Episode 7345

Extended Summary

Alf and Ryder are sat outside the house; Roo brings Ryder a glass of water. Ryder asks how long Evan has. Alf and Roo aren’t sure – he could be fine for ages and then go suddenly downhill – but know there’s no cure. Ryder says he has to go, since he’s still due to meet Evan at the Diner. He asks them not to tell Evan he knows and thanks Roo for telling him. As he walks away, Roo isn’t sure she did the right thing. She starts to go after him but Alf convinces her to let him go instead. Meanwhile, Gemma runs into Ben outside the surf club and finds he has closed up to go surfing. She notes she’s going to work at Salt and suggests he come in for a drink later.

Alf and Ryder walk on the beach with Alf encouraging Ryder to talk to him. Ryder reflects on the fact that Evan only came looking for him when he knew he was dying, then didn’t tell him. Alf repeats what Evan told Roo, that he didn’t want to play the sympathy card, and suggests he didn’t want it to colour their time together. He offers to go inside with him but Ryder wants to handle it on his own. Alf goes to the bait shop while Ryder heads to the Diner, where Evan is sat with a large slice of cake in front of him. Ryder goes over and jokes about them both having bottomless pit stomachs. Evan asks if everything’s okay at home and Ryder asks what happened between him and Roo. Evan says it was just a disagreement and it’s sorted now. Ryder convinces him to share the cake.

Roo is shocked to find Alf outside the surf club. He points out that he has both his job and John’s to do. Roo thinks Ryder needs someone with him but Alf says Ryder’s handling it well: He knows where they are if he needs them but they should let him do it his own way. Inside, Roo finds Maggie looking at the closed board shop and tells her Ben’s in Salt. Maggie wasn’t looking for him and is just there for takeaway. Up in Salt, Gemma gives Ben a drink on the house to thank him for helping at the party and they joke about people wanting free drinks. Maggie comes up but, when she sees them together, leaves without them seeing her.

Alf meets Nikau outside the bait shop. Nikau assumes he doesn’t have a job anymore but Alf needs to be at the surf club with John in hospital and is pleased with what Nikau’s done so he’s happy for him to stay on. Ryder and Evan appear and briefly chat to Alf before he leaves. Evan says he has e-mails to do and will meet Ryder later. Ryder asks Nikau what he remembers about his father dying. Soon after, they are moving stuff onto the wharf together. Ryder says to forget he asked. Nikau says he doesn’t remember much: He was doing something around the house, Mikaere called out that he was going out and he doesn’t think he even replied. Two hours later, the police knocked on the door. It felt like an ordinary day and he never got to make one last memory with his dad.

Roo finds Maggie outside the surf club and Maggie says she was all ready to be a new woman until she saw Ben with Gemma. Roo says it sounds like they were just chatting but Maggie is bothered about how happy they looked together. Against Roo’s advice, she decides to go and ask him about it. Back in Salt, Ben is telling Gemma about surfing. Nikau wonders why his pizza’s taking so long. Ben tries to make a joke about sharing with his uncles but Nikau says Ben’s not part of the conversation. He mentions getting to keep the job; Gemma and Ben both congratulate him, although his response to the latter is lukewarm. Maggie comes in and insists on speaking to Ben on the balcony. Nikau pointedly tells Gemma that’s Ben’s wife. Gemma gives him the pizza and says she’ll be home at eight. After talking round the houses, Maggie asks Ben if anything’s going on between him and Gemma. Ben says it’s none of her business and they shouldn’t be having conversations like this.

Evan comes into the surf club and encounters Roo. She says she’s waiting for a friend and Evan says he’s going to see Ryder. He asks if they can be back on friendly terms and Roo agrees, before going over to Maggie when she comes downstairs. Maggie says Ben didn’t deny it and wishes she’d never gone up there. Roo suggests they go home. Upstairs, Gemma serves Evan before asking Ben how he is. Ben invites her to have a drink with him and, since it’s quiet, Gemma agrees.

At the Parata house, Ryder has explained to Nikau that Evan is his father who walked out on him when he was a baby. Nikau thinks he’s lucky to have a second chance with him. Ryder notes it was awkward at first but they clicked and Evan’s a muso. Nikau asks if Ryder’s ever heard him play. Ryder seems to get an idea and hurries out. At Salt, Ben is bantering with Gemma about having lemonade in beer when Ryder rushes in, apologising for being late. Ben and Gemma agree to hang out some more. Ryder sits with Evan and says he’s had an idea: Evan putting on a music night there. He claims he has to organise an event for a TAFE assignment. Evan isn’t sure, saying he doesn’t have his band with him, and asks to think about it.

Ben and Gemma are playing pool downstairs. Gemma says she hasn’t won a game since she left New Zealand ten years ago and Ben says he hasn’t won a game in his life, which he demonstrates by potting the white instead of the black. He suggests another game and they end up touching hands, with Ben suggesting going back to his motel. At the Parata house, Nikau sees it is nearly 8.30 and texts Gemma asking where she is. The message comes up unnoticed on her phone at the motel room. Ben suggests a drink, music or turning the lights down, before admitting he hasn’t been with another woman in a very long time. Gemma says she hasn’t been with anyone since her husband died. Ben slowly approaches her and they hold hands and kiss.