Episode 8440

Extended Summary

Mali finds Abigail down on the beach and assures her there’s nothing going on between him and Rose. Abigail says she spoke to Rose and knows it’s true. However, she tells him there’s one thing he can do to make things right: Move back in with her. At the Diner, John asks Irene if she’s heard about Roo’s foster daughter Eliza. Leah says she’s only met her once but she seems a bit different. John says the main topic of conversation is Harper’s wedding and notes how happy Dana was she could come. He offers to take her home and Irene snaps at him not to tell her what to do before apologising. She says she’d rather go through the business books with Leah. John offers to drop her bags home and Irene says she’ll walk back. Her watch alarm goes off and she tells Leah she’d be having an hour’s reflection and goal setting.

Mali and Abigail arrive at the surf club. Mali thinks them living apart is for the best. Abigail says that was before he bent the truth and thinks she needs him where she can see him. Mali says that they can’t be a couple if she doesn’t trust him and that he doesn’t do ultimatums. He refuses to discuss it further, heading off to a class.

At the farm house, Levi is on the phone to Mackenzie when Abby arrives home declaring that men suck. She says she and Mali were talking about him moving back home, then they started arguing and he ended up telling her she was wrong to want what she does and they may have broken up. She then storms off to her room.

As Irene looks over the books, Leah notes John was just worried about her. Irene says he’s a good friend, in small doses, but she doesn’t need the extra pressure. She congratulates Leah on holding the fort. Leah tells her she doesn’t have to rush back to work but Irene is keen to get started. Alf and Marilyn arrive and greet Irene, with Marilyn starting to chat about the wedding. Leah suggests they do this later but Irene says it’s fine.

Levi seems to come to a decision and announces he’s going out. Abigail thinks he’s going to have it out with her boyfriend. Levi says Abigail wasn’t even sure he was her boyfriend and claims he’s just going to get some food. However, he turns up at the surf club as Mali is taking photos of merchandise and tells him they both agreed him and Abigail living together was a bad idea. Realising Levi’s got the wrong end of the stick, Mali explains that Abigail wanted him to move back in and he said no.

Marilyn is chatting about how she did a hair and make-up test for Dana and suggests she could do one for Irene once she’s chosen her wedding outfit. Justin turns up and greets Irene before going to chat to Leah, who is worried about Irene getting overwhelmed. Leah reminds Marilyn she’s supposed to be taking supplies to the coffee cart. Irene insists she’ll do it, getting an alert on her watch saying it’s time for her afternoon stroll.

Levi wonders why Abigail would suddenly want Mali to move back in. Mali admits Abigail and Rose have compared notes and Levi notes it sucks to be him. He says it’s clear Mali and Abigail have a lot to work on. At the farm house, Abigail hears the door go and finds Levi has brought Mali back with him. She is furious that Levi lied about going to see him. Levi suggests Abigail lied in letting him think Mali was the one that wanted to move back in. Mali wants to talk and Levi leaves them to it.

Alf, Marilyn, Leah and Justin chat about Irene; Marilyn thinks she should have listened to Leah about not overloading her. Justin says it’ll be hard for her being back after six months and Leah notes they saw her at her lowest. Irene comes back and realises they were talking about her. Alf and Justin leave and Irene admits she’s worried about herself too.

Later, Irene apologises to Leah and Marilyn who think it’s normal for her to feel like this after being away so long. Irene’s watch goes off again and Leah explains it’s her rehab schedule. Marilyn suggests she put it on silent and Irene snaps that she misses that routine and now she’s the only one to hold herself accountable. Leah follows her into the kitchen and suggests she let go of the routine. Irene retorts that it saved her life.

Leah finds Irene sitting by the beach and asks to sit with her. Irene worries about not being able to hold it together without the routine, saying she couldn’t get out of bed for a month when she first went into rehab. Leah tells her that her friends will help and support her. Back at the farm house, Levi listens in to Abigail and Mali for a moment before slipping out. Mali thinks living together won’t make Abigail feel less insecure. He admits he was wrong to lie about meeting Rose and says he has things he needs to work on, but she has to talk to him instead of playing games.

Levi heads to Salt for a takeaway while talking on the phone to Mackenzie and giving her an update on Abigail and Mali. She has news about tomorrow that seems to please him. Later, back at the farm house, Abigail is largely ignoring her meal as she texts Mali, and tells Levi that they have some things to work through. Levi tells her that Mackenzie’s coming home tomorrow and says that if her keeping him company consists of him watching her text Mali, she should go to him. She hurries out.

Leah and Justin are walking Irene home. Irene suddenly stops and panics, wondering if the girls got rid of all the booze she had stashed. Leah assures her Dana found it all and convinces Justin to head home while she and Irene walk on together. They arrive at the beach house where Irene gets Leah to check the cupboards to make sure there’s no alcohol there. They notice some flowers John left in a vase which Irene says he picked from her garden. She convinces Leah to go home, saying an alarm on her watch means it’s supper time and she’d go to bed straight after. Leah leaves, with Irene left standing alone.