Recap: Scar Tissue - Episode 2
Kat is presented with a book deal that asks her to dredge up terrible memories. Del wants to say goodbye to the past, while Alice yearns to return there.
Watch this episode on Hallmark+. To watch The Way Home from the beginning, start your free trial today!
In a panic, Kat drives in search of Alice while on the phone with Brady. Brady regrets not telling Alice about Rachel sooner. Kat can barely breathe. She fears history will repeat itself. Brady tries to calm her and assures her that Alice will return. Although nothing usually seems to faze Del, she too is out by the cliff’s edge searching for her granddaughter.
Back in 1999, Alice and teen Elliot walk through the forest. Alice is determined to get back to present day. Teen Elliot doesn’t believe that she’s traveled through time. They reach the pond’s edge and Alice shares that once she jumps in and doesn’t return, hopefully he will believe her then. She jumps as he watches her disappear under the water. He waits a beat before fully freaking out. Did she drown? He jumps in after her but comes right back up.
In present day, adult Elliot sips coffee on his porch, reminiscing about moments from his teenage years with Alice. He notices her in the distance running through the fields, returning home.
Kat pulls up to the farmhouse in defeat. As she passes by the porch, she recalls memories of tragedy from the past. She recalls Colton comforting her as a teenager. Colton tells her then the Landrys should never give up hope.
In the house, Kat sees a trail of water drops. She follows them upstairs and it leads to Alice. Kat is relieved and hugs her while she tries to explain her whereabouts. Alice apologies and says she was trying to find her way home. Kat mistakes that to mean she was trying to get back home to her father Brady. Alice tells her that is not the case, but Kat refuses to listen. She reprimands her with no mercy. Alice begs the question of what happened to her as she just witnessed the happier version of her mom two decades ago. Kat grounds her. Downstairs she meets Del at the kitchen table. Del reminds her that she told her Alice would come home.
At school, the other teenagers find out that Alice went “missing.” Zoey and Spencer tell her if she’s going through anything that they’re there for her and they are glad she’s okay. Spencer shows Alice a picture of an old photo of teen Kat on a beach with his mother, Monica. Spencer’s mother showed it to him, and he wanted to show Alice.
Back at the farm, Del is in the yard with her friend Rita who is still in disbelief that Alice went missing. She questions Del if Alice had any idea what this would do to her, knowing she experienced something similar in the past with Jacob. Del cuts her short and tells her it’s over, Alice is back, it is time to move on. Rita cannot. She doesn’t think Del should be so naïve to think her life won’t experience challenges now that Alice and Kat are staying with her. Del has done way too much healing work from her past to have them ruin it. Del shares that someone sent Kat her letter and that’s why they are there. Rita assures her that it was not her, but Del is still suspicious.
Inside, Kat revisits the polaroid on her nightstand of teen Kat and Alice. She can’t make out who Alice is. Brady calls, wanting to know if Alice has returned. He wants to speak to her but she’s at school. Kat apologizes for not calling him sooner. She tells Brady she’s considering returning home as maybe coming back to Port Haven wasn’t the best idea. Brady shares he may have a reason for her to stay as he has been speaking to a publisher who is interested in Kat’s work. They want to offer her a book deal to write about her family tragedy. Kat can’t comprehend why Brady wants to help her as they are no longer together. She doesn’t want his help. Brady asks her to think it over.
At school, Alice searches for Elliot, she finds him amongst other teachers and demands they discuss last night. Elliot tells Alice to consider how she approaches him in public. She apologizes and blames it on being panicked. They discover they both know the time traveling secret. Alice wonders why her mother doesn’t recognize her in present day if she knew her as a teenager. Elliot tells her memories are mercurial. He also lets Alice know that time travel only works for her and no one else. She needs to be wise about when she travels as to not be gone for too long in present day as her family will start to worry. Alice tells Elliot she met Jacob, and she can see how special he was.
Inside Jacob’s room, Kat rummages through her brother’s things. Del interrupts her and tells Kat to put those memories away. Furthermore, Del says if she’s not going to move out and return to her home then at least make herself useful since she does not have a job.
Carrying Del’s honey jars, Kat enters The Point Café where her old friend Monica works. They were once close friends, but things turned sour over the years. They catch up, but Kat soon discovers that Del set this meeting up and it is a job interview. Kat is embarrassed and assures Monica that she doesn’t need a job as she was recently offered a book deal. What she needs is pen and paper to start writing. Monica gives it to her and leaves her to write.
At dinner, Kat grills Del about telling Monica about not having a job. Del says she was just trying to help. Kat lets it be known that she has a book deal to write about the family’s past, including Jacob. Del forbids it. Alice demands to know once and for all what happened to Jacob and how did he go missing? Kat doesn’t think now is a good time to discuss the details. The atmosphere is cold and Alice is stunned as they used to be such a happy family.
Kat meets up with Elliot in the Landry barn. As they have a glass of wine, Kat leans on his shoulder and wonders if he remembers their friend Alice. Elliot nods. Kat shares that she found an old photo of them from 1999 but Alice is blurry and she can’t make her out. Elliot is relieved.
Alice searches for details on Jacob online but comes up empty. Her phone rings and it is her dad. Brady tells Alice he has been worried, but Alice doesn’t buy it because he never asked her to come home because Rachel is there. Brady tells her there will always be room for her at his house. Alice fights back tears and hangs up. Her Google search never loads.
It's dark but that doesn’t stop Alice from going to the pond to escape present day. She jumps in and disappears but comes back up. She dives again but resurfaces for a second time. She panics and wonders why she isn’t being transported to 1999 as usual. Gasping for air, she makes her way back to shore and begins to cry.
Alice makes her way back home. She meets Del who is surprised to see that she’s awake early. She hands her a box of produce, and they head to the Farmer’s Market. As Del sets up her stall, many patrons greet her warmly. Alice notices how much of a neighborhood staple Del is. Byron Groff, who runs the Herald newspaper approaches Del’s stall, ready to shop. Alice notices how much happier and fun Del is around town, much like her younger self. However, she’s not this happy with her own family.
Still in her bathrobe, Kat finds herself in Alice’s room. A familiar book catches her eye. It’s “Alice in Wonderland,” one of her favorites as a teen. She grabs it and turns to a page to view a passage she once underlined: “It’s no use going back to yesterday…because I was a different person then.” Kat wonders why she highlighted that. A note left by Alice catches her eye. “At Farmer’s Market. Del’s call.”
Kat heads to the Farmer’s Market, as she approaches, she has flashbacks of her teenage self with her father Colton standing in the same market. They are handing out flyers in search of her kid brother Jacob who is missing. Del’s greeting to Kat throws her out of the memory. Kat confronts Del about bringing Alice to the market when she is still grounded. Kat doesn’t want Del to interfere with the way she raises her daughter. Alice and Rita watch their back and forth. Alice asks Rita to tell her what really happened to Jacob. Rita refuses.
Alice finds the location of The Herald newspaper. Bryon welcomes her. She’s ready to solve the mystery herself.
Kat goes to visit her father’s grave. There she meets Danny, a cemetery worker who was Jacob’s childhood best friend. She wants to say hello but he is hesitant to say it back. He walks off to leave her alone. Kat has a moment with her father only to notice next to his tombstone is Jacob’s. Kat is shocked. She now understands that Del no longer considers him missing, but dead. Though the Landrys shouldn’t give up, Del has.
Back at The Herald, Alice is on a mission. She searches through old newspaper articles to find out what happened to Jacob. She sees headlines: Local Boy Goes Missing, Police Have No Leads. She sees pictures of his bike with police tape surrounding it. She tries putting the pieces together only to be interrupted by Del, who tells her it is time to go.
As they drive back to the farm together, Alice apologizes and tells her she just needed to know. They pull over by the white cross close to the farm. Del points out that it is the place where her husband died, only three months after Jacob went missing. Del tells Alice she lost her whole world in three months. Del tells her she deserves to know what happened but to never speak of it again once she finally knows.
Kat is at the kitchen table when Alice and Del walk in. She wants to know why Del decided to declare Jacob dead. Del tells Kat it was time. After she got his death certificate, Del wrote Kat the letter but never mailed it. Del tells Kat that there’s an upcoming memorial scheduled for Jacob, planned before she arrived.
Inside the Landry Barn, Kat takes a moment to herself. Elliot interrupts. Kat asks him if he knew about the memorial. Elliot consoles her as she is still grieving Jacob, a wound made fresh since returning home.
Later that night, Kat finds Alice at the kitchen table. She can’t sleep, obviously troubled by the events surrounding the family. Alice tells Kat that she wants to stay in Port Haven to get to know her family, even the ones who are gone. This makes Kat smile.
Del gets dressed for the memorial while having sweet flashbacks with her son Jacob. Meanwhile, Alice finds a family heirloom on the coffee table. Kat explains every time a new family member was born, they’d add their name to the list, and when they died, the date would be written next to their name.
At the memorial, Del, Kat, Alice, Elliot, and Rita stand in the rain. Del delivers a heartwarming eulogy while holding a blue balloon. When she’s done, she lets the balloon go. They all watch it with tears in their eyes.
Kat is on the porch chatting with Brady, she tells him she’s not leaving Port Haven as it is important for her to stay. Brady reminds her of the book deal. That doesn’t sway her as she realizes at the moment it is about family rather than her own goals.
Alice stands at the pond’s edge, ready to jump, but Elliot catches her. She wants to see Jacob and hopes the pond will accept her this time. He waits as she jumps. To his delight, she doesn’t resurface.
Now that the memorial has happened, it is time to put Jacob’s name in the family heirloom, but Del can’t bring herself to do it. Kat does it for her. They embrace.
In 1999, Alice meets Jacob and teen Kat just in time to join the family for dinner.