Tuesday, February 05, 2008, Episode #5242

Taylor admits that she's been drinking.

James stops by the Marone mansion to see Nick, who tells him that Taylor is upstairs sleeping. Nick explains that he needs James' help, because he and Taylor are in a bit of a crisis. James asks Nick why he feels they're in a crisis, so Nick informs him about Taylor's smashing a wine glass against the wall last night. Nick insists that he loves Taylor, but he feels like he's losing her, and he doesn't know what to do to help her. James looks up and sees Taylor at the top of the stairs. Taylor comes down and states that she heard everything Nick and James said, including Nick's statement that he loves her. When James tells her that her husband is concerned about her, Taylor admits that she's concerned about herself. She fills James in on the incident last night, informing him that this is something that's been building ever since the baby was born. Sobbing, she reminds James how disaster always entered her life whenever Brooke was involved. Still, even though she knew Nick had a past with Brooke, she didn't let it bother her when she married Nick, because Brooke was involved with Ridge. But when she found out that her and Nick's child was conceived from Brooke's egg, she just lost it. When she got married, she laments, she looked forward to a carefree life without Brooke in it, but then she found out that Brooke was woven right in the center of her life. She didn't handle that very well, and that led her to take a drink. "It's the only thing that's given me any kind of relief," she sighs.

James tries to help Taylor.

Taylor tells James about her idea to have Brooke and Ridge get married here last night. She weeps that she feared that she might never find peace of mind ever again once Brooke turned her down. She then apologizes to Nick for lying about her drinking, revealing that she thought having a drink might make her problems go away. She admits that it worked for a while, but then one drink led to another. Nick tells her not to blame herself, because he's the one who wanted a child. Taylor tells him that this is not his fault, pointing out that he's been nothing but good to her and reminding him that he's the one who brought James here to help her. "Can you help me, James?" she pleads. James asks if she wants help; when she says that she does, James goes back to her statement a moment ago about not being able to find peace of mind. He asks how she'd advise a patient in that situation. She says that she'd show the patient that real inner peace doesn't come from the outside. Having come to that realization, Taylor asks Nick for a moment alone with James. Once Nick leaves the room, Taylor tells her mentor and friend that she loves Nick, but she's also full of anger and resentment that threatens to destroy her, and she fears that she's out of control. "Please help me, James," she begs.

Nick is surprised by James' question.

After Nick puts Taylor to bed, he thanks James for helping. James admits that it's a good sign that Taylor wants help, but he has to admit that he's worried about her. He tells Nick that he's never seen Taylor like this in all the years he's known her. Nick hopes James can help, but James states that the key to helping Taylor is not in his hands, but in Nick's. Nick doesn't understand, so James explains that Taylor thinks Brooke is the problem. Nick says he knows that, but Taylor has to get past that. James then says that he has a question for Nick that could be the key to Nick's future with Taylor and asks, "Are you still in love with Brooke?"

Eric and Donna try to explain to Brooke.

Eric and Donna coo at each other in some little love nest that Donna found. Eric assures her that even though he moved back in with Stephanie, he's sleeping in the guest room and not in Stephanie's bed. Donna purrs that Eric has to spend so much time away from her, although she thinks it's kind of romantic to sneak off to see him here; she knows it's not what he's used to, although it'll be nicer when she fixes it up. Eric thinks it's wonderful, just like her. He laughs that he'd like to stay all day, but he has work to do, so he gets out of bed to get dressed. While he's in the other room, Brooke drops by to see Donna's new place, having been told about it by Katie. Brooke tells Donna that she wanted to come over to support her, since she heard from Ridge that Donna had finally broken up with Eric. Donna is about to tell Brooke the truth when Eric returns to the room. Brooke is stunned and wants to know what's going on here. After Donna explains that Eric knows about Stephanie's blackmail, Brooke fumes that Donna would put Storm's future on the line this way. Eric states that Storm is lucky to even have a future and promises to be careful, but Brooke fears that someone as sharp as Stephanie will see through the ruse in time. Eric tries to reassure her, but Brooke reminds him of Stephanie's long standing hatred of the Logan family. "Do you really think that that's gonna stop now?" she asks.

After Brooke leaves, Eric and Donna snuggle in bed some more. Donna asks him if it's really possible to keep the world away from their door and just hide away here from everyone, and from "the wicked witch of the west side" in particular. Eric promises not to let Stephanie spoil what they have.

Brooke is surprised when Stephanie withdraws her support.

Brooke goes to the Forrester mansion to meet Ridge, but Stephanie tells her that Ridge already left. However, Stephanie is glad Brooke is here because she wants to talk to Brooke about her baby son Jack. Stephanie asks a stunned Brooke why she didn't marry Ridge last night when she had the chance. Brooke asks what happened to the support Stephanie promised her after the rape, but Stephanie states that baby Jack changes everything and tells Brooke that she doesn't want Ridge involved in a mess involving Nick's son. Brooke states that she loves Ridge. Stephanie counters that she knows Brooke makes mistakes, but she won't have Ridge involved in this one, so she's withdrawing the pledge of support she made to Brooke after the rape and promises, "If you pursue a marriage with him, you'll have to contend with me for the rest of your life."