This week is… The Hometown Dates! But before Emily jet sets around the country, she decided to spend some time at home with her kiddo Ricki (who is so adorable)! Emily re-capped her feelings for each of the guys:
Chris: “Chris is so many things that I would want.”
Jef: “I feel like he would make a great husband.”
Arie: “Guys like Arie are really, really hard to find.”
Sean: “He’s such a gentleman. He has such a great heart.”
So in other words, Emily has her work cut out for her.
Chris
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Emily met Chris in the heart of downtown Chicago (a personal favorite as far as cities go). Unfortunately, their chemistry wasn’t as magical as their location. Their first stop was a Polish-American restaurant-paying homage to Chris’ heritage. Emily seemed hesitant to be taking such a big step with Chris so soon after their conflict in Prague. Chris wanted to apologize for “being a little baby,” and it’s hard not to argue with his wording there. Alas, Emily started to come around to the idea of a future with him.
Emily’s initial greeting with Chris’ clan went well. The hugs were big, the smiles genuine, and the Chicago accents thick. Dinner went well but the sense that Chris was more into the relationship than Emily didn’t die. Emily asked Chris’ father if Chris would be ready to take on having a 6-year-old. He gave Chris a winning endorsement and said that Chris would love and support her. When Chris’ sister got a turn with Emily, she seemed to catch on to the fact that Emily wasn’t into it (no, really??). She asked Emily to let Chris go sooner than later if he wasn’t ‘the one’ and it made Emily think of what it would be like if her little brother got his heartbroken.
Unfortunately, Chris’ father wasn’t picking up on subtleties and told Chris that he could tell Emily was in love with him. Uh oh. Poor guy. Naturally, the next thing to happen was a Polish dance party. Bless Emily’s heart. She looked majorly out of her element.
Jef
Hometown: St. George, Utah
Okay, so Jef’s hometown had an awesome location too. Emily was off to his family’s ranch (Holmstead Ranch) and boy, was she nervous! But wait! They didn’t head straight to his family. They went to shoot some guns first and Jef turned out to be a great shot. He hit every one of them and then, what do you know, Emily takes gun lessons at home and hit every one too. Jef arguably had the line of the evening when he said that he wanted to watch Emily hold a gun all day long.
Jef’s parents were in South Carolina doing charity work, so Emily would just be meeting his siblings. Emily: “Parents usually love me. But I’m not meeting parents today.” Turns out, Jef had a crowd of family there. No pressure, Emily.
Jef’s brother Steve was skeptical of their relationship and put Emily through the ringer. Emily did well. They both agreed that love is an investment. Emily was more nervous to sit down with all of his sisters. She told his sisters that she was nervous that Jef wouldn’t be ready to settle down.
Meanwhile, Steve was talking with Jef about if he was ready to commit and have a child. Jef said that with Emily, it was easy to commit.
At the end of their family time, Jef had one more place to take Emily. It turned out to be an awesome outlook showing off more amazing scenery. Long story short, it was incredibly, incredibly sweet. And with that, Jef claimed his place as the frontrunner. Arie
Homestown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Arie made a grand entrance by racing up to Emily in his Indy car. Emily said that he looked “stupid hot.” It was a noticeable step for Emily to take on the car-racing subject without mentioning her late fiancé. She joined Arie in the racecar and took a few laps around the track. Afterwards, they chatted and both were very nervous about Emily meeting his parents. Arie said that his family was different than other families and wasn’t sure how the meeting would go. Yikes.
Emily sensed some skepticism. It was pretty awkward as Emily was left completely out of the loop. yes”> Really?? She went to talk with Arie’s mom and the situation improved. She asked Arie’s mom if Arie would be able to balance racing with family life. His mom said that it would be difficult, but that Arie’s parents’ marriage was proof that it could work.
Meanwhile, Arie told his dad that he was ready to propose to Emily. Arie’s dad supported this, and shared that he was a fan of her southern accent. yes”> “I’m definitely going to marry Emily.” Time will tell, Arie! This hometown date didn’t top Jef’s but it certainly didn’t go terribly. Sean
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
It’s been a long time since Sean has brought home a girl to meet his family. “Years, actually.” His previous relationship lasted three years and he told Emily that he felt guilty because his ex was very sweet BUT he didn’t feel the same for her. He promised himself that he wouldn’t let a girl give herself to him again if he didn’t feel the same way.
Sean’s family is beautiful, just like him. His niece and nephew were so cute. The house was gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that Sean still lives there.
Oh. No.
He took Emily up to his ‘room’, which was a mess full of stuffed animals. Emily looked and said that she was horrified. But wait a minute… It’s all a joke! Oh Sean, you prankster! But seriously though, thank goodness.
After the big prank, it was smooth sailing. Sean opened up to his dad big time about his feelings for Emily and it didn’t go unnoticed. His dad then told Emily that Sean had opened up more about her than he had ever before. Sean’s mom was totally won over too. Perfection? Arguably, yes.
Sean said that after today, marriage seemed like much more of a possibility to him. As he said goodbye to Emily, they said they would miss each other. Sean was sad to see Emily drive off and decided he wanted another kiss so he jogged after her car to get it. “If you want something, you gotta go get it.”
The Rose Ceremony
Emily re-capped her dates with Chris Harrison and shared that her ‘goodbye’ this week would be the hardest. This upset her because she didn’t want any of the guys to feel that way. Still, she was confident in her relationships and in her decision this week.
So who got a rose?
Arie
Jef
Sean
Goodbye, Chris. It’s hard not to say that this was a long time coming. After he threw a tantrum last week it definitely seemed like Emily’s feelings for him took a hit. Yet, Chris was shocked and not very nice to Emily about it. If he loved her, he certainly didn’t show it by his ungracious expletive-ridden exit. What did you think of Chris’ exit? yes”> Who is the frontrunner after this week? Who will make it to the final two?
Until next week, collegiettes!
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