Summer Divulges Her Crush to Daniel — and Tucker Recruits Phyllis to Do His Dirty Work

At Sharon’s place, Mariah feels bad that her mother’s trip to the coast was postponed due to the weather. Sharon admits she’s disappointed, but she’s happy to spend the evening with her. She learns Mariah has an appointment with Dr. George tomorrow for more testing on Aria as they try to confirm a diagnosis. She worries whether Tessa will make it. Sharon tries to be encouraging.

As Sharon and Mariah chat, Sharon confides that she senses someone else may have a growing attraction to Chance, “Summer.” Mariah asks how she knows that. Sharon says it’s just a sense she got when they saw her earlier. Chance helped her during the Phyllis situation, so it’s not surprising an attraction could grow. Mariah asks her mother how she feels about Chance. Sharon grins, “We enjoy each other’s company a lot.” But she’s not sure what will happen long-term for them. Mariah asks if she thinks he feels a connection with Summer. Sharon isn’t concerned and isn’t sure how serious things will get between her and Chance. Mariah would hate to see Summer ruin this for her, “That’s kind of her M.O.” Sharon knows she doesn’t like Summer. Mariah admits it’s nice not to have to pretend to like Summer anymore now that she and Kyle are over. A knock comes at the door. Sharon smiles as she lets Tessa in. Tessa runs to Mariah and they embrace.

Summer joins Daniel at Society, where he tells her that Lucy and Heather are leaving soon and he doesn’t know when he’ll next see his daughter. He asks about Summer and Kyle. She says that they’re in the process of a divorce and mom has backed off, which is good. Daniel says, “The same with Heather and I.” He’s worried about Summer, who assures that she’s surprisingly OK. “I’m ready for my next adventure.” Daniel asks what kind of adventure, “Is it a romantic one?”

Summer isn’t dying to jump from one relationship to another and is just getting over the grief of splitting from Kyle. Daniel asks if she’s sure they’re really over. Summer confirms, “We’re done. There’s no coming back from it.” It will be a while before she’s ready to dive into another love story — even the hint of attraction she feels right now scares her. Daniel asks, “Is it someone I know?” Summer explains that sometimes it’s friendship and sometimes it feels like more, “It’s Chance.” Daniel guffaws, “Chance. The cop that was after our mother.” Summer argues that he was really nice about it and fair and compassionate with her when, let’s face it, she was bending the law. Daniel muses, “Isn’t he with Sharon?”

At the Abbott mansion, Jack and Billy discuss the Tucker and Ashley situation. Jack relays that she’s going to stay overseas for now and work remotely. Billy wonders if it will really be so easy to forgive her. Jack attributes much of her recent behavior to Tucker’s hold on her. They agree that Diane saving her life shook Ashley and helped her to come to her senses. Billy muses that Jack and Ashley have something special. He’s always admired his ability to forgive and forget… for him it’s not so easy. They complain about Tucker and Billy suggests they go on the offense and hit him first — and hard. They’ll drive him out of Genoa City. Jack notes that he doesn’t have a weakness with Ashley not in his life. Billy thinks that if they can turn Devon against him, they’re halfway there.

At the jazz lounge, Phyllis needles Tucker about being without Ashley. Tucker won’t discuss Ashley with her. He blurts, “Two million dollars.” It was the amount of the insurance paid out upon her death and he guesses they’re clamoring for repayment. He chuckles, realizing that she hasn’t yet found out where Stark funneled the payout and half of her life savings and suggests, “What if you and I struck a deal?” Phyllis points out that a deal with Tucker is only good for Tucker. He says he wants to pay off her debt. She knows there will be strings attached. Tucker concedes, “There are some strings.” Phyllis isn’t interested. Tucker assures he wouldn’t ask her to harm anyone or even die again… he just needs her exceptional IT skills. Phyllis already has an IT job. Tucker heard that the Adustus venture fell apart, which means her IT job is no longer an option. They debate whether Nick and Sharon would hire her and Tucker asks if she’s sure she’s not interested in what he has to say.

At Sharon’s place, Tessa tells Mariah she was determined to get there for Aria’s appointment tomorrow. They kiss and canoodle as Sharon stands by awkwardly. She encourages them to go home and be together with their little one.

At the Abbott manse, Jack’s not comfortable turning Devon against his father. Billy just wants to open his eyes to Tucker’s recent behavior. He deserves to know the truth, “We’d be doing him a favor.” Jack will think about it and invites Billy for a drink at the jazz lounge.

In the jazz lounge, Tucker wants Phyllis to consider him an angel on her shoulder. Phyllis finds that rich and vows to raise the money legitimately. Tucker reminds her he’s offering her two million dollars right now. Phyllis reminds him she had to enlist Adam’s help to get out from under his thumb. Tucker offers her 10% more. Phyllis won’t negotiate with him. Tucker thinks she’s curious what he wants her to do for all that cash. Just then, Jack walks in and spots them.

Phyllis tells Tucker, “I’m done here,” and walks off. She tells Jack, “That wasn’t what it looked like.” Jack doesn’t expect much from her these days. He makes his way over to Tucker and tells him he’s spoken to Ashley. He knows the truth and is glad that she’s come to her senses. Tucker says, “I love her, Jack. That’s real.” Jack says he blew it. He wonders why he came back and asks, “What are you up to?”

In the foyer, Billy notices Phyllis seems flustered. She saw Tucker and then Jack. Billy is happy she’s not in jail and has been exonerated. Phyllis notes that not everyone feels that way. He advises her to ignore the haters and stay out of her own way. Phyllis asks about Tucker and Ashley. “Why is he still in town?” Billy says they imploded, and he wishes he would leave. His reasons for being here can’t be good. He advises her to avoid him for her own good. Phyllis thinks he’s probably right.

At Society, Daniel accuses Summer of avoiding his question about Chance. Summer doesn’t want to be the other woman and doesn’t even know how serious Sharon and Chance are, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt, including myself.” Daniel thinks her feelings for Chance are more complicated than she’s willing to admit. Summer sighs, “You’re right. I hate that I’m feeling this way… and I hate that Chance isn’t available.”

In the jazz lounge, Tucker tells Jack he came back for his son and grandson. Jack warns if it’s also for revenge, “You and I are going to have a problem.” He’s sure whatever happened with Ashley was all Tucker’s fault. He doesn’t need to hear Tucker’s version. “Go away, Tucker. Reinvent yourself somewhere else.” Tucker says all the action is there. Jack puts Tucker on notice that he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his family. Tucker walks away, past Billy, and tell him he may be right… he may be the only level-headed Abbott left.

Phyllis shows up at Sharon’s place asking what’s going on with SNA Media. She needs to know where she stands jobwise. She recaps that Adam is out and Sharon and Nick are running the company together. Phyllis senses their history is lingering and asks, “Am I out of a job, Sharon?”

At the tackhouse, Mariah and Tessa kiss and undress each other before lying on the bed to make love.

After sex, Mariah tells Tessa again how much she missed her and asks about the Marchetti photo shoot. Tessa says everyone was so nice, but she was a hot mess. Mariah was too… just in another part of the country. Tessa admits all she could think about was getting home to Mariah and Aria. Mariah makes Tessa laugh with her accounting of how she tried to make Aria laugh while she was away. Tessa asks if she’s as nervous about the appointment tomorrow as she is. Mariah goes between controlled terror and numb. She worries what if it’s worse than they’d imagined. Tessa says they’ll take it one step at a time, together. Mariah never wants to be apart again. Tessa says, “You’re stuck with me forever.” They kiss.

Phyllis re-enters the Athletic Club and catches up with Tucker. She says, “I’m curious. What exactly do you expect for your investment?”

In the jazz lounge, Jack tells Billy he’s right — they need to go on offense. They’ll be relentless. They’ll get Devon on their side and run Tucker out of there for good.

In the dining room, Tucker tells Phyllis that he needs her to hack into a server. It’s minimal risk for her and she’ll then get 2.2 million. Phyllis muses that it sounds simple, “I need to know the name of the company you’re infiltrating.” Tucker won’t tell her that until she’s on board, “So what’s it going to be? Are you in?”