Time to meet the Lindsays! On the Monday, July 24, episode of The Bachelorette, Rachel took the three remaining men to meet her nearest and dearest. Rachel insisted that she was falling in love with all three of the guys, even though Peter had told her he wasn’t sure that he would propose at the end of the journey. Speaking of Peter – he was up first.
Peter Tells Rachel’s Mom He Might Not Be Ready to Propose
Right before walking into Rachel’s parents’ house, Peter pulled her to the side to tell her how he felt. After explaining that he wasn’t sure their last conversation went the way he’d hoped (when he told her he didn’t know if he would be ready for marriage soon), he explained that he wanted to make sure she knew how he really felt. “I am falling in love with you,” he said. Rachel beamed. “I’m so happy to hear you say that,” she replied. “And I’m falling in love with you too.”
They headed inside to meet her family, including her mother, her sister, her sister’s husband, and their son (who basically stole the show). Rachel’s dad was “unable” to meet Peter – and was actually “unable” to meet any of the men — a detail that was not explained further and glossed over as quickly as possible.
Rachel caught up with her sister, who made it clear she was worried about Rachel getting hurt. Peter, meanwhile, had a heart-to-heart with Rachel’s mom. “I don’t necessarily know that in two weeks that I could feel that certainty,” he said. Peter then went on to explain that he wasn’t going to ask her for her blessing to marry Rachel today. Rachel’s mom said she respected Peter’s honesty – and Rachel seemed very smitten with Peter as she walked him to the car at the end of the visit.
Eric Asks Rachel’s Mom for Her Blessing to Propose
Eric dove right in with Rachel’s family. “I’ve never been in love,” Eric admitted to Rachel’s sister, who looked a little taken aback. He then tried to do damage control by insisting that he wanted kids. He promised to be someone who would “provide, protect, and take care of everything.” By the end of their chat, Rachel’s sis was convinced that Eric was, if nothing else, honest.
Talking with Rachel’s mom, Eric was the polar opposite of Peter, asking her for her permission to propose. “Mrs. Lindsay, I want to ask you if I have your permission to propose to your daughter and take her hand in marriage,” he said. Rachel’s mom said yes… without really saying yes.
Bryan Gets Grilled by Rachel’s Family
Unlike the other two guys, Bryan had a chance to meet a few of Rachel’s friends. To say her friends were Bryan’s fans would be the understatement of the century. Impressed with his professional achievements and confidence, they swooned as much as Rachel did when he announced that he loved her. Things took a turn, however, when Bryan met her family.
“I have a tremendous amount of love for the woman next to me,” Bryan gushed. Rachel’s mom jumped in to say she was skeptical of Bryan throwing around the word “love” and wasn’t thrilled about how close he was with his own mother.
At dinner, Bryan told the family that he’d felt like Rachel was his girlfriend after one week. “My gut is telling me that Bryan’s a charmer. He’s direct and he’s open, but I don’t think there’s a sincerity in it,” Rachel’s sister said. As the family continued to hound Bryan about the details of their relationship, he got openly rattled and finally asked to be excused from the table. Rachel told her family that she was “really low-key annoyed.”
Despite Rachel’s family giving him a hard time, Bryan asked her mom for his blessing. She replied by telling him that she trusted Rachel. To the camera, however, Mrs. Lindsay said it was “a little scary.”
Eric Gets the Fantasy Suite
Rachel was pumped to get to Spain, and made it clear that she was looking forward to alone time in the fantasy suite with each of the guys. She kicked off the trip with a helicopter ride with Eric, followed by a romantic seaside stroll. Later, over dinner, Rachel grilled Eric to tell her how he felt about her. “You embody everything I would want in a wife,” he said. “We get better with time and it just allows me to fall right in. Nothing else matters and I’ve never felt that before and so I’m just here to say that I’m in love with you.” That was music to Rachel’s ears. She then invited him to the fantasy suite, where they spent the night.
Rachel Breaks Down in Tears on Her Date with Peter
Next came Peter. Rachel decided enough was enough and asked him about his fear of proposing. “I didn’t come this far and put my life on hold… to do this to just have a boyfriend at the end of it,” she said. “That’s not what I want.” She added that to her a proposal didn’t have to mean that they were getting married immediately, but he didn’t seem too swayed. “My belief in engagement is that engagement is marriage.” He added that he only wanted to do it “once” and that he wanted to be “truly certain” that this was the person he wanted to spend his life with.
“I don’t think of it the same way that you do, but… it is extremely important to me and I only want to do it once too,” Rachel added. “If we really want this and we want each other, then somebody’s got to bend.” Peter basically said he didn’t think they were going to find common ground on this one. That’s when she started crying. “I was hopeful for what Peter and I could be and then just like that, I couldn’t see it.” To the camera, she called what Peter said to her “devastating.”
Tell Us: Do you think Rachel and Peter are over?
