Out of the Past
On her way down the stars, Cassie is suddenly overwhelmed by the presence of something familiar. Outside, a hand prepares to knock on the door before the visitor thinks better of it and turns to walk away. Just then Cassie opens the door to find Ryan starting to walk away. They smile when they see each other and Ryan tells Cassie that he has business in the area and thought he’d stop by. Cassie asks if they can have lunch while he’s in town and Ryan says yes and that they need to talk.
Later at the flower shop, Cassie drops in to take check in on her cousin’s new business. From the moment she walks, Cassie can see that Abigail has found her passion. She can also tell that Abigail has put much of the workload onto her lone employee, Sophie. Cassie tries to remind Abigail that “a small business lives or dies on how much effort the owner is willing to put into it.” Abigail casually assures her that she’s working round the clock. That comes as a surprise to the overworked Sophie, who pricks herself with a rose upon hearing Abigail’s comment. Just then the phone rings. Martha needs 25 centerpieces for a town council banquet meeting just three days away. Abigail calmly says no problem and casually tells Sophie “they’ll just have to work double time. “
Later in the day Sam returns from a run to an empty house. In a few moments Linda and Nick arrive from their extended search for pressed juice. Linda feels that Nick needs to start eating healthier and that includes having freshly pressed juice. Sam is suspicious of her motives and stares disapprovingly as Linda explains Nick’s new diet. She then suggests that the three of them have dinner at a local restaurant, her treat. Sam’s annoyed but he decides not start an argument.
At Town Hall Martha gleefully stamps documents when she hears a knock at the door. Assuming it’s Chief Sanders she beckons him in, but he doesn’t enter and that knocking continues. She gets up from her desk and is surprised to find her adult son Michael standing on the other side of the door. She’s always doted over her son and as she looks at him, she immediately decides that he’s too thin and in desperate need of her home cooking.
At the bistro, Cassie waits for her order at the bar as Stephanie does her best to manage the busy restaurant and her own personal stress. Earlier in the day Stephanie’s mom Betty arrived for a surprise visit to check on her daughter. Betty’s visit always incudes a healthy dose of well meaning but annoying advice and prying into Stephanie’s love life. Hoping to get a break from the torment, Stephanie asks if she can put her mother up at Grey House. Cassie agrees and then asks if Betty’s had the chance to meet Ben. “Absolutely not,” Stephanie replies. Stephanie is sure that her mother won’t approve of Ben’s job status, but Cassie suspects that Betty isn’t the only one that has issues with Ben’s working class background. Stephanie insists that she really likes Ben, but she’s also sure that things will go much better if her mother doesn’t get involved.
Later in the day Brandon makes his way to Cassie’s shop to get the list of groceries to pick up for his grandfather. Along with the list, Cassie asks him to do her a favor and pick up pastries at the bistro. While at the bistro Brandon runs into Derek, who’s babysitting his little nephew, Max. Derek is on uncle duty after Max’s mom had an emergency. But now Derek has an emergency of his own to deal with and he asks Brandon if he can watch Max for a couple hours. Unable to say no to his boss, Brandon nervously agrees and heads back to Grey House with the pastries and a baby.
Across town, Sam and Grace wrap up their latest driving lesson. Grace’s driving skills have improved dramatically and the time they’ve spent has brought them closer. But now, with her driving lessons almost complete, Grace is unsure if she’s ready to move on. She tells Sam that she’s decided to postpone her driving test so they have more time to practice. Sam is puzzled and tells Grace that she’s ready, but she tells him no, she doesn’t think she is.
At town hall, Martha talks to her husband Tom about the lavish party she’s planning. Tom is less enthusiastic because the party Martha is planning is for their son Michael’s return. It turns out that Michael is moving back because he got fired from his job as a waiter at a themed restaurant and is now broke. Martha insists that the job was beneath him but Tom is more concerned with his son’s lack of maturity and unwillingness to grow up.
At the flower shop, Abigail flirts with a male customer while her assistant Sophie is surrounded by vases, bags of pebbles and buckets of flowers. Martha’s order is very complicated and Sophie is frustrated at having to do all the work by herself. Grace walks in and, seeing how busy Sophie is, tells Abigail that she can stop by and see her later. Abigail says she’s never too busy for her favorite cousin and goes to lift a bucket of pebbles off a table. She stumbles with the bucket and Grace jumps in to lend a hand. Sophie rolls her eyes as Abigail tells Grace that she’s exhausted working so hard on Martha’s order. Grace offers to help out and before she knows what’s happening she’s helping Sophie make arrangements while Abigail heads off for a break.
At her lunch later that day, Cassie and Ryan finally have the chance to talk. They’ve said nothing since the night Ryan saw Sam almost kiss her. Cassie explains that she was surprised not by Sam wanting to kiss her, but by her own desire to kiss Sam. She then tells Ryan that she doesn’t feel ready to be with anyone. The news gives Ryan hope that someday he will get a chance at a relationship with Cassie, but those hopes are in vain. Cassie tells Ryan that she doesn’t have romantic feelings him. Cassie hopes they can go back to being friends but Ryan can’t ignore his feelings and that being friends would be too painful for him.
At Grey House, Tara arrives, searching for Brandon, who sent her a text saying he had an emergency. She walks into the living room and finds Brandon holding baby Max. The image is adorable, but before she can get wrapped up in the moment, Brandon tells her he needs her help taking care of Max. Tara agrees, but as the day wears on, her patience with diapers and puke starts to wear thin. The situation is made worse when she realizes Brandon is a natural. Having watched Grace when she was a baby, Brandon has an ease with Max that Tara can’t match. Exhausted and smelly, Tara realizes that a baby might be more than she originally bargained for.
Later in the day Sam and Cassie meet up to talk about Ryan. Sam found out that Ryan was back in town and was having lunch with Cassie and now Cassie wants to come clean. She tells Sam that she and Ryan had lunch and that things between them were complicated. Ryan wants something from her that she can’t give him, not matter how much she cares for him. Seeing him also made her realize that she’s not ready for anything beyond friendship with anyone. Sam gets the message and tells her that he truly hopes that she and Ryan can patch things up.
The next morning at the flower shop, Abigail arrives to find the lights off, the doors locked, and the phone ringing off the hook. She unlocks the door and immediately yells for Sophie. The only response is the continual ring of the phone. On the other end is Martha, calling to add another 25 arrangements to her order. As Abigail listens to Martha she finds a note, not unlike the one she gave Stephanie. The note says:
I can no longer run this store by myself. I quit.
Respectfully,
Sophie
After attending to the business with Abigail, Martha leaves her office in search of her son. Martha’s used her connections to land Michael an interview for a job as the assistant to the president of a local bank. When she finds him sitting outside her office, she’s surprised to learn that he didn’t go to the interview. He tells his mom that being an assistant isn’t the type of job that will allow him to showcase his talents. He then asks her for some money so he can go hang out with his friends from high school. She pulls a few bills from her purse and, as he takes the money and walks away, she realizes that her husband was right and that her son is refusing to grow up.
Later in the day, as Sam walks up to his office, he finds Grace standing outside waiting for him. She stopped by to bring a piece of his favorite cake as a thank you for the driving lessons. Her gesture is thoughtful but Sam is certain that something else is up. He sits her down and asks why she doesn’t want to take her test. He asks if it’s something at school or at home but Grace shrugs off the suggestions and tells him that she really doesn’t want to talk about it. Sam gets the hint and says he won’t push, but if she does want to tell him, he’ll be there for her.
The next morning Cassie stops in to the flower shop and finds an exhausted Abigail, struggling to finish her orders. When Abigail tells her Sophie quit, Cassie tells her those things tend to happen when employees are overwhelmed. Abigail says Sophie just wasn’t a go-getter but she’s sure everything will work out. Cassie reminds her that a new business “thrives or dies on reputation” and Martha is sure to tell everyone if Abigail doesn’t deliver on her order. Abigail is counting on being the only flower shop in town, but Cassie points out that the flower shop in Blairsville is bigger and delivers. The dose of truth finally hits Abigail and she realizes that her business is finished if she fails this order.
Later that day at the café, Stephanie is busy running orders when her mom arrives with a new friend. Earlier, Ben had stopped by Grey House to do some work for Cassie. Unaware of Stephanie’s relationship with Ben and unaware that Stephanie’s mother was in town, Betty and Sam strike up a conversation and soon realize that they have both been led astray. Now at the bistro, Stephanie is left wide-eyed and speechless, as it appears her secret has been revealed.
Nearby at Bell, Book & Candle, Ryan stops by for a final farewell. Despite his not wanting to be friends, Cassie did him a personal favor that helped him sell his house. He then admits that he didn’t leave things in a good place, but despite it all, Cassie was still willing to help him. She tells him that just because he can’t be her friend, it doesn’t mean she can’t still be his. Ryan realizes that they’ve come full circle and that in her unique way, Cassie hit the reset button on their friendship.
Later in the evening Cassie finds Sam outside shooting hoops, a sure sign that something is on his mind. Earlier in the day Linda asked if she could move into his spare room. Sam was immediately against the idea and told her that “this isn’t some cute romantic comedy where the divorced parents live together for the sake of their child and everything works out in the end.” Linda angrily told him that the situation isn’t a picnic for her and that she wants to be closer to her son. Now Sam is left with the difficult task of doing what’s best for his son, at the cost of his own happiness. With no clear solution, Sam asks Cassie if she has any of the tea she gave him the first time they met. As luck would have it she does, so the two friends head off, back to Grey House.