Episode 7746

Extended Summary

Alf and Justin meet up with Irene near the Diner. She asks them about the wake and they say it was a fitting send-off. Ryder and Theo come up and ask how Chloe is. Alf admits it was pretty grim and Justin says they don’t know when Nikau and Tane will be back. Theo suggests going round to see Chloe but Justin recommends giving her and Mia time. Back at the Parata house, Jasmine asks if they can help. Mia tells Cash not to clear up since the house needs cleansing. Bella and Chloe bring stuff in from outside. Jasmine tells Mia that she’s been where she is and will be there for her at home or the gym or if she needs someone to talk to. Cash and Jasmine leave.

Walking near the beach, Jasmine comments to Cash that this will be the hardest part for Mia: Nothing to do and no visitors, left alone without the person you thought you’d spend the rest of your life with. Cash agrees about going back to normal without things being normal and suggests a quiet night in. At the Diner, Alf, Irene and Justin watch Ryder and Theo’s video, which has John saying that Ari never held a grudge and was a class act. They all approve of the video but say the family might not be ready to see it yet. Ryder says it helped having a video of Evan singing when he died. Alf says not everyone’s the same and Justin says Chloe will come to them when she’s ready.

Bella offers to get Mia something to eat but she says she’s not hungry and decides to go in the shower. Bella prepares to leave but Chloe begs her to stay, saying she doesn’t want to be left alone with Mia. Later, Bella brings in some flowers from the gym staff as Mia comes back from the shower. Chloe says Gemma rang but Mia says she’ll call her back later and heads to bed. She hangs up her dress and takes down Ari’s work jacket, sitting on the bed. Chloe listens at the door to her sobbing. Bella says Nikau texted to say they’ve landed. Chloe refuses to check on Mia, saying she’s giving her the space she asked for and asks if they can go out, saying she can’t help Mia when she’s struggling too.

Cash and Jasmine arrive home and are greeted by Irene with takeaway. Cash has got one as well so Irene says they can have that tomorrow. Irene and Jasmine sit down to eat but Cash says he’ll wait, even when Irene warns him Jasmine will quickly finish off the risotto. Cash says he’ll get them drinks and Jasmine wonders why he’s being weird. Cash says he doesn’t know what to say to Irene, since he usually just talks to her about his coffee order. Later, Cash and Jasmine are curled up in bed. Cash stops her getting up and she says she just wanted a glass of water. Cash says he’ll get it. While he’s doing so, Irene comes down and notes that she had the same idea. Cash looks flustered and disappears back into the bedroom, mortified.

At Salt, Ryder tells Theo off for constantly checking his phone. Bella and Chloe arrive and the boys try to be attentive towards her. Theo tells Chloe about the tribute video and they say it’s there for her when she’s ready. Chloe says she wants to see it and is pleased by Ryder and Theo’s introduction and Ryder recalling learning a speech in Māori to impress Ari. Next morning, down on the beach, Irene has filled Jasmine in on her encounter with Cash. She jokes about looking cute in her pyjamas and Jasmine suggests he didn’t want to offend her in his undies. She wonders if Cash was being weird last night. Irene says he was polite but Jasmine thinks he couldn’t relax.

Mia wakes up; Ari’s jacket is on the bed next to her. She finds a box outside her bedroom door from the Corrective Services. She unpacks it in her room, finding Ari’s clothes and wallet, which contains a photo of her and Chloe. She heads to the police station and tells Cash about the prison returning Ari’s things. He takes her into the back for a chat. Mia asks what Ari’s death means for the charges and sentencing. Cash says she doesn’t need to worry about that. Mia says she doesn’t want Ari to be remembered as a murderer and sharply reminds Cash he said he’d help her if he could.

Down on the beach, Ryder tells Theo he’s sent Chloe a link to the video and Theo congratulates himself for sending it to the family in New Zealand. He wonders when they’ll hear back from Nikau and Ryder reminds him what Justin said about letting the family set the pace. They comment on Bella and Chloe getting on and Theo tries to convince Ryder it’s like the two of them being best mates now. At the police station, Cash gets off the phone and tells Mia the case is closed: There’ll be no court and no charges. Mia is relieved, saying she couldn’t have handled any more legal stuff, but declines his offer to call someone for her.

At the surf club, Bella finds Chloe watching the video again, with Justin talking about how much family meant to Ari. Mia arrives and notes the fresh air did her good. Chloe tells her about the video and, despite Mia declining to see it, starts playing a clip of Irene talking about how much Mia wanted to get married to Ari, until Mia frantically tells them to turn it off. At the Diner, Cash turns up looking for Jasmine. Irene says she’s gone for a run and offers to get his usual. Cash stammers that he has to get back to work and leaves. Mia arrives and lays into Ryder and Theo, accusing them of trying to make themselves feel better and saying it’s bad enough missing Ari herself without listening to everyone else missing him too.

Ryder and Theo leave the Diner with Justin. Theo is confused, saying Chloe liked the video and thought Mia would too. Ryder says Justin was right about people not being ready for it. They run into Alf, who asks Ryder to help him out while Theo goes to the garage with Justin. Ryder worries they’ve made things worse. Meanwhile, Jasmine finds Cash at the police station, saying he bailed on their lunch date, and wonders why he waited on them last night and was weird with Irene. Cash protests that he was in his undies. Jasmine retorts that he wears swimmers all the time and asks if they’ve got a problem.