Friday the thirteenth has wreaked havoc with present and possibly future relationships; Shula and Alistair continue in a downward spiral; Fallon and Harrison appear to be at the top of their spiral; Emma has family problems of a different sort.

Radio Times: Fallon jumps to conclusions

Characters: Alistair, Daniel, Ed, Emma, Fallon, Harrison, Jake, Shula

• Shula makes a last minute purchase at The Tea Rooms and thanks Fallon for staying open for her. Emma joins them. Shula has been talking to Clarrie. By all accounts, Emma has been a tower of strength for Will recently. Shula well remembers needing the support of her own family when her own husband died. She leaves, leaving Fallon to remark to Emma that given Shula’s present circumstances, the whole idea of marriage leaves her cold. Emma bursts into tears, leaving her friend wondering just what she has said.
• Ed mentions to Harrison that the lights were on in the new changing rooms the other night. A prowler perhaps? They’re joined by Alistair. Harrison sympathises with him about returning to live with his father and asks if he has plans to move from The Stables, eventually. Alistair has no idea what will happen, none at all, and takes his leave. Harrison mentions that he’s glad that he and Fallon are in for the long haul. Oh dear… there’s many a slip!
• A tearful Emma confides in Fallon. Her problem is Jake. Apparently, he told Keira to keep out of his room or Nic would come back and haunt her. She tried to reassure her but fears the damage has been done. When she told Clarrie that thought that the regular trips to the funeral ground with Will have twisted the lad, she told her to be more supportive. She tells Fallon that she still feels it was her fault that Nic lost her job at The Bull. At times, she feels that she’s watching over her, making a mess of handling the children. At this point, Fallon jumps in. She’s sure that Nic wasn’t perfect. She must surely at times have got to the end of her own rope, without anyone knowing.
• At The Stables, Alistair calls on Shula. They can’t go on like this especially as he only works across the yard. He’s fed up with hearing that their separation was a mutual decision. Shula thought that it was, he agreed to move out after all. Only because she made it impossible to stay, he counters. Anyway, he wants answers. He wonders when she started feeling like she does. When she says she doesn’t know, he raises his voice, demanding a straight answer.
• Fallon arrives home only to spot Kenton and Jolene leaving. She asks Harrison what they wanted. He explains that given his week at work and Nic’s passing, he’s made a decision. She interrupts him to say that he mustn’t ask her, she can’t marry him. After a moment, he tells her that he wasn’t going to. He had changed his will, Kenton and her mother were witnesses. She is now his sole beneficiary. But, if he hadn’t any idea of her feelings about marrying him, he does now.
• Jake and George have damaged a friend’s laptop in a fight. Emma goes off the deep end. More unnecessary expense. Jake storms off pointing out that she’s not his mother anyway. Ed’s left to pour oil on troubled waters, as usual. Things aren’t much better at The Stables. Shula asks just what Alistair wants from her. He wants to know if it was his gambling that triggered things. As she can’t remember, she was ever in love with him? He’s always felt second best, following in the wake of Mark and Richard Locke. Was he just a safe port in a storm? In the middle of the row, Daniel walks in. He’s come straight home rather than visit Dorothy. It seems that what his grandfather says is true. They really are splitting up.