Thursday, December 11, 2008, Episode #5458

Brooke defends her son to Stephanie.
Brooke and Stephanie continue to argue about Rick's part in Phoebe's death. Brooke insists that Rick did not kill Phoebe. Stephanie argues that Rick has been out of control for months. She offers to handle this discretely by driving Rick to the police station and getting him a good lawyer so he can make a statement. Brooke orders Stephanie to stay away from Rick; she understands that Stephanie needs someone to be angry at, but she won't let it be her son! Stephanie tells Brooke that she doesn't know the kind of lies Rick is capable of and starts to spout a list of the things Rick has done to get back at Ridge, but Brooke says that she already knows this since Rick told her. Stephanie can't understand why Brooke isn't appalled. Brooke explains that Rick's lying doesn't make what happened tonight a crime. Stephanie thinks the things Rick did to get back at Ridge and Taylor should at least give Brooke pause to where she'd consider that Rick might deliberately hurt Phoebe to strike back at Ridge. Brooke tells her to stop talking this way, but Stephanie vows to make Rick pay for what he did to Phoebe. Brooke again says that Rick is not responsible. Stephanie asks if she's looked at the evidence at the crash site. "I looked into Rick's eyes," Brooke counters, but Stephanie bets that Brooke also did that when Rick lied about being crippled and wonders if Rick could be lying again. Brooke doesn't think that's so, but Stephanie disagrees, so Brooke recounts Rick's explanation of how he lost control of the car when Phoebe attacked him and tried to stop the car while he was driving.

Stephanie lays blame for what happened with Brooke.
Stephanie is stunned that Brooke is saying this is Phoebe's fault. "This was nobody's fault," Brooke weeps. Whether Rick was intentionally trying to hurt Phoebe or not, Stephanie offers, Rick's behavior set this tragedy into motion, and she thinks Rick must be even more of a bastard than she thought if he is trying to blame everything on a dead girl. She can't believe that Brooke would even suggests that this could have been Phoebe's fault. Trying to be understanding, Brooke agrees that the whole family is in pain over their losing an angel tonight. But as tragic as that was, she doesn't think pointing fingers at Rick or anyone else will being Phoebe back. Stephanie says that she's not looking for blame. She's looking for the truth, and she intends to see that justice is served by having Rick arrested and sent to jail for a long, long time. Brooke tells Stephanie to stop right there. She won't let Stephanie turn this tragedy into another assault on her family by making Rick a scapegoat and again orders La Forrester to stay away from Rick. Stephanie scoffs at Brooke's protecting Rick, although she admits in hindsight that she's not surprised given the way Brooke raised Rick. She thinks the way Rick was willing to do anything to get his way reminds her of Brooke. "He's become you," Stephanie accuses, admitting that Brooke's right that Rick isn't to blame. "You made him into the man that he is today. You're to blame. You killed my granddaughter," Stephanie charges.

Rick admits his manipulations to his father.
Meanwhile, at the Forrester mansion, Rick paces as he recalls his past with Phoebe. Eric comes in and sees his youngest son in turmoil. He asks Rick what happened to cause the accident. Rick tearfully recounts that Phoebe was angry at him for what he did, explaining how he mistreated Ridge and even flirted with Steffy in an attempt to get back at Ridge and get Ridge to break up with Brooke. Sobbing, he recalls how angry Phoebe was with him when she lashed out at him in the car. He's not trying to blame this on Phoebe, but she came at him so violently that he lost control of the car when Phoebe grabbed the wheel and tried to stop the car. Taking Rick in his arms, Eric comforts him over this terrible tragedy that struck their family. He tells Rick that no one is going to blame him for the accident, but Rick retorts that he blames himself. Eric tells him not to do that, but Rick thinks his dad might think differently upon hearing just how far he went to hurt Ridge. Rick weeps about the way he manipulated Eric into naming him president of Forrester. Eric tells Rick that he loves him, but he loves his company, too, and would never promote Rick as some kind of consolation prize.

Eric offers Rick a comforting embrace.
Rick argues that he used his new position to manipulate Eric and everyone else, including his mother, Donna, and even Marcus and Steffy. Yes, that was wrong, Eric agrees, but he thinks he understands why it happened. He recalls all the resentment that built up over the years between Ridge and Rick, but even with all that, he knows Rick would never take those feelings out on Phoebe and would never want to hurt her. "I never wanted to hurt Phoebe," Rick moans. Eric takes Rick in his arms again, offering a warm and comforting embrace. Rick murmurs that he just wants to disappear, but Eric tells him that they'll deal with this together, as a family. "You have the support of your parents and your sister and everyone," Eric assures. "But what about Taylor?" Rick sighs. "How do I face her?"

Taylor asks Ridge to take her to the place where Phoebe died.
Taylor wistfully takes a photo of Ridge and Phoebe from her mantle and stares at it. Ridge comes in and tells her that Steffy will be sleeping on the floor in Thomas' room tonight. Still clutching the photo, Taylor breaks into another fit of tears. Putting the photo down, she asks Ridge to take her to where it happened. Ridge doesn't think that's it a good idea, but Taylor insists on seeing the place where Phoebe died and breaks down in his arms.

Taylor and Ridge place petals by the spot where Phoebe died.
Ridge then takes Taylor to the dark, empty crash site. Sinking down to the ground together near the spot where Phoebe died in Ridge's arms, they embrace each other. Taylor then takes some petals from a bunch of yellow roses she brought and places them on the spot where Phoebe died. Ridge puts his arm around her and joins her in spreading the rose petals around the spot.

Ridge tries to console Taylor.
When they return to her house, Taylor tells Ridge that they need to plan a funeral. She says that she wants to have some of Phoebe's favorite music there, although she frets that she'll probably never be able to find all Phoebe's friends. Ridge says that they need to focus on Steffy and Thomas and urges Taylor to get some rest, but she insists on making funeral plans. Observing that she's trying to be strong for the family's sake, Ridge asks Taylor to take some time to process this, but Taylor asks how she's supposed to process that she was sitting right here when her daughter lied dying at the bottom of a ditch just down the road. Ridge assures her that Phoebe wasn't afraid and wasn't suffering, but Taylor doesn't see how he could know what their daughter was feeling. As Ridge tries to console Taylor, the phone rings; it's Phoebe's pal Madison calling to talk to Phoebe. When Taylor tells her that Phoebe's not home, Madison asks if she can leave a message. "No, you can't," Taylor sobs as she throws down the phone. Ridge takes Taylor in his arms and holds her tight.