Episode 6872

Extended Summary

Olivia and Jasmine come into the Diner, with Olivia showing an interest in Jasmine’s love life and her involvement with Colby. Her mood dampens somewhat when she sees Hunter in there. He offers to go but Olivia says she needs to get used to him being around, although he adds that he has to get to uni anyway. Irene asks the girls if they’ll be in for dinner and Olivia needles Jasmine about growing old, suggesting she go to a fashion show in Yabbie Creek with her. Hunter offers to give them a lift on his way. Irene wishes him good luck getting a word in. Sure enough, Olivia and Jasmine are soon having an animated chat in the car. Hunter offers to put some music on but then they come across Ebony. Jasmine quickly takes charge of looking after her and Ebony says she’s already called an ambulance.

Dean and Colby run into each other in Salt and Colby notes Dean is looking better. Willow is surprised to see them chatting and asks if they’re getting on now. They say they had a chat, but Colby’s still a pig and Dean’s still a dropkick. They are interrupted by a call on Colby’s radio and he hurries out. Dean tells Willow it’s hard to hold a grudge against someone who saved his life. Willow gives him some money for his rent, saying she won on the ponies. Dean notes he got a new client for the garage but decides to forestall having a drink with her until he’s paid his rent. Meanwhile, Jasmine is still looking after Ebony when Colby and his partner arrive and wait for the ambulance. Olivia is thrown to learn Hunter and Ebony have already met. She also tries to tell Hunter that Colby obviously likes Jasmine but he doesn’t think it’s the time. Ebony tells Colby that her brakes didn’t work and she lost control, adding that she’s just had it serviced at Summer Bay Autos.

Justin, Brody and Ziggy are at Salt, with Brody explaining he needs to work late. Willow and Dean come in but Willow quickly avoids talking to Justin, heading out onto the balcony for a drink. Justin then gets a call from Colby. He and Ziggy head to the accident site, having arranged for a tow truck. Ebony is being taken away in an ambulance and Colby explains what happened, saying there’s no skid marks on the road so her brakes didn’t engage. He says there’ll have to be an investigation.

Justin and Colby hold a debrief at the Diner. Justin insists that there was nothing wrong with the car and thinks that Ebony was unfamiliar with the roads and just swerved off. Colby agrees that that’s probably right. Justin asks about the kidnapping and Colby admits Hazel’s still out there. He asks if Justin did everything by the book and Justin says he did. At Salt, Ebony turns up with a neck brace and joins Olivia, Hunter and Jasmine. She says she got away with soft tissue damage and whiplash. She notes she lost the job she was going for so decides to head back to her motel. She’s going to take a taxi but Hunter offers to take her. Olivia doesn’t look too happy. Neither does Ziggy, who is blaming herself. Brody decides to finish work early and take her home.

Brody and Ziggy arrive back at the farm house. Ziggy is worried she messed up the service, saying Ebony didn’t mention the brakes and she should have waited for Justin. Brody does his best to calm her. Meanwhile, Hunter takes Ebony to her motel room. She mentions she has to give her statement in the morning and he says he’ll give her a lift. Ebony says she was lucky he came along and had a nurse with him and mentions Jasmine seemed to know Colby. Hunter says it’s a small town and everyone knows everyone. Ebony suggests he helps her get to know them.

Olivia and Jasmine arrive home and tell Irene about the car crash. Olivia is none too impressed with Ebony, wondering if she’s faking the whiplash since it’s hard to diagnose. Jasmine suggests she’s jealous of Hunter spending time with her and Olivia denies it. Back at the motel, Hunter admits he doesn’t know much about Colby, except that he doesn’t get on with Dean although that might have changed recently. He also mentions Justin’s daughter being kidnapped and that one of the men responsible was killed. Hunter tries asking Ebony about herself but she feigns a headache to get rid of him. After he’s gone, she takes off the neck brace and rings Hazel, saying it went perfectly and she’s got a helper to tell her about Colby.

Next morning, Justin and Brody meet up near the surf club. Brody asks Justin to talk to Ziggy, explaining she blames herself. Willow comes past with a gym class and Justin loudly states that he’s a good listener. Willow doesn’t respond but takes out her phone and places another bet. Justin goes round to see Ziggy and says that he looked at the brake line and there was no damage. He also says he shouldn’t have left her on her own, although they both agree she shouldn’t have signed off on the work without him. He reminds her to get to TAFE.

Hunter brings Ebony (with brace back in place) to the Diner and tells her to call him when she needs picking up. Jasmine tells Olivia she needs to accept Hunter can do what he wants after Olivia semi-subtly establishes Hunter didn’t spend the night with Ebony. Colby comes in and Jasmine tries to make conversation but he’s actually there to see Ebony: They decided not to make her come to the station with her injuries. Jasmine makes herself scarce. Ebony tells Colby her story about the brakes not working. Colby asks if she could have simply lost control. Ebony tells him Justin was distracted and left his apprentice to do all the work, never coming back. She places a hand on his arm, which Olivia picks up on.

Olivia heads home and tells Jasmine that she knows she has to accept Hunter moving on, but Jasmine doesn’t have to do the same with Colby and now Ebony’s with him. Jasmine thinks Colby isn’t interested in a relationship. Olivia asks if she’s told him that she is. Meanwhile, Colby turns up at the garage with a plain clothes investigator, Dominic Pfeifer, from Fair Trading. They tell Justin that the brake line was frayed and could have broken at any moment. They have to close the garage immediately pending an investigation into work practises and health and safety, and if they find against him he could lose his license.