Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) has been a tower of strength for his wife Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) as she battles vascular dementia. But now he is about to go behind her back in the worst possible way. Ronnie would do anything for Debbie. When she was diagnosed, he stuck by her side and married her in a tear-jerking countryside ceremony surrounded by loved ones. For better or worse… and Debbie’s scumbag son Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) is definitely the worst.
The couple’s relationship has been tested by Carl at every turn. This included doing the dirty with his uncle Kevin Webster’s (Michael Le Vell) wife, committing a hit and run that put Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) in a wheelchair, and drunkenly causing a multi-car pile-up that killed Billy Mayhew, then gaslighting Debbie into going to prison for the crime. Separated from Ronnie, her friends and her routine, Debbie grew more forgetful and confused as her dementia rapidly progressed. To Ronnie’s frustration, Debbie refused to give up on Carl, despite his efforts to cheat her out of her money and her beloved Chariot Square Hotel.
This drove Ronnie to hatch a plan with Kevin to get rid of Carl forever by using a dodgy car-stealing contact, Fiona, to frame him. Unfortunately, Fiona changed her mind and blabbed to Carl. Eventually, Debbie concluded her boy would never change and paid Carl two grand to leave her life forever. But Kevin stole the money back, pushing Carl to sabotage one of Kev’s cars, which led to Tyrone accidentally crushing Carl with it. Carl returned to his shady ways after Kevin refused him a reference, forcing him to accept Fiona’s offer for fixing stolen motors. This week, Ronnie, Kevin and Tyrone are horrified to discover a gun in the garage.
A tense stand-off ends with Carl owing Fiona big time, which distresses Debbie when she finds out. With Fiona refusing to back off, Ronnie makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Debbie’s son… by breaking her heart. When Ronnie meets Fiona, he offers to pay her off for Debbie’s sake, but Fiona hints he can repay her another way. Whatever her demands, Ronnie agrees and tells Debbie Fiona won’t bother them again. Relieved, Debbie heads for a lie down… while Ronnie tells Carl the truth. What does Fiona want? His participation in a shady deal… or a far worse betrayal?
