Love is in the air on The Bold and the Beautiful, but is it true love for Thomas and Hope and Deacon and Sheila?
We pick up at Forrester Creations with Taylor (Krista Allen) talking to Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) about Sheila (Kimberlin Brown). She thinks Finn (Tanner Novlan) is struggling with his feelings for Sheila and Ridge agrees that she’s preying on him. Taylor says Sheila is incapable of giving and receiving love.
Speaking of Sheila, at the restaurant she tells Deacon (Sean Kanan) that she’d lost hope when she was in prison. She still thinks her happiness could be taken away from her, and she worries that he might lose his daughter by being with her.
Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) sneaks a look at Hope (Annika Noelle) while she’s working. He tells her he needs help with some "late-night inspiration."
Taylor says she’s been trying to reach Thomas. Ridge hints that he’s been busy, and Taylor says she knows about the kiss in Rome. When Brooke and Ridge start to get cagey, Brooke admits that he and Hope are sleeping together.
Thomas starts to give Hope a massage and she stops him, making sure he’s on the same page with her. Nothing has changed with them. He says he understands where she’s at with their relationship but he still only has eyes for her.
Deacon rolls out champagne and appetizers for their conversation about the future and where their future will go from here.
Taylor can’t believe Thomas is regressing and she’s panicked about it. Brooke says she tried talking Hope out of it but they’re not listening. Taylor says this isn’t a game and that Thomas has been working so hard to get past this. He can’t slip up or else he might never come back.
Deacon offers one of his famous dishes to Sheila and she loves hearing him talk about his food. She doesn’t want him to leave to cook it, though, so instead he turns on music and they dance together under the twinkling patio lights.
Thomas knows that Hope just ended her marriage and he’s sympathetic to that, but he also likes the time they spend together and the time that they’re together together. As they start to get hot and heavy, Taylor walks in. At first, she’s embarrassed but then she’s glad she found them because they need to talk.
Ridge says that Taylor doesn’t need the stress of discovering that Thomas is with Hope. Brooke doesn’t want Taylor to blame everything on Hope.
Taylor asks for a moment alone with Thomas. Once Hope is gone, Thomas tries to rush the conversation but Taylor isn’t having it. She knows his past and knows about his feelings for Hope. She’s worried that Hope’s feelings won’t match his own.
As they dance, Sheila and Deacon laugh and enjoy the moment while remembering their past, including when Sheila returned from the dead. There’s a montage of some of their moments together, and once again Sheila expresses her gratitude for all he’s done while knowing how hard it will be to say goodbye. He says their story isn’t over, and he thinks she should start thinking about the future and not what’s happened before.
Ridge defends Taylor and says that she’s only looking out for their son’s welfare. That’s when Hope comes in and says that yet another person knows about her relationship with Thomas because Taylor just found them together.
Thomas is grateful for his mother’s concern, but he assures her that the concern is unfounded. Taylor says she’s worried about what’s happening and how it might bring up his past. She doesn’t want it to bring back the person he was before. He promises that he’s in a good place and things are in control. She wonders what would happen if things between them don’t work out. Thomas tells her about the agreement he has with Hope, and Taylor brings up the manipulation that Brooke used between Taylor and Ridge back in the day. She wants her son to learn from her mistakes.
Sheila loves that when they’re alone, they can do whatever they want and nothing matters. It’s those moments that will get her through the days when they’re not together. She’s still concerned about the reality of their situation and how he could lose his restaurant and his daughter by being with her. He assures her that he’s "a big boy" and that’s why he fought to get her out. Being with her is all that matters. Deacon helps her into her chair, telling her how lonely he was before they met. "I can’t get enough," he says, plucking a rose from the vase. He lowers to one knee before her, telling her he’s "nuts" about her, from the top of her head "to however many toes [she] has left." This time, he says, he’s "gambling on love." And then he proposes to her.
Has Sheila found her true love? Yes, most definitely.
Is Deacon’s love enough for her? Well, that remains to be seen.
Interestingly, the more Deacon lavishes love and attention on her, the less we hear about her plans to connect with Finn and Hayes and (possibly) destroy Steffy.
Sheila has never had someone love her the way Deacon loves her. It's pure love, and it comes from a kind and healthy place. Will her plans to reunite with her son and grandson change now that she has Deacon in her life for good (assuming she says yes, of course), or will she move forward with reuniting at any and all cost? More importantly, will she put Deacon’s reputation on the line by going back to her old ways, or will she prove everyone wrong by actually changing?
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and the following day on Paramount Plus. Check your local listings to see when it comes on where you are.
