Episode 8209

Extended Summary

Harper hurries up to Tane on the beach and apologises for being late, saying she had an emergency with her sister. Tane notes he thought she might be having another bad date. Harper tells him not to say there’s plenty more fish in the sea and says she’d rather be happily single than trawl through all those profiles. John pulls up in his buggy and checks Dana knows about the bronze medallion presentation later. Harper says Dana will be there and so will she. Tane wonders where Dana is and Harper says she’s gone fishing. At that moment, Dana is walking away from the surf club with Xander hurrying after her. Dana tries to end the conversation by thanking him for his honesty. Xander tries saying that he cares about her but sees her like a little sister. That doesn’t make Dana feel any better and she quickly makes her exit.

Alf has met Roo at the Diner. They have a quick catch-up about Martha before Alf asks what’s been going on and wonders why he received a notification about an emergency surf club meeting. John joins them and Roo admits it’s about the anonymous donor. John says Roo hired Cash to find them. Alf says that Cash finding the donor should be an end to it and asks if they haven’t got anything better to do.

Dana storms up to Harper at the coffee cart and tells her it wasn’t a green light from Xander and it’s all her fault, then tells Irene she’s not happy with her either since they both told her to be bold. She says Xander sister-zoned her and it was hard enough being around him when he didn’t know.

Mali has brought Rose breakfast at her flat. They start to kiss but are interrupted by Xander, who tells them about Mackenzie losing faith in him and cancelling his event and that’s not even the worst thing that happened this morning. Mali takes that as his cue to leave. Xander tells Rose that he upset Dana and she has feelings for him, then realises Rose knew and is unhappy about not getting a heads-up.

Mali joins Tane at Salt and checks Mackenzie isn’t there. Tane says he went home last night after her plans changed and found her in a foul mood. They wonder if she and Levi have broken up but don’t want to ask her and decide to keep their heads down for a while. Mali hopes he can stay with Rose for the night again, while Tane’s expression suggests he doesn’t know what he’s going to do.

Alf asks John and Roo why they’re looking a gift horse in the mouth. John is unhappy that Cash knows and they don’t and says he’d want people to know if he did it. Roo wonders why Cash is keeping it quiet; John doesn’t think it’s because of anything dodgy but considers hiring a private investigator. Alf snaps that it was him and warns John not to say anything,

Rose brings Xander a coffee as a peace offering. She explains that Dana was determined not to say anything. Xander admits that he thinks Dana’s great but with his track record of relationships he doesn’t want to lose their friendship. He explains about her leaving upset, and then when he went after her he made things worse by calling her a little sister.

Irene and Harper arrive at the Diner with Irene wondering why Harper thought Xander liked Dana. They both feel guilty for pushing her to talk to him. Nearby, Roo wonders why Alf donated the money. Alf says it was his fault Henderson pulled the sponsorship and the town needs the surf club so it was up to him to fund it. Roo says he’s a good man.

At the surf club, Dana and the other recipients look over their graduation scrolls. John appears and warns them they have a life lesson to learn about expecting the unexpected: He gives them a pop quiz, saying it will take ten minutes and he’ll deduct points for incorrect spelling. Roo arrives and quietly talks to John about keeping quiet. John doesn’t want to risk the wrath of Alf but does want to have a word with Cash about keeping them in the dark. Roo says the important thing is Alf’s guaranteed the future of the club and John agrees to leave it. Xander and Rose come in; Xander and Dana exchange an awkward look before Dana looks away.

Mali approaches Tane at Salt and suggests they go out on the town together and don’t come back until Mackenzie’s gone to bed. Rose enters with Xander, and Tane realises she’s too busy to spend time with Mali. He agrees to the plan and heads off to set up for a boot camp. Rose tries to convince Xander to talk to Dana but he’s worried about making things worse. Meanwhile, Tane is walking along a deserted stretch of beach and hears a baby crying. Investigating, he finds the baby in an open bag with a blanket and stuffed toy.

John is making a speech to the recipients, telling them their success is down to their hard work and his good teaching. Alf tells him to get on with it and John hands over to their “very generous” president. John joins Roo in preparing to give out the awards. Alf calls Dana’s name first; Harper is there to cheer her on but Dana doesn’t look too happy to see her. Dana is thanking John when Tane arrives with the baby, asking for help. Dana checks her over, noting she seems alert. John calls for an ambulance.

Upstairs, Rose is with Mali at the bar. He wonders why they’re there and Rose says they’re there to keep an eye on Xander, who is only a few paces away and points out he can hear them. Rose says it wasn’t easy for Dana to put herself out there so he should be upfront as well, reminding him he said she was important to him. Xander reluctantly goes to talk to her. Mali starts to grasp the situation and Rose assures him Xander and Dana are just friends.

Xander heads downstairs to find everyone clustered around Tane and the baby. John says they’ll need Rose’s help and Harper says Roo’s waiting for the ambulance outside. Xander takes Dana aside and says he doesn’t want to lose her friendship. Dana thanks him for his honesty. Roo arrives with the paramedics and Dana gives them an update before heading off to work. Alf arranges for the new bronze medallists to do a search of the area where the baby was found. The paramedic asks Tane to lay the baby on the stretcher, which he seems reluctant to do but complies with. He tells Harper he wants to follow them to hospital.

Shortly after, the paramedic delivers the baby to the hospital staff. Tane and Harper arrive and Harper has to stop Tane from following them. She notes the parents or guardians must be desperate but Tane thinks there’s no excuse for abandoning a baby like that. Meanwhile, Rose speaks to her sergeant on the phone as Alf and Roo continue to arrange the search and to try to find anyone who was in the area. John and Mali arrive with the baby’s bag and Alf sends John to the south end of the beach. Rose tells Mali she’s worried about who did this.

Tane and Harper wait until Dana arrives and tells them the baby’s fine, leading them through. Tane asks what happens next and Harper says emergency foster care will be arranged, She says she’ll head into work and get things moving and offers to give Tane a lift. Tane, fussing over the baby, doesn’t respond at first before eventually saying he’ll stay there a bit. Harper quietly tells Dana to keep an eye on him, shooting a worried look back as Tane continues to dote on the baby.