Friday, December 07, 2007, Episode #5203

Rick has an early Christmas gift for Ashley.

Rick drops by the lab to show Ashley the sales reports on the "Felicia" fragrance; he's pleased to tell her that her latest creation is flying off the shelves! Ashley thanks him for the praise, although she thinks his packaging ideas helped. Rick shrugs off the compliment, claiming that what's truly important lies within. "Did you come up with that yourself, or did you pull it out of a fortune cookie?" Ashley laughs. Rick says he's being serious and then tells her that he has an early Christmas present for her. "I must have been a very, very good girl this year," Ashley giggles as she opens the gift bag, but she's confused when she finds unmailed invitations to her wedding to Ridge inside. Rick reminds her how she didn't get a chance to mail those when they were in Paris, so he offered to take them to the mailbox while they were stuck on the tarmac in Paris. But when he got to the mailbox, something told him not to mail them, and he knew he was right once they returned to L.A. and found that his mom and Ridge had reunited. Ashley feels relieved at the news; when no one called or emailed about the wedding, she figured that everyone from L.A. to Genoa City knew Ridge had dumped her for Brooke. But she's elated that Rick saved her from so much humiliation by not mailing the invitations, although she kiddingly warns that he should tell the bride next time.

Ashley thanks Rick for his friendship.

Rick tells Ashley that he was glad to do this for her. Ashley thanks him, conceding that he was right when he kept telling her that his mother and Ridge were a force not to be reckoned with. Rick agrees that his mother and Ridge's relationship is very complicated. Ashley sees that now, although she's still not sure if that relationship is destined to succeed. But even so, there was this one guy who seemed to have his own agenda, but he was always there for her when she needed him most. Rick asks who this guy is. He was a guy who told her that she was crazy to get involved with Ridge, Ashley recalls, even though she didn't want to hear it, and he also said that the person she was searching for might be standing right in front of her. "I think I know who you're talking about," Rick acknowledges, a tiny grin on his face. Ashley knows she's said this before, but she wants to thank him again for his friendship, since it means more to her than he'll ever know. They embrace.

Eric and Pam worry about Stephanie.

At the Forrester mansion, Pam tells Eric and Stephanie that she put Tiny in the den because of his barking. Stephanie asks Pam if she has something to do in the kitchen. Pam goes on about making cookies for the kids and grand-kids and "that nice Lt. Baker," but then she wonders if Stephanie wants to get rid of her. Stephanie says she doesn't, but Eric gets the hint and offers to help Pam in the kitchen. Pam thinks that would be nice, but Stephanie reminds her sister that Eric should be spending time with his wife. But Eric has a yen for licking cookie dough, so Stephanie relents and sends then off, hinting that Pam should leave once she's done. Pam ignores the hint and leads Eric to the kitchen. Stephanie sits in the room when Stephen suddenly comes through the terrace doors. "How the hell did you get here?" a shocked Stephanie asks, calling out to Eric and Pam. Stephen says he just wants to talk like two reasonable people, but Eric and Pam rush in from the kitchen. "You're supposed to stay away from my wife!" Eric growls at Stephen, who asks if Eric calls Stephanie his wife while sleeping with Donna. Eric protests that Stephen's issues with him over Donna don't give him the right to harm Stephanie. Stephen insists he was framed, but Eric doesn't believe him and orders him out. Stephen reluctantly leaves, but not before warning Stephanie that the person who shot her might have better aim when they get their second chance at her. As Pam frets about that awful Stephen, Eric leaves a message for Lt. Baker that Stephen was there and orders the cop to call him ASAP.

Brooke and Donna disagree.

Donna arrives at Brooke's house and has to duck past reporters outside to get in. Brooke signs that the reporters want a statement about their dad. Donna says she gave them one and told them the truth, that their father didn't shoot Stephanie. Brooke, however, isn't as sure about Stephen's innocence given all the evidence pointing to him and the way he despises Stephanie. Donna still refuses to believe that their father could do this.

Jake looks for evidence on his video.

In Eric's office, Katie urges Jake to blow up the image of the shooter's hand on his camcorder. "This is critical evidence," she cries as Jake takes out his laptop and hooks it up to the camcorder. Jake moves frame by frame through the footage on his laptop and zooms in on the hand pointing a gun at Stephanie, which appears to be a man's hand. Katie asks him to move in closer, so he closes in as far as he can and they can make out a ring on the shooter's hand. Katie asks if he can print her a copy of the close-up. Jake saves the image to disk and then prints some copies. Katie then tells Brooke and asks where Donna is, since she needs to talk to both of them. When Brooke says that Donna is there with her, Katie says she'll be right over and hangs up the phone. "I can't believe it, but it's gotta be true," Katie frets.

Stephanie recognizes something in the image Jake shows her.

Eric and Pam wait with Stephanie for Lt. Baker to call back so they can have Stephen put back in jail where he belongs. When Pam suggests that Stephen might come back before the police come, Stephanie asks Eric if he can stay the night rather than go to a hotel. Pam agrees that she'd feel safer with both Eric and Tiny here, but Eric thinks they should leave this to the police. When there's a knock at the door, Eric hopes it's Lt. Baker, but he finds Jake there. Jake apologizes for intruding, but he has something that he thought Eric and Stephanie would want to see. Eric asks Pam if she can give him and Stephanie some time alone with Jake, so Pam leaves the room as Jake takes out his laptop. As he waits for the laptop to come out of sleep mode, Jake explains how his camera disappeared after Eric told him to turn it off at the show, and someone apparently took it and left it running in the showroom, where it caught Stephanie being shot on video. Jake then shows them the blow-up of the hand holding the gun, and Stephanie recognizes the ring on the shooter's hand - it looks just like Stephen Logan's ring! Jake asks if he should take this to the police. Eric says he'll take care of that and thanks Jake, asking who else knows about it. When Jake tells him Katie does, Eric bets the Logan girls will be upset by this proof of their father's guilt.

Katie shows her sisters what she found on Jake's video.

While waiting for Katie to arrive, Brooke and Donna continue to discuss their father's innocence. Donna asks Brooke to have a little faith, but Brooke recalls how their dad walked out on their family. Katie arrives and announces that she knows who shot Stephanie! After explaining to her sister's about what happened with Jake's camcorder, Katie produces the still photo that Jake captured. As she and Brooke examine the photo, Donna hopes this will clear their dad, but the sisters are shocked when they recognize the ring on the shooter's hand as the same one their father wears! Donna wonders if the photo was doctored, but Katie is certain that the hand in the photo is their dad's. She doesn't want to believe that someone in their family could do this, but she can't dispute what's in the photo. The doorbell rings; Donna tells Brooke not to get it, but Brooke does and Stephen is there. Stephen is glad all his daughters are here and tells them that he just came from the Forresters', where he confronted Stephanie and Eric. Brooke and Katie ask why he'd go there; Stephen admits it may not have been wise, but it's done, and now he just wants to be with his family, with people who trust him and know he's innocent,