Episode 8608

Extended Summary

Alf arrives at the coffee cart to check on Leah, saying he was okay to leave Marilyn since she’s resting. Justin arrives to do the same thing. Leah says she’s just putting one foot in front of the other. Justin quietly tells Alf it’s Theo’s birthday. Alf feels bad about getting her to work. Justin says she thinks it’s helping and his therapist says you have to let people grieve in their own way. At the beach house, Lacey checks David isn’t going anywhere, since Jo has had to go into work. David assures her he is. Lacey suggests popcorn and a movie and notes Kristina would be surprised at how well he’s looking after them.

Levi is propping up the bar at Salt while Abigail tries to convince him to go home and fix things with Mackenzie. Mali is trying to stay out of it. Levi says Mackenzie won’t be pleased to see him and hates him. Abigail insists she doesn’t and says they need to remember they’re on the same side. Mali offers to give them some space. Levi leaves and Mali notes they’re stuck there until Abigail’s shift ends.

Mackenzie is still at the Parata house and groans on seeing some of Archie’s things. She tells Tane that she thought visiting Dean and Ziggy was a good idea but had to stop herself breaking down every time she picked up Daniella. Tane encourages her to talk to Levi, saying he’ll know how she feels. Mackenzie thinks he’ll say “I told you so” since he tried to talk her out of the trip. She says she needs someone who’ll listen without pitying or judging her and asks Tane to do that.

Levi arrives home and calls out for Mackenzie. He leaves her a phone message saying he’s sorry he walked out and is at home. Mackenzie sees the missed call alert but doesn’t respond to it despite Tane’s encouragement. Mackenzie asks if Archie is going to be home tonight and Tane says he’s with Harper and Dana. Mackenzie asks if she can stay there. Tane agrees that she can have Cash’s old room.

Next morning, Levi turns up at Salt and asks Mali and Abigail if Mackenzie’s been in. They are surprised to hear that she didn’t come home and worry that she’s missing. Levi thinks she probably checked into a hotel to get away from him. He tells Abigail that everyone piling on Mackenzie won’t help and he’ll just wait there for her.

Back at the Parata house, Tane greets Mackenzie who says she didn’t sleep, instead lying awake thinking what a mess her life is. Tane comments on not having a baby wake you up every hour, then apologises. He says she can’t avoid Levi forever and doesn’t think he’ll say “I told you so”. Mackenzie says he’d have the right to. She gets a text from Levi but ignores Tane’s advice to call him back.

Justin checks on Leah at the coffee cart again. She insists she’s fine being back at work. Justin suggests they gio for a walk to the lighthouse but Leah insists that wouldn’t help her and working does. Justin has his therapy session in the afternoon and considers going for a walk beforehand. Leah finds a newspaper with an article about Lacey on the front. At the beach house, David checks through the mail and finds the same paper.

Leah reads the article, which calls Lacey a hero for bringing Wendell to justice and says he is pleading guilty to causing the deaths of Kristina and Theo. She insists Lacey must have given an interview because no-one else would interpret it that way. Justin tries pointing out that there’s no quotes from her and the journalist didn’t seem interested in facts but Leah insists she set it up to make herself look good and wants to confront her. Justin says that’s not a good idea. Leah seems to agree and sends him off to his therapy session before immediately walking away.

At the surf club, Lacey arrives and apologises to Mali for not coming in yesterday. They find the article and are only just starting to digest it when Leah turns up and accuses Lacey of being behind it. Lacey protests that she refused to talk to him and Mali backs her up but Leah continues to rant that Lacey is no hero and is the reason Theo’s dead. David tries to step in but Leah still carries on until Alf calls over, saying it’s enough. Leah leaves without a word.

Levi tells Abigail he’s got his court date for next week. Mackenzie comes in but looks frustrated to see Levi. Levi asks if she’s going to ignore him for the rest of her life and apologises for walking out. Mackenzie tells him she stayed at Tane’s and Levi thinks they should be talking to each other. He adds that he got his court date but doesn’t care if he loses his medical license, because work and babies are nothing without her. He says if she’s given up on their relationship then maybe he should too.

Abigail follows Levi outside, where he feels what he said was pointless. Mali and Tane come along as Levi sends Abigail back upstairs. He somewhat bitterly thanks Tane for giving Mackenzie hospitality. Tane tries to tell him that Mackenzie feels horrible for what she’s doing to the two of them but Levi doesn’t seem convinced.

Lacey and David arrive home. David thinks Leah was out of line but Lacey thinks she has every right to be upset about the article. David says she still shouldn’t be having a go at Lacey and suggests she take out an AVO. Lacey refuses, telling him to stop being such a cop. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is horrified to arrive home to find Levi packing his bag. He thinks she doesn’t want him there. Mackenzie apologises for staying out all night and freezing him out, saying the trip was a mistake and she’s broken. Levi hugs her and says she’s not, with them agreeing they’re the centre of each other’s world.

At the surf club, Abigail gets a text from Levi saying to give them some space. Mali suggests they go camping for a night or two. Abigail is excited, despite having no idea how to go camping. At the Diner, Justin and Alf have both turned up looking for Leah. Alf tells him about Leah giving Lacey a serve and Justin shows him the article. Leah turns up as Alf is telling Justin not to blame himself. She thinks Alf is getting people to gang up on her. Alf says what she said wasn’t fair. Leah tells him to stay out of it and walks away.

Justin finds Leah sat in a park area. He tries to argue that they don’t know Lacey spoke to the paper. Leah dogmatically insists she did and asks why she’s the only person standing up for Theo. When Justin just gives her an exasperated look, she walks away, saying not to follow. At the surf club, Alf meets with David and says Leah shouldn’t have had a go at Lacey like that. David says he doesn’t know what to do.