EPISODE 277
Written by: Bre L. Drew
February 19, 2024
Last Time on Town and Country
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Despite succeeding in seducing Emma away from Will, just like Deirdre wanted from Jacques, she is less than thrilled to be blackmailed by him over her past affair with Jimmy Saunders, for which Daniel offered his assistance to remove Jacques out of the picture as he and Emma get back together.
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Meanwhile, Daniel's actions in gaslighting Jordan managed to estrange him from Max, Courtney, and Tommy.
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Feeling without purpose since the accident that caused her to lose her baby and the use of Max's legs, Shauna aspires to go back to work, but Courtney believes her place is to be there for Max instead.
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Lenny anxiously awaits the results of her blood test which she kept from her family and Elijah, not wanting to tell them until she knew something either way.
HOME FARM
Gone today in the town of Radcliffe, Kentucky, is the unseasonable warm weather, and now it has returned to the winter with blustery winds and low temperatures.
Meanwhile, inside the sufficiently heated mansion on Home Farm Estate, Daniel and Deirdre Covington sit at the long table in the expansive dining room, consuming breakfast this morning.
"Sir, ma'am, will there be anything else you need?" The housekeeper questions them.
"No, that'll be all, Erma," Daniel answers.
The white woman in her late sixties, with short, light brown hair and what seems to be her trademark of homely clothing, dashes to the kitchen.
Deirdre takes a sip of coffee and then places the cup on the table. "Gabriella wasn't too hurt when you decided to let her go, was she?"
Daniel swallows a bite of his Eggs Benedict and then replies. "I wouldn't necessarily say hurt, more aggrieved, but once I gave her a lucrative severance package, she quickly changed her tune."
"Well, hopefully, it contributes to restoring this family after everything." Deirdre remarks.
The stillness throughout the entire house reminds Daniel of his actions in trying to get Jordan out of his son and grandson's lives by using her mental health against her, even by having the former housekeeper do voices to make her think she was going more insane, so when the truth came out, he managed to alienate his children in the process.
"Besides, it will give me something to do while trying to think of a way to get control back of Covington," Daniel tells her.
Due to his bitch of a daughter-in-law broadcasting what he had done, he was swiftly voted out of the company by the board, including his sons.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps enters the dining room, and as Daniel and Deirdre take sight of who they belong to and come to terms, their peaceful meal has ended.
Emma Covington and her lover, Jacques Laurent, are now standing near the table.
"Well, well, well, you've really driven just about everyone in this family away from here. I don't know whether to be impressed or embarrassed for you, Daniel." Emma notes sarcastically
The petite brunette is wearing a red Carolina Herrera off-shoulder dress with her clutch bag underneath her arm.
"Well, I see you are still here, Emma." Daniel retorts
Emma rolls her eyes at her brother.
Deirdre picks up her coffee cup while throwing a glare at Jacques, dressed in a designer-tailored black suit under his overcoat.
The last time she saw him was when he called her to his hotel suite to inform her about him finally seducing Emma away from Will, as she requested of him, and in exchange, gave him the funds he needed to rescue his family's company, in addition to paying him already for her not to reveal her long-ago affair with Jimmy Saunders. It is why she is determined to do anything she can to rid him of all of their lives for good.
Daniel clears his throat. "What can we do for you, Jacques?"
"I do not want anything but to escort this beautiful woman out on the town," the handsomely suave French man nods.
"Yeah, right," Deirdre mumbles.
"What was that, mother?" Emma cross-examines.
"Nothing," Deirdre feigns innocence.
The vibration of Daniel's iPhone suddenly gets his attention.
"I'll better get this," he says as he rises from his chair to depart the room.
"Wonder what is that about?" Jacques asks.
"Probably some poor fool he somehow convinced to be involved in yet another nefarious plan that will backfire," Emma says satirically.
HOME FARM: GUEST HOUSE
The synth new-wave sounds of "As It Was" by Harry Styles currently play on the Spotify app on the flat-screen television in the living room of the two-story guest house on the Home Farm estate,
Jordan Covington finds herself picking up toys from her son's latest playtime. One of the drawbacks of not living at the mansion anymore is that she doesn't have a housekeeping staff anymore to do this. But the painful memories of being gaslighted by her father-in-law with assistance from his maid make her quickly rethink her misfortune.
In a silver Queen of Hearts graphic t-shirt with gray joggers, her freshly colored chocolate brown hair is in a messy bun.
She bends down to scoop up an electronic fire truck and a Batman action figure off the carpet when the din of the doorbell gets her attention.
"I'm coming!" she yells.
She places both toys inside the large cotton basket near the coffee table.
While opening the door, she is grateful that it isn't Daniel since she isn't in the mood to deal with him; however, she is also surprised to see who is standing in her doorway.
"Hi," Shauna Covington addresses her on the cloudy winter day.
"Hi," the younger woman meaningfully responds.
Although they both have the commonality of being outsiders who married into the Covington family, the tension of her being the cause of Max having to swerve his car not to hit her since she was standing in the middle of the road going out of her mind, causing him not being able to walk anymore, and for Shauna to miscarry their baby.
She feels the potent breeze blowing outside from where she stands. Jordan motions for her to step inside, which she does as she shuts the door behind them.
Shauna looks around the mainly clean atmosphere. "I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"
"No, no, I was just tidying up the living room. Earlier, it was a scene of a four-alarm fire that only Batman could put out before Lillith took Jeremy to swim lessons."
As Shauna removes her coat, revealing her black shirt with open-stitched bell sleeves and dark blue jeans, she couldn't help but think about how, if her child survived, what things they would be attached to. She then attempts to push that heartbreaking thought to the back of her mind.
From the solemnity of the look on her sister-in-law's face, Jordan can tell that her visit is more than a social call.
"After everything that has happened and what I've done, I understand if you came by to let me have it, which I deserve, so don't hold back." Jordan wholeheartedly discloses.
Shauna tucks a strand of her shoulder-length, dark brown hair behind her right ear. "Well, that's good to hear because I got some things to say."
RADCLIFFE RECIEVING HOSPITAL
Lynn Lockhart finds herself sitting in the chair across from the empty desk of Dr. Grier in her office at Radcliffe Receiving Hospital. Yesterday afternoon, while working on the farm, she received a call from the nurse telling her to come in today to be given the results of the blood test she had the other day when her physician discovered swollen lymph nodes while examining her.
And now, as she waits in the office, she wonders what it can be. Or the remote possibility that, since Dr. Grier has known her all of her, whatever it is might require some kind of medication, and that's why she needs to be here.
As more time passes, waiting for the doctor to show up, the more anxious she becomes, which is why she hasn't told anyone in her family or even Elijah. She didn't want to tell them something could be wrong with her until she got the results, not wanting them to worry prematurely.
Eventually, the clacking sounds of Dr. Heidi Grier's heels reveal her arrival.
The pint-size white woman with long blonde hair is wearing a navy and red floral long-sleeve dress under her white doctor's coat, and her work badge is clipped on one of the coat's pockets.
"Lynn, please excuse my tardiness. I was downstairs with a patient of mine in the ER."
"It's no problem," Lenny says somewhat.
"How are you doing?" the physician queries while she logs onto her tablet at her desk, which has framed photos of her and her husband, Coach Grier, at a party. And another of their children, Gemma and Ollie, taken at the county fair last year.
Resisting the urge to tell her, she wants to know the outcome so she can leave and put this behind her.
"I'm feeling a lot better, so whatever I had must be cleared up?" Lenny admits.
Dr. Grier looks up from the tablet's screen at her.
HOME FARM: GUEST HOUSE
Since the music is off, there is a sense of quietness in the living area as Shauna occupies the sofa while Jordan sits in the wing chair.
Finally, the twenty-something woman decides to speak.
"I know there isn't anything I can say or do to take away the pain I've put you through, but I'm so sorry, Shauna, and I understand if you can never forgive me. I know if anything took Jeremy away from me, I wouldn't be forgiving in the least."
Shauna is somewhat amazed at Jordan addressing her pain since it usually goes hand in hand with Max's ordeal, although she acknowledges she lost something too.
"Jordan, you weren't in your right mind that night, which is why Max, and I didn't press charges against you," Shauna says reasonably.
"Daniel was in the wrong for using your postpartum depression as a weapon to get you out of Jeremy and Tommy's lives," she adds.
Shortly after her son was born, Jordan suffered from depression, which not only contributed to her believing she wasn't a good enough mother but also led her out of town for several months.
"All because he couldn't bear for me to be in my son's life."
Shauna can feel the anger inside her, which she recognizes as her own toward her father-in-law, whom she once respected.
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
Jordan gets up from the chair and stands across from Shauna. "Live in that house after everything he has done."
"Max and I are still there because it has everything he needs to get around," Shauna replies defensively. "But to answer your question, it's not easy."
Upon hearing this, Jordan is impressed and somehow envious of her sister-in-law's above-all attitude.
Jordan recalls a few years ago, when she was starting to be gaslit by Daniel, that Shauna showed her compassion by attempting to bond with her on Christmas at the mansion, not to mention being present for their storybook fairytale wedding on the yacht all those years ago too.
"This probably sounds corny, but I admire you and Max's marriage; if you two can survive living in the same house as that man, it must be strong."
Shauna is taken back by that statement, since it's been a trying time between them since her husband's paralysis. As much as she is there for him, she also wants to go back to work to at least get her mind off her ongoing issues, including his inability to perform sexually, which is putting a strain on their marriage.
"Really?" Shauna states this surprisingly. "You admire us?"
"Yeah, got any tips for me and Tommy?"
Shauna brings herself forward. "Look, I ain't no relationship expert or anything close to it, but I guess I say be present for each other, whether it's emotionally or physically, because if you can't depend on your spouse on those two things, you aren't going to last."
Despite them being married for months, she and Tommy haven't had sex, which she knows is because of his unresolved feelings for Tanner. Yet she is determined to do anything she can to realize their marriage isn't just to give their son a family but to have the love and passion she longs for.
HOME FARM
Emma and Jacques have consumed coffee, while Deirdre tries to be cordial, even though it's difficult for her due to her dislike of Jacques, who now regrets involving him regarding her daughter.
Daniel enters the dining room, giving his mother a glance while heading to the head of the table, where he often sits.
"Well, we better get going; unlike some, I do have a business to run," Emma boasts, which makes Daniel shake his head.
"I need to take care of a few things at the club, and then I'm all yours for the rest of the day." Emma says this to Jacques, who smirks suggestively at her.
"Lead the way," says the Parisian.
The two then exit out of the dining room.
Deirdre shows her disgust on her face now that he has gone.
With the sound of the front door closing, Daniel is ready to speak.
"I just got off the phone with Murph, my PI, who found something quite interesting on Monsieur Laurent." Daniel notifies.
"Please tell me that he's a bigamist with a wife in France and another residing on the Amalfi Coast." The wealthy widow presumes.
Daniel grabs onto the top of the dining chair. "It isn't that salacious," he replies. "But according to one of Murph's government contacts, INS is coming after him since he's been in this country too long without a green card."
The information starts to perk up the red-haired woman. "Does Jacques know about this issue?"
"He should be notified soon, but from what I gather, even if he tries to get a visa, he will have to do it in France, and that can take some time." Daniel informs his mother.
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​Even if there's a chance of a long-distance relationship, neither one believes it would survive, especially with Jacques's pension for being a womanizer. So their time as a couple won't make it, which is a relief to them both.
"We need some mimosas to toast Jacques bon voyage." Deirdre declares. "Erma!" she calls out.
She is elated that perhaps she does not have to do anything at all to get him out of their lives for good.
RADCLIFFE RECIEVING HOSPITAL
Dr. Grier then places the electronic device on the desk as she now gives her patient consideration.
"The results of the blood test indicate the reason why you haven't been feeling like yourself lately is that you have an abnormal amount of white blood cells in your system."
Lenny tries to read the expression on the doctor's face, but it seems impartial, probably due to his years of delivering similar news.
"So, what does that mean exactly?"
"Well, due to the results and the swollen lymph nodes, I suggest we do a bone marrow biopsy, which will further indicate what it can be, and we will go from there," the doctor says in her southern drawl.
Lenny had hoped it was the flu she had gotten over, but hearing "biopsy" hadn't been something she had anticipated.
"I know the word biopsy is frightening," Dr. Grier counsels. "But most times, what's found isn't what you fear."
"And that would be?"
The look on Dr. Grier's face changed from neutral to uplifting. "The best is that it can be anemia or an iron overload."
Finally, Lenny understands what the opposite can be, but she needs to hear it from the woman who has been treating her since before she could walk or talk.
"Be honest with me, Dr. Grier. What is the worst-case scenario?"
The doctor does an internal inhale before responding.
"It might be cancer, but we cannot be sure of anything until we do the bone marrow biopsy, which needs to be scheduled as soon as possible. With this procedure, you will not be able to get behind the wheel, so you will need someone to bring you here and then take you home when it's over...
While she goes into the overall specifics of it, what will take place? Lenny essentially mentally zones out, as she feels powerless as to what's going on with her own body.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Lynn tries to be strong on the day of her biopsy.
The Saunders women discuss the perplexities of their lives.
Tricia serves Sean with divorce papers.
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