Episode 7471

Extended Summary

Bella is on the beach and encounters Ari, who tells her that Nikau rang and is missing her. He asks if she’s okay and Bella explains Dean’s been missing a couple of days and didn’t show up to see Colby. Ari suggests maybe he’s getting his head together but Bella doesn’t think he’d leave her. At that moment, two men fall out of a bar in Mangrove River, fighting. Dean emerges behind them, nursing a bloodied mouth, and sits down. A young woman, Tammy, comes over and tells him the police are on the way. Dean takes her to his car and suggests they go back to hers, driving off.

Angelo and Taylor are walking near the beach with Taylor noting it’s strange to be doing this without him constantly checking his phone about his latest case. Angelo says it wasn’t always like that and Taylor wonders how they can avoid ending up back there. Angelo suggests they just need to carry on talking and wonders if she’s hungry, saying he’s going to try and wine and dine her. He offers her his hand as they walk and she takes it. Meanwhile, Bella and Ari arrive at Salt. Mackenzie asks how Colby was and is shocked that Bella went on her own, saying she’d have gone with her if she’d known Dean hadn’t shown up. Bella is worried Dean has bailed, thinking he wouldn’t have left her without a reason.

Alf asks Martha about Kieran’s issues and Martha notes he was a handful as a child, then as he got older he started drinking and it didn’t bring out the best in him. She notes his father was the same. Roo asks how bad it got and Martha says she had to cut him out of her life for both their sakes. At the Diner, Marilyn tells Kieran that she hasn’t been able to get hold of Martha. Kieran tries to get Marilyn to give him Martha’s number or address but, although she gives him her own name, Marilyn is reluctant to do so. Kieran talks about Martha’s paintings to demonstrate he knows her. After Marilyn has served some customers, Kieran gives her his number and suggests passing it on to Martha if she sees her.

Dean is in bed with Tammy, who notes you can’t take Mangrove River out of the boy and reveals she won $50 by being the first to bag him. She wonders why he’s back there. Dean says he grew up there but Tammy points out he got out: She heard he had a good place and a business, and thought he was smarter than this. She offers him a drink and he asks for a beer. He heads outside and checks his phone messages. They include the one from Bella telling him about visiting Colby and another more frantic one wondering where he is. He cuts off both of them, then listens to the one from Colby chastising him for letting Bella down. At Salt, Bella tells Ari that she doesn’t think Dean would let her down like this although Ari thinks he might not be able to hande seeing Colby. Ari offers to look for Dean and wonders about his favourite surf spots. Mackenzie says she’ll get the details from Ziggy. Ari tells Bella that people care about her.

Marilyn arrives home and tells Alf, Martha and Roo about the man at the Diner looking for Martha, giving her his number. Alf gets Marilyn to describe him and Martha realises it’s Kieran, saying he wasn’t supposed to come there. Alf says he’ll deal with it. Later, Marilyn apologises to Martha for the way she handled things, while Martha notes Kieran was supposed to stay at her place in Merimbula. Roo wonders what Martha’s worrying about. Martha doesn’t want Alf and Kieran getting into an argument.

Angelo and Taylor arrive at Salt, where he holds her chair out for her and takes her jacket. He orders her favourite wine and they reminisce about her ordering it in an Italian dive they used to frequent. Meanwhile, Dean retrieves a shirt from his car. Tammy comes out and notes it isn’t any cleaner than the one he had on before but at least it doesn’t have blood on it. She offers to let him stay but Dean shows no interest and asks if she was expecting a thank you note and flowers. Tammy says she expected a bit of decency. When Dean doesn’t respond, she sarcastically wishes him luck fighting the world and goes back inside. Dean drives away.

Alf looks through the window of the Diner, quickly identifying Kieran. He introduces himself. Kieran is pleased to see him. Alf says before Kieran sees Martha, they’re going to have a chat. Soon after, the two of them are sat outside. Kieran accepts that he’s given Martha reason to worry but says he’s trying to make amends. Alf notes he’s known people in Kieran’s position and it’s hard work. Kieran says he’s trying to stay on the wagon and didn’t have much chance to talk to Martha in Merimbula. Alf starts to say that there’s going to be some ground rules, but then Roo and Martha appear and sit with them. Roo introduces herself as his sister, noting it’s a complicated family tree.

At Salt, Angelo and Taylor talk about the days when they insisted on eating all the food they’d paid for and had cheaper wine. Taylor worries what things will be like when they leave Summer Bay, saying they can’t go back to how things were. Angelo says he’s taking time off work to concentrate on them. At the caravan park house, Kieran thanks Alf for letting him stay and agrees to Alf’s rule that he doesn’t come to the house to see Martha unless Alf’s there. Marilyn comes through, surprising Kieran, who hadn’t realised she lived there and explains he didn’t know if Martha wanted people to know he was her son. Roo and Martha watch on.

Mackenzie turns up at the Diner flat. She tells Bella she’s not going to leave her there alone, or let her eat whatever she’s just retrieved from the fridge. She insists Bella comes stay with her and Ziggy, binning the food. Later, as Mackenzie is helping Bella move in, Ari arrives and says he couldn’t find Dean at any surf spots or at any bars in Yabbie Creek. He wonders if he would have gone back to Mangrove River. Bella doubts it, saying there’s nothing there for him except bad memories. At that moment however, Dean is back outside the bar. Another young woman brings him a drink. He says it’s about time and she sits down next to him awkwardly.

Next morning, Mackenzie offers Bella some toast but Bella says she’s not hungry. Mackenzie is going into work. Bella can’t face TAFE so is going to do an assignment. Mackenzie convinces Bella to do it at Salt, saying an egg and bacon roll might look more appealing later. Meanwhile, Dean wakes up in his car (parked outside the bar) and hears a tapping on the window: It’s Ari. Dean wonders what he’s doing there.