Not every story will have a happy ending

J.T. was an elaborately disguised Nick! But just who was this "new man" behind the mask? Will Nick prove to be more of his father's son than he would want? And how will Victor exact future revenge on his son now that he has a worthy adversary? Plus, Hilary's exit began with a crash in Two Scoops.

Who can blame Devon for feeling like he was lost and alone and that his life had suddenly become quite empty? After all, he had just suffered two brutal blows, when he first lost his unborn child, and then the love of his life died. His heart was broken into a million pieces, and he must have been feeling adrift without a nearby anchor to cling to. Devon needed to find a way to rebuild what was left of his life after losing the hurricane force of winds named Hilary that had blown through and rocked his world.

Oh, yes, Devon's beloved Hilary had been a force of nature, and it was eerie just how calm the atmosphere became once her powerful presence was extinguished. It somewhat reminded me of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, after those mighty winds plowed through our community. But just as it has taken time to recover and to rebuild after the devastating ruin caused by Harvey, Devon can't rush his road to recovery after his tragic loss. In fact, some businesses in our area are just now opening again, almost a year after Harvey hit, and Devon will also need time and space to get a full grasp of his situation. Devon's mind had to be reeling without the vivacious vixen's energy around to help guide him through his sorrow.

No, the healing process never runs smoothly, and Devon will need to mend in his own way, no matter how long it takes. However, in the soap world, recovery may need to move rather swiftly to prevent a character from being placed on the back burner indefinitely. That's probably among a soap actor's worst fears. A character can go from cooking on high to being seen simmering in the background in no time at all. Will Devon eventually be able to find love again to prevent Bryton James's character from becoming little more than a prop to the Winters family? Ahh, the suspense is building already.

What will make it even more difficult for Devon to move on with someone new is that because Hilary died so young and in such a tragic way, she seemed to have suddenly been turned into some sort of saint. How can any lady, no matter how lovely or worthy, possibly compete with that? It would be much easier to battle a living, breathing woman, even one as poised and beautiful as Hilary, than it would be to fight against a ghost who had once been perfect in every way. Well, at least that's how Devon and Mariah saw Hilary immediately after her death. Apparently, their grief covered up most of the reality of the one-time reality queen.

In a flash, Hilary was viewed as having never become selfish, jaded, or bitter after having gone through a rather harsh childhood. That's what Mariah said in her GC Buzz tribute, anyway. My jaw dropped, and I mouthed the words, "What?!" I sure don't recollect all Hilary's goodness and grace, especially after reflecting on the numerous stunts she pulled on the Winters family from the first day she arrived in Genoa City. If I remember correctly, Hilary was seeking revenge on Neil and had used Cane to get at Lily. And her dirty tricks kept piling up from there, even pitting father against son for quite a lengthy spell.

Neil even feared during Hilary's funeral reception that he would end up speaking phony words about his ex-wife, yet he had to admit that she had always walked the walk and had owned up to her mistakes. So, apparently her death created a reason for all to be forgiven. And the sweet adjectives used by Devon and Jack, including passionate, bright, successful, and determined, highlighted the positive qualities of Hilary's bigger-than-life personality, but, of course, the negative descriptions were left unspoken. Those would be a little inappropriate at a funeral reception, after all.

And Devon and Mariah should mourn Hilary and her "volcanic impact," but they should be missing the person that she really was -- not make her out to be some type of Mother Teresa, which she never was. Mariah mentioned that Hilary helped people without ever taking credit for it, but that is a huge exaggeration. Hilary always had an agenda, and any good she ever did was to benefit herself also. Sure, she helped Shauna; however, Hilary did it for the glory and to have a young girl look up to her on the golden pedestal Hilary had created for herself. Hilary was selfish, self-centered, and self-absorbed, and her early demise certainly didn't change that.

But Devon was the one left behind to deal with his grief, and he was fortunate to have his job and his family to help him. It was just unfortunate that he had to discover at the reception that Lily had been the one to run the red light, which resulted in the death of Hilary and his child. Shoot, by that time, it seemed that everyone else knew that but Devon and Lily. Perhaps Cane should have filled Lily in on that little detail before she learned it in such a horrific way. Lily's guilt alone would make it tough for her to forgive herself.

And how dare Shauna become so judgmental? She put all the blame on Lily when there was plenty of blame to go around. After all, if Shauna hadn't gone running out the door, like a child throwing a tantrum, the accident would never have happened. Yes, Shauna, it was an accident. Lily never meant to cause harm to either Hilary or her unborn child. Grow up, little girly. Plus, for Shauna to accuse Lily at Hilary's reception was outrageous. There's a time and place for everything, and that sure wasn't the time or the place for such an awful confrontation.

Sadly, Devon didn't see the tragic event as an accident, either, and he accused Lily of running the red light on purpose to get Hilary out of his life. Grief was talking, because Lily would never deliberately do anything that might cause harm to her son, since Charlie was in the car, too. Shauna was wrong to bring this up at a time when emotions were running so high, and her declaration ended up separating Devon from the family who could have helped him to heal. And because the girl kept berating his mother, Charlie could no longer deal with her. Why was Shauna surprised?

Devon was so harsh to both Neil and Lily, it was difficult to listen to him. His father and sister loved him and wanted to be there for him during such an awful time, but he refused to let them. And he refused to forgive Lily. The only one Devon wanted in his life was Shauna, who had caused the turmoil with his family in the first place. Shauna was starting to appear all high and mighty and holier than thou. But she was the one that Hilary left behind, so she was the one Devon wanted. Maybe Shauna's more like Hilary than I thought, since she was able to latch on to a billionaire.

Boy, didn't Jack and Phyllis appear to be terribly cozy at Hilary's funeral reception, though? Billy obviously seemed to think so, too, since he pretty much hung on Phyllis' every word -- until he had to rush out due to "business." Yeah, right. Like Phyllis, I also believed that Billy's business was more for dealing cards than for dickering and dealing with a potential client, but we were both wrong. Billy really was in a business meeting at Jabot. Who'd have thunk it?

But Billy left Phyllis in her time of need, and luckily, Jack was right at her side for support. It's funny that Hilary's message contained words of not disregarding an ex when it comes to finding love, which appeared to tug on Jack's heartstrings. From beyond the grave, Hilary seemed to be encouraging Jack to pursue Phyllis again. Jack has always been the shoulder for Phyllis to lean on and has always been her rock. She must miss having that in her life.

I would love for Jack and Phyllis to reunite -- again. They have always been one of my very favorite couples. Jack hasn't had a serious romantic relationship since they split up. And it's so obvious that they still love each other, although for Phyllis, it's less of the fiery, hot passion she has with Billy. I wouldn't mind watching the Jack/Phyllis/Billy triangle again if Jack could be the one winning for a change. That poor guy never seems to win anything. Not in love or business. It's probably a good thing Jack doesn't have a gambling addiction like Billy, because he'd probably be a big loser in that, too. (It's not always unlucky in love, lucky at cards.)

Billy was still keeping secrets from Phyllis, and he even refused to share the details of his meeting with her, However, they still loved each other, even though they didn't trust each other, and each one had reason not to. All the love in the world can't make up for the lack of trust, and if Phyllis' "neon light" secret about Nick comes out, it will blow her relationship with Billy sky high. And then there was Summer.

Of course, Phyllis did not realize her daughter had been actively pursuing her boyfriend. Phyllis mistakenly believed gambling was her biggest threat to keeping Billy when actually Summer was. Summer's passes get more and more blatant all the time. Phyllis is normally a pretty savvy female, so it's rather painful to watch her miss what's right in front of her face. Yet, someone has to pick up the slack left by Hilary, so if it's Summer, bring it on.

And Summer brought it by seducing Kyle into getting the answers she wanted after poking and prodding him didn't achieve the proper results. Really, Kyle? I guess it's true that men really do think with their...uhh, never mind. Come on, Kyle was very aware that Summer was pumping him for information about her mother, and he was able to ward her off. But the second she turned on the charm and told him he was cute and sexy, Kyle spilled the beans in record time. He obviously would not make good spy material. So, Summer was finally armed to split up her mother and boyfriend for good. It was just a good thing she didn't know her father's part in it all.

Nick was still busy planning for his lifetime commitment with Sharon and wished to honor it in grand style with a huge, memorable, and glorious celebration. However, Sharon was perfectly fine with a small and intimate wedding with her closest friends and family. Nick wanted to build "an honest to goodness" house of their own to start their new future together, but Sharon was fine with staying in the house that held so many cherished memories. Oh, yeah, they were definitely on the same page. But none of it mattered because Sharon had already jinxed their wedding by stating that nothing would stop it from happening -- which means, in soap lingo, that it will never take place.

With each of them holding such huge secrets from each other, Sharon and Nick probably weren't destined to be together again. And Sharon should be a little alarmed, or at least concerned by Nick's determination to protect Phyllis...oops, I mean Summer, at all costs. The bruises on his face were glaring proof of that. Shoot, if Nick entered the equation, it could be a quadrangle with Nick, Jack, Billy, and Phyllis. Hey, just what Dark Horse would need -- a rivalry between Jack and Nick over Phyllis' affection, with Billy at Jabot, waiting in the wings. And Nick didn't want his new family company to be all about personal vendettas. Good luck with that.

Paul was still hot on J.T.'s trail, so Phyllis and Sharon had more to worry about than their love lives. With their freedom possibly in jeopardy, Nikki, Victoria, and Sharon became concerned that Phyllis was the wild card and could turn on them in a heartbeat. That's pretty ironic, when Phyllis has been the one steering this ship since Nikki first hit J.T. with the fireplace poker. At one time or another, Nikki, Victoria, and Sharon were all ready to come clean about that fateful night, but Phyllis was always the one who put the brakes on that. But if the others think Phyllis could leak their secret, one of them might slip up. Either way, I hope the end of this storyline is near.

Okay, what's with the fake drama concerning Tessa? Was that the writers' ploy, to pull at our heartstrings because of the declarations of love made by Mariah and Tessa? If so, it backfired miserably. And I am sick of hearing about Tessa's sister, anyway. At one point, Tessa and her sister, whose name deliberately escapes me, had somehow seemed to inject themselves into each and every storyline. So, when Tessa said she was leaving town forever, I said, "ta-ta" -- only for her to show up in the very next episode to tell Mariah she would be returning soon. Tessa wasn't even gone for five minutes. Seriously.

My other beef with Tessa was when she refused to discourage Mariah's attention, even though Tessa was with Noah at the time. While Mariah wasn't blameless in it all, Tessa could have stopped the nonsense dead in its tracks once she saw what was happening. But she loved the adoration from both Mariah and Noah, so she just continued to bask in their love for her. It was sickening. Hey, Tessa, we can't miss you if you never leave. Go, already.

Hilary's death inspired Victor to celebrate life with Nikki, Victoria, and Summer and to appreciate his loved ones (except for Nick, of course.) The considerate and generous person that Hilary became at the end would have appreciated that.

Will Devon file a malpractice suit against Nate over Hilary's death? Time will tell.

It was somewhat prophetic that Hilary had, at one time, told Mariah that some stories won't have a happy ending.

The mysterious Mark had offered Hilary a national morning talk show in New York, which I had correctly guessed. But Hilary had turned him down. Who's to say if Hilary had been destined to live longer, under the writers' pens, whether she would have regretted that decision down the road, once she broke Devon's heart again. And you know she would have eventually. That was just Hilary's way.

I agree with Devon that Mariah should be the host of GC Buzz. That was what Hilary wanted.

I give Hilary credit that one of her final requests was not selfish, when she asked Devon to celebrate her life, not cry for her death, at her funeral. Good for her! In a slightly similar fashion, our town will be holding a Harvey Block Party on the anniversary date that Hurricane Harvey devastated our community a year ago. I'm even participating in a flash mob dance to celebrate our town's survival. I have never done anything like this before, so it should be fun.

Until next time, please stay tuned -- and keep on buzzing.Teddi

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