Recap: Home to Roost, Part One - Season 1 - Episode 2

Sitting around a fire toasting marshmallows, all five O’Brien siblings eat, drink and laugh together. It’s been some time since they were all together and they have a lot of catching up to do. Connor is preparing to take the bar exam, while Kevin is preparing to ship out on deployment to Afghanistan. The mood is especially joyful with the news that their grandmother is home from the hospital and resting comfortably and the celebration continues through the evening.

The next morning at the B&B, Jess tries her best to sneak out of the house without being heard by her mother. As Connor put it, Jess “drew the short straw” and is hosting her mother while she’s in town. Hoping to avoid any interaction with her mother, Jess tiptoes from her loft and makes her way to the front door. As she walks out she unwittingly pulls the door too hard, causing it to slam shut. The noise stirs Megan, who’d been waiting for any sign that her daughter was awake. She leaves her room and searching for Jess, but all she finds is an empty house. She enters Jess’s room and, seeing that she’d already left, tenderly makes her daughter’s bed.

Sitting along the shore side, Trace is playing fetch with his dog Axel when Abby arrives, taking a break from her morning run. Abby tells Trace about the impromptu family reunion her dad surprised them with the night before. While unlike Mick, Trace has firsthand knowledge of Mick’s sometimes mysterious ways. After returning from Nashville, Mick out of the blue offered him a job. What’s more, even after offering Trace a job, Mick never mentioned to Abby that Trace had returned to Chesapeake Shores. Abby assumes that her father thought her knowing Trace was back would have been a distraction to the life she was building in New York. With that settled, Abby turns to head home and meet her family for breakfast. As she jogs off, Trace shouts out to her and asks if he is a distraction. Abby smiles and tells him yes…a good one.

Back at the O’Brien house, as her family gathers inside, Megan stands at the door, deciding whether to knock or just open the door. As she does, Kevin opens the door and realizes that his mother is hesitant to enter the home she left so many years ago. Kevin heads out the door and tells his mom to go inside to join her family. As she walks in, Megan is immediately reminded of the happy days she spent there and of the tragic day when she told her family she was leaving. Hearing her granddaughters in the next room, Megan gathers her composure and makes her entrance. A moment later, Mick gathers the family to announce to them that he’s taking the summer off. Everyone is stunned as he explains that with Abby home and Jess opening the B&B, he wants to be home with the family. He hopes Bree and Connor will decide to spend the summer in Chesapeake Shores too. He then tells them all that he’s got one more surprise for them which he’ll reveal at the family lunch later in the day.

Morning turns to afternoon and the O’Brien family is out enjoying a beautiful day in Chesapeake Shores. Alone in the house, Nell calls her doctor for her test results. Unfortunately, her doctor is out of town and Gran is left to anxiously await his return. Hoping to pass the time, Gran heads outside for a drive around the shores. As she tries to start the car, Megan walks outside and takes an admiring look at the stunning natural beauty that surrounds her former home. She approaches her former mother-in-law and full of emotion, thanks Nell for being such a special part of the kids lives. Megan also reveals how painful it’s been knowing she’s missed out on her children’s lives. Nell tries to console her by telling Megan that she’s not the only one who missed out on the kids lives. She explains that Mick filled his life with work at the cost of spending time with his children.

Making up for their own lost time, Abby and Trace walk along the shore, talking about Trace’s time in Nashville. Trace had never talked about his life in Nashville and is doing his best to resist Abby’s attempts to open up. Abby keeps pushing and Trace finally starts to open up. He tells her that when he “finally made it,” it wasn’t what he thought it would be. His dreams shattered, Trace left Nashville and returned home to Chesapeake Shores. Abby is left stunned at Trace’s revelation, but when Trace asks about her own dreams, Abby finds herself on the defensive. Abby tells him that things for her changed when she became a wife, mother and career woman. As she looks down, explaining her dreams away, Trace grabs her and pull her close to him. He tells her to forget about all that, close her eyes and think about what she really wants. The dose of reality is too much for Abby and she tearfully acknowledges that she doesn’t know what she wants. The revelation is too much for Abby and she walks away from trace, wiping away the tears.

Back at the O’Brien home, Bree and Megan pick flowers from the garden. The garden is filled with colorful peonies and China roses but for the life of her, Megan can’t remember the garden ever being there. Jess tells her that Gran planted the garden after she left. Bree’s words pull at Megan’s heart and she acknowledges that the family still needs time to heal. When she tells Jess that she’d like to visit her in Chicago Jess is so taken aback that she pricks her finger on a rose. Megan reaches out to to help her daughter, but as she does, Jess pulls her hand back. Jess then pauses at the realization of her own unresolved feelings towards her mother. She solemnly tells her mother that she’s right, “it will take time.”

Later at the B&B, Jess tiptoes back into her room, but not before stopping at her mother’s door and contemplating knocking. She stops herself and instead, quietly slips upstairs into her room. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she sees that her mother has made her bed. Frustrated and angry, she tears off the neatly laid covers and throws the pillows around the room.

At the O’Brien house, Kevin sits outside waiting for his cab. Enjoying the sounds of the summer night, Kevin doesn’t see his sister Abby walking towards him. She sits next to him and asks if he’s scared to deploy again. He casually says “nah.” Abby asks why and he tells her that he was baptized a week ago. Abby’s surprised and asks if he told their dad. Kevin laughs and says he may tell him someday. He then tells Abby that if anything should happen to him, he doesn’t want his family to worry. The cab arrives and Kevin says his final goodbyes as Abby tearfully waves him off.

The next morning, as Jess makes her way downstairs, she finds her mother waiting for her. Megan asks Jess how she slept and Jess hurriedly tries to walk away. Megan then asks her what she dreamt about and Jess comes to an immediate halt. When Jess was young, her mother would ask her the same question every morning. Jess angrily turns to her mother and tells her she doesn’t want her asking about her dreams or making her bed. In Jess’s mind, Megan lost the chance to be a mother the second she walked out of her life. Jess storms out of the house, leaving her mother in tears.

Later in the day, Jess and her siblings are outside preparing for the grand opening of the B&B. Mick and Megan arrive from the beach with Abby’s girls. The girls run off to join in the festivities, leaving Mick and Megan alone together. Mick reveals to his ex-wife that he’s been thinking a lot about his dad lately. Mick is almost the same age as his father was when he died. Confronting his own mortality has made Mick realize how quickly time passes. As they talk, Bree runs toward them. The pipes in the kitchen and bathroom are spraying water everywhere and they desperately need his help to fix the emergency. Just then a car pulls into the driveway. It’s Abby’s ex-husband Wes, arriving to pick up the girls. He gets out of the car and he and Abby immediately begin to argue. Abby suspects his request to cut his child support payments has something to do with Wes’s new relationship. The tension between them quickly rises and Wes decides to leave. He tells Abby that he’ll be back in an hour to pick up the girls.

Back inside the B&B, Mick has fixed the pipes and Jess’s grand opening is back on track. As the party carries on, Abby is surprised to see that Trace has joined in the festivities. He tells Abby that he he should have kissed the other night. Abby is stunned by his comment and stutters as she tells him that that he just made things unclear. Trace asks Abby if she even knows what makes her happy anymore. He then reveals that he did go to New York to see her, only to turn around when he learned she was getting married. As they talk, Wes returns to pick up the girls. Trace is eager to introduce himself but Abby stops him, saying that if there is any chance of them being together again, she has to think about her children first. She admits that she ran off on him but promises that she won’t run off again. She then begs him to allow them to sort this out at her pace. Trace begrudgingly agrees and Abby walks off to talk to Wes.

As soon as Wes gets out of the car he and Abby begin arguing again. Sitting in his jeep, Trace can’t sit back and watch the situation unfold. He gets out of his truck and angrily storms toward Wes. Abby begs him to butt out and, sensing something is going on between Abby and Trace, Wes backs off. He and Abby buckle the girls into the car but, before pulling off, Wes hands Abby a letter from his attorney. Wes tells her their current agreement isn’t going to work, gets into the car and drives away. Abby frantically opens the envelope and as she reads the letter, she drops to the ground. The family gathers around to console her while Trace stands off to the side contemplating the situation.