Horton or Brady? Days of Our Lives Just Teased a Return Tied to One of the Show’s Major Families!

Well, Days of Our Lives finally got back to that mysterious package that Alex found for Stephanie the other week. It turns out, the package was just a bag she bought, but it seems to have opened up a whole can of worms.

Stephanie was sure it’s from an ex who’s been on her mind lately — and who she had no desire to hear from.

And in the same episode on Tuesday, July 29th, Philip let Kate know that he’d figured out his ex was the writer of One Stormy Night…

Because he recognized some scenes from his and Steph’s romance. Stephanie hasn’t always made great choices when it comes to dating, he pointed out — and that’s not even counting him. And if he figured out who wrote the book, more of Stephanie’s exes could, too.

Put it all together, and it seems like we’re heading for a return; but who? Back when Shelley Hennig played Stephanie from 2007 to 2011, she dated a few guys.

And they all ended horribly. There was Mike Horton’s son, Jeremy, played by Trevor Donovan back in 2007. He was mixed up in a DiMera smuggling operation, had more than a few run-ins with the law and turned abusive towards Stephanie. We haven’t heard from him since he fled town to stay out of prison.

Then there’s Max Brady, played by The Bold and the Beautiful’s sometime Wyatt, Darin Brooks. He came to town with Frankie Brady — who turned out to be Carly’s biological brother — and the two were adopted by Caroline and Shawn.

Max and Step dated briefly (though she’s his adopted niece!) but couldn’t quite make it work. Despite pining over each other for ages, Steph turning Max’s biological sister Melanie (yes, Maggie’s granddaughter) into the police was a relationship deal breaker.

And finally, there was Nathan Horton. Played by Mark Hapka, he’s the son of Maggie’s daughter, Melissa — and Sarah’s nephew.

He didn’t stick around in town long, but he and Stephanie made a go at a relationship. The problem was, they were also mixed up with Melanie and Philip and the four swapped partners a few times before Nathan finally had enough and left town.

So the big question is: Will we be seeing one of them return? Each relationship had its issues, and any one of them could be an ex Stephanie does not want to see again.

Jeremy would probably be the one she wants to stay far away the most, but we can’t imagine Stephanie putting anything from that relationship into a romance novel.

Max and Stephanie’s big sticking point was her rivalry with Melanie. Without that, he could come back and end up threatening her relationship with Alex.

Plus, his tie to his adoptive brother potentially puts him in the Von Leuschner orbit and Gwen’s new fortune, courtesy of Frankie’s biological family.

As for Nathan? He and Philip both dated both Melanie and Stephanie, so they’ve definitely got history. And Philip is the one who brought up the possibility of another ex, so that could be a hint at who’s to come.

Ultimately, though, we’ll happily take a Brady or Horton return, whomever it ends up being! Well, maybe not Jeremy. He was not a good person!