Wednesday, May 31, 2006, Episode #4819

Hope helps Nick prepare a special dinner.

At Brooke's house, Hope helps Nick prepare a special dinner for Brooke while Stephen looks on. Hope asks her grandpa if he's staying. Nick says he'd love to have Stephen stay to toast their deal with the Forresters, but Stephen thinks this is Brooke's night. Knowing that Brooke is free of the Forresters and is starting a life with Nick is satisfaction enough for him. He tells Hope to make sure everything's pretty for Mommy and Nick, since tonight is very important to them. What's important? Hope asks. Stephen fields that question to Nick and takes that as his cue to leave. Hope asks Nick what's important; he says that every second he spends with her and her mom is important. But tonight's special, Hope states. That's right, Nick replies, thanks to her. He's sure Mommy will love what they did. Brooke walks in and says she certainly does. Hope runs over to her mom, telling her that they did all this because tonight is important. It is? Brooke asks. It will be, Nick says. Brooke thanks him over and over and gives him a kiss. It's just dinner, Nick responds. Brooke says that she's talking about his show of support for her at Forrester today. If she thinks that's something, he tells her, she ain't seen nothing yet!

Stephen tells Taylor that she's not alone.

Taylor is at home, sitting on the sofa in the dark and holding a glass of wine. As she pours the wine into a potted plant by the fireplace, Stephen drops by. She's surprised to see him and asks if there was a problem with the stock transfer. Stephen tells her that everything is fine; in return for her signing her stock over to Brooke, Nick has wired double what they agreed on to her account. That's very generous of Nick, she says. Stephen thinks it was generous of her to sell, but he's not here about the stock. He wants to make sure she's OK, since Stephanie really hurt her. This was just the cherry on top of a lousy few months, she laments, and it came with the pits. Stephen promises things will get better. They have for his daughter, Taylor replies. He and Nick have her to thank for that, he says. Taylor thinks Brooke is lucky to have him and Nick. Stephen agrees. Taylor says she's done feeling sorry for herself now. Stephen says that he knows what it's like to be alone, so he wants her to know that she's not alone. She smiles, surprised that he still cares after she sold him her stock. He says that she doesn't have to pay to be cared for. That may be how Stephanie treated her, but now she's finally out from under Stephanie's thumb.

Stephen asks Taylor what her plans are. She says she hasn't thought about that. That's because she always thinks about other people, he replies. He thinks it's time she thought about herself. She says it feels strange and scary, since she's always had some goal to strive for. It could be exciting, he says, since the possibilities are limitless. She doesn't know if she can see those possibilities without Ridge and his family in her life. Life will still happen, he points out, whether you imagine it or not. She knows; she always tells her patients that, but those are people with real problems. And her problems aren't real? he asks. She doesn't think her mother in law hurting her feelings is a crisis. She put her faith in the Forresters and they let her down, Stephen says. Taylor agrees, but she thinks that's partially her fault. But now she has her future back, Stephen says. Taylor thinks she still needs someone to tell her what to do, to keep her from going crazy in this house thinking about what she could have done differently. Stephen tells her to look forward, but she doesn't know what to look forward to when all she has is this huge house and her memories. Stephen takes her by the shoulders and tells her again that she's not alone, because he's here for her. He leans in and kisses her, which leads him to pull her into an embrace.

Ridge is confident that he and Brooke will get together again.

Bridget visits Ridge at Forrester. She still can't believe that Stephanie would offer her mother half of Forrester Creations and the CEO's chair, just like that. An employee brings some of Brooke's things in, so Ridge shows him where to put it and then turns to Bridget. He admits it doesn't seem possible that his mother has accepted Brooke, but she has. Even if she believes that, Bridget still can't see her mother accepting the offer, because it would jeopardize her relationship with Nick. That is, unless her mom and Nick have broken up. She asks Ridge if that's happened. Not yet, he replies. Still, Bridget bets Nick isn't happy about her mother's decision. Ridge tells her that Brooke was ready to turn the offer down, but Nick suddenly had a change of heart and told her to take it. That doesn't make sense, Bridget comments. Ridge thinks Nick's sudden turnaround shows how weak Nick and Brooke's relationship really is. He's sure Nick backed down once he saw that Brooke wants to be accepted as a Forrester more than she wants to be with Nick.

Bridget defends her mother's decisions to Ridge.

Ridge tells Bridget to think about it; she must know that Nick hates his guts, so why would Nick want Brooke working with him? Bridget reminds him that her mom is old enough to make her own decisions. Or maybe Nick knew that he'd lose Brooke if he insisted she reject the offer, Ridge suggests. Bridget doesn't think that's it, but Ridge tells her that he saw Brooke's reaction at being welcomed back by the family to take the reins again. And that was only the first step. The first step toward what? Bridget asks. Ridge admits that he never thought Brooke would be back here after she quit, and he certainly never dreamed his mother would be the one to bring Brooke back. But that's how it happened, and now that Brooke is back working with him, he's confident that they will get back together again. He asks Bridget if she'll support them when that happens. She asks why she's do that. He thinks she knows that Brooke won't stay with Nick if they're already having problems. He thinks Nick is struggling to hold onto Brooke, and he only let her come back for hear of losing her. Or maybe Nick just understands what her mom wants, Bridget angrily replies. That doesn't make Nick desperate, she states; rather, she thinks that makes Nick the kind of man her mother deserves.

Back at Brooke's, Nick carefully pours the champagne. Brooke tells him that he didn't have to do this, especially with all the work Hope said he put into this. He says that he just put the flowers up. Hope cooked the meal, and he was on the phone most of the time. Brooke tells him that Hope was so excited; she bets Catherine will have quite a time getting Hope to bed tonight. Nick admits that bed is where he'd like to get Mommy. So this less a celebration of her first day as CEO and more a seduction, Brooke jokes. Nick prefers to call it a "bon voyage" party, as she starts to take Forrester Creations into the future. She admits that she couldn't have done it without him and his support. She felt so loved and respected to see him stand behind her today. That's because he loves her and knows what Forrester means to her, he says. And speaking of which, he had his lawyers look over Stephanie's offer, to make sure everything was legit. And based on that, he and her father came up with an extra gift for her. He hands her the second stock certificate. She asks where this came from, since it isn't hers. Actually, he says, it is, since it has her name on it. She still doesn't understand what this additional 2% means. It means that she's not only Forrester's CEO, but also it's majority stock holder, and that gives her absolute control over Forrester.

Brooke is stunned by what Nick's revelation.

Brooke asks Nick where he got this stock from. He explains to her how Stephanie divided the stock in the company up, including 2% for Taylor. Her father convinced Taylor that selling the stock to her was the right thing to do, so he [Nick] put up the cash to buy it. But why? Brooke asks. Nick reminds her of the times Stephanie has abused her over the years and explains that Stephanie did the same thing to Taylor. But Stephanie and Taylor are friends, she states. He reminds her of Stephanie's gushing tribute to her, which left Taylor feeling a bit humiliated. Brooke is sure Taylor will soon want those shares back, but Nick tells her that Taylor is done with the Forresters. Then why not just return the stock to Stephanie? Brooke asks. Because Stephen convinced Taylor that the stock could be better used by his daughter, he replies - and she can, he adds. Now she can run the company the way she wants and never have to worry about the Forresters again. But they work there, she reminds Nick. Not if she doesn't want them there, he responds. She asks if he's saying she should fire the Forresters. He says that he is. Her father called her while they were at Forrester earlier to tell him that they had Taylor's shares, and that's when he agreed to back her taking the job as CEO. He couldn't say anything then, because the timing wasn't right.