Bridget asks Nick about Deacon's return to the bottle.

Bridget drops by Nick's office and finds the captain wearing some scuba gear. She asks what he's doing; he explains that this helps get him back into the swing of things after he's been away from the office. He asks how her fingers and toes are: all there, she replies, thanks to him saving her in the nick of time. Nick tells her to save the hero worship; she quickly says OK, so he allows just a little. Bridget agrees; after all, it was freezing and he skied a mile into the woods to find her. Actually, he says, it was sub zero, and he searched for three miles. OK, she agrees, three, thanking her hero with a kiss. A phone call interrupts them, but Nick quickly ends it. Bridget senses he's worried and asks what's wrong; he tells her that he was hoping to hear from his mom. He's worried about her since Deacon's drinking again. Bridget says she heard about that, and it doesn't make sense. Deacon's life was coming together, so she can't understand why he fell off the wagon - unless he had a little help? Nick is silent. Bridget asks if Massimo had something to do with Deacon's drinking, just as Massimo walks into the room.

Massimo defends his actions.

Bridget asks Massimo if she's right. Mass sighs and asks Nick what he told Bridget. Nothing, Nick says. Bridget says she can't believe Massimo would do this to an alcoholic. Mass reminds her that Deacon broke up his marriage and used Jackie like the other women in his [Deacon's] life, including her. Bridget says that was different. She's seen Deacon with Jackie, and his feelings for her were real. He put Jackie's happiness before everything, and if that's not love, what is? Massimo scoffs that Deacon has fooled her again, but he sees the true Deacon Sharpe, a man who only brings pain to those he supposedly loves. He thinks it's been no different with Jacqueline. Bridget admits that Deacon's made mistakes, but she doesn't think that justifies driving him to drink again. Mass points out that Deacon put him in a wheelchair; perhaps he should have broken Deacon's legs? Maybe he should have, Bridget suggests, since what he's done has done far worse by breaking Deacon's spirit.

Jackie worries about Deacon.

Deacon enters his beach house and calls out that he's home. Jackie greets him; she admits she was worried after he left earlier and hopes he understands why she canceled his business trip. He says he knows the real reason she doesn't want him to go. She sees he's been drinking. He angrily tells her not to give him another lecture. He needs a lover now, not a mother, although Gog knows she's old enough to be the latter. Jackie says he's right but reminds him that age was never an issue for them before. Deacon says he's not trying to be cruel; it's just that he hasn't had an easy time lately. He knows what people said about him behind his back, even before the booze: they thought of him as a stud for hire and hopeless alcoholic! Jackie says that's not true: he was a caring man who showed her how to live. Deacon says he knows that, and it was great, but it's done now. Jackie argues that he can be that man again if he just stops drinking! That's just it, Deacon says: the alcohol is saving him, not tearing him down. He thinks the problem is that they're living in some pathetic fantasy world, and he wants out of that!

Deacon reflects on his setting Jackie free.

Jackie tells him to stop: that's the alcohol talking! Even if it is, Deacon says, he just can't do this anymore. He can't be the man she wants him to be! She says he can get help, but he doesn't want her help: this is the real Deacon Sharpe, and if she sticks around him, this is what her future will be like, so he wants her to leave. Jackie cries out that she's not going anywhere. He violently says she is. He starts throwing stuff off the table and even throws the table over as he orders her to leave now! She refuses, so he grabs her by the arm and shoves her out the door, telling her never to look back! After he slams the door behind her, he slumps down on the floor and says to himself that she should never look back, because she's free of him now. He starts to clean up and picks up a photo of him and Jackie (the same one he has on his desk at Jackie M) and flashes back to happier times with Jackie. The scene shifts to a tearful Jackie, who's looking at that same photo and holding it close to her. The scene shifts back to Deacon, who's still looking at the photo, thinking about how Jackie will be happy with her family now. Still, he misses what they had and will miss her forever.

Brooke tells Ridge how happy she is now.

At Cafe Russe, Ridge and Brooke continue to celebrate their love for each other. Ridge promises that nothing can destroy what they share. Brooke agrees, although she admits there was a time she couldn't be as confident about that as she is now. Seeing that photo of him and Bridget brought back unresolved feelings she had about him and his daughter that she didn't know she even had, she confesses, but they're past that now. Even before she saw the photo of him and Bridget that Amber took, she should have been happy to see him with Bridget, but she still had those feelings of betrayal and suspicion. Amber's stunt helped get those feelings out into the open, and her heart finally stopped aching when he and Bridget searches their hearts and found no feelings for each other inside. Ridge says he's sorry she had to go through that, but he promises she'll never have to feel that pain again.

Clarke unsuccessfully tries to dissuade Amber from showing Brooke the photo.

Over at their table, Clarke keeps trying to dissuade Amber from showing Brooke that photo. It could destroy Brooke's marriage, he reminds her. He sees the intense look on Brooke and Ridge's faces and wonders what's going on. If he thinks that's intense, Amber warns, just wait. Clarke tells her that she'll regret this if she does it, but she's not afraid of Ridge. She thinks this new photo is all the proof she needs. Ridge could have kissed Bridget on the cheek or the forehead, but he kissed her on the lips, proving he still has feelings. And once he sees this photo, even Ridge won't be able to deny that.

Back at their table, Brooke starts crying. Ridge reminds her this is a celebration. These are tears of joy, Brooke says, realizing her mascara is starting to run. She gives him a kiss and goes to clean up the “damage.” Once she leaves, the waiter starts to bring dinner. After the waiter leaves, a hand slips a plate in front of Ridge, who says he'll wait for his wife. A familiar voice asks if he's sure, since there's an extra special dish here for him; he looks up and sees Amber there. He asks what she wants now: she says she has something for him to look at. Not the photo album again, he says. Actually, she says, she made some changes, so she really thinks he should look at it closely: she's sure he and Brooke will never forget it. Reluctantly, Ridge takes the photo and starts flipping through the photos from Christmas. He's about to turn the final page and asks if she's satisfied by his taking her little walk down memory lane - but he goes silent and stares when he sees the final pages, with the photo of him and Bridget from the mine shaft!