Episode 7409

Extended Summary

Ryder and Owen are pondering what to do next and decide to have a feed at the Diner. They see Nikau outside and Ryder introduces him to his uncle. He invites Nikau to join them for lunch but Nikau wants to carry on working since he’s trying to get back in Alf’s good books. Ryder and Owen go inside and Ryder introduces Owen to Irene, who he knows as Roo and Marilyn’s friend. Owen takes a seat and Irene chats to Ryder about how like Evan he is despite never having met him. Ryder says he’s got him a guitar to practise and Irene says it’s good he’s helping him.

Marilyn is looking after Grace at the Morgan house when Justin, Leah and Ava arrive back. Ava quickly rushes to look at Grace, marvelling at how big she is now. Justin notes he could do with some more painkillers. Leah and Marilyn quietly chat about the fact that Ava doesn’t know about his condition and Justin is putting on a brave face for her. Meanwhile, Bella joins Nikau and asks him to spend time with her. Nikau points out he has to work. Bella accepts it but, somewhat frantic, babbles about how Colby’s gone mad. Nikau tells her to go home and he’ll join her as soon as he can. Alf emerges from the bait shop and looks at him suspiciously.

Roo is hanging around Owen’s caravan as he and Ryder pull up in a combi van. She claims she was doing gardening and cleaning the barbecue area but Ryder points out she got him to do that yesterday. Roo asks him if he has TAFE work or friends to see, eventually just telling him to leave. Owen offers to get her a cuppa so they can talk. Later, Owen shows Roo his new guitar, noting he lost his last one because of his ex-wife. He imagines he and Evan could have gone on tour together, with him handling the financial side, and comments that Ryder and Evan seemed to have a bond despite not knowing each other for long. He suggests Roo did too but Roo quickly makes herself scarce.

Marilyn notes it’s time for Grace’s nap and offers to stick around and keep an eye on her. Ava is disappointed, since she was hoping to play with her. Leah suggests the three of them do something and Ava suggests football on the beach. Justin sends her to check on Buddy and Leah asks him how he is. Justin admits he’s tired but turns down Leah’s offer to take Ava for a swim while he has a nap. Later, the three of them are on the beach. Justin suggests going to the Diner but Ava wants to play football first. Justin says his arm hurts and he’s tired so Leah offers to play with Ava. Justin sits and watches them, looking unhappy.

Outside the bait shop, Ryder is chatting to a busy Nikau about Roo suddenly wanting to talk to Owen. At that moment, Roo appears but refuses to talk to Ryder about what happened and heads for the Diner. Ryder leaves, passing Alf. Nikau tells him he’s scrubbed the boats and freezers. He admits he wants to leave but also wants to do his work first. Alf agrees that he can go after he’s unloaded the ute. Inside, Roo tells Marilyn that she ran away when Owen started talking about Evan. Marilyn encourages her to explain to him.

At the surf club, Willow watches on as Jasmine convinces John to let her give the gym clients a loyalty card where they can buy four juices from the bar and get a fifth free. Willow chats to Jasmine about how she seems more positive now. Jasmine notes that visiting Robbo’s grave helped her and is also grateful for all the friends that have stood by her. Meanwhile, Bella is staring at her laptop in the flat when Nikau arrives. She quickly hugs him and he promises he’s not going anywhere.

Marilyn hands Grace over to Leah, Justin and Ava at the Diner, admitting she hasn’t slept much. Ava wants to stay and eat but Justin clearly isn’t up to it and Irene suggests a takeaway. Ava wonders why Justin suddenly invited her to visit and Justin says he just missed her. Irene distracts her by getting her to choose a slice of cake. Later, Ava is playing with Grace back at the house and Leah asks her to help put Grace to bed. As Justin takes his painkillers, he listens on the baby monitor as Ava sees the nursery for the first time. Seeing the photo of Mason, she wishes he was there and, seeing photos of Robbo, recalls how he introduced her to Grace and asked her to look out for her. She asks if Justin is okay.

At the caravan park, Owen chats to Ryder about Roo suddenly taking off and not wanting to talk about it. Roo appears and they make a token attempt to pretend they weren’t talking about her. Roo sends Ryder away again: He gets a text and says he’ll be with his friends at the surf club. Roo asks Owen to have dinner with her. He agrees and she starts to walk away. He asks when and where and she says seven at Salt. Later, they meet there and get a table together. Owen notes it feels like he’s part of a problem for her. Roo says she saw Evan die and then Owen turned up looking like him but not being him. Owen suggests they have a drink and she gets to know the real him. Roo promises she’ll still be there when he gets back from the bar.

Leah finds Justin sat on his bed holding the baby monitor and realises he heard everything. Justin accepts that he has to tell Ava.