Monday, July 23, 2007, Episode #5108

Rick worries about his mother.

Rick and Bridget wait downstairs at Brooke's house, worrying about how their mom coped with her first night alone in the house. When Brooke doesn't come down, Bridget wants to go check on her, but Rick suggests they let their mom stay upstairs and cry if she needs to. Just as Bridget objects, a very upbeat Brooke comes down and asks her kids why they're not at work. Rick sees Brooke is dressed to go out and asks where she's going. "To get a job," she replies, since that's her first step toward proving she's a fit mother. Rick tells Brooke that he's sorry about the raw deal she got at the custody hearing. Bridget asks Brooke what kind of job she has in mind. Brooke replies that she sees now that she trusted the wrong people all these years; she knows she can trust Rick and Bridget, of course - and Nick.

Eric frets over Brooke's absence.

At Forrester Originals, Eric frets over the company's finances. He shows Felicia that the construction costs for their boutiques were double what they expected, plus they need to buy Brooke out now. Stephanie thinks the money to buy Brooke out will be well spent, but Eric reminds her that Brooke, despite Stephanie's refusal to acknowledge her abilities, carries a lot of clout with their customer base. Felicia agrees with her mom that not having Brooke around might be a good thing, since Brooke always distracted Ridge. Eric warns his wife and daughter that Brooke isn't just going to sit around and weep after losing his kids; he's sure Brooke will bounce back, and Forrester Originals will suffer as a result, so he wants to invite Brooke back to the company. Stephanie vehemently objects. Rick comes in with some sales reports and gets in some digs at Stephanie that she should take some fashion tips from his mom. Eric asks Rick how Brooke is doing; when Rick says his mom is calm, Eric asks Rick to see if Brooke would consider coming back to Forrester Originals, especially since she needs to work. Stephanie quips that Brooke can try the street corner down the road, but Rick tells his dad that he won't even think about asking Brooke to come back unless Nick turns her down.

Felicia offers her opinion.

Eric fumes at the thought that Brooke might be working for Nick. Stephanie is sure Taylor won't let Nick hire Brooke, but Eric and Felicia think Nick would be crazy not to hire Brooke given her history with the company. Eric fears the public is already confused by two companies with the name Forrester, and now their clients might follow Brooke right out their door and over to the competition. Stephanie senses Eric is blaming her and asks why. Rick says he could answer that. Stephanie lets Rick get away with that since he's Eric's son - or is he really? she wonders. Rick is about to respond, but Felicia hushes him and tells her mother that Nick can hire Brooke if he wants to. Eric reminds them all that Nick is a sharp businessman who already has them running, and that situation could escalate if Nick hires Brooke, who knows all their trade secrets and has seen all their new product lines. Stephanie can't see Taylor letting Brooke sniff around Taylor's husband, but Felicia thinks Taylor might see hiring Brooke will benefit Nick. Rick tells Stephanie that she gave his mom all the motivation she needs to want to help Nick.

Stephanie calls out Eric.

Stephanie reminds Rick that the judge chose to place the kids with Ridge, not her, but Eric maintains that Stephanie was the one who testified against Brooke like it was judgment day. Stephanie reminds Eric of the fire at Brooke's house. Eric says he hasn't forgotten, but he thinks this was a family matter for them to settle among themselves, so this had no business being in a courtroom. He tells Stephanie that there were any number of ways they, as a family, could have offered Brooke help to give her time to pull herself together. Stephanie counters that Eric never offered one single word of support for Brooke in the courtroom, so she's shocked that he has this sense of moral outrage now that his wallet might be affected. "Did it ever occur to you to take a moral stand?" she asks her husband. Eric reminds Stephanie that she always defends her attacks on Brooke as being part of some "moral stand," to the point where he thought her "moral stands" would drive him to drink. Instead, he thinks this stand will drive him into bankruptcy court instead!

Taylor tries to be honest with Bridget about Brooke.

Taylor arrives at the hospital for a check-up appointment with Bridget. While waiting for Bridget, Taylor recalls her testimony during Brooke's hearing and her argument with Nick afterwards. She takes out her cell phone and calls Nick, noting that she didn't hear him come in this morning. Nick says he didn't want to wake her and starts to explain something about last night, but Taylor says she doesn't want to talk about it and just wants to know if they're OK. Nick assures her that they are and asks if they can have some time to themselves tonight. Taylor thinks they can and ends the call. When Bridget comes in, she's coldly professional as she conducts her exam. Taylor senses the tension and tells Bridget that she feels really bad about what happened at the hearing. Bridget supposes that Taylor just did what she thought was best, just like Brooke will do now. She resumes the exam, but Taylor tells Bridget not to hold back her anger, reminding Bridget that she was not Brooke's therapist. Bridget says that she understands that Taylor only listened to Brooke as a friend, but Brooke still lost her kids because of it. Taylor says that she had to be honest; she would have said something different a few months ago, but she knew Brooke was going through an emotional time, and she even admits that she thought of herself as a bad mother a year ago. The problem was, she could only answer the judge with "yes" or "no" and didn't have any room to elaborate.

Bridget opens up to Taylor.

Bridget admits that she was concerned about her mom, too, but she still thinks the judge's decision was unfair. Still, she hopes it gave Brooke the wake-up call she needed. Taylor changes the subject and asks Bridget if she remembers the egg donor's eye color, since she's been trying to figure out if her and Nick's baby might have blue eyes. Bridget tries to duck the question by giving Taylor some nutritional tips, but Taylor recalls that Brooke recently had a fertility work up here. Bridget asks Taylor why she'd bring that up. Taylor says she was thinking about how they found out her eggs were infertile, and how Brooke was willing to give Nick a child. "Nick wasn't willing to make a life with anyone but you," Bridget reminds Taylor. Taylor suddenly tells Bridget, "I think there's been a mix-up." Bridget asks what she means. Taylor gazes at Bridget and says, "I had the tea. You have coffee," looking at their cups. Bridget sheepishly admits that Taylor is right.

Nick is unsure about Brooke's idea.

At Forrester Creations, Nick recalls being with Brooke on the Shady Marlin last night. Just then, Brooke drops by to see him. She tells him that he has something she wants, and she wants it now. Nick asks if this is about last night. Brooke hopes he didn't tell Taylor yet. He says he's going to, but Brooke tells him that there's no need, since what happened last night won't happen again. Nick reminds her that they'll always be connected in some way. But they don't have to act on that connection, Brooke replies, asking Nick if he feels uncomfortable being in the room with her right now. When Nick says he doesn't, Brooke is glad, since that lets her ask him for a favor: she wants to come back to work at Forrester Creations. Seeing the look on Nick's face, she assures him that she's not asking this because she needs him to love her. She's asking because she needs the people that took her children away to see that she's a force to be reckoned with. She knows he warned her time and again about the Forresters, but she was invested in them for so many years that she ignored his warning. But now that the Forresters crossed the line, she wants to help Nick bring them down. "You're finally sounding like that woman I fell in love with," Nick responds, "which is why I have to say no."