By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
We open with Bobbie (Reba McEntire) on the phone, desperately trying to speak with an agent, but stuck with an automated voice. When she enters the tavern, she shares an awkward exchange with Emmett (Rex Linn). Reminder, Bobbie broke up with him after finding out that he’d known about Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) for years. She goes into her office and tells Isabella that she has a great idea that she can wow Isabella’s restaurant management class with: renting the space above the tavern that they never use. The problem is that Isabella says no.
Bobbie doesn’t understand why Isabella would object to renting the space because, again, she says they never use it. Plus, it’s five hundred dollars of extra income per month for Happy’s Place. The reason is that since Isabella started her class, she came up with a new idea for the storage space. Bobbie doesn’t know what could be better than the extra income, but Isabella insists on presenting properly like she learned to in class. So, she sets up a time to pitch her idea to Bobbie later.
Later, Steve (Pablo Castelblanco) shows Gabby (Melissa Peterman) a game called Hook-n-Ring that Takoda (Tokala Black Elk) brought in for the customers. Steve explains that Takoda explained that the game requires a lot of patience to win, so that rules out Steve and Gabby. Gabby tries to goad Steve into playing but is hesitant because he worries about getting obsessed with the game. Takoda warns Gabby that the game was so hard it drove his kids nuts. Gabby tells him he can tell the kids that Aunt Gabby is going to beat the game.
Upstairs, Bobbie wants to know which idea is better than renting the storage unit to a biker club. From Isabella’s POV, the superior idea is a speakeasy. Her research shows that speakeasies are a popular trend across the country. But Bobbie says it’d cost them more money than they’d make to turn the storage space into an appealing speakeasy. So, since they both own 50% of the bar and don’t like each other’s ideas, they’re not sure what to do. Bobbie jokes that one of them will just have to die.
Gabby is still fighting with the game and ignoring the customers to continue playing. Emmett tells her she can’t keep going like this and reminds her of the time they had to get rid of the slot machine because she got obsessed with it. It’s different this time, Gabby says, because she’s not losing money. But the tavern is, Emmett says, because she’s so focused on the game that she’s been getting orders wrong. Emmett suggests that she quit, but Gabbie insists she just needs to win once.
Elsewhere, Isabella is trying to make Steve see the merits of her plan, but Steve doesn’t get why because Bobbie said no. She’s hoping that if Steve likes the numbers, he can persuade Bobbie to say yes. Steve doesn’t like the idea of playing games, but he’s impressed with the numbers. When Bobbie walks in, Isabella tells her this, but Bobbie tells Steve that Gabby’s numbers are imaginary. What is real, Bobbie says, is the guaranteed five hundred dollars that renting the storage unit would bring. Isabella wishes that Happy had left them a tie-breaker, and that gives Bobbie an idea: Steve can be their tie-breaker. At first, Steve is unsure he wants to be in the middle of them, but Bobbie says it’s perfect because Steve is an accountant, so he’ll make decisions based on the numbers. He reluctantly agrees, but is still apprehensive. Ultimately, he picks Bobbie’s idea because the numbers are on her side. Isabella says fine and storms off, and Steve is worried that she’s angry with him.
Later, Isabella comes into Bobbie’s office and lays down six hundred dollars in cash on Bobbie’s desk. When Bobbie asks what gives, Isabella explains that she found someone willing to rent the storage unit for $600 per month. But who’s the tenant? Isabella. We don’t see the rest of the conversation, but we do see Bobbie trying to approach Emmett. On the one hand, she’s used to going to him for advice, but things are still weird between them. She asks Emmett if they can still talk post-break-up, but Emmett is open to it. Bobbie wants to talk about the speakeasy, and we learn that Emmett still hasn’t talked with Isabella about him knowing about her before Bobbie. Speaking of the speakeasy, Bobbie tells Emmett that Isabella wants to use her own money to fund the speakeasy. Emmett says she’s got guts, but Bobbie worries she’s making a mistake. The thing about being young, Emmett says, is that you have time to mess up and make up for it.
It’s not just that, Bobbie says that Isabella used to have small ideas that were easy to say yes to, and now they’re more risky. Emmett says she already told her that she doesn’t want to participate. The issue is that Bobbie doesn’t want to take the risk, but she worries that Isabella will go off on her own and pursue her ideas solo. Bobbie doesn’t like splitting up.
Unrelated to speakeasies and storage, Gabby is still trying to beat Takoda’s game. Takoda apologizes to her for bringing it in, and Gabby says it’s okay, because for her entire life she’s assumed she was good at playing games, and it turns out she was wrong. Takoda asks Gabby if it’s true that she used to play games in bars with her mother a lot growing up. Gabby confirms that this is true and explains that her mother used her to win drinks. She feels some nostalgia about the days when she’d win her mother’s drinks, and when she didn’t win, she’d keep trying. As a kid, Gabby needed to win so that her mother would like her. Takoda gently tells her that she doesn’t need to win because they already like her. He leaves, and Gabby finally does win.
Takoda, Isabella, and Steve decide to start clearing out the attic and are surprised when Bobbie joins them. And she tells Isabella she’s giving her, her money back, but Isabella refuses. Steve says since it came down to numbers, Isabella gave the highest bid, so they couldn’t reject it without a good reason. Steve is happy to be a part of it, until they find a wasp nest and he leaves. Bobbie says she wants to be a partner, but Isabella points out that she’s not comfortable with the risk. But Bobbie says she is less comfortable with them being separate. So, she’s in, but they have to agree that if the costs outweigh the benefits in six months, they’ll shut the speakeasy down. Isabella agrees and says not to worry about the liquor license because they’re only going to serve mocktails at the speakeasy. Bobbie is shocked that she just agreed to co-run an alcohol-free bar and decides she needs a drink.
When she’s getting the drink, she runs into Emmett, and he reassures her that she can still talk to him because they agreed to be friends. She thanks him, and they give Takoda’s game a try.