Thursday, December 04, 2008, Episode #5453

Brooke and Ridge prepare for their rehearsal dinner.

At Brooke's, Ridge comes out of the shower and tells Brooke to hurry up and get dressed, but he finds that Brooke is already dressed to the nines for their rehearsal dinner. Ridge laughs that he should peel her dress off right now, but Brooke reminds him that they have a rehearsal dinner to attend. Ridge quips that the whole rehearsal thing is overrated, but Brooke tells him this one will be different and raves about how nothing will go wrong today. When she tells him how happy she is that Rick's going to be there, Ridge informs her that he asked Rick to be his best man, but Rick turned him down. Even so, Brooke is touched by his gesture. Ridge tells her that he also gave Rick a pep talk while he was there. Brooke hopes that things might turn around for Rick at the rehearsal dinner or the wedding, but Ridge tells her not to get her hopes up. Still, he's glad Rick can't do anything to stop them. Brooke compliments him for his attitude toward Rick, which has come a long way. Ridge admits that he still has his moments, especially when he recalls what Rick did to Phoebe. Ridge then gets dressed. As Brooke looks him over in the mirror, Ridge tells her that she still takes his breath away after all these years.

Bridget sees Nick and Katie arrive.

At the Forrester mansion, Bridget checks with the caterer to make sure everything is in order. The caterer tells her that they'll start serving the hors d'oeuvres once the guests arrive. Bridget looks to the door and sees Nick and Katie come in. "I guess that would be now," Bridget says, obviously taken aback by her ex-husband and her aunt making their entrance.

Stephen and Beth join Eric for a toast.

Eric greets Beth and Stephen as they arrive for the party. Eric compliments Beth on how beautiful she looks. Stephen looks around and tells Eric that it looks like they have quite an event planned for tonight. When Beth hopes that the marriage will last this time, Eric and Stephen agree that they should drink to that.

Rick sits in his office looking at the cover of EYE ON FASHION heralding his mom's engagement to Ridge. Just the thought of Ridge being with Brooke upsets Rick, who picks up his invitation to the wedding and tears it up.

Taylor gets a gift from Phoebe.

At Taylor's, Steffy advises Phoebe to stop wasting her energy thinking about Rick, but Phoebe is too disgusted by what Rick has done after what they once shared. "You've got to let this go," Steffy warns. Taylor interrupts the girls and ask if their rather intense discussion was about Rick. The twins both claim that they're fine, and Phoebe hesitates before apologizing to her mom for the way she's treated her. Taylor contends that she's the one who should be sorry for hurting Phoebe, but Phoebe casts all the blame on Rick and the way he's taken advantage of the entire family. Taylor tells the girls to forget about Rick and go have fun at the party. Steffy asks Taylor to join them, since Ridge did invite her, but Taylor doesn't think it would be appropriate. Phoebe offers to skip dessert at the party so the three of them can go out for ice cream when she and Steffy get home. Taylor thinks that's a great idea. Phoebe then gives her mom a gypsy necklace she bought in Eastern Europe that's supposed to ward off evil spirits. She knows it's not much, but she wants Taylor to have it. Taylor gives her girls a hug and sends them on their way.

Stephanie has a gift for Taylor.

Soon after, Taylor is sitting alone when Stephanie drops by. Taylor is surprised to see her with the party about to start; Stephanie says that she wanted to come by and check on Taylor, since these are difficult times for both of them. Taylor laments that so many hopes. To cheer Taylor up, Stephanie presents her with a framed photo of Taylor, Ridge and their kids. Taylor doesn't want to take it, since that's not how it's going to be, but Stephanie tells her that she and Ridge will always be a family, even if he's married to Brooke. She then assumes that Taylor is glad to have Phoebe home. Taylor says that she is, but she just wishes that she had never gotten involved with Rick. When she thinks of all the problems that relationship caused, Taylor realizes that things would have been so different, especially for Phoebe, had she admitted long ago that Ridge would always be the love of her life.

Nick, Katie and Jackie enjoy the party.

At the mansion, Jackie arrives for the party and greets Nick and Katie. When Jackie and Katie admire the amount of work Brooke put into arranging everything, Nick tells them that Bridget pulled this together. "She's pretty good at this stuff," Nick praises. Jackie remarks that Katie throws a pretty good party, too. Nick agrees, recalling Jack's birthday party. Katie says that she misses Jack and wishes she could have brought him with them tonight. Upon hearing that comment, Nick and Jackie exchange concerned looks.

Across the room, Thomas greets Steffy, who asks if their dad is there yet. Not yet, Thomas replies, asking about their mom. Steffy says that she asked their mother to come, but she wouldn't. Thomas assumes that it's hard for their mom to watch their dad marry someone else. Thomas asks where Phoebe is. Steffy explains that Phoebe came in her own car, since she was making a stop on the way.

Brooke and Ridge make their entrance.

Brooke and Ridge arrive for the party and thank all their guests for coming to help them celebrate this huge time in their lives. Brooke gushes that all she's ever wanted was to be Ridge's wife, and she promises to love, honor, cherish and please him for as long as they both shall live. Ridge likes the sound of that and hold his bride-to-be close. With the "thank you's" out of the way, Ridge announces that it's time to dance, so he tells everyone to grab a partner and swing! The other guests join him and Brooke on the dance floor as swing music starts to play.

Marcus is angered by what Steffy tells him.

Steffy dances with Thomas, but she quickly takes a break once she realizes how sad it is that she's dancing with her brother. She's about to grab a bite to eat when a photographer calls her out to the red carpet for a picture. Steffy reluctantly goes, griping about how much she hates having her picture taken alone at a wedding party. A voice calls out from the shadows, "Now who would leave someone as fine as yourself alone at a wedding party?" Steffy is stunned to see Marcus standing there. After telling Steffy how much he missed her, Marcus kisses her, and the photographer captures the moment on film. Marcus and Steffy then hit the dance floor, where Marcus tells her that he got a message in Paris that there was a plane waiting for him, so he came right home. He doesn't even think anyone in Paris will miss him, since he hasn't been doing much and gets the feeling that they weren't even expecting him there. They weren't, Steffy explains, telling her boyfriend how Rick sent him overseas so he could mess with her and her dad. Marcus asks why Rick would do that. Steffy answers, "It just cleared the way for him to..." Marcus asks her to tell him, so she tells him that Rick hit on her. Marcus is furious and wants to find Rick, but Steffy assures him that Rick just wanted to drive her dad nuts. Marcus is still upset, but Steffy promises that nothing happened and tells him, "I'm all about you, babe." They smile as they exchange, "I missed you's."

Ridge takes a photo with Thomas and Steffy.

As Brooke and Ridge take a break from dancing, they notice that Rick and Phoebe haven't arrived yet. Ridge asks Thomas and Steffy where their sister is, since he wants to take a family photo. When Steffy says that Phoebe isn't there yet because she had to make a stop, Ridge decides to take a photo with Steffy and Thomas now and to take another one with all of them once Phoebe arrives.

Rick denies Phoebe's accusations.

When Phoebe pops in to Rick's office, he's glad to see her, but she is cold and distant as she asks if revenge was as sweet as he says. Rick tells her that his new position was his dad's idea. Phoebe fumes that he's pushing off the blame, asking if it was his fault that he slept with her mother and hit on her sister. Rick asks if she came here to argue, but she says she came to tell him off and wipe him out of her life forever. Right now, she feels like he never cared about her. Rick tells her that he did care, but Phoebe asks if that's why he proposed to her mother and kissed her sister. She accuses him of using her to get back at her father. Rick denies the charge, but Phoebe tells him not to say a word about her good and honest father. She laments the fact that she ever trusted him and asks if he even thought about how hurt she would be to learn that he hit on her sister after ending things with her mom. Rick says he's sorry, but he doesn't have time to talk about this. He reminds her that he has a party to get to and turns to leave. Phoebe tells him to stay right there, but Rick shoves past her and walks out.