Episode 7551

Extended Summary

Ziggy and Tane meet up on the beach after Tane has been for a swim. Moments later, Dean appears and asks if they’ve seen Mack. Ziggy says she’s been avoiding the house until she’s sure Mackenzie’s out of there. Dean wonders what’s been going on and Ziggy tells him about Mackenzie making a move on Tane. Meanwhile, Ari and Mia are waking up. Mia wonders if Ari wants to talk but Ari abruptly gets up and starts talking about breakfast.

At the Diner, Justin is telling Irene that Leah and John left first thing after he spent all night trying to talk her out of going. Alf chimes in on the flimsy nature of the lead and Irene notes Susie’s dangerous. Justin admits he hopes Leah doesn’t find her. Alf suggests Justin could work on an outboard motor he’s got to keep him busy. Meanwhile, Dean arrives at the surf club and sends Mack a text wondering where she is. Ziggy and Tane come down from Salt and say the staff told them she’s taken a couple of days off. Ziggy wonders if Dean’s got the school run. Dean says not today but doesn’t elaborate.

Ari chats to Mia about her stuff arriving from the city and hopes her helmet’s there. Mia says she hasn’t needed one for ten years and Ari dreams of a road trip. Ziggy and Tane interrupt them, so Mia asks Ari to walk her into work. Ari says he needs to be there for when her stuff arrives. Mia gets Tane to agree to wait in, telling Ari he’s run out of excuses. Outside the bait shop, Justin is having a rather intense phone conversation with Leah, trying to get her to turn around and come back, before she hangs up. Justin tries to start the motor, getting more and more frustrated until he snaps the lead. He tells Alf, who came outside during the attempt, that he’ll replace it.

Ari and Mia are approaching the surf club with Ari giving a long speech about the bike being ready. Mia notes he managed to stop her getting a word in but can’t keep it up. Dean appears and Ari asks how things worked out with Amber. Dean says she and Jai are gone. Soon after, the two of them are having a drink on the balcony of Salt. Ari recalls Dean was worried about access. Dean says Amber is willing to work it out but is more worried about Mack. He says Ari doesn’t want to know. Ari says not to make him ask again.

Justin arrives home, calling out. He takes one of his pills, looking more relaxed afterwards. At the Diner, Irene fills Alf in on the succession of texts she’s getting from John, worrying about what he’ll say if he sees Susie. Alf is scornful about John’s behaviour and tells her about Justin’s phone call to Leah and wrecking the motor. He also recalls Leah disappearing before and isn’t reassured by Irene saying that John’s with her.

Tane and Ziggy are just enjoying having the Parata house to themselves when Ari returns and asks why Tane didn’t tell him about Mackenzie. He also explains about Amber moving out. Tane convinces Ziggy to go and check on Dean, although he doesn’t look happy at the prospect. Meanwhile, Justin turns up at the gym, where Mia just about remembers him. He says that he’s having physio for a bad back and there should be a programme on file.

Tane tells Ari he’s going to the gym. Ari wonders why he sent Ziggy to see Dean. Tane notes that he has to trust her but is struggling and adds that Ari and Mia don’t have these problems. Ari indicates that they do have problems but doesn’t say anything more. At the gym, Mia is helping Justin finish off his session. Justin gets a call from Leah and apologises to her. Tane arrives and asks Mia what’s going on with Ari. Mia tells him about Ari suggesting they try for a baby again. She admits she panicked and now Ari doesn’t want to talk about it. Tane suggests that if neither of them want to talk about it they should just drop it.

Dean is on the phone to Amber, who is telling him that they can arrange something as soon as he gets a lawyer. Ziggy arrives and asks him about Jai and Amber. Dean doesn’t want to talk about it but Ziggy says you don’t go from happy families to breaking up and asks what happened. Dean says she did. Ziggy is annoyed, saying she made it clear to Amber that nothing was going on. She wants to call her and put things right. Dean tells her not to. Ziggy says Amber’s making stuff up and Dean says she isn’t: He actually does still love Ziggy but knows she isn’t there anymore. Ziggy leaves so he can get on with looking for Mackenzie.

Ziggy arrives at the Parata house. She and Ari briefly chat about Dean, and Ari tells her Tane has gone to the gym. Ari quizzes Ziggy about her attachment to Dean. Ziggy says Ari would have cared if something had happened to Mia when they were apart but Ari says that’s because he still loved her. He says if anything’s changed now Amber’s gone she should be honest about it. Meanwhile, Justin approaches Alf and Irene outside the Diner and tells them he spoke to Leah and she’s on her way back with John: She didn’t say if they’d found Susie but it sounds as though they didn’t. Justin has brought a part to fix the motor and says his back’s been playing up but his pill and physio helped him.

Ziggy and Tane meet up near the beach. Tane asks about Dean, and Ziggy notes he and Amber are over but they’re working something out over Jai. She doesn’t tell Tane the reason for the break-up but does thank him for being fine with her seeing Dean. She suggests they go for a drive. At the Diner flat, Dean gets a phone call from Mackenzie. He is shocked to hear where she is and tells her to stay there because he’s coming.

Ari is on the phone to Mia, saying her stuff’s arrived and offering to unpack it. He opens the first box and removes a few items of closing… then stops. He removes a wooden box and opens it, looking emotional. Some time later, Mia returns to find him sat on the floor, cradling the contents of the box: Kauri’s foot prints and teddy. She comforts him.