake her up.
Patsy tells Brady that she just got his voicemail and was about to return his call. Brady says he’s sorry for his impatience but he had some pressing questions about an adoption she recently handled because it was his son’s baby. Patsy asks what his son’s name is. Brady tells her Tate Black and Patsy responds by asking who? Brady explains that Tate gave his baby up for adoption about a month ago and says Patsy was the attorney that handled it, but guesses that isn’t true.
Aaron says he’s happy to be home even if it’s not for long since he will be moving in to the Salem U dorms for college tomorrow. Cat tells them their secret fun plan is going to play mini golf and get pizza. They bring up their brother Mark and talk about how much they miss him. Cat notes that Mark’s lawyer called a few days ago and his parole hearing is coming up soon, so he could be back with them sooner than later. They then exit for mini golf.
Chad asks Thomas what’s going on. Thomas says it’s nothing but Chad insists. Thomas talks about thinking it would be cool to have class with Rachel but they got in a big fight today. Chad says he’s sorry to hear and asks what happened. Thomas explains that he told her he’s sorry her mom is going away but that it’s not forever, so he thought he was helping but she got really mad at him instead. Chad he’s sorry and that Rachel is just going through a lot right now. Chad suggests he just be patient with her. Chad says a lot of people in Rachel’s life will be able to help her with her feelings, so he thinks Thomas should keep doing what he’s been doing and being a good friend. Thomas agrees to do his best. Chad then presents him with an eraser and tells him to erase that fear and have a great year. Thomas thanks him and hugs him.
Tate brings Rachel a fudge sundae. Rachel tries some but remains unenthusiastic. Tate says he’s about to get off work and go on a really fun adventure he has planned which Rachel asks about. Tate jokes that she’s probably too tired to go. Rachel says she’s not that tired and excitedly asks Marlena if she can go. Marlena sends her to go wash her hands and says then she can go on the adventure. Marlena tells Tate that he was so good with Rachel. Tate says he loves Rachel and hates that she’s going through this, but he can unfortunately relate to having a parent in prison. Marlena says she’s been worried about Tate since he’s gone through a lot with Sophia’s pregnancy and the adoption, but she’s been watching him and she’s very proud of the way he’s been handling it.
Brady explains to Patsy that Tate never got a chance to meet the attorney that handled the adoption but Sophia told him it was her, so he was wondering if that was the case or not since some things have raised some questions for him. Patsy gets a call and says it isn’t the best time as she’s in a meeting. She says she will call them back when she’s free and hangs up. Brady then tells Patsy that Sophia had told Tate that they went to Chicago because she had lined up adoptive parents there. Patsy responds that she thinks she can explain.
Cat, Aaron, and Felicity go to play mini golf. Cat sends them to get started as Chad and Thomas then arrive.
Tate tells Marlena that he’s not really proud of himself as he feels he really made a mess out of everything but he’s trying hard to get back on the right track. Marlena says he supported Sophia through the pregnancy and did what he could for the baby, so she thinks he should give himself credit. Tate says it’s not about him and says he told the adoptive parents he’d give up on seeing his kid but admits he thinks about his kid all the time. Tate says he keeps telling himself that she’s where she needs to be, being taken care of with a good life. Marlena agrees and says what he’s going through is completely normal. Marlena encourages that one day, he will be a magnificent father.
Patsy tells Brady that she didn’t recognize Tate’s name earlier since he’s not her client and she never actually met him, but it’s coming back to her now as she identifies Sophia Choi as the mother. Patsy confirms that she was able to connect Sophia to the adoptive parents who are lovely people and have been waiting years to have a baby. Brady notes that Tate was very upset that he was unable to meet the parents or the baby. Patsy asks if Tate reached out to the parents since she did give Sophia an address. Brady responds that they unfortunately refused Tate’s request to visit the baby. Patsy calls that not unusual and says she’s sure Tate has good intentions, but there’s always the fear he could change his mind about the adoption. Brady understands the worry but calls it very disappointing. Patsy says these situations are very fraught and often heartbreaking. Patsy adds that she has a meeting in a few minutes and asks if there’s something else she can help him with. Brady then asks Patsy if the baby was a boy or a girl. Patsy responds that the baby was a girl as she’s sure he was told. Brady says he just wanted to verify and make sure the facts were clear. Brady adds that Tate didn’t get a copy of the adoption papers, so he hoped maybe that was something she could give him. Patsy says she’s afraid not as she would need her client’s permission before sharing any legal documents with him. Brady guesses that’s it and thanks her for her time. Patsy tells him to feel free to contact her office if he has any more questions as Brady then exits.
Cat greets Chad and Thomas. They talk about mini golf being their back to school tradition. Thomas adds that they invited Charlotte but she had a play date. Cat tells them that she’s with Felicity and Aaron to celebrate Aaron’s homecoming. Chad sends Thomas to find Aaron and Felicity while he stays behind to help Cat find a pencil to keep score.
Brady runs in to Marlena in the town square and sees she’s doing some shopping. Marlena tells him that she got Rachel the glow in the dark sneakers she wanted. Brady thanks her for taking Rachel to the pool and asks how it went and where she is. Marlena tells him that Rachel is at the Pub with Tate. Marlena adds that it didn’t go too well at the pool as Rachel got in to an argument with Thomas and got her feelings hurt, but then Tate swept in to save the day by taking her on an adventure. Brady questions what kind of adventure but Marlena says she doesn’t know as they wouldn’t say. Marlena tells Brady that Tate is so good with Rachel, like Brady. Brady responds that he thinks Tate takes after his grandpa John.
Cat jokes about Chad not having a pencil since he’s a newspaper guy. They talk about how they keep bumping in to each other. Chad says there’s something he wanted to say but Tate and Rachel arrive. Rachel excitedly greets Chad. Chad tells her that Thomas will be so excited to see her. Rachel isn’t so sure since she was mean to him at the pool. Chad says they talked about it and encourages that Thomas is her friend and family sticks together. Rachel says she is going to go tell Thomas that she’s sorry so Tate takes her to go find him. Cat then asks Chad what he wanted to tell her before. Chad says he wanted to apologize for being a jerk about her taking the job with EJ. Cat understands he was worried about her and says it’s fine. Chad says she can take care of herself and if anyone can handle EJ, it’s her.
Melinda Trask meets Patsy in her office. Patsy says she just missed Brady and it was a close call as she didn’t expect him to waltz in so quickly after calling her, but at least they had a chance to get their stories straight. Patsy tells Melinda that Brady seemed to buy it. Melinda thanks her and says she owes her one. Patsy says that Melinda saved her life and she was happy to help Sophia. Melinda says she’ll be relieved to put it all behind her but Patsy worries that they may have another problem
Marlena gives the sneakers for Rachel to Brady along with a picture frame, suggesting putting a picture of Rachel and Kristen in it on her nightstand. Brady agrees that she would love that and calls it extremely thoughtful of her. Brady states that Rachel is lucky to have Marlena in her life, calling her a wonderful Grandmother. Brady says he doesn’t know how they would get through this without her as he hugs her.
Tate and Rachel run into Aaron on the golf course. Tate says he didn’t know Aaron was back in town as they send Rachel to join Thomas and Felicity. Aaron says he was going to call Tate to see if he wanted to meet up. Tate mentions that he’s looking after Rachel today. Aaron says he would ask how his summer was, but he heard it’s been rough. Tate guesses he heard Sophia gave the baby up for adoption and he didn’t even get to see her. Aaron confirms he heard that and he’s not going to pretend he knows what it’s like to have a kid, but not being able to see them is next level rough. Aaron encourages that they are so young and have so much to look forward to in their future. They talk about rooming in the dorms at Salem U, so they are going to enjoy their last day before that.
Cat appreciates Chad’s faith in her. Chad knows she will stand up to EJ if she needs to. Chad says that him snapping earlier was more about him than her as he’s been a little on edge lately because his in-laws are coming in to town for JJ’s birthday and the last time he saw them, they were upset about he and Cat, especially Jennifer. Chad is not sure how he’s going to deal with that. Cat suggests not mentioning her name at any cost and not coming anywhere near him and he’ll be golden. Chad responds that he’s not sure he’d be able to stay away since the universe keeps throwing them in each others’ paths. Chad feels like the universe is trying to tell them something. Aaron comes over and says they are waiting on them, so Cat and Chad go join them on the golf course.
Brady and Marlena go home where Brady looks at the photos of John on the mantle. Marlena notes it’s early but she’s going to pack it in. Brady points out that she didn’t eat dinner and argues that a big lunch wasn’t enough. Brady offers to go to the Pub or get something from the freezer. Marlena complains about frozen rodents being in the freezer. Brady knows she doesn’t like having snakes but appreciates her letting Rachel have him there. Marlena thanks Brady for his concern about her skipping supper but assures she’s fine. Marlena tells Brady that she’s very grateful to have him and Rachel there as it’s a tremendous comfort to her and she loves them both so much. Brady says they love her too and are very grateful for her. Marlena then heads to her bedroom.
Chad and Cat play mini golf. Chad keeps score on his phone but Cat says he doesn’t have to. Chad says Aaron insisted so it’s too late. Cat asks how she’s doing. Chad says that Rachel is the only person not beating him while Cat is beating absolutely everyone. They joke about that, so Cat offers to help Chad with his stance as they get close.
Melinda asks Patsy what the other problem is. Patsy says there’s two problems, first Brady asking for a copy of the adoption papers but she told them that wouldn’t be possible, however he might still try to get it another way. Patsy adds that Brady also asked about the baby’s gender, but she stuck with the story Melinda gave that the baby was a girl. They talk about Brady being suspicious. Melinda thanks her for the heads up and says she’ll figure it out. Melinda adds that she really thought Brady and Tate would’ve let this go by now.
Tate goes home where Brady asks where Rachel is. Tate explains that she was having so much fun with Thomas at mini golf that she basically told him to leave, so Chad will give her a ride home. Brady is glad she’s having fun and appreciates Tate looking after her. Brady then hands Tate the picture frame that Marlena bought. Tate thanks Brady and calls it thoughtful of him. Brady explains that Marlena actually bought it. Tate is touched and calls it sweet, remarking that he didn’t even know she had the picture, confusing Brady, as the frame came with a generic stock photo that happens to be the picture Sophia claimed was the adoptive parents with their baby.
Marlena goes to sleep and has nightmares about her time as Stefano’s Queen of the Night.
Chad tells Cat that the other day, she asked if she kissed him but he said she was dreaming and he thought she should know it wasn’t a dream. Cat can’t believe it and says she’s so sorry as she was delirious and sick. Chad says it just wasn’t how he imagined kissing her for the first time for real as they then kiss. Chad says that was as they continue kissing.
Melinda walks through the town square and calls Sophia, leaving a message that she has to see her right away as it’s important.
Tate reveals to Brady that the picture in the frame is a photo of his baby with the adoptive parents. Brady is shocked as he reveals to Tate that it’s just the picture that came with the frame, leaving Tate confused.
Javi was with Tesoro and gushed about how happy he was to be one of his foster parents. He admitted he wouldn’t be ready to let him go when he gets adopted. Steve suggested that might mean he should adopt him. Sophia rushed to Melinda’s office to let her know that Brady questioned the adoption lawyer. Melinda planned on creating adoption papers for her to give to Tate that state that the baby was a girl and that she was in semi-adoption mode. It protects the identity of the parents. Communication would go through a third party. Melinda assured a scared Sophia that Brady and Tate wouldn’t know anything as long as they covered their tracks. Sophia knew she had to give the baby up for adoption, but it was hard for her since she kept running into him. Javi knocked on Melinda’s door while they were talking. Sophia panicked while Javi and the baby were in Melinda’s office so she made an exit. He talked to Melinda about exploring his options because he and Leo were ready to take on adopting Tesoro. Melinda told him that he would be better off adopting the baby as a single parent. He would have to have a background test, but he didn’t do anything wrong so it wouldn’t be a problem. He admitted to Melinda that he had a child, but the baby died. Melinda was empathetic about it. She didn’t think his secret should be a problem. Melinda warned him that the investigators would check into how the baby died. Javi was afraid of that. With tears in his eyes, Javi left her office.
Tate was upset to find out that the picture of the couple that were going to adopt his came from a casting company. The picture came with the frame and weren’t his daughter’s adoptive parents. Brady told him that he didn’t think his baby was a girl. He advised Tate to ask Sophia to see the adoption papers while he wanted to go to Steve with the fake photos. While he was at the private investigation office, Steve told him that the picture Sophia had was from a website. He also told Brady that Kayla couldn’t reveal much about Sophia, but she warned him to keep investigating. Steve talked to Brady about running into Javi and Tesoro at the pub. Brady wondered if it was possible that Javi could have had Tate’s baby. The timeline didn’t match up so Brady felt like he let his son down. Steve told him that he had his back. He was there for him like his father would have. Tate ran into Sophia, and he asked to see a copy of the adoption papers. She agreed to let him see them. Marlena had another nightmare about being the Queen of the Night. She screamed when she woke up and saw Rachel’s snake in her bed. After getting the snake out of her room, Rachel wanted to talk to her. Rachel told Marlena about the kids bullying her because of her mother. She was excited to tell her some gossip. Rachel saw her Uncle Chad kissing the blonde woman who pretended to be Abby. Marlena said it wasn’t their business, and Rachel agreed not to say anything.
At the hospital, Cat goes to Kayla and says she’s applying for a job at the hospital cafeteria, so she asks if she can use Kayla as a reference. Kayla acknowledges that Cat did excellent work for Marlena and the hospital fundraiser, so she agrees to put in a good word for her. Cat thanks her but Kayla thinks she’s overqualified for that job and asks why she wouldn’t apply for another administrative assistant position. Cat says she would but there aren’t any available. Kayla asks if it has to be at the hospital.
At the Spectator office, Leo complains to Chad about his time on the jury and not even getting to deliver the verdict, saying Kristen stole that moment from him. Chad mocks it being a horrible ordeal for him to sit through his innocent nephew’s trial, but he’s sure Leo is relieved to be home which he confirms. Leo never thought he’d miss being at work so much. Chad says they are happy to have him back as they missed him. Chad then asks Leo to cover Kristen’s sentencing hearing tomorrow. Leo responds that he wouldn’t miss that for the world.
EJ enters the living room of the DiMera Mansion where Gwen comments to him that she’s more shocked by Kristen confessing than her shooting him. Gwen calls Kristen her friend but admits she’s not exactly ethically driven. EJ suggests she just didn’t want her nephew to take the fall for something she did as no one is immune to having a moral breaking point. Gwen brings up Leo saying that the jury’s verdict was going to be not guilty so Kristen confessed in vain for no reason and now she’ll probably spend decades away from her daughter. Gwen says her heart goes out to Rachel.
Brady reads the article on Kristen on his tablet at home until Tate returns home from a run. Tate asks if the trip to the pet store lifted Rachel’s spirits. Brady says no and that she perked up a little when she saw Sarah but other than that, she’s been subdued. Brady adds that Rachel is now at the pool with Marlena, hoping time with her will lift her spirits. Tate wishes there was something he could do to help and mentions offering her his Playstation but she barely reacted. Brady calls him a good brother. Tate asks if he shouldn’t live at the dorms in case Rachel needs him but Brady wants him to have the full college experience and come home on weekends and holidays. Tate agrees and says he’ll bring Holly over since she and Rachel got close while living at the DiMera Mansion. Tate then tells Brady about what happened earlier and that Holly doesn’t like snakes.
Holly goes to the Brady Pub where Sophia is working. Sophia asks where Tate is, but Holly says it’s just her this time and she wants a word with her in private. Sophia tells her that she’s working here which Holly says is a problem. Sophia sits with her and questions why she has a problem with her working here. Holly argues that she’s only working there to get closer to Tate. Sophia insists that her mom saw the help wanted sign and made her apply but Holly doesn’t buy it. Sophia calls her paranoid and suggests she cool it with the Dawson’s Creek reruns and meditate. Holly suggests Sophia cool it with the sarcasm and with confiding in Sarah. Sophia questions what Sarah said about her. Holly says just that she got the impression Sophia still has feelings for Tate. Sophia denies it and says Tate is the father of her child so she cares about him. Holly argues that she knows that’s not what she meant, so Sophia asks what she does mean. Holly warns Sophia that if she thinks she’s going to steal her boyfriend, she better think again.
Tate tells Brady that he’s going to shower so he’s not late for his first day back at the Pub. Brady wishes him luck. Tate thanks him and says he’s going to need it as he admits he’s a little worried about working with Sophia which Brady is surprised to learn. Tate says he and Holly just ran in to Sophia in the middle of her shift. Brady calls that interesting as he knows things have been tense between them since giving up the baby. Tate decides he’s not worried as Sophia seems to appreciate him moving on from trying to meet the baby and he thinks Sophia just wants to move on with her life and put it all behind her.
Leo tells Chad that he’s thinking about writing a tell-all book about being on the jury. Leo talks about the trial and feels it all wrapped up a little too neatly. Leo believes Kristen’s confession was too convenient. Chad asks if he’s saying that he doesn’t think Kristen did it. Leo talks about having admiration for Kristen but he doesn’t buy Kristen suddenly feeling guilty enough to confess. Chad questions why she would confess then since Kristen wouldn’t voluntarily go to prison and be separated from her daughter.
Cat tells Kayla that she’d like to stay at the hospital if she can since she likes working there and the benefits are amazing when it comes to health care for Felicity. Kayla agrees to do what she can to help her get the job, so Cat thanks her and steps aside. EJ then arrives and asks Kayla when his new office will be ready. Kayla says tomorrow and she’s glad she could help. EJ then walks away, so Cat follows after him. Chad then arrives and has Kayla sign a form for his daughter Charlotte’s physical. Kayla can’t believe Charlotte is starting Kindergarten. Chad talks about being glad he didn’t get his kids sick and thanks her for sending antibiotics. Kayla is sorry they had to be quarantined and says she’s sure it was miserable for Chad and Cat. Chad thinks back to Cat kissing him, but tells Kayla that it was miserable.
Cat catches up with EJ in the town square and says she couldn’t help but hear him talking to Kayla at the hospital, so it got her thinking to ask if he needed an administrative assistant. EJ asks if she knows someone who would be interested. Cat says she would be.
Sophia reminds Holly that she just gave birth to a baby and gave it up for adoption, so maybe her main focus isn’t on stealing her boyfriend. Holly knows she’s been through a lot recently and says she’s not trying to be a bitch about this, but she’s tried and succeeding at coming between her and Tate before so she just wants to make it clear that’s not happening again. Sophia calls her insecure and asks if she actually wants to order something or if she’s just going to sit around harassing her all day. Tate then arrives and asks what Holly’s doing there.
Brady goes to see Steve in his office and says he knows it’s only been a couple hours but he hoped he would have something on the adoption. Steve says not yet and without a court order, all the documents are sealed. Steve asks if Brady has anything else they can go on, pointing out that there are hundreds of hospitals in Chicago to try and narrow down where Sophia gave birth at. Brady says the problem is that he literally has no information or even the names of the adoptive parents. Brady notes that he did see a picture of them and that Tate probably has it on his phone. Steve says with that, he can do a reverse image search and maybe they can start getting some answers. Brady confirms he doesn’t have a copy of the adoption papers since Tate signed them and Sophia took them with her. Brady explains that they were both in shock when Sophia showed up without the baby and had already given her away. Steve suggest asking for a copy of the papers now but Brady doesn’t want Tate and Sophia to know he’s looking in to this. Brady realizes there might be another way to get a copy of those papers.
Holly claims that she just came to wish Tate luck on his first day back at the Pub which Tate calls so sweet. Tate says he has to go clock in while Holly says she’ll stick around to be his first customer. Holly then grabs Tate before he goes and kisses him right in front of Sophia.
Leo walks past the Brady Pub and runs in to Gwen. Leo asks about the shopping bags in her hands and asks if she’s out spending Dimitri’s inheritance. Gwen mocks Leo’s comedy and says she’s not in the mood for his clever tangents. Leo declares that he’s met an amazing man who loves him and that’s all he needs. Leo decides he’s grateful to Dimitri because if not for his letter, he never would’ve met the man he’s meant to be with and the same could be true for Gwen. Gwen asks if he’s saying she should be thankful that Dimitri cheated on her with him. Gwen tells Leo that he and Dimitri are both backstabbing lowlives, so she hopes they both rot in Hell.
Chad tells Kayla that when he offered to bring Felicity’s prescription, he never imagined he’d be stuck there for a few days and adds that they helped him too when he came down with strep throat too. Kayla guesses they caught it while stuck in the elevator together and tells Chad that he can blame EJ for getting him sick.
EJ thought Cat was Marlena’s assistant. Cat explains that Marlena has decided to take an open ended absence, so she’s without a job and was hoping to stay at the hospital. EJ points out that he already has an assistant but admits that Rita is more of his right hand while he could use someone to organize his calendar and files. Cat says that would be perfect. EJ responds that there would be one problem and that’s that he can’t hire her.
Chad tells Kayla that he had a talk with EJ about the elevator incident but he seemed more concerned with him being with Cat. Kayla says it does seem EJ finally realized he can’t cut corners with hospital maintenance and hoped he would have a similar epiphany when it comes to patient care. Kayla questions why EJ wanted to buy the hospital in the first place. Chad thought at first it was to get the rights to Versavix while Kayla argues that the trials on the drug aren’t even done and it could be years before that makes a profit, so it just makes her think there’s something else. Chad says he can try to find out but they both know that EJ plays his cards close to the vest.
Cat asks why EJ can’t hire her. EJ responds that he doesn’t think Chad would approve. Cat knows she did a terrible thing by impersonating Abigail. EJ says that’s not what he meant and brings up that Chad didn’t like the idea of him going on a date with her and felt the need to protect her from his devious older brother. Cat asks if he’s devious. EJ supposes there’s some truth to that which is why he’s guessing Chad would have an issue with them working together. Cat tells him not to worry about Chad as she’s sure she can get him to come around since it’s not like they are dating. Cat says she needs a job with two siblings at home and no income. EJ asks for her resume’ which she shows. EJ calls it impressive but notes there’s a large gap in her work history. Cat says she had family dealings and then her car accident. EJ acknowledges that she’s been through the ringer. Cat says she could really use a break and asks EJ to give her a chance.
Gwen tells Leo that he has some nerve acting like he did a favor for her by having an affair with her husband. Gwen calls him a narcissist, gaslighter, and a lying wanker. Leo admits what he said was a little self serving, but he genuinely hopes Gwen could get past this at some point and find somebody who makes her happy. Gwen questions what makes him think she’s not happy. Leo points out the look on her face and her tone. Gwen argues that she’s only like this around him. Leo says despite her seething hatred for him, he’s still sad that she’s stuck in a loveless marriage with a man who is missing. Gwen doesn’t care as long as she has his money. Leo points out that she’s also living where people despise her. Gwen mocks Leo while Leo says he knows her and she seems miserable. Gwen asks why that’s any of his concern. Leo responds that he cares about her and he knows the funny, brilliant, and charming human she is, so he wishes they could be friends again. Gwen states that anyone who could do what he did to her was never her friend to begin with.
Tate brings Holly her chocolate milkshake. Holly says she can’t finish it on her own and invites him to sit down so they can share. Tate says he probably shouldn’t on the clock as he wouldn’t want to get canned on his first day. Holly argues that Roman would never do that to him. Tate says Roman actually has high standards. Holly questions him hiring Sophia then. Tate points out Sophia’s experience from the Bistro and since Doug III and Kate left, he had spots to fill. Holly jokes that she should’ve applied since she could use the cash. Tate jokes that Holly could babysit Rachel’s snake. Sophia comes over and says she’s sorry to interrupt but she could use Tate’s help with the tables so Tate goes back to work.
Steve and Brady research the adoption attorney that Sophia used named Patsy McGowan. Steve reads that it seems like she’s up and up. Brady decides to give her a call and leaves a voicemail that he’s looking for information on an adoption she handled a month ago.
EJ hires Cat and tells her that she starts tomorrow at 8 AM. Cat thanks him and says he has no idea how much she needed this. EJ says he’ll see her at the office and walks away. Cat then pulls out her phone and calls Rafe, saying she has some good news. Cat informs him that she got a job at the hospital, but starting tomorrow, she will be working directly for EJ.
Leo comments on how bad he feels. Gwen tells Leo that their friendship is over. Leo thought since she’s back in Salem, they could put their hurtful past behind them and start fresh. Gwen calls that not possible and says he’s dead wrong if he thought she was back in Salem to smooth things over. Leo questions why she is back then, since her initial reason was to flaunt Alice’s necklace. Leo asks why she’s still in Salem now that Julie has it back. Gwen responds that he’ll find out soon enough and warns Leo to enjoy his happiness while it lasts as she walks away.
Tate tells Sophia that it looks like it’s finally slowed down. Sophia tells Tate that he got pie filling on his face and wipes it off for him until Holly comes over and comments on registering for classes. Tate tells that her if she takes introduction to film, she can be in the same class as him. Sophia points out that she is also taking that class as they talk about the professor suddenly quitting. Tate acknowledges that if Holly takes that class, they will all be in it together.
Steve goes to the hospital and greets Kayla. Steve says he needs to talk to her about a case. Kayla asks what he needs her to do. Steve asks if she ever treated Sophia while she was pregnant. Kayla confirms she did early in her pregnancy but she can’t divulge more than that. Steve explains that Brady has a suspicion that Sophia isn’t being totally upfront with Tate about the adoption and what actually happened with the baby. Kayla asks how. Steve says she’s being cagey and recently referred to the baby as “he”. Steve adds that Sarah was there too and Brady got the impression that she wasn’t saying all she knew. Steve says he’s just trying to help Brady figure out if it’s nothing or something they should look in to. Steve asks if there’s anything Kayla can do.
Brady goes to see Patsy McGowan and says he hopes she can help him.
EJ returns to the living room of the DiMera Mansion and comments on Gwen keeping busy by shopping. EJ offers her a drink which Gwen accepts. Gwen asks how work was. EJ says he finally got his office at the hospital and hired an assistant, Cat Green. Gwen calls Cat her new kind of friend or perhaps her only friend now that Kristen will be sent off to prison. EJ jokingly asks what about him. Gwen says she doesn’t think so.
Cat tells Rafe that they really lucked out as now she’s in the position to watch EJ’s every move and figure out who helped him buy the hospital and why. Cat declares that this job could be the key to solving everything as Chad walks up and asks what job. Cat pretends to be on the phone with her mom and hangs up. Chad apologizes for interrupting but asks about her getting a new job. Cat reveals that she’s going to be working as EJ’s assistant but Chad tells her that she can’t do that. Cat says that EJ said he might react like this but it’s fine. Chad argues that EJ has a way of hurting people even when he doesn’t mean to, so Cat needs to call him right away and change her mind. Cat refuses, saying she needs this job. Chad offers to get her another job and says he’s trying to protect her. Cat says she understands that but she can take care of herself. Chad says he tried to warn her and walks away.
Holly talks about her and Arianna being stoked to move in to their dorm. Tate asks if Sophia is going to live on campus. Sophia says she doesn’t know as she hasn’t really made up her mind yet. Leo then enters the Pub with Tesoro. Holly comments on how cute Tesoro is while Sophia turns away. Tate notices and tells Leo to grab a table and he’ll be with him. Tate tells Sophia to take a break and he’ll handle it. Sophia thanks him and says it’s just hard for her to be around babies right now. Tate says he understands and hugs her as she cries while Holly looks on.
Steve asks Kayla if she found something in Sophia’s records that’s unusual and if he should keep investigating. Kayla responds that she can’t tell him what to do, but he’s always been a man with very good instincts.
Patsy tells Brady that she just got his voicemail and was about to return his call. Brady says he’s sorry for his impatience but he had some pressing questions about an adoption she recently handled because it was his son’s baby. Patsy asks what his son’s name is. Brady tells her Tate Black and Patsy responds by asking who?
Marlena and Rachel went to the pub. Rachel was upset. Tate tried to make her smile but it didn’t do any good. When he suggested that they go on an adventure, she was happy. When Rachel left to wash her hands, Marlena said he was good with Rachel. Tate said he could relate to Rachel’s situation since he had a parent in prison. Marlena said he has gone through a lot and was proud of him. Tate said he wasn’t proud of the mess he made with Sophia. He said he thought about his baby all the time and wished he could hold her. Marlena said his feelings were normal and that he would make a great father one day. Brady met with Patsy to talk about his grandchild’s adoption. Patsy said she didn’t recognize Tate’s name. Brady told her everything Tate and Sophia told him about the baby. A phone call interrupted their conversation, Patsy said she would call the person back. After she got off the phone, Patsy said she could explain. She said Tate wasn’t her client and she never met him, but she connected Sophia to the adoptive parents. Brady asked if the child was a boy or a girl. Patsy said the baby was a girl as he was told. Brady said he was verifying the facts since Tate didn’t have a copy of the adoption papers. He asked if he could see a copy of the adoption papers, but she said Sophia had to give permission first.
After Brady was finished with Patsy, he ran into Marlena at the town square. He thanked her for taking Rachel shopping. Marlena showed him a picture frame she got for Rachel and said they could put a picture of Kristen and Rachel together. Brady thought Rachel would love that. He thanked her for being there for them. Cat, Felicity, and Aaron went to play miniature golf. Chad and Thomas showed up. Tate also showed up with Rachel. When Thomas and Rachel went off together, Tate and Aaron reunited with each other. They talked about being roommates at Salem U. Chad and Cat talked about the way he reacted to her taking the job with EJ. He said he was on edge because Jack and Jennifer were coming to town and they weren’t happy about them being friends. Cat suggested they stay away from each other, but Chad thought the universe was pushing them together. Melinda went to see Patsy. Patsy said Brady left her office. Melinda said she was glad that they got their stories straight, Patsy said she was always happy to help someone who saved her life, but she was afraid that they might have another problem, She told Melinda that Brady wanted a copy of the adoption papers and questioned the baby’s gender. Melinda thanked Patsy for letting her know. She said she thought Brady and Tate would have dropped it by now. When Brady and Marlena went home, she told him she was glad that he and Rachel were there with her. While they were talking, she said she wanted to lay down. Brady was concerned about her. When Tate came home, Brady showed him the picture frame Marlena got for Rachel. Tate said he didn’t know that Marlena had that picture. Brady didn’t know what Tate was talking about and looked at the picture. Marlena had a nightmare. She was dressed like the Queen of the Night. Marlena told Stefano that she couldn’t turn her back on her family because they needed her. Brady asked what picture Tate was talking about. Tate said the picture in the frame was a picture of the adoptive parents. Brady said it was the picture that came with the frame.
Portia, Nina, Alexis, and Curtis talk separately but they are all talking about the same thing that they must find a way to stop Drew because they can’t let him hurt anybody else. Nina tells Portia that the only way that their troubles with Drew would end is if he wasn’t breathing anymore. Portia agrees with Nina.
Danny and Rocco find a body floating in the Port Charles harbor on Pier 55. Rocco calls Sonny because Danny tells him that Jason told him to call Sonny first since he is out of town. Sonny calls the police and Dante tells Anna that he recognizes the body as Judge Heron, the judge in Michael’s custody case. Sonny tells Anna and Dante that he never even went to court during Michael’s custody case and he would never involve Danny and Rocco in a murder case. Anna thinks the judge was strangled and Sonny tells Dsnte that he thinks Jens Siddwell might have killed the judge and thrown the body in pier 55 to set him up for murdering the judge. Sonny calls Michael to tell him the judge is dead.
Trina tells Kai about Drew blackmailing Portia because he has evidence Portia changed Hesther Webber’s test results to keep Heather in prison. Trina asks Kai if he knows where Drew might keep the hard copy of the evidence he has against Portia. Kai goes with Trina to Drew’s house and uses the key Drew gave him to get into the house. Kai tries to figure out the combination to the safe but he is unable to open it.
Drew comes home. Kai and Trina hide in the house since the house is dark because of the rain and thunder outside. Drew opens the safe to look at Lila’s ring which he intends to put on Willow’s finger again. Drew pours himself a drink and two shots are fired by someone as Drew falls to the floor as blood spurts from Drew’s back.
Billy and Sally have a romantic night where Billy asks Sally to move in with him and she says she will move in with him if Johnny and Katie say it is okay with them.
Kyle tells Jack that he intends to drive Audra out of town so she won’t continue to ruin his life. Kyle thinks that, if he gets Audra out of town, he can prove to Claire how much he loves her.
Claire gets drunk with Vespers and asks Holden to tell her what happened between he and Claire in Los Angeles. Holden tries to persuade Claire to let Karma handle Audra or let him do it. Claire tells Holden that she can take care of herself and doesn’t need anyone to take care of Audra for her.
Xander finishes a call at the Titan-DiMera office, demanding something gets done as Alex arrives. Alex apologizes for being late but mentions that he ran in to Sarah and they got to talking about Xander.
Sarah and Marlena sit together in the town square. Sarah brings up Marlena having so much going on and says she can’t imagine how hard Kristen’s arrest has to be for her, Brady, and Rachel. Marlena says she’s so relieved that Johnny was acquitted and calls Marlena confessing unexpected and so difficult for Rachel.
Johnny and Chanel sit together at home. Chanel talks about being so relieved that the truth is finally out and feeling like she can breathe. Johnny says he feels so bad for Rachel that her mom is going to prison. Chanel agrees that it’s sad. Chanel asks what Johnny plans to do with his new found freedom. Johnny wants to get things back to normal and says he’s actually looking forward to work tomorrow. Chanel says that’s tomorrow while today is about them as they kiss.
Gabi is at home, recording herself saying that she doesn’t need Steve’s help on a recorder pen. Javi walks in and questions who she is talking to. Gabi says just herself.
Belle and Philip go to the Kiriakis Mansion after riding horses. Belle talks about not realizing how much she needed that while Philip comments that he’s out of practice with a lot of things.
Chanel and Johnny decide to head to the bedroom but get interrupted by Susan Banks arriving at the door. Susan says she doesn’t want to interrupt Johnny’s freedom celebration but she is his Grandma as she hugs him. Chanel greets her, so Susan feels she really is interrupting them.
Xander is not sure he’s thrilled that Alex and Sarah were chatting about him. Alex says Sarah asked how he was doing, so he told her that he missed her. Xander questions why he said that. Alex says it’s the truth.
Sarah still can’t believe Kristen put Johnny and Rachel through that, questioning what kind of person lets their nephew and daughter suffer for something they did. Marlena says that in fairness, Kristen did confess so she ended up doing the right thing in the end. Sarah argues that was only after she exhausted all other options and that Kristen only thinks about herself. Sarah calls Kristen a homicidal maniac and feels she was doing the right thing when she kept Rachel from her initially. Marlena points out that she would’ve also been keeping Rachel from Brady and questions if she would’ve wanted that.
Belle asks what exactly Philip is out of practice with. Philip guesses life in general and talks about rebuilding when he lost his leg. Philip says most people would’ve taken lessons from rehab and applied them to life but he didn’t do that. Belle thinks he’s being too hard on himself since he was dealing with mental illness, pointing out how far he’s come. Philip feels not far enough as he still has a lot of emotional baggage to sort out which Belle questions. Philip states that he’s pathologically jealous of everyone and everything so it’s no wonder he could never handle being in a relationship. Belle asks what about he and Gabi.
Javi remarks that Gabi only talks to herself when things are about to hit the fan. He asks if things are about to blow up at work. Gabi says he could say that. Javi questions how many assistants she’s gone through since he quit. Gabi says it’s not her fault that no one lives up to the standards he set as her assistant. Gabi asks if Javi would consider coming back which Javi laughs off and declines. Gabi asks what if she told him that he could be very rich in a few months and asks if that would change his mind.
Philip tells Belle that what she saw between he and Gabi was far from a relationship and just two adults enjoying their company. Philip adds that even if he wanted to pursue something with Gabi, he couldn’t because he’s her boss so Xander and the board would never allow it. Belle argues that there are things HR can do to keep him safe. Philip responds that he doesn’t trust himself to be in a relationship right now and he would never want to hurt Gabi, just like he’d never want to hurt Belle again either.
Gabi assures Javi that he could be very rich in a few months and asks what he says. Javi questions how could he be very rich in a few months. Gabi says she can’t get in to specifics right now, but it’s likely that she will be in a more powerful position at work soon. Gabi pleads with Javi to just come back to Gabi Chic. Javi says he’ll pass as he likes the life he has now and doesn’t want to give that up. Gabi admits she admired him choosing his well being over money and she’s not sure she could ever be that noble. Javi says he just likes the life he’s built and he loves being a firefighter/paramedic and coming home to Leo every night while feeling good about what he does. Gabi remarks that she’s happy for him even if he’s building a life with someone she can’t stand.
Chanel and Johnny sit with Susan as Chanel mentions being so excited to get back to work without the worry of the trial. Susan talks about feeling the same but she doesn’t understand because she never got the vibe that Kristen was the one who shot EJ.
Sarah apologizes to Marlena for being thoughtless when Brady is like a son to Marlena and is an amazing father. Sarah admits she can’t help but think how much easier Rachel’s life would’ve been without Kristen in it. Marlena acknowledges that Kristen has done terrible things to her and hurt a lot of people, but she does have a maternal side and is a wonderful mother to Rachel. Sarah remarks that she never thought she’d see the day that Marlena is defending Kristen. Sarah asks if Kristen was a wonderful mother when she had Rachel take the stand during the trial, knowing she was the one who shot EJ. Sarah talks about seeing what it did to Rachel when she came to the hospital with stomachaches and it was like no one was putting her first. Marlena says she knows how much Sarah cares about Rachel and that she does too. Sarah apologizes for getting on her soapbox when she’s lucky to have Brady and Marlena. Marlena tells her not to apologize for caring and assures she will do anything she can to take care of Rachel. Sarah tells her to just say the word if there is anything she can do.
Xander tells Alex that he does miss Sarah but he doesn’t want her to know that. Alex guesses he doesn’t care what her response was then but Xander stops him to ask what she said. Alex tells him that Sarah said she still loves him and misses him. Alex declares he will stay out of it now, but he thinks they should get together and talk. Xander says now that Alex is finally in a stable relationship, he doesn’t have to go around to everyone else’s. Xander brings up Stephanie’s advice to permanently install Philip as co-CEO and admits he’s thinking about it. Alex encourages that doing so could save Titan and they would all be out of harm’s way, so it sounds like a double victory to him.
Javi tells Gabi that he’s not taking the bait about Leo and will change the subject instead. Javi says Gabi must be thrilled that Arianna is staying in town and going to Salem U. Gabi says he has no idea and is glad that Will and Sonny gave their blessing. Javi comments that it seems like everything is working out for her, then questions what’s wrong based on her response. Gabi explains that she feels like she’s gotten most of her life back since getting out of prison as she got her career and her daughter but one thing is still missing and that’s love.
Belle tells Philip that what happened between them was a long time ago and they are in a good place now. Philip says that means a lot to him as he likes that he has a friend he can be fully honest with without judgment. Belle remarks that relationships are more trouble than they are worth which is why she’s swearing off relationships now that she and EJ are through. Belle wonders why she even got involved with EJ, talking about knowing all the horrible things EJ did to her family but she still jumped in. Philip says he can relate. Belle adds that even after they broke up, EJ still suggested that she could’ve been the one that shot him. Philip questions that and says she could never do something like that. Belle admits part of her wonders if they’d all be better off now if she had the guts to off that son of a bitch.
Marlena encourages that Sarah has done so much for her family. Sarah says she’s always had her back too. Sarah just wishes she could feel better and that she could figure out a physical cause for Marlena’s symptoms. Marlena jokes about Susan’s last warning but admits her premonitions bother her. Marlena adds that Susan did say she was sick in body, mind, and soul which did concern her. Sarah encourages not focusing on that too much but says it did give her an idea.
Johnny tells Susan that Kristen confessed, so it’s over and he wants to move on with his life. Susan argues that things don’t add up. Susan knows Johnny is out of the hot seat but that doesn’t mean the matter is resolved. Chanel argues that it is over for them.
Xander tells Alex that the Titan-DiMera merger was approved because of Philip being an heir and him saying he approves won’t do much. Alex thinks it will appease the shareholders and drive home the fact that Victor would’ve named Philip and Bo in his will if he knew they would recover. Xander complains that he’d still have to give up half of what was left to him and have Philip as an equal. Alex argues that half of everything is still better than nothing and questions if undoing everything he’s accomplished thus far would feel right. Alex feels it’s better to be safe than sorry. Xander questions why he feels like he’ll be sorry either way.
Javi asks if Gabi is lonely. Gabi admits that she is and she misses having someone to share her life with. Javi feels Gabi is cooking up something big and asks if she believes she has time for a partner. Gabi responds that she’ll make time. Javi asks if she means when the right man comes along or if somebody already has. Gabi admits that there is one guy and she never meant for it to be real or for it to go anywhere, but it could be a dead end just like the other guy. Javi questions there being another guy and accuses Gabi of holding out on him. Gabi explains that she doesn’t know where she stands with either guy as with one guy there’s an emotional connection while the other one is the reason she didn’t come home last night.
Philip tells Belle about trying to practice gratitude lately and he’s feeling a lot of it having Belle as his friend. Belle says she’s grateful too. Belle guesses since they failed as husband and wife, they’ll have to settle as life long friends. Philip points out that they still made great memories and brings up when they went camping on Smith Island which they laugh about.
Sarah asks how Marlena would feel about one more blood test just to rule out the possibility of a tick borne illness. Marlena guesses they haven’t tested for that. Sarah says that Susan’s crazy comment got her thinking so Marlena agrees they should do the test.
Johnny tells Susan that he’d really appreciate it if she let whatever vibe go because Kristen confessed and they’re sad for Rachel but it’s over. Susan guesses whatever she was feeling was nothing. Susan decides she’s taken enough of their time and she’s just happy that Johnny is back home with Chanel, so she then exits.
Marlena says that’s enough about her and asks how Sarah has been holding up. Sarah admits she feels like she’s in purgatory since she and Xander aren’t together, but she can’t move forward. Marlena asks if she’s holding out for a reconciliation. Sarah admits she still loves Xander but she can’t go back to the man he has become. Sarah knows Marlena can’t tell her anything about his sessions, but she hopes that Marlena is helping him get to the source of his rage for his sake and Victoria’s.
Alex gets that Xander doesn’t want to reward Philip for lying to him and he doesn’t blame him, but he’s already working with him to preserve the takeover so it won’t make any practical difference. Xander worries that Philip could stab him in the back when he’s not holding anything over him anymore. Xander believes Victor would be laughing at their misfortune. Alex thinks the only misfortune would be for Philip’s fraud to come to light, so they can either wait for the other shoe to drop or do something about it. Alex believes the only other option besides naming Philip as his partner is to undo the entire takeover, then Xander would be done with Philip and the DiMeras once and for all.
Gabi questions how Javi knew she didn’t come home last night. Javi admits Arianna told him. Gabi remarks that these two guys didn’t just fall out of the sky and they are both very different. Javi comments on variety while Gabi says she’s already shared too much. Javi says he won’t let this go and reminds her that they live with a former gossip columnist, so he will get Leo to get all the details on this. Gabi tells him not to dare. Javi agrees to back off but says he only wants the best for her as they hug and Javi then exits the room as Gabi goes back to her recorder pen.
Johnny and Chanel resume kissing until Johnny’s phone rings. Johnny wants to ignore it but Chanel worries that it could be work or important. Johnny points out that he doesn’t even recognize the number but decides to answer. The call is from a Ms. Collins, who Johnny says he remembers. Johnny says he did apply for that position over a year ago and is surprised they still have his resume. Johnny says he’s flattered but he already has a job. Johnny tells her to send over the details and promises to look it over as he hangs up. Chanel asks what that was about. Johnny says she won’t believe this but reveals he was just offered an adjunct professorship job at Salem U as apparently a professor just quit, the next semester starts next week and they’re willing to work around his Titan-DiMera job. Chanel excitedly says they must really want him and asks if he’s interested. Johnny responds that he’s not sure. Johnny says a year ago, he’d take it without hesitating but he feels like so much has changed since then and he’s on a different career path. Chanel points out that he wanted to get back to some normalcy and she can’t think of anything more normal than Johnny DiMera doing something with his love of film for work, so she thinks he should consider it. Chanel adds that Professor DiMera has a nice ring to it.
Belle wishes they could do this every day while Philip says he’s dreading going back to work because of the ever present misery. Philip says all he wanted was to be CEO but working with Xander as a nightmare. Belle encourages him to just quit. Philip responds that he can’t do that. Belle questions why not and suggests he figure out what he really wants out of life.
Alex gets that the idea of Xander giving everything up as CEO is not appealing but if he’s not going to shield Philip, the only other thing he can do is solidify his position in the company. Xander agrees to think about it. Xander says it’s getting late so he needs to get Victoria and drop her off to Sarah. They decide this is to be continued as Xander then exits the office.
Marlena goes home and then Susan shows up at her door. Marlena asks what brings her by. Susan says she wanted to apologize for upsetting her the last time she was there. Susan says she meant what she said about her troubled body, mind, and soul. Susan then gets startled and says she doesn’t want to upset her again but warns that whatever is going on with her has gotten even worse.
Johnny agrees that Chanel may have a point since his first passion was filmmaking and not corporate communications, so it would be fun to talk about what he loves with college students. Chanel encourages him as they talk about being each others’ cheerleader and they kiss.
Marlena tells Susan that she’s putting her foot down and doesn’t want to hear any more about her vibrations because her doctor tells her that she’s just fine. Susan suggests seeing another doctor but Marlena says that’s enough and shuts the door on her.
Xander brings Victoria to Sarah in the town square and asks her what’s up since she asked to do the handover in person instead of through the nanny, so he thought maybe there was something she wanted to talk about. Sarah says nothing in particular. Xander asks if she’s sure there’s nothing else. Sarah says it seems like there’s something he wants to talk about. Xander informs her that he spoke to Alex, who said she asked him about him and said she missed him and still loved him. Xander thought maybe that had changed and she didn’t feel that way anymore but guesses it doesn’t matter since there’s no way they can smooth over their differences. Sarah doesn’t know the point of this conversation then, so she walks off with Victoria.
Philip tells Belle that he doesn’t know what he wants out of life, but thanks to Belle making him see that there might be an alternative. Belle is glad he sees there are other possibilitys and encourages him to look at his future. Philip complains that he doesn’t know what his future looks like as he always thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Belle says maybe that’s not good for him and encourages him to think about what matters most to him and maybe that’s not some supposed birthright. Philip thanks Belle for being honest, caring, and giving him a lot to think about.
Gabi goes to the Titan-DiMera office where Alex tells her that she just missed Xander and asks if he can help her. Gabi says Xander wanted to see a cost projection so she will just leave a note and leave it on his desk. Gabi uses the recorder pen and plants it on the desk, then walks out of the office with a smile.
Alex and Stephanie get up in the morning as Alex questions if Kayla always makes breakfast plans this early, joking that he wouldn’t have minded staying in bed a bit longer. Stephanie assures him it will still be there tonight. Alex then gets a text from Kate, sending him a summary of reviews and social media buzz surrounding Stephanie’s One Stormy Night. Stephanie asks what people are saying, but then decides she doesn’t want to know. Stephanie then suggests Alex reads the worst review first but Alex says there are no bad reviews, the critics love her, and her novel is putting Titan Publishing back on the map. Stephanie doesn’t know what to say and asks if this means she’ll get a bonus. Alex says they’ll do a lot better than that as he has a surprise for her.
Steve and Kayla go to the Brady Pub for breakfast. Steve mentions that he’s starving. Kayla figured he would be since he ran out of the house without eating. Steve says he had a case to solve and that he solved it right before she called, adding that he couldn’t have done it without her. Kayla asks if it’s about the Titan-DiMera case which Steve confirms. Kayla asks what he found out, but Steve says he can’t tell her that. Kayla brings up Steve saying that Stephanie might be in the middle of it and asks if she should be worried. Steve assures there’s nothing to worry about and that his early meeting was with Stephanie where they settled things out. Steve adds that he would tell her if Stephanie was in danger. Kayla talks about being curious with the tidbits of information without the answer. Steve says that’s why his work is so addicting. Kayla jokes that he can just give her a cut for her detective work.
Holly sits in the living room of the Kiriakis Mansion as Sarah comes in and comments on all the bags from Holly’s back to school shopping. Holly talks about Maggie wanting her to get everything she needs. Holly informs Sarah that Arianna has decided to stay and go to Salem U so they are going to be roommates. Sarah is glad they reconnected. Holly talks about wanting a fresh start in Paris before but says it will be nice going to school with people she knows. Sarah says for selfish reasons, she’s glad Holly is staying in town. Holly says it would’ve been nice to be with Nicole but she understood her wanting to stay in Salem where her family and friends are, including Tate.
Brady and Tate go home to Rachel, who is upset on the couch and they bring her pet snake with them. Brady tells Rachel that now that they have her stuff there, she can redecorate however she wants. Tate offers Rachel his Playstation but Rachel remains uninterested and says she just wants her mom.
Kayla asks if Stephanie asked Steve to stop pursuing the case. Steve confirms that they agreed it was best for him to leave it alone. Kayla worries that it doesn’t sound like Stephanie to be up to something shady and questions Steve being so cryptic. Steve responds that his daughter asked him to keep a secret so he has to. Kayla questions how long Stephanie has been keeping this secret since she mentioned something awhile back but then she said the secret got out and was a reason her and Philip broke up. Steve shrugs but Kayla says that much is obvious. Kayla argues that Steve said she helped him solve the case and that was the only information she gave him. Steve pleads the fifth but acknowledges that Kayla is worried about Stephanie and won’t stop until she knows. Kayla responds that it’s her job to worry about her daughter. Steve assures her that Stephanie has the whole thing under control.
Alex surprises Stephanie with a new phone that she can use to portray Anastasia Sands. Alex explains that he talked to the Titan PR department and they are to only communicate with her via text and they are in the process of setting her up on a blog tour. Alex declares that Stephanie has her own secret identity which excites her as they kiss.
Sarah tells Holly that she’s glad she and Tate worked it out. Holly guesses things are still bad between Sarah and Xander. Sarah says they have had their issues over the years but when they got married again last year, she really thought they would make it work this time. Sarah brings up how just a couple months ago, they were talking about having a second baby. Holly calls it crazy how quickly things can change. Sarah says that as happy as she is for Holly and Tate, she wants Holly to be prepared in case anything does change because she doesn’t want her to get hurt. Holly asks what this is about.
Brady tells Rachel that he knows she wants her mom and that it’s hard to be away from her but she has a lot of people here that love her very much. Rachel complains that her snake wants to stay at her mom’s house. Brady encourages that her snake will come to like living here and sends her to her room to find the snake a spot. Tate asks Brady how long he thinks Kristen will be in prison. Brady says they won’t know until the sentencing hearing but says that she plead guilty and is refusing to get a lawyer to represent her which shocks Tate. Brady says he’s tried to understand Kristen for years so he’s not going down that hole and is just going to concentrate on his daughter because there’s a good chance that she’s not going to see her mom for a long time.
Sophia begins working at the Brady Pub as a waitress and greets Kayla, who introduces her to Steve. Kayla talks to Sophia about all she’s been through and says she’s there for her. Sophia says she’s doing fine and that now that she and Tate gave the baby up for adoption, she’s ready to move on with her life.
Brady tells Tate that their family has had a lot of hard goodbyes and difficult choices lately. Brady assures that he hasn’t forgotten how rough it’s been for him and that he’s there for him. Tate thanks him but says he’s okay now. Brady knows how hard it was for him to have to give away his baby without even meeting her and that the adoptive parents won’t let him meet her. Tate questions why they are rehashing this. Brady says he just wants him to know that it’s okay to feel upset about it. Tate assures that he and Sophia are moving on with their life. Brady understands if he doesn’t want to talk about it. Brady asks Tate for the name of Sophia’s adoption attorney. Tate questions why he’s asking him this. Brady thinks back to his conversation with Sarah about Sophia accidentally referring to the baby as “he” and Sarah reminding him that she couldn’t reveal private medical information. Brady then claims to Tate that someone at Basic Black wanted a recommendation for a good adoption attorney. Tate agrees to text the information to Brady.
Sarah tells Holly that she doesn’t want to interfere while Holly says she obviously knows something. Sarah wasn’t sure if she should say anything but she was talking to Sophia yesterday and got the distinct impression that she wants Tate back. Holly acknowledges that Sophia clearly still has a thing for him and hasn’t been subtle about it, but it doesn’t matter because Tate loves her. Holly adds that it’s not like Tate ever really had feelings for Sophia as they only hooked up. Sarah clarifies that she’s not saying Tate would ever cheat on her, but having a baby with someone bonds you in a way you wouldn’t expect. Holly relates it to Sarah and Xander. Sarah says she’s just trying to share her wisdom so that Holly doesn’t end up getting burned. Holly calls it a completely different situation since Sarah and Xander were married while Tate and Sophia were barely together. Holly adds that it’s not like Tate and Sophia have to raise the kid together and remarks that the baby isn’t even in Salem so it’s not like they’ll ever see her again.
Alex and Stephanie join Kayla and Steve at the Brady Pub for breakfast. They laugh together about Alex’s toga story. Kayla congratulates Alex on “One Stormy Night”, noting that Titan published a book that is climbing the best seller list. Kayla reminds him that she told him it would be a hit when she found the manuscript at the hospital and says that at least three patients were reading it. Kayla calls the book dangerously steamy and says it’s beautifully written. Steve jokes that it sounds like a book he’d like to read. Stephanie says it’s not his type of book but Kayla disagrees and Alex states that if he can enjoy it, Steve can too. Alex adds that he’ll speak to the author about getting Steve a signed copy which Kayla says would be amazing while Stephanie gives Alex a look.
Holly goes to see Tate for breakfast and asks where everyone is. Tate explains that Brady took Rachel to the pet store to get her snake food and that Marlena and Belle are out. Holly realizes that means they have the whole place to themselves.
Brady and Rachel walk through the town square where they run in to Sarah. Sarah asks how Rachel is doing. Rachel cries that she misses her mom as Sarah hugs her. Sarah assures that Kristen misses her too and is thinking about her now. Sarah invites them to join her at the bookstore. Brady says they were actually headed to the pet store. Brady brings up that they talked about having dinner some time. Sarah suggests going to the Bistro since Xander is banned there. Sarah adds that she’s been missing her daughter so spending time with Rachel would cheer her up. Rachel feels the same. Brady then takes Rachel on to the pet store.
Tate confirms to Holly that they do have the place to themselves but decides they shouldn’t tempt fate after last time. Holly jokes that she would die of shame if Belle or anyone walked in on them again. Tate and Holly kiss until Holly gets frightened by Rachel’s snake.
Steve and Alex both say they need to get back to work. Kayla says this was great and they should do it more often. Alex wants to treat them to dinner some time. Alex offers Steve a ride but Steve says he has a short walk. Kayla and Stephanie decide they will stay a little longer. Alex tells Stephanie that he will see her later. Steve says goodbye as he and Alex exit the Pub. Kayla then guesses Stephanie wanted some mom and daughter time as she asks what’s going on at work. Stephanie says not to get her started.
Tate gets Rachel’s snake back in it’s tank. Holly talks about how she was in to Legos and dolls at that age. Tate jokes with her as Holly suggests they go somewhere that’s snake free, so they decide to head to the Brady Pub and exit.
Brady goes to see Steve in his office. Steve mentions hearing that Kristen confessed to shooting EJ. Brady calls it a weird 24 hours. Steve asks how Rachel is doing. Brady guesses she’s the best she can be with the circumstances but it will take some time for her to adjust. Steve says it’s good that she has Brady, Marlena, and the rest of the family to get her through it. Brady talks about wishing John was still around since if anyone could comfort Rachel and lift her spirits, it’s him. Steve agrees that no one was better at that than John. Brady tells Steve that he came by because he needs his help with something.
Sarah runs in to Alex in the town square. Alex asks how she’s doing with everything that’s happened with her and Xander. Sarah says she’s hanging in there. Alex says that’s good and he’s really sorry about how it all worked out.
Stephanie tells Kayla that Alex asked her to step in for Titan-DiMera on top of all her work at the hospital, so she will be running on coffee. Kayla asks about what EJ is having her do. Stephanie says she’s just overseeing their social media but brings up EJ slashing the budget and how complaints have gone up from staff and patients. Kayla complains about what EJ has done at the hospital. Stephanie says normally her job is to listen and make people heard but EJ just wants the complaints handled and not fix anything. Kayla states that EJ can’t take any criticism. Stephanie notes that it’s not making her very popular either and mentions that yesterday, a nurse called her EJ’s personal cheerleader. Kayla feels she doesn’t sound very happy. Stephanie admits it’s been a challenge between two jobs and writing press releases for other clients, she feels like she’s constantly putting out fires. Kayla suggests a solution is to quit the hospital job.
Holly and Tate walk to the Brady Pub and run in to Sophia outside where they are surprised to learn that Sophia now works there along with Tate.
Sarah asks Alex how it’s going at the office, assuming there’s tension between Philip and Xander. Alex thinks everyone is just trying to move forward and make the best of the situation. Sarah guesses they should be thankful for no more fireworks and asks how Xander is. Alex says he seems okay which Sarah says is good. Alex thinks he’d be a lot better if he knew Sarah was asking about him. Alex says it’s not his place but he knows Xander misses Sarah badly. Sarah admits she misses Xander too and still loves him, but with everything that has happened. Alex knows it’s not his business and tells Sarah to take care of herself as he walks away.
Stephanie tells Kayla that she can’t quit her job at the hospital and that she was just venting. Stephanie declares that she’s no quitter and she’s not abandoning her. Kayla assures that she can handle EJ and says his public relations are a complete and total loss. Kayla doesn’t think Stephanie can fix the hospital’s image as long as EJ’s name is attached to it. Stephanie thinks she’s underestimating her. Kayla reminds Stephanie that there’s no shame in reversing course if EJ makes her do anything crazy. Stephanie promises she would run the other way at the first sign of Dr. Rolf. Stephanie then says she has an odd medical question and asks what Kayla knows about ricin poisoning. Kayla questions her wanting to know and if she should be worried. Stephanie claims it’s for a client who is a mystery novelist and came to her for advice on a creative way to kill a character. Kayla responds that with the right dose, ricin can be extremely deadly. Kayla calls it interesting because it mimics a heart attack so it can go undetected if a coroner doesn’t know to look for it. Stephanie calls that good to know. Kayla comments that she didn’t know that Stephanie had any author clients. Stephanie says it’s just one. Kayla suggests Stephanie should see if she could work with Anastasia Sands. Stephanie says she doesn’t know. Kayla asks why not since she already works for Titan and she’s sure Alex could arrange a meeting. Kayla adds that she knows Stephanie’s plate is full but if Anastasia was her client, maybe she could meet her too.
Tate questions if Sophia only applied to work at the Pub because she knew that he did. Sophia responds that not everything is about him and says she applied because her mom said she couldn’t lay around the house feeling sorry for herself anymore. Holly brings up the Bistro. Sophia says with college around the corner, she quit instead of going on maternity leave and then her mom saw the help wanted sign here so she applied. Sophia declares that it looks like she and Tate will both be working at the legendary Brady Pub while Holly looks annoyed.
Brady tells Steve that he’s had a lot of weird interactions lately regarding Sophia and the adoption, so he realized some things aren’t adding up which Steve questions. Brady responds that he’s not quite sure but he has a gut feeling that Sophia isn’t telling them everything that happened. Steve says he’s a big believer in gut feelings and John was too. Brady says that’s why he hoped Steve could point him in the direction of what to do next. Steve says he’s happy to help and asks Brady to start from the beginning with everything he knows.
Interview with J. Eddie Peck of “The Young and The Restless” on CBS by Suzanne 7/24/25
It was awesome to speak with J. Eddie! I used to watch him play Cole on “Young and The Restless” 32 years ago when he first appeared in 1993. I’d been watching the show since 1986, when I was in college. Like many young people back then, I picked up the soap habit in college – between classes or while at home on vacation. He’s incredibly handsome and made a good couple with all of the women they paired him up with, especially Victoria (played then by Heather Tom); her mom, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott); and Ashley (Shari Shattuck and then Eileen Davidson back then). It was wonderful that they brought him back last year, not only to reunite him with Victoria (now played by Amelia Heinle), but to show that they have a long-lost daughter, Claire (Hayley Erin). Heinle and Peck had immediate chemistry; they’d previously played lovers Jake and Mia on “All My Children” in 2003.
Unfortunately, the powers-that-be on Y&R wrote Cole out by killing him off with Legionnaires’ disease in early July. This was very disappointing to fans of his, and of fans of the couple Cole and Victoria, and their family with Claire. That happens quite often on the soaps, and in TV in general, usually do to cutting costs, or contract negotiations, or because of some other reason – they don’t let us know these things. Peck was originally brought in for a short-term return, so it was great when they decided to keep him around longer and give him story. We wish it had lasted longer! Perhaps one day they’ll bring him back. As they always say, you’re never really dead in the soaps.
We had a very nice, long chat. I hope you enjoy it! There are also quite a few other questions that I didn’t have time to ask, but he kindly answered them via email.
TRANSCRIPT (not finished proofreading this yet)
Suzanne: So it’s great to see you.
JEP: Thank you, Suzanne. It’s a pleasure to be on with you today and I, I appreciate you reaching out to do [this].
Suzanne: Oh, yeah. Well, first off, let me get something out of the way that I’m sure all your fans are asking. Do you know why “Young and the Restless” decided to kill off Cole?
JEP: Oh, wow. That’s, uh. Excuse me. Um, that’s a really good question. Um, well first, Suzanne, it, it, it took me by surprise.
Suzanne: Right?
JEP: Obviously when Cole– (thank you, son) when Cole got sick, or started with the cough, my first thought was, “he’s gonna have this cough. He’s gonna get sick. He might get really sick ’cause it’s lingering for a long time.” I know the fans, fans, viewers, were very, keen to, Hey, we’ve seen this before. I think they’re gonna write this character off. me, on the other hand, I, I really had a lot of faith, that, um, it was working well for Cole and I. Over at the show, I really felt like, it was starting to really click with, Amelia Heinle, who plays Victoria, and the relationship with Claire. I just thought there was a really nice family dynamic that may have been slightly a different tone than some of the other family. Relationships. I just felt like we, we, we had a certain unique uniqueness to us.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And I felt like, all of the goods were there, if you will, all of the history, right….three, you know, good actors, lots of history, lots of stuff to work with. So I felt like this was gonna be something that they were going to utilize to, move Cole into the tack house, which. It seemed as though we were going in that direction.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And then, um, Victoria would nurse Cole back to health and that would, that would quickly speed up their relationship.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: So they could take us to a different place in their relationship.
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: And possibly even, you know, remarry, that sort of thing.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: So, uh. Actually that was not the intent and it never really was the intent. That was me, the wishful actor thinking, Hey, this is working. Yeah, for what it really was. Josh Griffin, our executive producer, head writer, he had given me a call and he was so, so kind and gracious and, and and just, just really a very, very heartfelt conversation that we had. And he says, you know, J. Eddie, we only intended on bringing you back for a couple of days. You know, we saw you at the 50th and everybody got to talk and said, Wow, J. Eddie, you look great.
Suzanne: Gee.
JEP: It was a lot of chatter. And, and the fans have wanted Cole to come back for some time and, you know, due to the 50th, they brought a lot of people back for cameos and things. So I looked as though, Hey, we’re gonna stay back for a couple of days. This might be interesting and fun.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And, um. Then he said, but we liked you. You know, we like the dynamic with you and Amelia and Haley. And he said, and we just really liked you. He said, I just, I love what you did and I just continued to write for you. So, and, and so really, um, everything beyond that two days, Suzanne was really a gift. And something, I’m very, very grateful for. And, it’s been really, really nice, you know, at this time in my life to be able to go back and play the role that I love so much. And, so I’m very, very grateful for that. And he did his thing. I think, you know, Josh says, we gotta kill Cole, to take Victoria and Claire where we need them to go.
Suzanne: Ah.
JEP: So I don’t know exactly what that means.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: But I do believe that there’s obviously gonna be a big story, you know, a big setup for those characters. And, and Cole was kind of the sacrificial lamb, I guess, if you will, to propel those characters emotionally, you know, where [it] can take them, so…
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: They’ll do their ride, and I wish that was along for it, but, you know, yeah. Again, I’m grateful for the 20 months that I did get.
Suzanne: Well, even though they did kill him off, they could bring him back because it’s a soap and anything’s possible, right?
JEP: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s been, there’s been a lot of chatter , even when, you know, it was first learned, over at the show, I had at least half the directors come to me and say, “Ah, you’ll be back,” but who knows? You know what I mean? Who knows? I mean, that’s fine. I mean, listen, I, I certainly can’t guess any of this stuff.
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: And so, yeah, who knows.You know, I mean, Josh is very, very creative. If he ever woke up in the middle of the night, says, you know what? And may, Hmm, that might’ve been a mistake. Let’s bring that cowboy back.
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: You know, so, yeah.
Suzanne: And I mean, I could say this because people say that about me, but you don’t look your age at all, so….
JEP: Oh, yeah. Thank you.
Suzanne: I mean, they can easily bring you back in 10 years. You’ll still look great.
JEP: Oh, well, I don’t know about that, but, um, you know, when I went back for the 50th, I made a big mistake, Suzanne, when I went back for the 50th, I was so anxious to take my wife, you know. We were really excited and whatnot, and she says, “You know what? You don’t want to take me. Take Austin” – my son, my oldest son, and really, Austin’s like, “Dad, I’d love to go. This might be my only chance to ever go with you, you know, for something like that. Sure. I’d love to go.” Well, Suzanne — and he’s not in the room so I can say this — My son is six foot seven, and better looking than [me] on my best day in life. So I take this guy that completely upstages me. I mean, if you can look all over the internet, and there’s all these pictures of him at the 50th, and he’s not an actor, you know, he’s kind of a, I hate to say “struggling musician”, but, you know, somewhat of a struggling musician and he is all over the place. ’cause simply because the people are like, my gosh, who is that six?
Suzanne: Is he the one that was wearing the mustache and beard in the picture you sent me?
JEP: Yeah.
Suzanne: Yeah. You know.
JEP: Oh yeah, yeah. That’s him.
Suzanne: He looked a little bit, and I can’t remember the actor’s name. Don um, Don… something… that used to play Brad on “Young and the Restless.”
Yes. He looks a lot like him. yeah. Yeah. He has a bit of, a bit of a bit of that, a bit of that, that, yeah. He has blackness in his black hair. Yeah, he is very dark. Yeah.
Suzanne: So tell us, um. How it came about. Let’s go back a little bit to 2023, when you returned to as Cole after 26 years.
Hard to believe it was 26 years. You see, I’m gonna interrupt you. Oh, doggie. Hi baby. Aww.
Suzanne: There’s your little baby
is a rescue that I’ve had eight months and I just adore him. He is such a sweet boy. I love him so much.
Suzanne: Boy, he’s so cute.
Oh, I’m sorry to interrupt, Chris.
No, that’s fine. You can always interrupt.
You’re just looking up at me. Daddy, you’re ignoring me. You’re not talking with me.
Suzanne: I put mine in the back room because she’ll bark. She might.
JEP: Oh yeah. Well, I’ve got, I’ve got a house full of dogs here. They must, I’m so sorry. Must than mine. You were asking, you were asking me a question. I’m so sorry.
Suzanne: No, that’s okay. How did it come about back in, 2023 when they asked to come on the show?
JEP: Oh, well, yeah, that’s a good question. Again, you know, Y&R had its 50th anniversary, and they had a special event.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And, uh. You know, I’d been off the show at that time. I was off the show about 23 and a half years.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And they hadn’t seen me in a long time. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I mean, they, they have invited me back for anniversaries and things like that. They’ve been really nice to me over the years and always invited me back. But they hadn’t seen me at that in that time. I don’t know, maybe in about five years or something like that. So when I showed up and everything, my son and I, we went… my son’s very western… we went wearing our Western gear. Just, you know, let’s just, let’s kind of go, let’s just go being us, you know, I don’t have to dress looking all soapy. And, and I think it just kind brought more attention and just people went, “Well, who…? Oh hey, that’s J. Eddie. Oh, oh my gosh, that’s Jay Eddie.” And, you know, so a lot of the network people saw me and, uh, and this and that, and they kinda got the idea, “Wow, we ought to bring him back for the Blast From The Past event.”
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: So I got a call maybe a couple of months later, and YR was doing their very first Blast From The Past. And I’d asked Kathy Thomas, “Who else is doing the Blast From The Past?” She says, “Well, you’re the first one we called.” I said, “Oh, great. Okay.” So II did that. They brought back alumni from —
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: From B&B, “Young and the Restless”, and by far, I was the longest person to be off the show, so I really– I told my wife, I said, I don’t really know if I want to go to this Blast From The Past. She says, “Well, why?” I said, “It’s gonna be embarrassing,” I said, “because no one is gonna know who I am.” I’d been off the show almost 24 years at that point. And I said, “No one’s gonna know me. It’s gonna be embarrassing.” So Suzanne, when I showed up, thankfully it was amazing how many fans were our fans back in the nineties and were Cole fans back then. And I got a very, very unexpected reception.
Suzanne: Oh.
JEP: And um, so, uh. You know, um, I guess I didn’t know this, but what I was told by another producer is that before that even happened, Josh already said, I wanna bring J. Eddie Peck back for something. I’ve gotta figure out what it is, right? And then about, oh, a couple of days after this Blast From The Past, one of these soap predictors that we see on YouTube – that predicts what’s going on?
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And a reputable one, said, “J. Eddie Peck is coming back to Young and Restless.” And whenever that announcement came out, my phone lit up.
Suzanne: Oh wow.
JEP: And I was like, “Oh my gosh. I hope Y&R doesn’t think that I’m announcing that I’m going back to Y&R.” I hope they don’t think I’m that guy.
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: And my phone just looks… I immediately get on my social media, and I said, “Hey, not going back to Young and Restless. I don’t know what the rumor is. I don’t know why anyone would say that. I’m not in talks with Y&R. I’m not going back to Y&R. Not happening, but thanks for asking. You know, thanks for inquiring” and so, about two weeks after that… So, I would say it was around, August 18th or 20th, I get a call. I’m sitting on my patio having a coffee. My son was visiting again, so I’m having a coffee with my wife and my son. And it’s Greg Salmon, casting director of Y&R. He says, J. Eddie. this is Greg. Are you getting my messages?” I said, “No, Greg. What messages?” He said, “Well, I’ve been emailing you, and I’ve left you messages. And he says, “Listen. We wanna bring you back to the show.” He said, “Are you interested?” And I just start laughing. I’m laughing and I, and I’m shedding tears. So I said, “Oh, great. This is hilarious.” I said, “This rumor got out a couple of weeks ago .”I said, “I guess it’s true! I’m the last one to know.” See, here I am, Suzanne. I’m the last one to know that I’m going back to the show, and I’m the last one to know, “Hey, stupid, you’re fired.”
Suzanne: That’s funny. But anyway, there are so many rumors out there, all the time about…
JEP: Yeah.
Suzanne: About soaps and actors.
JEP: Yeah.
Suzanne: Yeah, there are. I mean, I always tell people, Don’t believe anything at all until you see it in a verified publication because you just don’t know, and it’s just speculation most of the time. Even if it turns out to be true, it’s not necessarily true [when you read it] and you shouldn’t depend on it and spread it.
JEP: Well. It’s like you said, oftentimes it’s speculative.
Suzanne: Well, yeah.
JEP: You know, maybe, maybe something is a rumor or a thought, but then, you know, once it gets out there, people may think it’s gonna happen, right?
Suzanne: Yeah, exactly. So, well, so you had a great deal of chemistry with everyone on the show, particularly Haley, who played Cole’s daughter —
JEP: Thank you.
Suzanne: Claire, and Amelia, who plays Victoria, the love of Cole’s life.
JEP: Yes.
Suzanne: Can you talk about working with them?
JEP: Oh, well. Yeah. I will start off with Haley. Haley is — I think she’s about the age or so — she’s somewhere between my two adult sons, and… I don’t have a daughter, but, I mean, for maybe the second day that I worked with her, I just really felt a connection with her in a fatherly way. And I think what that is, is she’s such a special young lady, you know? She’s a mother, a wife. She’s classy, she’s unique. I feel like Haley has a maturity and, almost like a throwback to another era.
Suzanne: Hmm.
JEP: She’s not your typical young lady of her age. She’s not even your typical actor of her age. You know, she has a really wonderful, wonderful quality about her, and I just found it endearing, and I just connected in…when I say connected, I mean, Cole just really connected with what she was giving me [as an actor], and um, I’ve always had in my mind the history of where Cole was, what’s happened in his life, his loves… His disappointments. I knew that Cole never had children over the years. I knew that Cole never had a deep, meaningful relationship when he was gone all of that time. That was truly always the way that I had seen him in my mind. And it was uncanny how the writers picked up on his history exactly the way that I had seen it. And, you know, because they could have easily said, well, Cole was married and divorced and he lost his wife.
Suzanne: Right?
JEP: And, you know, all different kinds of things. I knew that he had never had a deep, meaningful relationship. And, they actually brought that up in a conversation between Cole and Victoria one day. She had said to him, “Well, Cole, you’re a, a professor at Oxford and you must have run across and had a number of relationships and things of that nature,” and he said, “Well, I had a trist or two, but I never really had any deep, meaningful relationship, and that truly is the way I always saw this character. I always saw him… even when he was married to Ashley, [whom] he cared a great deal for, but his true love was always Victoria. And that’s why he went, you know, he went outside his marriage…He, I just, I think so much was just the way I played him, the way that Bill wrote him, that even back in the day, I was always trying to steer it back to Victoria, even when I was working with Ashley.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And, and I really enjoyed working with those actresses, Shari and Eileen… I loved it, and I loved the Ashley character. Wonderful character.
Suzanne: Right. She’s great.
JEP: Yeah. But, um. I felt Cole’s heart was always with Victoria. And so when Amelia took over that role in, [2004], just prior to that, She was on “All My Children” [as Mia].
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And I had several different love interests on “All My Children” for the time that I was there.
Suzanne: Sure.
JEP: But Amelia was my last one. And Cole, or excuse me –Jake and Mia actually got engaged right just before I left the show, so there was a connection there, there was a night, there was a friendship there that Amelia and I had, and I thought we had a really nice chemistry on that show, just from absolutely, from the get go.There was just some nice chemistry there.
Suzanne: So yeah, I watched that one too, so I–
JEP: Oh, good. Oh, wonderful. Well, thank you for even remembering. It was so long ago.
Suzanne: It was a long time ago.
JEP: Yeah, it was, it was long ago. But, but anyway, um, yeah, I absolutely believed that all the goods were there. You know, if they had chose to go more that direction and for a longer period of time, I just really believed that Cole’s relationship with Claire, and the chemistry, that the three of us had, which is, eh, it was fun.
Suzanne: It was, it was unique, I think, and I think it worked.
JEP: The other thing too, Suzanne, is that I hate to use the word designed, but I guess you could say that I saw a path for Cole. Um, his personality, his history, his love and devotion. He’s a hopeless romantic. He has a sense of humor. He’s a strong male who will fight for the deaths for his family and anything he believes in. I knew I had the fire in the belly, if you will, as an actor, just like I do as a father and a husband in real life. And, I knew that I could make that character very, very interesting if I had the opportunity to do more with it. And especially at this time in my life. You know, this time in my life, I’m a very different person
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: Than I what I was 20, 25 years ago. You know, fatherhood and life and ups and downs, and reinventing myself – as I had to do when I left acting. All these kinds of things, you know, have deepened me as a person, and it’s kind of shaped me into a different person than who I was in the 1990s.
Suzanne: Well, that’s, I guess that’s the best of what happens to us as we get older and mature and we–
JEP: Yeah. Fully become better people.
Suzanne: Absolutely.
JEP: Absolutely. And I think that’s what makes it so interesting, you know, for all actors, as we all get, get older, I think…motherhood, for the ladies that I’ve worked with, whether it was Amelia, whether it was Heather Tom, you know. I know, as Heather, whom I worked all those years ago, she was just this young– this young lady with this tremendous amount of talent. I know that she, she’s a different person today. You know, she’s had a very long, successful marriage and she’s a mother and all the years of experience and her close relationship with her mother and things that she had, and all these things really shape all of us. And I think that’s what makes daytime such a dynamic medium is that we see these characters grow and evolve from their youth and through their trials and tribulations to hopefully [become] seasoned, mature, interesting people.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And it’s not just the characters, it’s us, too, [and] that’s what makes the storylines so much more compelling and more interesting in this medium than anywhere else. And that is, that we see and experience the life that these characters go through and how that changes them.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And generally for the better character.
Suzanne: The character development is great… has always been great on soaps. Anyway, is there anything else that you’d like to tell us about working on the show, and if you have any funny behind-the-scenes stories?
JEP: Well, let me think here. Funny and behind-the-scenes…
Suzanne: You know, anything you’re allowed to tell.
JEP: Yeah, exactly. Well, you know, at Y&R, I think I grew up a lot. By the time I got toY&R, even in the nineties, you know. When I was on Days of our Lives, we were stinkers, you know, and especially me. I had to be one of the worst. (Bye honey. My wife’s checking out. ) I had to be one of the worst when it came to just doing stupid pranks, stupid stuff. But my fellow actor buddies on the show. Oh gosh. I hate to even tell some of the stuff I used to do. But anyway, yeah, over there, there was a lot of, you know, we were just young, younger guys and, just a lot of crazy stuff. I know we did have showers in our dressing rooms, and, of course, why not? We always had a shower in the dressing room, so if you choose to shower at work and shower in the dressing room… “All My Children”, we did not have showers in a dressing room.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And at days, most of the time I was there.. actually, I was one of the few people who did have a shower in a dressing room because I had Redd Foxx’s dressing room, which meant you had to walk through a whole ‘nother empty stage to get to the main stage. And a lot of the actors went, “Mike, I don’t wanna walk that far. Just, just gimme one of the close rooms.” And I was like, “Wait a minute. That room’s got a shower, and it’s got a steam. I take it, I want that room. I don’t care how far I gotta walk.” But before I took that room, Suzanne, there was a downstairs area that– most of us guys were downstairs. Most all of us were. And we’d have to shower, you know, down in the community shower and whatnot. You didn’t have a separate stall, but, and I think there was just two showers. There might have been one. I think there was two. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There was two. And, so when, you know, Michael Easton or Robert Mailhouse, when they would be in their showering or whatever, man, I’d, I’d sneak down there. I’d sneak in there and I’d grab, they’d have freezing cold water. I could get that outside in the hallway, not the tap, but really, really cold stuff. They’d be in their shower and I’d be dousing them with the cold water — just mean, stupid stuff, you know?
Suzanne: Yeah, yeah.
JEP: And then a lot of other funny stuff that I, I really can’t tell, but, we were always cutting up and doing things. What it was at Y&R, you know, for whatever reason, it wasn’t as juvenile as what I was allowed to be on some of the other shows. Again, I was more mature, so where by the time I went to “All My Children,” I wasn’t doing any shenanigans. And then, you know, after I left Days and went to Y&R, there were no shenanigans. I’m trying to think of, if the other folks did stuff.
Suzanne: You know, I heard that the actor that plays Nick, um…
JEP: Oh yeah. He is a practical joke. Nick is, yeah, Josh is, Josh is hilarious. He’s, he’s very, very funny. He’s, he’s a very special individual. Um, I just have so much respect for Josh because I remember when he came in his very first day, and he, Josh, was originally from Oklahoma, and he had been living out in the LA area in the valley for a short amount of time.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And, going to school, playing basketball for our junior college. (And I got Pilgrim saying, he’s just handing me his ball, handing me his bosses. Come on, dad’s ball time.) Hopefully he’ll stop. But anyway, I remember when Josh first came in and. I wanna say he was 19, I think he was 19 years old. He was pretty young. You know, those first scenes, I was doing those first scenes with him. He [played] Victoria’s brother…But I was gonna say, he’s just a great guy with a tremendous sense of humor. All of the younger guys on the show are all super special. I mean, they’re just, they’re great guys. They’re great individuals. Um. Pots of gold. Everybody’s a just a really good person. Everybody’s so solid. I’ve said to my sons, when I look at my cast members, these are people that are fortunate, but these aren’t people who got lucky.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: These are people that are so special and unique. [They] have a multitude of gifts and qualities, which put them in a position to where they could win that special job. And then when they won that special job, they grew from there and they improved and they were professional and they’ve hung on, you know, to those roles. And trust me when I tell you that these are not just lucky people who happen to land on a soap. I think that. Sometimes there were those people maybe 30 years ago or more. But, I really think, especially with our cast over at Y&R
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: These are really talented, deserving, people that have these coveted jobs and roles and characters that we love. You know, they’re wonderful. I’m a huge fan of my cast on that show, as it was every cast that I ever worked with.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: They’re just really special talented people that don’t take anything for granted. They’re professional. People know their stuff. They show up prepared. There’s no slacking, they’re good. I have seen people that, I don’t wanna say slacked off, but maybe weren’t as professional prepared, you know?
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And that’s not slacking. It’s just like some people just have a problem getting that material down, Suzanne. It’s hard to deliver it. Well, and the people I work with are a lot better at it than I am. They’re really, really good at it. And they’re tremendous and, anyway, but funny stories…Let’s see. Do I have anything? I’m sure you know that there are, um. But I can’t. I can’t.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: No, they cannot for anything. You know, I will say that, in the nineties and everything, um, I used to socialize a lot more with a cast.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And, you know, we’d go to the Emmy’s and we’d all go hang out and go out to dinner and go out dancing and all those kinda things and–
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: And even over the show, you know, I used to socialize a lot with the cast and, and maybe, I don’t know what it is now, but… This time coming back? I’m friends, but I never really socialized, you know? Probably ’cause most of the people who do the socializing, you know, were younger than me, and I’m that guy that would finish up with work and, say, “Oh my gosh, I’d love to go do this. Or I’d love to go meet a friend for a while. I gotta race home…” Because I was always rescuing dogs, you know?
Suzanne: Right, right.
JEP: Oh, I can’t leave my wife with. 15 million dogs at the house. I gotta, I gotta rush home.
Suzanne: And how long have you been doing the dog fostering and rescue?
JEP: Um, well, my mother had an animal rescue, when I grew up as a boy in Joplin, Missouri. So, she kind of initiated me with that when I would get home from school. If I didn’t have sports after school, then I was, I was racing home to bottle-feed, to clean up after the puppies, or clean the kennels or do something, or, she’d say,” Hey, I need you to go with me. We’re gonna go pick up a doll.”
Suzanne: She trained you and all that.
JEP: She trained me with all that. Exactly. That’s good. But what she really did was that she opened my eyes to the plight of the dogs. You know, we have the same issues today that we did in the 1970s, which is spaying and neutering, educating – get getting people to spay and neuter their animals. We have overpopulation.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm
We have dogs that are going in the shelter situations, and the shelters are overrun all over the country. And obviously, a lot of shelters euthanize, and that’s what we have out here inL.A. You know, most euthanize. And what I try to do is I try to help find the homes, and place, and bring attention to the dogs that are on the 72-hour list. So, you know. My time is limited.
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
JEP: And there’s a lot of things that I want to do at this time in my life. I’m 66 years old, and I wanna make the best use of my time while I have my health and things. But to be honest with you, Suzanne, my wife and I are up every single night, following the plight of these dogs. We get alerts and things of the situations and dogs that are critical. We just can’t– you can’t turn your back on it.
Suzanne: Right.
JEP: You know, it’s just not something that I can just walk away from and, oh gee, that’s a bad problem. And I can’t, and I just feel compelled to try to, to do more, to try to help these animals, to educate people more, too. So I am trying to, more so than, “Hey, I’m gonna try to place and find a home for this particular dog,” which I do a lot of, but I’ve exhausted my Rolodex. I’ve exhausted every friend, family [member] — people see me coming, you know, on area over area. So place the dog, can we help it? Can we keep it? Can we foster it? You know?
Suzanne: Yeah.
JEP: So what I’m trying to do now is, I’m trying to do fundraising. I’m trying to expand more on the education of people throughout my entire area and things. We have a lot of folks in Los Angeles that are from all over the world, and folks from all over the world have different cultures, and different cultures that the way in which they view spaying and neutering and things of that nature. So there’s an educational campaign, that I really think that we need to do. And I’m working with that. I’m working with raising money, particularly for my shelter here in Santa Clarita. I did a fundraiser here about four months ago that, thankfully, I had some really nice people that did the heavy lifting.
Suzanne: Good
JEP: That really did the most of the work for me. But we were able to raise some good money. Then I’m involved with another, philanthropist-type of person here, within my community. And we have a big gala coming up on November 1st.
Suzanne: Well, thank you so much.
Here are the rest of the questions that we didn’t have time for:
Suzanne: How did you get into the Airbnb business? Have you ever booked any soaps fans (either inadvertently or on purpose)?
JEP: I had remodel and resale experience. One son is in commercial real estate, the other has history in residential. At the beginning of the pandemic we set our sights on finding the worst house in a nice neighborhood with a great location. Within a few weeks, we found it: a corner lot with a city view.
My son, Austin, created the interior and exterior design, and I got to work—taking the house down to the studs and rebuilding what we call a rustic mid/century farmhouse—remodeled inside and out, including re-plastering the pool and landscape.
The house is very quiet and private. A nice alternative for those looking to avoid hustle and bustle of Los Angeles while being just 7 minutes from Six Flags Magic Mountain, 25 minutes to Universal Studios and an hour from Disneyland during low traffic times.
Last year the house was booked 92% of the time, and we’ve met some wonderful people from every continent in the world. To your question: Yes, I have been recognized a few times. A few months ago I dropped-in to clean the pool. The female guest walked outside, I waved “hello,” she took a long pause then ran back inside the house. After a few minutes a man comes out and shyly says: “I know this is crazy, but my wife is convinced you’re the actor, JEP on the Young and the Restless?” I think even he was surprised when I said, “Yes.” I was pretty sure they were both wondering why an actor on her show is cleaning the pool? I said, “It’s a family biz and we are very hands on. I’m the guy who fixes everything and does the pools.”
The B&B business takes a lot of work. When something breaks—and it will, it’s gotta be remedied right away. There are days when I rather be acting on B&B than be the AirBnB biz. But this is about doing business ventures with my sons, and nothing is more rewarding than that.
Suzanne: I saw a video on your Instagram where you said something like, you would like to go to another soap. Are you going out for auditions in general?
JEP: I think what I mentioned was I’d love to work on another soap. It’s hard to beat the daytime medium when it comes to finding roles with depth. So yes, I love to work on any of the daytime shows. Whether it be B&B, GH, reprising my role of Hawk Hawkins on Days, or creating a new one on “Beyond The Gates.”
Suzanne: Some questions from fans:
Monica wants to know what your favorite storyline on Y&R was?
JEP: Without a doubt, my favorite storyline on the “Young and the Restless” was the early days when Cole and Victoria discovered one another, fell in love, only to marry and find out that they were half brother and sister.
I got a call from Bill Bell one night telling me that he loved the chemistry between Heather Tom and I (when Cole and Vic first met in the tack house where Cole lived). I said, “Oh that’s great. I really enjoy working with her, but we are brother and sister.” Bill followed with: “Hey, you don’t worry about that. That’s my job. You just keep doing what you’re doing—I like you two together. You’re the first actor to have chemistry with the kid, and I’ll figure out how to make it work.” Of course, we know the rest of the story, Victor exhumed Cole’s mother (Eve) from the grave, did a DNA test, and as it turned out, Cole was NOT Victor’s so,n and he and Victoria were reunited. That made much of the audience happy and I was glad to be working with such a brilliant young lady. Heather’s depth was far beyond her years, and I loved working with her. Bill Bell’s stories through the 90s were wonderful, and I was honored to be a part of that era.
Suzanne: Eva writes Y&R recaps for our site. She asks if you have any kind of message for the fans that miss you on Y&R?
JEP: When I got the call from Josh Griffith that he was going to kill Cole, it caught me by such surprise that all I could think about was how grateful I was to have the opportunity to come back and play the role for 20 months. And now, after some time has gone by, it’s really hit me on how much I enjoyed Cole’s return and sad to see it end in his death. Reading viewer comments—some of which are fans from the 90s—touched me deeply. It made me feel I’d left some kind of mark on the show, and at the end of the day, that’s what all of us actors are hoping for.
I think I had over 7,000 comments for two short posts that I put out on my departure. I announced I was going to read every one of them, and I did. It took me about 3 1/2 weeks to read them all. So my message to the fans : Thanks so much for your kind, heartfelt words of support that have helped me feel a little better about Cole’s demise. Wishing you and your family the very best! ❤️
Suzanne: Janet asks, “Where does your next adventure take you to?”
JEP: I’m not sure…and it’s kind of exciting not knowing, really, what lies ahead. I do know that whether it’s on another show, a Lifetime movie, or my own YouTube channel—which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, I promise I will bring heart, depth and worthy content that our Y&R viewers deserve.
Suzanne: Chris wants to know where you would have liked to see the dynamic of Claire, Victoria and Cole go in the future?
JEP: Hey Chris, thanks for your question. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen the story go exactly in the direction that me as the actor and Cole as the character were hoping and pushing for since Cole’s return to GC. Obviously, Cole’s first priority is the health and well-being of his daughter, Claire, followed by his unconditional support for helping Victoria reach whatever goals she was after in her life. As far as Cole, Victoria was the love of his life since leaving Genoa City 24 years earlier. He never forgot about his one true love and was never able to move on and find a fulfilling relationship. As Cole once told Victoria, “Yeah, sure, I had a tryst with a colleague every now and then, but nothing that ever went anywhere.” Cole’s wish was to remarry Victoria and become the family unit that he always wanted with his daughter, Claire.
Suzanne: Chris also asks, “If you have a dream job or role to play, what would that be?”
JEP: Chris, I became an actor because I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to play characters with depth, heart, and passion. Characters that were appealing, unpredictable, within stories that inspire people to hopefully become better people.
I also have a rather deep sense of humor. I like to bring some level of humor to all my characters . Unfortunately, this time around there wasn’t much room for humor, romance or courtship. The depth of Claire’s story, Aunt Jordan, and Victoria dealing with it all, left little opportunity for Cole’s personality to shine. If there was room, I would have brought it, and it would have been a lot harder for them to get rid of me, I can promise you that.
A veteran actor of eight television series; actor, producer, writer, director and host, J. Eddie Peck has both domestic and international appeal. Once known by millions of viewers around the world due to his thirteen-year stint in daytime television as Cole Howard on CBS’s number one daytime drama, The Young and the Restless, Hawk Hawkins on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, and as Dr. Jake Martin on ABC’s, All My Children. In addition, his starring roles on Dallas and Dynasty are still aired throughout the world. In fact, J. Eddie is one of the very few actors to have a front-burner storyline on two primetime series simultaneously.
Peck has also starred in fourteen films and several hit Movies-of-the-Week. One being the major release dance movie, Lambada, a Gene Siskel “top ten” rental pick-of-the- year. The film was an idea J. Eddie pitched and sold to the studio as a writer, and was later cast as the film’s lead. Peck also starred with the Olsen Twins in the lighthearted comedy, To Grandmother’s House We Go, one of ABCs most successful TV movies of the 90’s, and still a holiday classic today.
Eddie recurred as the world’s “second” smartest human in the role of scientist, Adam Baylin on ABC Family’s all-time highest rated series, KYLE XY. Originally hired for a two-episode guest star, the show opted to bring Peck’s character back from the dead enabling him to return in seventeen of the last 27 episodes.
Once voted by “Teen Magazine” as “TV’s Sexiest New Star,” JEP is one of a small few daytime male stars to shoot the cover of “TV Guide” magazine. He also appeared on eleven daytime covers within his first twelve months on The Young and the Restless, as well as over 75 National magazine covers throughout his daytime career.
While at CBS, the network approached the actor about an “at home special” featuring Peck and his family on their California horse ranch. Originally slated for daytime viewing, CBS later decided to air the show as a prime-time special. The show caught the attention of the network’s executives, and as a result J. Eddie was soon hired by the network, and approved by the pageant owner, Donald Trump, to host the Miss Teen USA, and later, the Miss USA, which proved to be the highest rated USA Pageant in CBS history.
Eddie has also been a guest on over 50-television talk shows, including The Today Show, GMA, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Good Day LA, Regis and Kathie Lee, and Donahue. The former disc jockey also enjoys holding the mic, having hosted for E-Entertainment’s Pure Soap and Along for the Ride with J. Eddie Peck, an equestrian lifestyle show which he created and executive produced. In addition, Peck served as guest correspondent for Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Crook and Chase, as well as a celebrity panelist on 22 episodes of the syndicated game show, Match Game.
Eddie’s created scripted and unscripted programming as well. He’s sold or optioned several feature scripts; a one-hour scripted drama, as well as a one-hour pilot for Animal Planet. Currently, he is in development with “Flippin’ The Bird,” a reality pilot featuring an interesting cast of characters and their vintage-aircraft restoration business out of Ozark, Missouri. Also in 2023, J. Eddie co-stars in Bright Ideas, a Ronn Head-directed, independent comedy currently hitting film festivals and expecting a distribution deal within the year.
From the executive level in entertainment, J. Eddie was brought on by TAMD Multimedia Corporation from 2009 to 2010 as Senior VP of Acquisitions. Mr. Peck expanded his executive level work outside the studio realm when he was hired from 2012 to 2016 as the CEO & President of the national financial services company, AmeriPrem LLC. In addition, he served a five-year term as consultant and national spokesman for the healthcare company, AmeriPlan USA.
Outside of entertainment J. Eddie’s lifelong passion for building and remodeling to restoring old cars and trucks, J.Eddie is usually juggling several projects at a time. Most of all, he enjoys doing all of the above with his wife, Sonya, and their two adult sons. The kid who booked a national commercial within his first 24 hours in Hollywood because they liked his “Ozark Twang,” is still the same guy today — only a little less accent, and a few more credits.
In October of 2023, J. Eddie Peck reprised his role of Cole Howard on CBS’s number one daytime drama, The Young and the Restless. Cole’s managed to rekindle his relationship with his former wife and long-time love interest, Victoria Newman, played by Amelia Heinle.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, the #1 daytime drama for over 30 consecutive years, is a continuing drama revolving around the loves, enmities, hopes and fears of the residents of the fictional Midwestern town of Genoa City.
The series, currently in its 52nd season, airs on the CBS Television Network, and is available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.
Cane turns down working with Victor and he tells him he would take his chances when the information about Colin conning the woman out of her money so that Cane could use the money to start his empire. Victor tells Cane he knows that he is working on an AI program that can take over any company’s finical information in order to make it easier to take over any company. Victor demands that Cane team up with him to take over Jabot or Mattie and Charlie will find out that grandpa Colin was a thief.
Claire tells Kyle that she needs time to think about his marriage proposal. Claire tells Kyle that she isn’t sure she can trust him anymore although she knows that he loves her. Claire goes to Crimson Lights and runs into Holden and she decides she wants to get drunk for the first time and wonders if Holden wants to get drunk with her.
Britt finds Josslyn and Vaughn in the room where Pascal has them locked up.
Portia finally tells Trina the truth that Drew has been blackmailing her and Curtis because he found out she altered Heather Webber’s blood test results to keep her in prison.
Kai finds out that Drew asked the insurance commission to investigate Stella when he calls the insurance commission to find out the status of the investigation. Kai later talks to Trina and tells her she was right about Drew and he will do anything to make it up to her.
Danny and Rocco find a body floating in the Port Charles harbor.
Curtis tells Drew that he will see him dead before he sees his Aunt Stella go to prison. Drew tells Carly that she should persuade Michael to give Willow her kids back or he will ruin Michael’s life. Carly tells Drew she will kill him if he does anything to hurt Michael.
Willow tells Elizabeth she knows Drew is a terrible person but he is the only person who is powerful enough to get her kids back for her. Willow tells Elizabeth that she is willing to sell her soul to the devil to get back her kids.
Leo talked to Chad about his time being wasted on the trial. He didn’t like how Kristen confessed to shooting EJ. Leo was relieved that he was free of jury duty. Chad wanted him to cover the story about Kristen’s sentencing. Leo wanted to do the story. He admitted that he thought Kristen’s confession was a little too convenient. It wasn’t like Kristen to confess to anything out of guilt. Chad wondered why Kristen would want to confess and risk losing her daughter if she didn’t do it. Gwen told EJ that she was surprised that Kristen confessed to shooting him. It’s not like her to sacrifice her freedom for someone else. She mentioned that the jury was going to find Johnny not guilty so she didn’t have to confess. Gwen felt bad for Rachel since she had to grow up without her mother. Tate talked to Brady about Rachel. He was willing to stay at the townhouse because of everything that’s been happening lately. Brady wanted him to have the full college experience. Tate had to get ready for work. He let Brady know that Sophia got hired at the pub too. Brady knew things were tense between them because of the baby. Tate thought she wanted to move on with her life. Holly arrived at the pub and wasn’t happy to see Sophia working there. She thought Sophia was there to get closer to Tate. Holly let her know that she wouldn’t let her come between her and Tate again. Tate arrived at the pub, and Holly pulled him into a kiss while staring at Sophia.
Brady went to Steve’s office to find out if he had any information about the adoption. Steve didn’t have any information for him yet. He wanted to know which hospital Sophia went to when she gave birth. Brady didn’t know, but he had a picture of the adoptive parents. Steve believed he could do a search on them. He wanted to use a copy of the baby’s birth certificate. Brady thought it would look suspicious if he asked Tate or Sophia for the birth certificate. They checked on the lawyer that was used for the adoption. Brady called her, and it went to voicemail. He left a message for the lawyer. Steve went to the hospital to see Kayla. He wanted to know if she treated Sophia while she was pregnant. Kayla said she did, but she couldn’t talk it. Steve told her about Brady’s suspicions about Sophia’s pregnancy. Brady believed that Sarah was suspicious about the pregnancy too. Steve wondered if Kayla could do anything. Brady went to the family lawyer. She said she got his message. He said he had questions about the adoption she handled for his son, Tate Black. The lawyer didn’t know who Tate was.
After Allison and Chelsea said their vows, Allison gave her the wedding ring. Chelsea tried to avoid kissing Allison but ended up kissing her. Jacob read Allison’s journals and found a clue about her inheriting her grandmother’s property. Kat, Madison, and Jacob went to the cabin. When Chelsea rejected Allison, she snapped. Allison told her that no one would have her if she couldn’t have her. She put a knife to Chelsea. Martin went to see Nicole. He told her that he and Smitty were close to reuniting. Martin was hopeful that she and Ted would get back together until she told him that she filed for divorce.
Ted went to see Leslie. He tried to talk her out of buying the house across the street from the Duprees. Ted suggested that she move in with him. He let her know that he wasn’t talking about them living together. Ted wanted to give Leslie the house so Nicole wouldn’t get it in the divorce. Leslie was suspicious about the offer. Ted said he was grateful to have Eva in his life. He said he might move in after his divorce was final because he wasn’t living in a hotel for the rest of his life. Leslie thought he was leading her on, but he said he was ready to give her the house. Late on, Leslie went to Nicole’s place to let her know that she was moving in.
Alex told Xander that he talked to Sarah, and she admitted that she still loved him and missed him. Xander was affected by what Alex told him, but he changed the subject. He admitted that Stephanie’s idea officially announcing Philip as co-CEO. Alex thought it would get them out of harm’s way. He thought it would be better for Xander to have half of something instead of all of nothing. Sarah told Marlena that Kristen should have come forward sooner than she did. Marlena tried to defend Kristen which surprised Sarah. After they talked about Kristen and Rachel, they moved onto Marlena’s health issues. Marlena confided in Sarah that Susan thought she was sick mind, body and soul. Sarah didn’t take Susan’s theories seriously. Susan’s theory gave her an idea. She remembered that Marlena was just in Estonia and it’s a high-risk area for tick-borne illnesses. Sarah wanted to run tests for that. Marlena asked her about Xander. Sarah admitted that she still loved him, but she couldn’t go back to the man he’s become. She hoped that Marlena could help him get to the source of his anger for the sake of their daughter. Susan interrupted Johnny and Chanel’s private celebration. They talked about the trial. Susan never got the feeling that Kristen was the one who shot EJ. Johnny and Chanel told her that Kristen confessed to the crime. Susan backed down and allowed them to go back to their celebration. She left their apartment and had a grim look on her face.
Susan went to see Marlena to apologize to her for what she told her. She felt another chill down her spine. Susan warned Marlena that whatever happened to her has gotten worse. Marlena was interested in hearing her theories. She slammed the door on her. Sarah ran into Xander. He wanted her to admit to what Alex said to him, but she didn’t. Sarah didn’t see a point in discussing it and left with Victoria. Gabi had a fountain pen and didn’t need Steve’s help. Javi arrived, and she begged him to be her assistant again. He didn’t want to do it because he liked his new job. They talked about her life. Javi told her that the only thing missing in her life was love. Gabi confided in Javi that there were two guys that she might be interested in. She admitted that she felt a connection to one of them, and the other was the reason why she didn’t come home last night. After she talked with Javi, she went to Xander’s office. She left a report, and the pen on his desk.
Naomi told Dani that they might have gotten the break that they needed to find Chelsea. Jacob told Kat the same thing. Allison told Chelsea that they were going to be bound for life by getting married. Chelsea told Allison that she was already married. Allison said her husband was an escort. She told Chelsea that she could make Madison disappear. Chelsea said things were going too fast. Allison said she was willing to give her time but not much since they were getting married that day. She let Chelsea know that she was ordained online so she could marry them. Chelsea asked about witnesses to which Allison said God was their witness. Allison put a knife to Chelsea to force her to say yes.
Jacob told Kat that he didn’t want her going with him when he searched the address to where Allison was getting her packages but ended up agreeing to let her go. Kat said she could give Chelsea support if she was traumatized. Jacob ended up regretting letting her go when she said she put Allison’s storage unit key in her pocket. Jacob said she tampered with the evidence. Madison told Shanice that she wanted to marry Chelsea. While Madison was sharing her dream, Allison began the ceremony with Chelsea. Leslie and Eva met with Vanessa to talk about renovations to the house. Vanessa told her that she wouldn’t be able to move in the house for three months because the owners wanted to find a new place to live. Eva and Vanessa suggested that Leslie move to another house. Leslie said Fairmont Crest had something no other place had. Andre told Ted that he wanted to be friends with benefits with Dani. Bill told Nicole that Ted was delaying the divorce with an audit. He said Ted was doing this because he needed time to win her back. Vanessa went to the Duprees to let them know that she was able to put off having Leslie move in the house for a few months. Dani wanted Bill to stop Leslie from moving in the house for good.
Martin tells Tracy that Stella has been arrested for insurance fraud and they agree to help her separately. Alexis manages to buy Stella some time because the insurance fraud investigators failed to get the warrant signed.
Curtis and Portia have a long argument because Portia thinks that Curtis has always loved Jordan and has never faced his feelings for her because he wanted to make a family for Trina. Portia tells Curtis that if he walks out of the door of her office their marriage is done. Curtis walks out of the door to go to the police station to see his Aunt Stella.
Isiah later walks into Portia’s office, helps Portia take her wedding ring off, and they have sex in her office at the hospital.
Jordan tells Curtis that she talked to her contact at the DEA and found out that someone powerful and influential asked them to open up the investigation on Stella. Curtis later goes to Drew’s office and tells him to stop attacking his family or he will end him. Drew tells Michael that he will give Willow joint custody or he will let everyone know that Sonny paid judge Heron to give him custody of the kids. Micheal later talks to Sonny who tells him they should talk to judge Heron and find out who paid her.
Jens Siddwell is angry with his son Marco for telling Drew about judge Heron and ruining his plan. Jens tells Marco that they need to get to judge Heron before Sonny finds out the truth and retaliate against them.
YPhyllis tells Cane to tell her the details of his plan and she will do everything. She will take the heat and he can keep his hands clean and spend time with his kids. Cane tells Phyllis that he will think about her idea.
Cane later tells Amanda that he is taking a break from his plan so he can focus on his family but, when nobody is watching him, he will take over all the companies in town including Winters Inc. which he told Lily and Devon he wasn’t going to touch.
Nikki promotes Claire to junior executive in the publishing division which Cole used to run and, when she is ready, Claire will run the division too.
Kyle persuades Claire to have dinner with him. Kyle plans to propose to Claire even though Jack and Diane advised him not to propose to Claire right now because it might seem manipulative to her and like he is trying to ignore the fact that he made a mistake not telling Claire as soon as he got home that he kissed Audra in Nice.
Belle gets out of bed and calls Paulina, who is in the town square with Abe. Belle says she knows they have a meeting later this afternoon but asks if they can push it so she can take a personal day. Paulina says it would be no problem at all. Paulina says the trial is over and Kristen has been arrested, so maybe Belle can finally get her life back to normal. Belle responds that she doesn’t know if that’s possible.
Jada comes home to her and Stephanie’s apartment where she’s surprised to find Alex in a towel.
Stephanie joins Xander at the Titan-DiMera office. Xander assumes Alex filled her in on why they were bringing her in. Stephanie confirms that it’s about coming up with a strategy in case Philip’s fraud comes out. Xander says they are hoping that doesn’t happen but want to be prepared if it does. Stephanie tells him that she has a plan but she’s not sure Xander is going to like it.
Steve is in his office, on the phone with Paul. Steve thanks him for getting back to him so soon and says it gave him exactly what he needed to crack this case. Steve says he owes him as they hang up. Steve then declares that Philip is a bad, bad boy.
Philip wakes up in bed with Gabi. Philip admits he thought he was dreaming for a second. They agree this was unexpected. Philip didn’t think agreeing to lunch would turn in to dinner which turned in to this. Philip comments on his history of jumping in to bed without thinking. Gabi asks who says she wasn’t thinking as she then kisses Philip.
Abe and Paulina look through books in the town square in front of the bookstore. Abe notes Paulina becoming distracted as she reads through Stephanie’s “One Stormy Night” novel. They laugh together as Paulina jokes that reading any more of that will make her sweaty. Paulina remembers she has a meeting with Jada and tells Abe that she’ll come back after so they can grab a bite to eat. Paulina then exits and Abe then picks up One Stormy Night.
Alex apologizes to Jada as he thought she already left for work. Jada explains that she did but forgot a file she needed. Alex asks if she has seen Stephanie since she was gone when he woke up. Jada says she was gone when she left this morning too. Alex wonders where she went.
Stephanie suggests to Xander that they have to prevent the truth from coming out. Xander asks what if they can’t. Stephanie says she will get on the case and see what she can do. Stephanie talks about Philip’s fraud being able to undercut the deal because he was never a legit CEO but says there is something Xander can do to help and possibly salvage the deal which Xander questions. Stephanie tells him that he can draw up legal papers, officially naming Philip as co-CEO and putting Victor’s wishes to paper, putting this issue to bed once and for all. Xander questions rewarding Philip by signing over half of everything to him. Stephanie figured he wouldn’t like it. Xander confirms that he hates it.
Philip tells Gabi that maybe they can do this again sometime which Gabi says she would like. Gabi brings up that they almost slept together just a few years ago. Philip remembers but says it would’ve been a mistake then since she was hung up on Jake. Gabi says that this time felt right. Gabi kisses Philip and then goes to leave his room right as Belle arrives at the door.
Paulina meets Jada in her office at the police station. Paulina tells Jada that she wanted to talk to her about AI since it was used to doctor the footage of Chanel and EJ. Paulina is convinced that EJ had something to do with it and that he must have paid someone off in the forensics department. Jada says she thought that too so she got a warrant to check the bank accounts of everyone who had a copy of the video to see if there were any unusual deposits but nothing came up and forensics insist it was an honest mistake.
Gabi goes home where Arianna confronts her and questions where she has been. Gabi questions her being up before noon while Arianna talks about being worried sick when Gabi didn’t come home or answer any of her text messages. Gabi apologizes and claims her phone died. Arianna questions her not having a charger. Gabi says she forgets things from time to time. Gabi says she has work to do but Arianna says she doesn’t get to go anywhere until she tells her why she didn’t come home last night.
Philip is sure Belle has questions about he and Gabi but Belle says it’s fine as she didn’t come to gather detail about his salacious sex life. Philip asks why she is here then. Belle responds that she came to warn him that she knows who is looking in to Titan-DiMera and they are getting very close to uncovering his secret. Philip questions how she knows this and who the hell it is.
Steve texts Stephanie that he needs to see her and asks her to come to his office right away.
Xander tells Stephanie that even if he went along with this, it doesn’t mean the deal can’t go belly up. Stephanie feels it might help bolster his defense of the takeover. Xander feels it doesn’t guarantee the deal won’t get nullified somehow and he’d still lose half of everything so he feels it’s not worth the risk. Stephanie points out that if the secret does come out and he does nothing to secure Philip’s position. Stephanie tells him to imagine being in Philip’s shoes and asks what’s to stop Philip from turning Xander over to the police if he did assault him and he’d end up losing everything.
Paulina tells Jada that from here on out, she will make sure the police get caught up with AI technology. Paulina says on a happier note, she’s glad that Chanel is no longer wrongfully accused. Paulina asks if the judge set a date for Kristen’s sentencing. Jada says not yet. Paulina hopes that the judge throws the book at Kristen. Jada says it still boggles her mind that Kristen almost let her own nephew take the fall for a crime she committed. Paulina says that’s just how the DiMeras are and remarks that you’d have to be out of your mind to even trust someone with the last name DiMera, apart from Johnny and Chanel.
Gabi apologizes to Arianna for making her worry but says she doesn’t have to explain herself, reminding her that she’s an adult. Arianna argues against how Gabi reacted and treated her in the same situation, then comes to the realization that Gabi had sex last night. Gabi argues that she’s allowed to have a love life and says there’s a big difference in Arianna being 18 and scaring her family. Arianna says she doesn’t want a lecture. Arianna didn’t realize Gabi was seeing someone. Gabi responds that she’s not and that it just sort of happened. Arianna hopes for this chill vibe the next time it just sort of happens for her. Gabi remarks that as long as it’s not with a sketchy bad boy who owes money to loan sharks. Arianna asks if she wants her to go back to dating boring normal guys. Gabi confirms she would prefer that and so would Will and Sonny. Gabi remarks that Will and Sonny are going to have their hands full when Arianna goes back home. Arianna then reveals that she wants to stay in Salem to go to school which surprises Gabi, who says she would love that. Arianna admits she already enrolled. Gabi calls it the best news ever as they hug.
Philip demands names from Belle as to who has been snooping around Titan-DiMera. Belle thinks back to talking to Steve about his investigation, but tells Philip that she’s sorry but she can’t tell him. Philip questions the point of warning him then. Belle thinks it’s important for Philip to just come forward and admit he forged the letter from Victor if it’s going to come out anyway. Philip argues that it won’t come out if she just tells him who is coming after his company. Belle repeats that she’s sorry but she can’t help him. Philip complains about her not being a friend after all the favors he’s done for her. Belle argues that she was trying to help him. Philip then stops and apologizes for being a jerk, saying he’s obviously under a lot of stress and he feels terrible. Belle says it’s not just about him, it’s everything.
Alex joins Xander in the Titan-DiMera office. Xander informs Alex that he just had a meeting with Stephanie, who said she would see if she could stop the truth about Philip’s fraud coming out and she also said that he should sign over half of the company to Philip because Stephanie is convinced he could defend his role in the takeover. Alex thinks it might be worth a shot while Xander thinks hiring Stephanie was a waste of time and money. Alex argues that Stephanie didn’t want the job in the first place and only took it because he asked her which only happened because Xander forced his hand, so he thinks Xander should show some gratitude. Xander responds that he’ll show gratitude when Stephanie delivers him something other than a half baked idea. Alex argues that Stephanie is amazing at her job and warns Xander about disrespecting her. Xander asks if it’s going to make him quit.
Stephanie goes to see Steve in his office and says she actually wanted to talk to him too. Steve asks if it has to do with Philip. Stephanie assumes he’s continued his investigation. Steve confirms he has and he’s come across some very interesting information. Steve reveals that it turns out that Philip has no legitimate claim to his inheritance or to the co-CEO position at Titan-DiMera, but guesses Stephanie already knew that which she confirms.
Paulina rejoins Abe in the town square and says her meeting was productive. Paulina suggests they get a table at the Bistro but Abe gets a call from his son, Theo. Abe tells him to slow down and tell him what’s wrong.
Arianna finishes a call with Will and Sonny, thanking them for being so cool about her decision to stay in Salem. Arianna hangs up and tells Gabi that they are totally on board. Gabi says she’s so excited that she’s staying. Gabi suggests having weekly girls nights and promises to give her plenty of space. Arianna then reveals that she plans on living in the dorms. Gabi questions her moving out. Arianna says it’s just across town and jokes that Gabi won’t have to worry about sneaking back in. Arianna says she’s going to grab breakfast so they hug as Arianna then exits.
Philip asks Belle to sit down and talk to him. He asks if she’s still upset about her break up with EJ, arguing that he’s not worth a single tear drop. Belle admits she misses EJ even though most of her wants to hate him but part of her still loves him. Philip asks if she’s thinking about getting back together. Belle assures that she’s not and talks about having the trial as distraction from her break up and her father’s death. Philip praises Belle and promises it will get better in time. Philip tells Belle that he will be there to help her through if she needs him as they hug.
Stephanie questions how Steve figured it out. Steve explains that now that Paul is with the ISA, he asked him for access to the original records from Xander and Philip’s court case concerning Philip’s claim on the Titan fortune. Steve says once he had that, he had Paul analyze Victor’s letter and their handwriting expert said if it was a forgery, it was a very good one but the ISA studied the ink formulation and learned that the ink used to write the letter wasn’t commercially available until January of last year, well after Victor died, so he couldn’t have written the letter. Stephanie calls that impressive detective work. Steve states that he’s shared what he knows, so he asks Stephanie to return the favor.
Alex tells Xander that he’s not going to quit, but if he keeps running his mouth about Stephanie like that, they are going to have a big problem. Xander decides they’ll just drop the subject. Alex asks about Xander starting his anger management sessions with Marlena because he hopes that a happier boss could mean a happier work place.
Steve tells Stephanie that considering how many people know about Philip’s forgery, he’s surprised the truth hasn’t come out already. Stephanie says that’s because there’s a lot on the line and if the truth comes out, the entire Titan-DiMera deal could unravel which is why Xander kept a lid on it. Stephanie adds that she’s now asking Steve to do the same. Stephanie asks if Steve even cares if the DiMeras get their company back. Steve admits he doesn’t, so Stephanie asks him to just let this one go. Stephanie points out that besides the DiMeras, no one gets hurt if they keep this on the DL. Steve says that’s not entirely true. Stephanie pleads with him to do it as a favor to her. Stephanie knows it’s asking a lot but says it’s really important to her, so Steve agrees to let it go. Steve calls it a choice between some client and his daughter, so he will choose her every time. Steve knows from experience that a secret like this doesn’t stay under wraps in the long run, so he warns her to prepare Alex for the inevitable.
Abe tells Theo that he loves him and to hang in there as he hangs up. Paulina asks what is up with Theo. Abe says he’s still having a rough time after his break up with Claire. Paulina wishes she could give him a big hug so it’s too bad he lives in South Africa. Abe admits he misses him so much along with Brandon, Eli, Lani, and the kids. Paulina suggests they visit their children soon. Abe responds that if he’s learned one thing from John’s passing, it’s that time is precious. Paulina agrees that they should make a point to spend as much time with their family as they can.
Xander takes Victoria on a walk past the Brady Pub, saying he’s glad to spend time with her and get away from the office. Xander remarks that everyone there thinks he should be nicer to Philip, but he doesn’t think cheating and swindling should be rewarded with kindness.
Belle apologizes to Philip for being such a downer and says it’s good she took a personal day because going in to the office, she would just make everyone miserable. Philip asks what she’s going to do with her day off. Belle thought she would just go home and crawl back in bed but Philip says she can’t do that. Belle suggests drowning her sorrows in ice cream but Philip decides they should play hooky together.
Stephanie goes home and says she didn’t think Alex would still be there as she thought he had a meeting with Xander. Alex responds that he did but thought it’d be nice to work from home today. Stephanie tells him that her home is his. Alex thanks her but doesn’t know if Jada would agree, joking that he accidentally put on a little show for her this morning. Alex guesses they just missed each other at the office as he didn’t know she had a meeting with Xander too. Stephanie says he called her at the last minute and guesses he wasn’t too pleased with the advice she gave him. Alex confirms he wasn’t completely on board but he’s sure eventually Xander will see the wisdom of her plan. Stephanie says as it turns out, she doesn’t think Xander has to worry about Philip’s secret coming out anytime soon. Alex asks what makes her say that. Stephanie reveals that she knows who was looking in to the Titan-DiMera deal and they’ve agreed to drop it.
Steve goes to see Gabi at home. Gabi asks if he found dirt on Xander and Philip. Steve reveals that he came to return her retainer because he’s decided he can’t work on this case any longer, leaving Gabi shocked.
Abe reveals to Paulina that he bought her a copy of “One Stormy Night”. Paulina excitedly says she can’t wait to read it. Abe says he skimmed through it a little bit and jokes that he might have to borrow it when she’s done. Paulina suggests they read it together in bed which Abe agrees to.
Philip clears his work schedule and asks Belle what she wants to do on their day off. Belle reminds him of the time he talked her in to cutting class in high school. Philip jokes that he still can’t believe she went along with it. Philip suggests riding horses again like they did then, so they exit together.
Xander gets a text from Marlena, wanting to confirm his appointment for tomorrow. Xander tells Victoria that if he doesn’t want to lose custody of her, he doesn’t have a choice.
At the Brady Pub, Jada runs in to Arianna, who is reading One Stormy Night. Jada comments that it seems like everywhere she goes, someone is reading that book. Arianna notes that it’s all over social media too and asks if Jada has read it. Jada confirms she has and that it’s pretty racy. Arianna calls the writing amazing and they laugh together about it. Arianna mentions trying to look up the author but she couldn’t find anything on Anastasia Sands. Jada says she understands it’s her first novel. Arianna wonders if it’s her real name.
Alex questions Stephanie as to who has agreed to drop it, who was looking in to the takeover, and how she even figured this out. Stephanie responds that she can’t say. Alex asks if she knows why they were sniffing around in the first place. Stephanie asks him not to interrogate her. Alex argues that this kind of affects him and asks what she can say. Stephanie says that it’s all over, so Xander can rest easy for now. Stephanie asks Alex to just trust her. Alex guesses he doesn’t have much choice and tells her good work.
Gabi questions why Steve is quitting. Steve says he can’t explain and apologizes. Steve advises Gabi to leave well enough alone and then exits. Gabi says like hell she will.
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Suzanne: Claire, and Amelia, who plays Victoria, the love of Cole’s life.
Suzanne: And how long have you been doing the dog fostering and rescue?
JEP: So what I’m trying to do now is, I’m trying to do fundraising. I’m trying to expand more on the education of people throughout my entire area and things. We have a lot of folks in Los Angeles that are from all over the world, and folks from all over the world have different cultures, and different cultures that the way in which they view spaying and neutering and things of that nature. So there’s an educational campaign, that I really think that we need to do. And I’m working with that. I’m working with raising money, particularly for my shelter here in Santa Clarita. I did a fundraiser here about four months ago that, thankfully, I had some really nice people that did the heavy lifting.
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