This week on Dear Edward, Edward’s vision of Jordan watches on as Edward looks at the text from Mahira, and tells him it’s never a good thing. Outside, Shay and Xavier are practicing golf like he wanted. Edward is disappointed that Shay is giving up on her own dreams to please her father. She ignores him at school, still mad at him. He wanders through the school hallways, looking for a place where he will fit in when he finds a music room with a girl playing the piano – just like he used to. But when the teacher asks if he can help, Edward runs away. He’s not quite ready for the memories the music will bring.
Adriana does another television interview to discuss her valedictorian speech. She says she was young and idealistic and that it’s much more complicated in the real world. The host then says he has information that Adriana was paid more than the other aides in the office which Adriana denies, as Rose always did everything by the book. The host shows her the internal budgets, proving she was paid more. She storms home, frustrated at being blindsides. Kojo tries to comfort her with her favorite coffee and it works, for a minute. But she has another appointment to get to.
Edward is making a sandwich in the kitchen when Lacey quietly approaches him and informs him the principal called her – he skipped out of school today. He tells her he’s considering playing music again and she looks thrilled, offering to get John to set up his piano at home – but it needs tuning, and the movers damaged a part of it. Lacey promises to find someone to fix it. Edward is in a mood and wants to take food up to his room, which leads to an argument between him and Lacey.
Steve continues to lie to Daphne, telling her he’s excited about the wedding – but the invitations haven’t been sent out yet. She’s noticed a change in him, but she’s unsure what has caused it (Amanda). Eventually, he’s going to have to tell her. He keeps the road atlas book beside his bed with the list that was inside it, but when Daphne asks what it is he doesn’t tell her.
Dee Dee lets a realtor show her house, but is unable to resist introducing herself to the couple who are viewing it. She tells them about the chandelier (flown in from Italy) and when the potential buyers ask if they’re downsizing, she says yes. In a way. Since her husband died. Awkward. The potential buyer is pregnant and Dee Dee is unable to resist touching her belly, annoying the realtor. Dee Dee manages to make it away from the couple before she breaks down, imagining a new little family living in the house where she raised her daughter.
Amanda is unsurprised to find Steve at her work again, as she works on a piano and he tells her he thinks the piece of paper hidden in the book is his grandmother’s soup dumpling recipe. Amanda is unenthused. Steve says it’s what Brent brought the night Steve kicked him out of the office. It seems he’s unable to talk to Daphne about this, so seeks out Amanda instead. He says he proposed to Daphne to cheer up his parents, who were devastated by Brent’s death. One problem: He can’t stop thinking about Amanda instead. She says he’s confused, and Steve can’t come to her work anymore. But they’ll see each other at group.
Lacey tells the group she feels bad for yelling at Edward. Everything she’s doing feels wrong. She’s frustrated that Edward won’t touch his piano despite his affinity for it. Oh, and John left her. He moved out. The group look stunned, unsure what to say. After the meeting, Amanda offers to fix Edward’s piano. It cheers Lacey up, just a little.
Adriana meets with Eric and vents her frustrations over being “canceled” for her speech and being unknowingly paid more than others in her grandmother’s office. She asks what Eric would do, and he tells her he’d fight to the grave to keep serving. But he can’t tell her what’s in her heart – only she knows that.
Edward waits for Mahira at the museum. They sneak in once more and Mahira tells Edward she’s glad she met him, and confesses she sometimes sees visions of Jordan like Edward does. But in Edward’s visions, Jordan’s always talking and in Mahira’s visions, Jordan looks like he’s praying. Mahira tells Edward she can’t see him anymore. She needs to leave both Jordan and Edward behind now, and move on. No more texting. Edward is left alone, sad and confused.
While Kojo and Becks are at home, Kojo sees a tweet with a photo of Adriana and Eric at their lunch. He puts his phone down, frustrated. When Adriana gets back to her campaign office everyone knows she was with Eric thanks to the tweet. Adriana is annoyed and reiterates to Natalie that she and Eric aren’t dating but Natalie doesn’t care, it’s good free press – which they need. With the election less than a week away, Natalie is pushing Adriana into lies she doesn’t want to tell.
Dee Dee views an apartment with her financial advisor: Steve. She’s not liking the small apartment, which is a huge downgrade from her fancy house. Dee Dee says she needs to talk to Zoe, as she’s kept the money issues and Charles’ life in Los Angeles a secret from her until now. Until she tells Zoe, nothing is ever going to change. She insists Steve be there to help explain the financial stuff. Dee Dee knows Zoe won’t listen if she tries to tell her about the money issues, but she will listen to Steve – who is not entirely thrilled to be dragged into the mother/daughter conversation. Dee Dee declines the apartment on her way out.
Edward is watching Shay practice her golf swing when he hears the piano downstairs and ventures down to find Amanda checking out his piano. She agrees the movers really fucked it up. The two commiserate as Edward tells Amanda he’s crushing on his dead brother’s girlfriend, and Amanda admits she’s crushing on her dead fiancée’s brother. Edward says the piano belonged to his dad but when he was around eight, he became a better player than his dad. Amanda says she’s going to fix it and tune it up, just in case he ever wants to play it again.
Sam sends Vernon a text apologizing for his weird behavior at the garage sale. Vernon forgives him immediately and asks if the gym equipment he dropped off sold. It didn’t, but Sam has been using it himself. Vernon jokingly tells him that if he gets all ripped, he better not come back to the bar or he’ll have to fight people off. Sam boldly asks if he’ll have to fight Vernon off, and Vernon tells him to take his best shot – and sends him a shirtless selfie.
Dee Dee has dinner with Steve and Zoe. She asks Steve to explain the financial situation to Zoe, and he does his best. He tells Zoe that Charles bought a condo in Los Angeles at the height of the market, when he was unemployed and in debt. Zoe denies her father was unemployed or in debt. Steve looks to Dee Dee for this part. She confesses Charles had lost his job. Steve tries to make a quick escape but sits back down when Dee Dee orders him to explain the numbers. The debt is approximately 3 million dollars.
Steve says they can get back to solvency, but they’ll need to sell the house. Plus cut back on spending, clothing, food, travel, education. When Steve encourages her to transfer colleges, Zoe screams that she is going on her trip because she has plans too. Dee Dee than gets mad at Steve for suggesting the college transfer as she had said Barnard was off the table. Steve is regretting his life choices. Dee Dee and Zoe dissolve into high-pitched unintelligible screaming as they each try to place blame. Steve tries to referee buts ends up getting hit on the nose. Zoe takes the opportunity to run out. What a mess.
Edward listens from upstairs as Amanda plays the fixed piano. As Lacey and Amanda head out, they run into John who has just come to pick up his paddle board – that he hasn’t used in 5 years. He asks if Edward is playing the piano and Lacey explains Amanda just fixed it. John compares his marriage to an old car engine that breaks down. To fix it, you have to tear everything apart. Lacey is not a fan of his analogy. John says he doesn’t want to give up on them. Lacey tells him she thinks she threw the paddle board out, and John leaves. However, she later spots the paddle board in the garage.
Becks sees Adriana’s press conference on TV and gets Kojo to watch. Adriana acknowledges that her grandmother overpaid her, so she will be making her tax returns public and donating the overage to local charities. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s more than some politicians would do. When she opens the floor for questions, a reporter asks how long Adriana and Eric have been back together. Adriana dodges the question, but all the reporters want to know about is their relationship. Adriana reiterates her stances on free public college, rent control, wealth tax, healthcare for all, the homelessness crisis – much to the frustration of Natalie.
Kojo waits on the steps for Adriana. He asks if she’s back with Eric and she says they got lunch, that’s all. Kojo says she doesn’t need to spin it for him. She’s frustrated Kojo won’t choose her over his business and home in Ghana, and he says she always knew he would be returning home with Becks. Kojo wants her to come with him to Ghana, but Adriana points out she would then be giving up her business, her family, her home. Kojo needs to be there, and she needs to be here. She says she’s not Eric’s Queen, but she’s not Kojo’s either.
Sam finally gets brave enough to send a shirtless selfie back to Vernon. He then leaves his phone on the table while his wife cooks pancakes for breakfast, and he goes to help his daughter with her shoes. When the phone dings, Sienna picks it up and finds a revealing photo of Vernon – and scrolls up to see their text history and selfies. Uh oh.
Now that Mahira isn’t talking to him anymore, Edward apologizes to Shay via text. She turns out her light, clearly not wanting to talk. Edward hops on his bike and goes downtown to get supplies for a project. The next morning, Shay comes outside to a mini golf putting green that Edward has constructed for her to practice on.
Dee Dee’s realtor presents her with an offer for the house. She thinks of all the memories they’ve had in the house. Family dinners, holidays, good times. She freezes, and looks around at the empty house that echoes what her life used to be like. She says she’ll need a 60 day escrow – and she’s keeping the chandelier.
Lacey takes the paddleboard to the lake and enjoys it for herself, enjoying the sun and the gentle waves in the water. At school, Edward apologizes for what he said about Xavier. Shay says Edward still can’t stay over anymore. She’s a woman now and she can’t have boys sleeping over in her room. She tells him it’s not personal and hands him a bag of his stuff. Shay says they can still hang out sometimes, but Edward is feeling abandoned once more. Angry and frustrated, he runs to the music room and wheels the piano down the hall – down the stairs, where it smashes. He’s going to be in so much trouble this time!
