Lucinda has hired a bus to transport these ladies to an awards program of the Oakdale Women's Service League, at which Nancy Hughes is receive a 50-Year Service Award: Nancy Hughes, Lucinda, Lisa, Kim, Barbara, and Emma. At the awards banquet, we are treated with clips of Nancy from the beginning of the show. On the way home on the bus, Barbara is angry because she has just learned of Emily and Paul's jailhouse marriage. Barbara first persuades the driver to take a short cut, then grabs the wheel to keep the driver from turning back. The bus is stuck on a dirt road, and the driver walks to find help for the stranded women. While they wait, the women build a bonfire and reminisce, with wonderful film clips from the past. We see an incredibly beautiful, younger, Kim, learning of Bob's affair with Susan. Barbara goes off by herself and remembers loving James Stenbeck and Hal (we see clips of beautiful young Barbara). Kim joins Barbara briefly, and remembers following Bob to Florida for a clandestine affair. Kim goes back to the other women, and Barbara eats a candy bar, which attracts a bear. Around a campfire, the other women remember their past. Lucinda recalls hiding the truth about Lily's real parents, Iva and Josh. Nancy remembers Chris, while Lisa remembers her many, many romances. The bear follows Barbara to the campfire, and the women repel the bear by singing "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." When the bear lumbers off, Lucinda and Barbara decide to try again to get the bus out of the mud. Their efforts turn the bus on its side, pinning Lucinda beneath the steering wheel. Gas is leaking from the bus, and is running toward the campfire. The heroic women band together to pull Lucinda from the bus, using a rope. Just as Lucinda is freed, the bus explodes. All the women survive, and have one more memory, of how nearly all of them loved John Dixon at one time. Emma finds a pickup, which they can use to drive back to Oakdale.

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Nick has doubts about returning to work but Katie gives him a pep talk. When he goes upstairs to get ready the doorbell rings - it's Mike! He came back early and decided to surprise her. Katie and Nick try to avoid telling Mike what happened but balloons that Katie ordered for Nick arrive which mention his reinstatement. When Mike asks what happened, Nick runs out the door saying he'll explain later. Mike asks Katie to marry him again and they make love.

Henry finds Emily with homecoming gifts for Paul. He realizes that she is probably trying to pin Dusty's murder on Meg in order to free Paul, but Emily denies any schemes. Henry begs her to forget Paul and get out while she can. He does his best to convince her that Paul will only end up hurting her again but she cannot be swayed and leaves with her presents. At the police station, Hal tells Jennifer the photo is real and proves that not only is Dusty alive but that he is somewhere within a 50 mile radius. Jennifer sees Paul in the interrogation room and bursts in demanding to know where Dusty is. Paul tells her he doesn't know. Jessica tells them she's filed a motion to have the murder charges dropped and goes to meet with the judge. Jennifer asks Paul why he confessed and when he tells her he did it for her she immediately accuses him of doing it for Meg. Paul denies it and Hal starts to call Meg but Paul yells to leave her out of it. Hal and Jennifer are suspicious about his relationship with Meg but he manages to cover by saying they can question her all they want, he just doesn't want her anywhere near him. Jennifer asks him why he married Paul and he says she has everything he needs. He goes back to his cell and Jennifer tells Hal she's convinced that he knows something. She tells him she will go and talk to Meg, but Hal asks her to let him handle it as Meg is now their prime suspect. Jessica comes back from her meeting with the judge to tell Hal that the murder charges have been dropped. Hal assures Jennifer that there are so many charges against Paul he will stay in jail for weeks until trial. She tells him that if he wants to help her find Dusty he will let Paul go. Emily comes to visit Paul in his cell and he tells her Dusty is alive. She feigns surprise, but he acts suspicious and presses her about her "feeling" that he would get out of jail. She continues to deny any knowledge of Dusty's status. Jessica comes downstairs with the good news. Emily is ecstatic, she tells Paul she will run home and get everything ready. Paul tells her he cannot go home with her.

Jack comes home to tell the kids about the separation. At first Carly fights the idea, even going so far as to stop Jack as he's telling JJ and Parker that they will be living apart for a "long time". They regroup and share a tender and painful moment as they try to explain what's happening to the boys without going into any details about their fight. In the midst of the kids trying to understand why, Parker mentions the incident with Chardonnay and promises Carly he didn't tell Jack about it. Jack is furious and after the kids go upstairs he implies that he may try to take the kids at some point. Sage comes downstairs and Jack has an obvious hard time saying goodbye to her. He leaves for Emma's, but when he gets there he finds Nick sitting at the kitchen table.

Carly picks up the compass and heads out. She runs into Gwen. Carly tells Gwen, whatever her problem is she cannot help because she's having problems with Jack. While Gwen tries to protest Carly leaves.

Jack is disgusted to see Nick in Emma's kitchen eating pie. Nick says he came to thank Jack. Jack isn't interested and wants Nick to leave. Nick is grateful to Jack. Jack says Nick must be forgetting he went to the hotel to sleep with Carly. Nick says it isn't personal. Jack wants Nick to stay away from him. Nick reminds him the police station is a small place. Jack tells Nick to think about that the next time he hits on a married cop's wife. Jack leaves and runs into Carly, on the porch. She offers him the compass, but he refuses to take it. Carly gets on her knees and begs for forgiveness. Jack still won't budge. She tells him if he leaves neither of them will ever love again. Jack tells Carly their marriage cannot be fixed, and he leaves. Carly sits on the bench and starts crying into her hands. Someone touches her shoulder. She looks up, perhaps expecting to see Jack, but instead sees Nick.

Emma runs into Meg at the Lakeview. She wants to know if Meg is going to continue to live there. Meg tells Emma she intends to stay there. Emma wants to know how Meg can afford to live there. Emma realizes Paul must be footing the bill. Emma is disgusted her daughter is being taken care of by a married man. Meg tells Emma she isn't doing anything wrong.

At the police station, Emily asks why he isn't being released. He tells her as long as Dusty is missing, Hal will never let him leave. Emily starts crying. Paul tells his new wife he wishes he could start their honeymoon. Emily almost tells him about Dusty, but quickly covers. Paul knows she's keeping something from him; he tries to get her to open up. Emily tells him she has to leave. She goes to see Dusty. She takes Dusty a nice trey of food. He isn't interested. Emily tells him Paul is still in jail. He offers to help. He tells her he can tell the cops someone from his past kidnapped him. He suggests they burn the cabin to get rid of evidence. As Emily begins thinking about his plan, she gets a phone call.

Upstairs at the police station, Jennifer tries to convince Hal to let Dusty goes. Hal refuses. Jennifer tells Hal she won't cooperate with the case against Hal. She suggest he follow Paul once he is released, this way the can find Dusty. Paul is brought up to the interrogation room. There, Jennifer tells him he has always been her hero. She realizes she must let go of the past. Paul is skeptical. Jennifer tells him she won't cooperate with authorities and he's free to go. She knows Paul only did what he did because he loves her. Jennifer sends for Hal who releases Paul. Jennifer tells Hal she thinks Paul bought the story. Hal calls Emily to come get Paul. Meg arrives and gets the impression, from Jennifer and Hal, the Paul is being transferred. She is happy to hear he is being released. Meg and Paul embrace in the interrogation room as Emily enters the police station.

Barbara runs into Lisa and Casey at the Lakeview. Casey is talking about Gwen and Barbara wants to know why. Lisa tells her Casey is her new DJ. Casey tells Barbara Gwen knows a lot about music. Casey leaves. Barbara and Lisa leave to go shopping. Later, they return with shopping bags. Barbara even purchased something for Gwen. Barbara wants to know how Lisa got Margo to like her. Lisa says she found out what Margo was interested in. Then, she started phoning Margo to discuss it. Barbara gets an idea about making Gwen like her.

Will is late for his study session with Maddie. She tells him his test is worth 80% of his grade. He begins to study, but Maddie's mind is elsewhere. She tells him, she doesn't know much about music, but that's all Casey talks about lately. He suggests she go to the music section of the library. Gwen arrives and tells Will about her encounter with Carly. He listens intently. She gets him a drink and they kiss. Casey arrives and sees Maddie sitting on the floor, listening to music. He sits with her. They listen to music and share a kiss.

Mike tells Katie he doesn't want to wait anymore - let's get married today! She'd rather have a real ceremony, but Mike wonders if she's postponing their wedding because of whatever she and Nick were up to while he was gone. Katie promises Mike she won't keep any more secrets from him...as a mysterious note is slipped under their door. Meanwhile, Nick tries to comfort Carly, but she blames him for her marriage ending. Later, Carly is crushed when Hal says, due to the unstable situation at the Snyder household, he'd like Parker to come live with him indefinitely. Carly vows to fight him on this, because her kids are all she has left. Barbara asks Lisa to give Gwen a job picking music for her new club with Casey. But Lisa shouldn't tell Gwen it was Barbara's idea. Gwen is touched that Lisa would make such an offer. Lisa reports to Barbara that Gwen was thrilled. Lisa just hopes she'll be able to work with Casey. Barbara is sure that Casey and Gwen will work together just fine.... As Paul is released, Meg asks him how he plans to avoid going home with Emily. Paul says he's going to stall his bride while Meg goes searching for evidence that Emily is holding Dusty. Emily enters and though Paul and Meg try to fake another fight, Emily tells Meg to stuff it. She knows that Meg is in love with Paul. Unfortunately for Meg, Paul loves Emily again. Paul agrees and takes his wife into his arms - while signaling Meg the combination to his safe, so she can look for clues. As Meg digs through their penthouse, Paul is telling Emily that they should never keep secrets from each other again. It looks like Emily is about to crack when Barbara shows up. Paul defends Emily to his mother and Emily is so turned on she insists Paul take her home and make love to her immediately - just as Meg finds a skeleton key. Paul and Emily arrive home and begin to make love, trapping a hidden Meg inside. At the same time, back at the cabin, Dusty has gotten his hands on a fork and is slowly working on his shackles....

Mike tells Katie that she has received a hand-delivered letter; when she opens it, she tells Mike it's an invitation to a party Lucinda is giving to launch a new book called "Oakdale Confidential," and the party begins in 1 hour. Katie thinks it would be fun to go, if for no other reason than to find out who wrote the book, but Mike tries to talk her out of it. They play a "game" that involves losing various pieces of clothing, but they're interrupted by Nancy Hughes ringing the doorbell. Nancy gives Katie a wrapped copy of "Oakdale Confidential" as a "welcome home" gift for her and Mike, and Mike tells Katie to tell Nancy their good news: they're getting married in June. Nancy congratulates them and leaves, with Katie telling her she'll see her at Lucinda's party. Katie goes upstairs to get ready for the party, and Mike takes a look at the book; he doesn't like what he sees, and when Katie comes back downstairs, he tells her the book is all about her and him and Carly and Maddie and that he never gave anyone permission to write about his life. Katie is surprised he's so upset, asking, "How bad can it be?" and wondering if he has some deep, dark secret that he's been keeping from her.

Luke returns home from the hospital, and Lily offers to fix him a home-cooked meal. Jade comes up to the door and welcomes Luke home as well, then pushes Lily to tell Luke about her new living arrangements at Cal's house. Luke is surprised to hear this, but after Jade insists she's okay with it, he says he is, too. Jade returns to Cal's house while Lily, Luke, and Holden go inside to get settled and eat; however, Jade sends a text message to Luke saying she needs to see him right now, and he manages to sneak out and go down to Cal's. There, Jade stresses that they need to make it look like he is trying to sneak off and be with her whenever they can, to reinforce the idea that they're in love; Luke agrees to this but says that as soon as he knows he's strong enough, he's going to tell his parents that he's gay, and that will end this charade they're playing. He goes back to the house, and Holden sees him coming back inside. He guesses where Luke's been and asks him to please try to obey his mom's rules about Jade.

Holden then excuses himself, and he leaves to go talk to Jade; he knocks on the door and calls her name, and Jade opens the door, scantily dressed in panties and a camisole. Holden asks her to please put on a robe, which she does, then he tells her he's concerned about the stress her relationship with Luke might put on Luke. Jade asks him whether it worked when he and Lily were young and people tried to keep them apart, and he admits it didn't, but he tells her his priority right now is Luke's health. She agrees with him, but then she suggests that he not mention their conversation to Lily.

Meanwhile, Lily and Luke have a mother-son talk about Jade. Lucinda calls Lily and asks if she's coming to her book party tonight, but Lily says they just got home from the hospital with Luke, so she'll have to skip it. Lily and Luke talk about the baby she's going to have, and Luke enthusiastically says he thinks it's wonderful and will be good for her and Holden.

Will and Gwen run into Jennifer, and Will insists that she tell him why she got Hal to let Paul out of jail. Jennifer tells Will about the photo of Dusty that proves he's alive, and Will quickly figures out that Jennifer thinks Paul knows where Dusty is. When Jennifer says that Paul insisted that he didn't know where Dusty was, Will and Gwen realize that she thinks she can manipulate Paul into leading her to Dusty. Gwen cautions her against doing this, but Jennifer says Paul will lead her where she needs to go, and she leaves.

At Paul's apartment, Paul kisses Emily while looking around for Meg, who is hiding behind the sofa. Meg points at some keys she dropped on the floor, and Paul maneuvers Emily over in that direction and kicks the keys over to Meg. He manages to get Emily to leave the room briefly, and he then asks Meg what the keys are, but Meg says she doesn't know, that she just found them in Emily's makeup kit. They hear Emily returning to the room, and Paul grabs the keys and then has to help Emily with her zipper; Emily realizes Paul is hiding something in his hand, and he is forced to show her the keys. He tells her he found them in her makeup kit, which he was looking through to try to find some aspirin; Emily looks doubtful and tells him there's aspirin in the medicine cabinet, as she puts the keys into a drawer, telling Paul that she's forgotten what they're even for. Paul gets Emily to leave the room again, and he then manages to get Meg out of the apartment. Emily returns, and she and Paul begin kissing; meanwhile, Meg hovers outside his door, trying to hear what's going on inside. As she listens, she is approached by Jennifer, who wants to know what she's doing there.

Dusty manages to take the fork Emily left him and work his chains loose, ultimately knocking over the radiator he's tied to and getting out of the chains that were wrapped around it. He walks out of the room where he's been kept captive.