Thursday, April 19, 2007, Episode #5041

Rick has a chat with Taylor.

Rick stops by Taylor's office to talk about his recent disagreement with Phoebe. He explains that he knows that it's contradiction with what Taylor wants, but he loves his mother, and he fears Brooke may run back to Ridge if she can't have Nick back. Taylor reminds him of all the times Brooke has run away from some man to go back to Ridge. Rick urges Taylor to hear him out, but she points out that no one, including Stephanie, can control what happens between Ridge and Brooke, which is why she learned to stay out of it long ago. Besides, Nick is engaged to her, and... Rick asks Taylor to look at the situation as a psychiatrist and see how out of control Ridge is, since Ridge treated him like a punching bag and had a dysfunctional relationship with Brooke. Taylor agrees that Ridge was wrong to hit Rick, but she doesn't think Ridge isn't abusive. Just then, Brooke arrives and listens from outside the office door as Rick states that Ridge is a nut who mistreats both him and his mother. Brooke comes in and asks Rick if she can talk to Taylor alone; Rick reluctantly leaves. Taylor then guesses that Brooke is here to find out if she's pregnant. Brooke says that she knows that Taylor isn't pregnant, since she was with Stephanie when Stephanie called the other night. Taylor says that is so wrong, but Brooke says she's not here to talk about Nick. She's here to talk about the war between Rick and Ridge.

Brooke asks Taylor for advice.

Taylor asks how she is supposed to stop Rick and Ridge from fighting. Brooke thinks the two of them have to do something, since she thinks Taylor would want to protect Phoebe from getting caught in the crossfire between the two men. She points out that she had to end her relationship with Ridge after he struck Rick. Taylor is confused, since it sounds like Brooke wants her help in convincing Rick that Ridge isn't such a bad guy, even though Brooke ended her relationship with Ridge over Ridge striking Rick. Brooke says she doesn't want to kill each other, and she thinks she can avoid that if she can make Rick see the good in Ridge by reminding him of a time where Ridge went to bat for him. Like what? Taylor asks. Brooke tells Taylor to think back many years and remember Grant Chambers.

Here's a look at Grant Chambers just before Rick shot him.

For those who weren't watching then, Grant Chambers was a designer from the East Coast and former flame of Taylor's in college who took a job at Forrester Creations while Brooke was CEO. Grant took a liking to Brooke, who was engaged to Ridge at the time, but Brooke found herself taking a liking to the new designer, too. Stephanie got wind of this and urged Ridge to see the attraction for himself by going to where Brooke was meeting Grant one night. Brooke said goodbye to Grant, because she was in love with Ridge, and she gave him a goodbye kiss. Ridge arrived just in time to see the kiss and assumed his fiancee was cheating on him, so he changed his plans to propose to Brooke on the runway at their fashion show and proposed to Taylor instead. Grant then proposed to Brooke and convinced her to marry him and make him CEO of Forrester Creations in her place. Ridge resented working under Grant, of course. Meanwhile, a young Rick took out his own resentment of Grant and, after watching too much TV, playing too many video games and listening to too much rock music, fell into a reactive state where he shot Grant and blocked it out. Grant named Ridge as his shooter to protect Rick. Ridge fought to prove his innocence. But when he found out Rick was the shooter, Ridge agreed to plead guilty to protect Rick as long as Grant would ask for leniency at his sentencing. Thanks to Grant's plea, Ridge didn't go to prison. Rick never found out that he shot Grant. Later, after learning that her marriage to Grant wasn't legal, Brooke broke things off with him; Grant later married Macy Alexander and ultimately died of testicular cancer.

Taylor worries that Brooke's idea won't work.

Brooke reminds Taylor of what happened when Grant was shot, since Taylor was one of the few who knew who really shot Grant. Taylor points out that Rick blocked out all memories of the incident because it was too traumatic to remember them. Brooke argues that Rick only had the chance to live a normal life because Ridge protected him, and she thinks Rick would see Ridge differently if he knew Ridge did something to protect him. She asks for Taylor's professional opinion if she should tell Rick that he shot Grant. Taylor advises against it. She thinks the sudden knowledge that he shot someone and blocked it out could cause serious damage to Rick's psyche, because it would change his self-image. While she agrees that Rick would change his opinion of Ridge if Rick understood what Ridge did for him. But at the same time, Rick may not be able to live with what he did once he learns the truth, and she doesn't think Rick should have to pay for peace and the family by having to live with that knowledge.

Ashley tells Stephanie that she has plans with Ridge.

Ashley is hard at work in the lab at Forrester Originals. As Ash bids goodnight to the last of her lab techs, Stephanie comes in and tells her that they sent everyone home early to reward them for their hard work in launching the new stores, and that includes Ashley. Ashley says she just has to wrap a few things up. As Ash finishes up. Stephanie engages in small talk about the new fragrance line and about how Ashley and her daughter are settling in. She then brings up that she heard about Ashley's dinner date with Ridge and says that she's delighted about that. Ashley says she and Ridge are just friends. But friendships can lead to more, Stephanie says, and she couldn't be happier that Ashley has befriended Ridge after admiring Ashley's hard work on their new fragrance. She thinks Ashley came into Ridge's life at just the right time. Ashley sees that Stephanie loves her son and is flattered by the compliments, but she thinks it's too soon to set any expectations about where things might go for her and Ridge.

Stephanie is pleased that Ashley is going out with Ridge.

Stephanie asks if there is another man in Ashley's life, like Victor Newman. She apologizes for prying, but she really would like to give Ashley her home phone number, since she and Eric would love to have Ashley and Abby over for dinner one night. As Ash goes to find a pen to write the number down, Stephanie says how glad she was to hear about Ashley and Ridge's date, since she thinks it's a sign that he's moving on. Ashley points out that she's moving on after changes in her own life, so she understands, and she's looking forward to spending the evening with Ridge. Stephanie is sure Ridge is looking forward to the date, too.

Ridge tries to get Shane to stay calm.

Ridge is in his office with Shane, warning Shane not to do anything stupid with that gun and asking him to consider what Phoebe would say if she found out he shot her dad. Shane tells Ridge not to call him stupid; he knows Ridge thinks of him as some kind of freak who shouldn't be anywhere near Phoebe, and he's sure the gun is the only thing keeping Ridge from calling the cops. Ridge admits he would be calling the cops had Shane not pulled the gun. Shane thinks Ridge has no idea about how to live in Shane's shoes, since Ridge's life is so perfect. But he thinks he can have a perfect life, too, if he can be with Phoebe. Ridge says that Shane's not the only one with problems and tells McGrath about how he jeopardized his own wedding and relationship because he clocked his fiancee's son good. That punch cost him a lot, but not as much as it will cost Shane if he does anything stupid. He promises to get Shane help if he just puts the gun down. Shane considers it, but he doesn't think it will work, since it will mean living without his angelic Phoebe. Ridge tells him to focus on himself, but Shane retorts that nothing matters if he can't have Phoebe. Ridge tells Shane to listen to reason and picks up the phone. Shane points the gun at Ridge and tells him to put the phone down now!

Shane struggles with Ridge over the gun.

Ridge puts down the phone and asks Shane what he hopes to achieve. Shane rambles that no one listens to him, but that's going to change. Ridge suggests that Shane is no murderer, but Shane asks how Ridge knows, since Ridge doesn't know a thing about him. He asserts that he found his answer in life with Phoebe, but people like Ridge pushed her away, and now Phoebe is lost to him. Now nobody cares about him. He has no job, no money and no family. He declares, No one's even going to care if I'm dead, whether I live or whether I die. So to hell with everybody. I'm done." He points the gun at his head and prepares to shoot himself. Ridge shouts out for Shane to stop and lunges for the gun. The two men grapple for the gun, but Shane is able to twist it around and point the barrel toward his own chest. The two men are face-to-face, staring at each other as a shot rings out.