Post by STLUEE on Dec 23, 2013 12:00:53 GMT -5
Soap Central
Nicole was startled when she arrived at the television station and found an irked Miles waiting for her. Miles demanded to know when Nicole intended to put "Father Randy" on camera for an interview. Nicole wanted to know if Miles had gotten her memo about her preliminary interview with Brady Black. Miles retorted that the only way Nicole could lead with Brady Black was if she could put him in bed with the priest.
Nicole firmly reminded Miles that the church was dead-set against allowing Eric to appear on-camera. "So what? They are not the boss of us," Miles argued. He wondered where the Nicole with the "killer's instinct" who'd worked for him before had gone. "All this time working for the good father -- what happened to you? You get religion?" Miles questioned.
When Eric showed up at Daniel's apartment, Daniel was surprised because he'd thought Eric should have still been in the hospital. Eric didn't want to talk about his health; he wanted to talk about Nicole. Eric explained that Nicole had told him that she and Daniel were seeing each other -- and Eric was fine with it because he wanted to see Daniel happy. Eric continued that he was relieved that, despite how much he'd hurt Nicole, she'd been able to move on.
Eric said that he was determined to clear his name so he could be reinstated. Daniel promised to do whatever he could to help. Eric asserted, "I'm glad to know that whatever [Nicole] may have felt is over and gone, because if it wasn't, I don't think I could accept her help." He added, "I just want you to know I'm happy for you both, even if I might have a selfish motive."
Daniel seemed poised to confess that he and Nicole weren't really involved, but Nicole arrived before he could reveal anything. After Daniel left for the hospital, Nicole tried to plead her case for putting Eric on-camera. Eric reminded her that the church didn't want him giving interviews. Nicole asserted that public perception was important in clearing Eric's name. Eric quietly stated that the church was giving him a chance to get his job back -- and being a priest was his life.
Eric continued that while he appreciated Nicole's help, he didn't want to go against Father Matt's wishes when the elder priest had gone out of his way to help Eric. Although Nicole reminded Eric that his predicament was also breaking his family's heart, Eric didn't want to talk about it anymore. "By the way, I meant what I said: I'm happy for both you and Daniel," Eric said on his way out the door.
On the phone in his office, Daniel asked, "Say we do identify what was in Eric Brady's blood, which is clearly a pretty sophisticated poison. What is the next step in trying to connect it to whoever concocted it? What I'm asking is how do we find this son of a bitch?"
Meanwhile, in the tropics, Dr. Chyka was advising someone on the phone that he was packing at that moment, although he knew he should steer clear of the United States. "Kirsten DiMera would insist, in fact, but she's nowhere to be found, and your offer is too lucrative to pass up. I'll be on the next flight," Chyka said. As he hung up, his gaze fell on a file marked "Eric Brady."
When Daniel returned to the apartment, Nicole complained that Eric wouldn't let her help him. Daniel said that had been why he hadn't corrected Eric's belief that Nicole and Daniel were involved. Nicole was grateful, especially when Daniel admitted that she'd been right about that. Daniel cautioned Nicole, "He made it pretty clear that he'd refuse your help if he thought that you still had feelings for him." Nicole confidently asserted that she had moved on.
In bed later, Eric had a dream that he arrived at Daniel's apartment in his priest's garb and found Nicole and Daniel dressed up and dancing in front of the fireplace. When she spotted Eric, Nicole walked to the door, gave him a lingering look, and then closed the door.
Hope was dismayed when she returned to Club TBD and found Ciara and Sami struggling over Ciara's backpack. Hope demanded to know what was going on. Ciara shrieked that Sami was trying to take her backpack, but Sami explained that she had lost a very valuable earring, which was inside the backpack. "Is that why you got into it with an eight-year-old -- for an earring?" Hope hissed. "It's not just an earring," Sami said, showing her remaining earring to Hope to demonstrate. Hope's eyes grew huge as she remarked, "No, it's not. It's more like a down payment."
Sulking, Ciara clutched the backpack to her chest. Sami spoke gently to the child, apologizing for her overreaction and explaining that the earrings meant a lot to her because they'd been a gift from E.J. Ignoring Sami, Ciara told Hope, "She scared me, Mommy." Hope asked Sami to clarify why she thought the earring was in Ciara's backpack. Sami elaborated that Ciara had shown the earring to Allie, who had told Sami about it, and when Sami had asked Ciara about it, the girl had stonewalled her.
Hope knelt in front of her daughter and gently asked Ciara to show her what was in her backpack. "This is mine. It's private!" Ciara said, gripping the pack even more tightly. At her wit's end, Sami got on the floor and furiously demanded that Ciara open the backpack. Hope admonished Sami again, and again, Sami apologized, but stressed, "I just don't know how to explain to E.J. that I have lost his thirty-thousand dollar earring!"
Upon hearing that, Hope anxiously demanded that Ciara hand over the backpack, and Ciara grudgingly did so. Hope unzipped the pack and searched inside until she found the earring, to Sami's utter relief. Sami vowed to keep her promise to buy Ciara ten pairs of earrings. As Sami started to head out, Hope warned her, "Next time, come to me first, please."
After Sami had gone, Hope sat Ciara down to try to get the child to understand why it was wrong to hide Sami's earring. Ciara complained that Sami had been mean. "But it wasn't your earring. Honey, you just found it," Hope reasoned. Ciara revealed that the earring had been a "special present" from Theo.
At home, Jordan sat at her dressing table, thumbing through her ID cards from other states as she remembered kissing Rafe in the park. "It's all a lie. All of it," Jordan told her reflection. "It's not fair to you, Rafe. But what's fair to me?" Jordan wondered. She got a text message from Rafe, asking when she would arrive at his place. "On my way," she replied.
When Kate arrived at Rafe's, he was clearly expecting to see Jordan. Kate produced some baby clothes that she'd purchased for Rafe to give Arianna, since she didn't think he would have been able to shop. Rafe said that he'd already bought some things online, and he'd asked Jordan to wrap some things for him.
Kate stepped outside when Sami called. Sami advised that she had found her earring, adding that there was no way that it could be tied to what they'd done to Nick. Kate revealed that Sonny hadn't told Justin anything. Sami wanted to get together with Kate so they could plan their next step, but Kate said that she was busy. "It got a little sketchy today, Sami, but things are looking up now, so just relax and enjoy it," Kate urged. After Kate hung up, Sami grumbled, "Of all the people in all the world, and I had to dispose of a body with her."
Kate went back inside to give Rafe his Christmas gift, which she claimed she'd ordered while they'd still been seeing each other. Rafe was thrilled almost to the point of being speechless when he opened the gift and saw that she'd gotten him a baseball from the 1998 Cubs that the entire team had autographed. Kate explained that when he'd described one of the playoff games to her, it had been the happiest and least serious she'd ever seen him.
Jordan was a bit taken aback when she arrived just then with a small potted Christmas tree for Rafe and found Kate and Rafe laughing. After apologizing for interrupting, Jordan asked Rafe about the ball, and filled her in about its significance. Kate enthused that the Christmas tree that Jordan was still holding would help the place feel more festive. Rafe thanked Jordan for the tree, which she placed on the floor. She also set down the bag of gifts for Arianna and then started to leave so as not to intrude on Kate and Rafe, but Kate said that she was just leaving.
Kate wished Jordan a great Christmas, but after she left, Kate muttered, "Happy New Year, bitch."
Jordan was ready to depart, since she had finished doing everything she'd gone to Rafe's for, but Rafe informed her that he'd been waiting all day for her to get there. Jordan pointed out that Rafe had family and friends he wanted to spend the holidays with, so she thought she should give him some space until after New Year's Eve. Grabbing her hand to keep her from exiting through the open door, Rafe declared, "Don't you get it? I don't want space; I want to be with you."
Jordan pronounced Rafe "impossible." He pointed out that "impossible" was just another word for "determined," so she should stop trying to fight it. While Jordan and Rafe were talking in the doorway, someone approached from the hall.
In the park outside Horton Square, E.J. assured Sonny, "It's all right; I know... You don't have to pretend. Gabi told me everything." Dubious, Sonny wanted to know exactly what Gabi had told E.J. "She told me everything that went down with Samantha and Kate," E.J. lied. Sonny admitted that Kate and Sami had fought hard to get him to keep his mouth shut, although he knew he should be honest with Will. "But imagine having to sit him down and tell him --" Sonny began, just as Lucas showed up and interrupted.
Lucas wished Sonny a merry Christmas, then added halfheartedly to E.J., "Uh, you, too." E.J. tried to get rid of Lucas, but Lucas reminded Sonny that they should be on their way to have Arianna's picture taken with Santa. Sonny promised E.J. that they would talk later. "Irritating twit," E.J. muttered as Lucas left with Sonny. E.J. wondered aloud, "Samantha, what have you done now?"
At Will and Sonny's, Gabi expressed her gratitude to Will. "If I lost this -- I mean, what we have now -- I just don't think I could stand it," she said, hugging him. Will acknowledged that Gabi had given up a lot when she'd decided not to go to New York, so he wanted to do something for her if she felt that something in their situation wasn't working. Demurring, Gabi said, "Sonny is a very lucky guy." Just then, Lucas and Sonny arrived.
When Will took Lucas into the bedroom to get Arianna ready, Sonny informed Gabi that he hadn't told his dad anything, but added that he didn't understand why Gabi had told E.J. Gabi explained, "I didn't. He just seemed very suspicious, and he even tried to trick me into telling him." Sonny scoffed, "So when he couldn't get you to slip, he moved in on me." Sonny maintained that he would point out that he had kept quiet about the video of Sami and Bernardi if E.J. ever did find out. Deflated, Gabi reminded Sonny that Sami had been trying to protect Rafe.
Sonny pointed out that Nick had been trying to rape Gabi, and she hadn't intended to kill him. Gabi described how, when they'd been putting Nick's body in the river, he had opened his eyes and had tried to pull Sami in, as well. "He was a peach of a guy to the very end," Sonny sneered. He added that the women were very lucky that no one had seen them. Gabi admitted that they had run into a birdwatcher in the woods, but they didn't think he knew anything because he'd been very friendly when they'd run into him at the square the next day.
Sonny guessed that the guy wouldn't have been so friendly if he'd seen them disposing of a body, although Gabi clarified that the man had seemed too friendly. Sonny asked if Gabi were sure it was the same guy. She was certain because the man had spoken with an English accent, and instead of saying "hello," he had always said "greetings." Gabi worried that the man had been looking for them, but Sonny thought that she was just being paranoid.
Lucas and Will emerged from the bedroom just then and showed off Arianna's festive red and black plaid dress and hat. "Who's ready for some photos?" Will said, beaming. "Let's just hope it's not a mug shot," Gabi whispered to Sonny.
Horton Square was bustling with Christmas shoppers and children lined up to see Santa when Arianna and her entourage arrived. After Lucas stepped away to get a ticket for a place in line for them, Kate showed up and fussed over Arianna. Lucas returned and announced that the wait wasn't very long, so Sonny, Will, and Arianna went with Lucas to get in line. Kate assured Gabi that she'd talked to Sami and everything was fine.
When it was Arianna's turn to have her picture taken, Gabi, Will, Sonny, and Kate crowded around Santa in front of the Christmas tree while Lucas got ready with the camera. Will put Arianna in Santa's lap, and Lucas counted down to snap the photo. When Lucas got to "one," Santa waved at the camera and exclaimed, "Greetings!" Kate, Sonny, and Gabi tried not to look terrified.
Sami was working at home when Hope dropped by to discuss the earring and what had happened with Ciara. Clearly still irritated, Hope explained, "Since you left almost immediately after you were done berating her, you didn't hear that she wasn't the one who found the earring. It was Theo... He gave it to her as a present." Sami pointed out that Ciara had still been hiding the earring in her backpack. Hope countered that Sami should have waited for Hope to return, noting, "She's a child, Sami."
E.J. ambled through the foyer and overheard Sami apologizing to Hope. He hid so he could eavesdrop, as Sami said that she'd been upset about having to explain to E.J. that she'd lost the earring. Hope was curious as to when Sami had been so careless as to lose a thirty-thousand dollar earring -- because Theo had found it Walker Falls, right across the river from Big Rock, while on a hike with Abe. Sami maintained that she couldn't have lost her earring there because she hadn't been there.
Hope was skeptical that someone could have found such an expensive piece of jewelry and then lost it again by the river. Meanwhile, a curious E.J. headed out the door.
Sami insisted that she had no idea how the earring had ended up by the river. Hope pointed out that if a witness tried to sell her the story, she wouldn't buy it for a second, and her instincts told her that there was a lot more to the story than Sami was sharing. Sami apologized again for how she'd treated Ciara. "[But] put yourself in my shoes. Let's say you had something that meant so much to you that Uncle Bo had given you. If you lost it, wouldn't you go a little crazy, too?" Sami noted.
Hope couldn't meet Sami's eyes, but when Sami maintained that she wasn't guilty of anything, the women realized that they'd both been overreacting. Hope embraced Sami, and they laughed as they acknowledged that the holidays could be overwhelming. Sami ventured that Hope was keyed up because Bo was returning home soon. When Hope's face fell, a surprised Sami guessed, "He's not coming back?"
Although she couldn't explain why, Hope fought back tears as she admitted, "No, he's not coming back, and I don't know how I'm going to tell Ciara about that." Tears filled Sami's eyes as she expressed her sympathy and regret to Hope, then embraced her. As she showed Hope out, Sami promised to give Ciara "the best Christmas ever." After Hope had gone, Sami exclaimed, "Oh, my God, this is getting exhausting. What next?"
E.J. went to the river with a flashlight and began searching the bank. After a while, E.J. groused, "A needle in a bloody haystack would be easier than this. I don't even know what I'm looking for." Suddenly he spotted the tag from Nick's backpack, still hanging where it had snagged on the bush. As E.J. removed the tag and shone the light on it, the initials "N.F." were clearly visible in the beam of light. Seemingly satisfied that he'd found what he'd been looking for, E.J. left.
Sami was dozing next to the fire with work papers in her lap when E.J. returned home. E.J. revealed that he had been there earlier, but when he'd seen that Sami had been in the middle of a conversation with Hope, he had left to give them some privacy. He continued that he had gone for a walk across the river from Big Rock. Sami acknowledged, "Well, obviously, you heard my conversation with Hope."
Sami admitted that she should have told E.J. about the missing earring, but she pointed out that a lot of things got left unsaid around there. E.J. asked if Sami had lost anything other than the earring down by the river. Sami calmly insisted that she had never been by the river. E.J. fished around in his pockets until he found the "N.F." tag, which he said he'd found by the river -- a few feet from where Theo had found the earring.
. . .
Nicole was startled when she arrived at the television station and found an irked Miles waiting for her. Miles demanded to know when Nicole intended to put "Father Randy" on camera for an interview. Nicole wanted to know if Miles had gotten her memo about her preliminary interview with Brady Black. Miles retorted that the only way Nicole could lead with Brady Black was if she could put him in bed with the priest.
Nicole firmly reminded Miles that the church was dead-set against allowing Eric to appear on-camera. "So what? They are not the boss of us," Miles argued. He wondered where the Nicole with the "killer's instinct" who'd worked for him before had gone. "All this time working for the good father -- what happened to you? You get religion?" Miles questioned.
When Eric showed up at Daniel's apartment, Daniel was surprised because he'd thought Eric should have still been in the hospital. Eric didn't want to talk about his health; he wanted to talk about Nicole. Eric explained that Nicole had told him that she and Daniel were seeing each other -- and Eric was fine with it because he wanted to see Daniel happy. Eric continued that he was relieved that, despite how much he'd hurt Nicole, she'd been able to move on.
Eric said that he was determined to clear his name so he could be reinstated. Daniel promised to do whatever he could to help. Eric asserted, "I'm glad to know that whatever [Nicole] may have felt is over and gone, because if it wasn't, I don't think I could accept her help." He added, "I just want you to know I'm happy for you both, even if I might have a selfish motive."
Daniel seemed poised to confess that he and Nicole weren't really involved, but Nicole arrived before he could reveal anything. After Daniel left for the hospital, Nicole tried to plead her case for putting Eric on-camera. Eric reminded her that the church didn't want him giving interviews. Nicole asserted that public perception was important in clearing Eric's name. Eric quietly stated that the church was giving him a chance to get his job back -- and being a priest was his life.
Eric continued that while he appreciated Nicole's help, he didn't want to go against Father Matt's wishes when the elder priest had gone out of his way to help Eric. Although Nicole reminded Eric that his predicament was also breaking his family's heart, Eric didn't want to talk about it anymore. "By the way, I meant what I said: I'm happy for both you and Daniel," Eric said on his way out the door.
On the phone in his office, Daniel asked, "Say we do identify what was in Eric Brady's blood, which is clearly a pretty sophisticated poison. What is the next step in trying to connect it to whoever concocted it? What I'm asking is how do we find this son of a bitch?"
Meanwhile, in the tropics, Dr. Chyka was advising someone on the phone that he was packing at that moment, although he knew he should steer clear of the United States. "Kirsten DiMera would insist, in fact, but she's nowhere to be found, and your offer is too lucrative to pass up. I'll be on the next flight," Chyka said. As he hung up, his gaze fell on a file marked "Eric Brady."
When Daniel returned to the apartment, Nicole complained that Eric wouldn't let her help him. Daniel said that had been why he hadn't corrected Eric's belief that Nicole and Daniel were involved. Nicole was grateful, especially when Daniel admitted that she'd been right about that. Daniel cautioned Nicole, "He made it pretty clear that he'd refuse your help if he thought that you still had feelings for him." Nicole confidently asserted that she had moved on.
In bed later, Eric had a dream that he arrived at Daniel's apartment in his priest's garb and found Nicole and Daniel dressed up and dancing in front of the fireplace. When she spotted Eric, Nicole walked to the door, gave him a lingering look, and then closed the door.
Hope was dismayed when she returned to Club TBD and found Ciara and Sami struggling over Ciara's backpack. Hope demanded to know what was going on. Ciara shrieked that Sami was trying to take her backpack, but Sami explained that she had lost a very valuable earring, which was inside the backpack. "Is that why you got into it with an eight-year-old -- for an earring?" Hope hissed. "It's not just an earring," Sami said, showing her remaining earring to Hope to demonstrate. Hope's eyes grew huge as she remarked, "No, it's not. It's more like a down payment."
Sulking, Ciara clutched the backpack to her chest. Sami spoke gently to the child, apologizing for her overreaction and explaining that the earrings meant a lot to her because they'd been a gift from E.J. Ignoring Sami, Ciara told Hope, "She scared me, Mommy." Hope asked Sami to clarify why she thought the earring was in Ciara's backpack. Sami elaborated that Ciara had shown the earring to Allie, who had told Sami about it, and when Sami had asked Ciara about it, the girl had stonewalled her.
Hope knelt in front of her daughter and gently asked Ciara to show her what was in her backpack. "This is mine. It's private!" Ciara said, gripping the pack even more tightly. At her wit's end, Sami got on the floor and furiously demanded that Ciara open the backpack. Hope admonished Sami again, and again, Sami apologized, but stressed, "I just don't know how to explain to E.J. that I have lost his thirty-thousand dollar earring!"
Upon hearing that, Hope anxiously demanded that Ciara hand over the backpack, and Ciara grudgingly did so. Hope unzipped the pack and searched inside until she found the earring, to Sami's utter relief. Sami vowed to keep her promise to buy Ciara ten pairs of earrings. As Sami started to head out, Hope warned her, "Next time, come to me first, please."
After Sami had gone, Hope sat Ciara down to try to get the child to understand why it was wrong to hide Sami's earring. Ciara complained that Sami had been mean. "But it wasn't your earring. Honey, you just found it," Hope reasoned. Ciara revealed that the earring had been a "special present" from Theo.
At home, Jordan sat at her dressing table, thumbing through her ID cards from other states as she remembered kissing Rafe in the park. "It's all a lie. All of it," Jordan told her reflection. "It's not fair to you, Rafe. But what's fair to me?" Jordan wondered. She got a text message from Rafe, asking when she would arrive at his place. "On my way," she replied.
When Kate arrived at Rafe's, he was clearly expecting to see Jordan. Kate produced some baby clothes that she'd purchased for Rafe to give Arianna, since she didn't think he would have been able to shop. Rafe said that he'd already bought some things online, and he'd asked Jordan to wrap some things for him.
Kate stepped outside when Sami called. Sami advised that she had found her earring, adding that there was no way that it could be tied to what they'd done to Nick. Kate revealed that Sonny hadn't told Justin anything. Sami wanted to get together with Kate so they could plan their next step, but Kate said that she was busy. "It got a little sketchy today, Sami, but things are looking up now, so just relax and enjoy it," Kate urged. After Kate hung up, Sami grumbled, "Of all the people in all the world, and I had to dispose of a body with her."
Kate went back inside to give Rafe his Christmas gift, which she claimed she'd ordered while they'd still been seeing each other. Rafe was thrilled almost to the point of being speechless when he opened the gift and saw that she'd gotten him a baseball from the 1998 Cubs that the entire team had autographed. Kate explained that when he'd described one of the playoff games to her, it had been the happiest and least serious she'd ever seen him.
Jordan was a bit taken aback when she arrived just then with a small potted Christmas tree for Rafe and found Kate and Rafe laughing. After apologizing for interrupting, Jordan asked Rafe about the ball, and filled her in about its significance. Kate enthused that the Christmas tree that Jordan was still holding would help the place feel more festive. Rafe thanked Jordan for the tree, which she placed on the floor. She also set down the bag of gifts for Arianna and then started to leave so as not to intrude on Kate and Rafe, but Kate said that she was just leaving.
Kate wished Jordan a great Christmas, but after she left, Kate muttered, "Happy New Year, bitch."
Jordan was ready to depart, since she had finished doing everything she'd gone to Rafe's for, but Rafe informed her that he'd been waiting all day for her to get there. Jordan pointed out that Rafe had family and friends he wanted to spend the holidays with, so she thought she should give him some space until after New Year's Eve. Grabbing her hand to keep her from exiting through the open door, Rafe declared, "Don't you get it? I don't want space; I want to be with you."
Jordan pronounced Rafe "impossible." He pointed out that "impossible" was just another word for "determined," so she should stop trying to fight it. While Jordan and Rafe were talking in the doorway, someone approached from the hall.
In the park outside Horton Square, E.J. assured Sonny, "It's all right; I know... You don't have to pretend. Gabi told me everything." Dubious, Sonny wanted to know exactly what Gabi had told E.J. "She told me everything that went down with Samantha and Kate," E.J. lied. Sonny admitted that Kate and Sami had fought hard to get him to keep his mouth shut, although he knew he should be honest with Will. "But imagine having to sit him down and tell him --" Sonny began, just as Lucas showed up and interrupted.
Lucas wished Sonny a merry Christmas, then added halfheartedly to E.J., "Uh, you, too." E.J. tried to get rid of Lucas, but Lucas reminded Sonny that they should be on their way to have Arianna's picture taken with Santa. Sonny promised E.J. that they would talk later. "Irritating twit," E.J. muttered as Lucas left with Sonny. E.J. wondered aloud, "Samantha, what have you done now?"
At Will and Sonny's, Gabi expressed her gratitude to Will. "If I lost this -- I mean, what we have now -- I just don't think I could stand it," she said, hugging him. Will acknowledged that Gabi had given up a lot when she'd decided not to go to New York, so he wanted to do something for her if she felt that something in their situation wasn't working. Demurring, Gabi said, "Sonny is a very lucky guy." Just then, Lucas and Sonny arrived.
When Will took Lucas into the bedroom to get Arianna ready, Sonny informed Gabi that he hadn't told his dad anything, but added that he didn't understand why Gabi had told E.J. Gabi explained, "I didn't. He just seemed very suspicious, and he even tried to trick me into telling him." Sonny scoffed, "So when he couldn't get you to slip, he moved in on me." Sonny maintained that he would point out that he had kept quiet about the video of Sami and Bernardi if E.J. ever did find out. Deflated, Gabi reminded Sonny that Sami had been trying to protect Rafe.
Sonny pointed out that Nick had been trying to rape Gabi, and she hadn't intended to kill him. Gabi described how, when they'd been putting Nick's body in the river, he had opened his eyes and had tried to pull Sami in, as well. "He was a peach of a guy to the very end," Sonny sneered. He added that the women were very lucky that no one had seen them. Gabi admitted that they had run into a birdwatcher in the woods, but they didn't think he knew anything because he'd been very friendly when they'd run into him at the square the next day.
Sonny guessed that the guy wouldn't have been so friendly if he'd seen them disposing of a body, although Gabi clarified that the man had seemed too friendly. Sonny asked if Gabi were sure it was the same guy. She was certain because the man had spoken with an English accent, and instead of saying "hello," he had always said "greetings." Gabi worried that the man had been looking for them, but Sonny thought that she was just being paranoid.
Lucas and Will emerged from the bedroom just then and showed off Arianna's festive red and black plaid dress and hat. "Who's ready for some photos?" Will said, beaming. "Let's just hope it's not a mug shot," Gabi whispered to Sonny.
Horton Square was bustling with Christmas shoppers and children lined up to see Santa when Arianna and her entourage arrived. After Lucas stepped away to get a ticket for a place in line for them, Kate showed up and fussed over Arianna. Lucas returned and announced that the wait wasn't very long, so Sonny, Will, and Arianna went with Lucas to get in line. Kate assured Gabi that she'd talked to Sami and everything was fine.
When it was Arianna's turn to have her picture taken, Gabi, Will, Sonny, and Kate crowded around Santa in front of the Christmas tree while Lucas got ready with the camera. Will put Arianna in Santa's lap, and Lucas counted down to snap the photo. When Lucas got to "one," Santa waved at the camera and exclaimed, "Greetings!" Kate, Sonny, and Gabi tried not to look terrified.
Sami was working at home when Hope dropped by to discuss the earring and what had happened with Ciara. Clearly still irritated, Hope explained, "Since you left almost immediately after you were done berating her, you didn't hear that she wasn't the one who found the earring. It was Theo... He gave it to her as a present." Sami pointed out that Ciara had still been hiding the earring in her backpack. Hope countered that Sami should have waited for Hope to return, noting, "She's a child, Sami."
E.J. ambled through the foyer and overheard Sami apologizing to Hope. He hid so he could eavesdrop, as Sami said that she'd been upset about having to explain to E.J. that she'd lost the earring. Hope was curious as to when Sami had been so careless as to lose a thirty-thousand dollar earring -- because Theo had found it Walker Falls, right across the river from Big Rock, while on a hike with Abe. Sami maintained that she couldn't have lost her earring there because she hadn't been there.
Hope was skeptical that someone could have found such an expensive piece of jewelry and then lost it again by the river. Meanwhile, a curious E.J. headed out the door.
Sami insisted that she had no idea how the earring had ended up by the river. Hope pointed out that if a witness tried to sell her the story, she wouldn't buy it for a second, and her instincts told her that there was a lot more to the story than Sami was sharing. Sami apologized again for how she'd treated Ciara. "[But] put yourself in my shoes. Let's say you had something that meant so much to you that Uncle Bo had given you. If you lost it, wouldn't you go a little crazy, too?" Sami noted.
Hope couldn't meet Sami's eyes, but when Sami maintained that she wasn't guilty of anything, the women realized that they'd both been overreacting. Hope embraced Sami, and they laughed as they acknowledged that the holidays could be overwhelming. Sami ventured that Hope was keyed up because Bo was returning home soon. When Hope's face fell, a surprised Sami guessed, "He's not coming back?"
Although she couldn't explain why, Hope fought back tears as she admitted, "No, he's not coming back, and I don't know how I'm going to tell Ciara about that." Tears filled Sami's eyes as she expressed her sympathy and regret to Hope, then embraced her. As she showed Hope out, Sami promised to give Ciara "the best Christmas ever." After Hope had gone, Sami exclaimed, "Oh, my God, this is getting exhausting. What next?"
E.J. went to the river with a flashlight and began searching the bank. After a while, E.J. groused, "A needle in a bloody haystack would be easier than this. I don't even know what I'm looking for." Suddenly he spotted the tag from Nick's backpack, still hanging where it had snagged on the bush. As E.J. removed the tag and shone the light on it, the initials "N.F." were clearly visible in the beam of light. Seemingly satisfied that he'd found what he'd been looking for, E.J. left.
Sami was dozing next to the fire with work papers in her lap when E.J. returned home. E.J. revealed that he had been there earlier, but when he'd seen that Sami had been in the middle of a conversation with Hope, he had left to give them some privacy. He continued that he had gone for a walk across the river from Big Rock. Sami acknowledged, "Well, obviously, you heard my conversation with Hope."
Sami admitted that she should have told E.J. about the missing earring, but she pointed out that a lot of things got left unsaid around there. E.J. asked if Sami had lost anything other than the earring down by the river. Sami calmly insisted that she had never been by the river. E.J. fished around in his pockets until he found the "N.F." tag, which he said he'd found by the river -- a few feet from where Theo had found the earring.
. . .
