Wednesday, June 27, 2007, Episode #5090

Bridget wants to tell the Marones the truth.

In Bridget's office, Carl apologizes for his blunder with the labels. He was so sure they would know whose eggs were implanted in Taylor from the label on the petri dish, but he had no way of knowing that the cryo lab has a new printer. Now they still don't know which eggs were implanted. Bridget tells Carl no to worry; what's important now is that she tell Nick and Taylor the truth. Just then, hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Mills comes in and tells Bridget that there's no need to make that call. When Dr. Mills asks for a word with Bridget, Carl offers to leave, but Dr. Mills says that he wants to talk to Carl, too. Mills explains that he's heard about Carl's "helping" Bridget investigate in the lab. Bridget tells Dr. Mills that it was all her idea. Mills says that he knows, and he's not accusing Carl of anything. He just wants to make sure his staff is using its time effectively, so to that end, he wants Carl to forget about this matter and focus on his work. Carl thanks the Chief of Staff and leaves.

Dr. Mills gives Bridget the facts.

Now alone with Bridget, Dr. Mills asks why she turned to a hospital custodian for help instead of coming to him. He explains that he could have saved her a lot of trouble, because he did some checking of his own and found that Bridget's mother's eggs were checked out of cryo-storage at 7:36 PM. He then checked the fertility lab records and saw that Taylor's IVF procedure began at 7:40, just four minutes later. Since there's no way Brooke's eggs could have left cryo-storage and been fertilized in that four minute time friend, there's no way those eggs could have been used in Taylor's IVF. Bridget doesn't know what to say. "You could say that you'll put this episode behind you," Dr. Mills states. He knows she's been worried about this, but he can assure her that everything is as it should be.

Ridge confronts Rick about the other woman in Rick's life.

In Ridge's office, Rick goes over the schedule for the promotional tour for the "Phoebe" fragrance with the perfume's namesake. He flips when Phoebe tells him that one of the dates won't work because it conflicts with a day Constantine booked some studio time for her. Rick explains that they can't cancel that date because of the rest of the schedule, so she'll just have to explain to Constantine that her job comes first. When Rick refuses to even try to change the dates, Phoebe tells him that he's not being fair. Rick counters that he's not the one trying to change who Phoebe is and reminds Phoebe of the conversation they had in the studio yesterday about her "new" look. He reminds her that she's the face of their perfume brand and that Forrester Originals has invested a lot of time and money in her, so she can't just change who she is for some record producer. Ridge comes in and overhears the conversation; he agrees that this isn't the time for a makeover, but he wonders if Rick's opposition stems from Constantine's ability to see Rick for who he really is. He then asks about the rumor that Rick's been seeing another woman. Phoebe sticks up for Rick and tells her dad that she knows about the other woman, who was someone Rick saw after his break-up with Phoebe. She states that Rick assured her that it's over with this other woman, and she believes him. She and Rick are as committed as ever, and now she just wants to focus on her job here and her music. She knows Rick is concerned about how much time she's spending with Constantine, so she hopes he knows how important her music is to her, as she doesn't want to lose him.

Phoebe asks Rick to understand how she feels.

Later, Rick gets a minute alone with Phoebe and asks if they can talk. He wants her to know that he heard what she said earlier about not losing him and assures her that he's not going anywhere, even if her music career takes off. While he may not like how much time she spends with Constantine, he wants her to know that he knows what her music means to her and supports her. Phoebe thanks him and explains what's going through her head. She points out that he's traveled all over the world, meeting all kinds of people, and she wants to do that, too. But she doesn't want to do it if she can't share it with him. Rick understands her wanting to experience life that way and he agrees that she should do it. Phoebe asks him for just one thing: she wants him to promise to stay faithful to her, no matter how far apart in the world they are. Rick promises. In return, Phoebe promises not to make him wait forever; she's not ready now, but she knows she will be, and she wants things to be perfect when that day arrives.

Eric and Thorne welcome Brooke back.

In Eric's office, Thorne and Eric welcome Brooke back to Forrester Originals, but Stephanie is still less than enthused about Brooke's return. Thorne tells Brooke to pay no attention to his mom, since they all know what an asset Brooke is to their company. Stephanie urges her husband and younger son to see what a mistake they're making. Brooke jumps in and admits that she overreacted when she broke up with Ridge after he hit Rick, but Stephanie takes little solace in that admission. When Eric suggests they celebrate Brooke's return with lunch at Cafe Russe, but Stephanie balks at how the men in this family are so taken in by Brooke, accusing the men of only thinking with only one part of their bodies. But no matter what the man think, she refuses to welcome back. Eric tells his wife to stop, but Brooke concedes that Stephanie has a point. She admits that she acted irrationally when Ridge let her down like her father did and she lost her trust in Ridge. But once she remembered how Ridge protect Rick after Grant Chambers's shooting, she was reminded of how decent and kind Ridge is, and now she only wants all the Forresters, including Stephanie, to know how much it means for her to be able to work with them again.

Brooke agrees to take things slowly with Ridge.

Eric and Thorne leave to get back to work. Brooke thinks she should do the same and turns to leave, but Stephanie wants a word with her first. She wants to make it clear that she won't let Brooke worm her way back into Ridge's life. Brooke reminds Stephanie that she [Brooke] shares a son with Ridge, who comes in at just that moment and asks for a minute alone with Brooke. Stephanie argues that sharing a child doesn't mean sharing a life. Ridge tells his mother to stop, so she leaves. Ridge then asks Brooke if that chat was about what he thinks it was. Brooke explains that Stephanie still doesn't want her here, even though she knows that Ridge wants her here. Ridge agrees that he values and respects her work. Brooke suggests they discuss plans for a "Bedroom" line over dinner, but Ridge thinks dinner might not be such a good idea. Brooke agrees that they should take things slowly, but she wants Ridge to know that she has no ties to Nick anymore.

Felicia gives Ashley some advice.

Ashley is at home, talking to Abby on the phone. She ends the call when Felicia drops by. Felicia explains that she heard that Ashley took the day off, so she came by to make sure Ashley was OK. Ashley thanks her and explains that she's fine physically, but she feels like she's at loose ends emotionally. Felicia asks if this has to do with Rick, explaining that she saw the connection between Ashley and Rick in the office yesterday. Ashley comes clean and admits that she and Rick knew each other in Paris, and that she even came to L.A. in the hopes of picking things up with him, since she needed a fresh start. But then Rick told her that he was involved with Phoebe, so things are over between her and Rick. Felicia thinks Ashley should still be happy, since she's got a great job and a wonderful house at the beach (courtesy of Felicia).

Ashley discusses Ridge with Felicia.

Ashley admits that there's just one piece missing. "A special someone?" Felicia guesses. Ashley explains that she's not one of those women who needs a man in her life to be happy, but she'd like to find someone. The thing is, it has to be someone stable, since Abby needs some stability with Abby's dad going through a divorce. Felicia thinks she has the perfect someone in mind: her big brother Ridge! Ashley laughs at Felicia's matchmaking, but Felicia thinks Ridge is a good catch and isn't like other guys, so she suggests that the chemist give her big brother a chance. Ashley admits that she likes Ridge, but she doesn't think she wants to get serious with anyone right now.