Thursday, April 23, 2009, Episode #5547

Katie and Donna tell Brooke that Ridge and Taylor came to the shower.
Brooke pops into Eric's office looking for Ridge and finds Donna and Katie there. They tell Brooke that Ridge and Taylor came to the shower, all stressed out and looking for Steffy, but Steffy had already left with Rick. Brooke explains that Ridge and Taylor have concerns about Steffy marrying Rick, but Taylor can't get past them like Ridge has. After Donna notes that Ridge seemed pretty intense earlier, Katie asks Brooke if everything's OK in her marriage. Brooke admits that she and Ridge have some problems, but she thinks that's normal. Katie asks if it's anything serious. Brooke says that she hopes not, leading Donna to ask if something is going on with Ridge.

Brooke reveals that she and Ridge have some problems.
Brooke answers that Ridge is just under a lot of stress, but Donna thinks there's something more going on. Brooke confesses that the issues with Rick have invaded her bedroom to the point where Ridge recently wasn't in the mood to have sex for the first time ever. Donna says that Eric is like that sometimes and takes some pills for that, so she offers to get some of those pills for Brooke to give to Ridge. Katie groans at that comment, but Brooke just laughs, leading Katie to laugh as well.

Taylor worries that Rick might change Steffy's mind.
Upstairs at Taylor's house, she and Ridge stress out about Steffy being alone with Rick downstairs. Ridge thinks they should go back down, but Taylor points out that Steffy asked to handle this alone. Ridge fears that Rick will put some kind of spin on this. Taylor wants to have faith in their daughter, but she doesn't know how things will go downstairs. Ridge agrees that Rick has talked his way out of situations like this before, so he fears that it might happen again. He doesn't know what he'll do if Rick squirms his way out one more time.

Ridge assures Taylor that he'd never let her fight this battle alone.
Taylor tells Ridge that she's grateful for his being there for her through this whole ordeal with Steffy and Rick. Ridge says that he'd never let her fight his battle with Rick all alone, and he just hopes that they taught Steffy well enough that she'll recognize Rick's phony charms now. Taylor says that Steffy will never tolerate the way Rick disrespected her father on that recording. She also thinks that Steffy is took proud and stubborn to let Rick keep using her. "Just like her dad," Ridge says with pride. Taylor agrees and they embrace.

Steffy confronts Rick about what he said.
Downstairs, Rick tells Steffy that her parents set him up and provoked him into saying the things on that tape. He begs her not to let anything stand in their way, especially not her parents acting like a pair of spies by tricking him into saying something he didn't mean. Steffy doesn't buy that and offers to play the tape to remind him of just what he said to her dad, but Rick doesn't want to hear it. He tries to find the words to tell Steffy that he's still crazy about her, but Steffy responds by playing back the tape for him. Hearing his own words, Rick insists that Ridge made him say those things, but Steffy wants to know just what her dad did to force those exact words out of him. Rick begs her to trust him, but Steffy says that she has trusted him, and now he's repaid her by defiantly and arrogantly insulting her father. Rick claims that Ridge got in his face, but Steffy still can't imagine anything her father could have said that would evoke that kind of reaction. Rick says he doesn't remember exactly what Ridge said, so Steffy offers to play the recording again so he can hear the outrageous statements he made about his hatred for her dad. Rick insists that the tape is just a fluke, but Steffy replays the part where he admitted he was marrying her just to get revenge on her father and asks if that's a fluke, too. Rick admits that he said some things he shouldn't have, but Steffy points out that he not only said them, but he meant them, and she could hear it in his voice. Rick tells her that he didn't mean it, but Steffy knows full well that he did, and she won't stand by and take part in his attempts to make her father suffer.

Rick begs for another chance.
Rick tells Steffy not to blow this out of proportion. She tells him that she would have believed him until she heard that tape, but the words that came out of his mouth were sick and proved that he has no respect for her. Rick tries to tell her that her dad is the one who is acting heartless by treating her like a possession, but she can't believe that he would tell a father who is still grieving over the loss of a daughter that he'd take his other daughter away, too. Rick says he never meant to go there, but Steffy fumes, "You are not half the man my father is, and I don't want to marry you!" Rick sees she's upset and suggests they take that trip to Hawaii to get rid of all the negative energy around here, but Steffy thinks he has some serious issues if he thinks she'd go anywhere with him. "I deserve better," she states, "not a man who disrespects me or my father." Rick says that he respects her, but Steffy doesn't think that's possible when he treats their wedding like some knife he wants to stab in her dad's back. She doesn't think he even knows what love is given his hateful statements on the recording. She tells Rick it's over, but he refuses to leave. Steffy tells him that she's not in the mood for another con job. Rick concedes that what he said was sick and twisted, but Steffy doesn't think his sudden admission changes anything. He insists that he doesn't want to be the man on that recording, but Steffy thinks that's just another ploy to manipulate her. She admits that he has some good qualities, but she also sees how he goes into a dark place where all he dwells on is rejection and hate. Rick suggests that the problem is that he hates himself, but Steffy doesn't buy that. Rick begs for another chance to prove that he can change. He agrees that what he did was vile, but he wants to learn from that. "We cannot let this go," he pleads. "Give me one more chance."