Episode 558

Extended Summary

Pippa asks Sophie and Gus how they know each other but Gus just says everyone runs into him sooner or later. Pippa explains that Gus has rescued Dag Dog from being taken to the pound a few times and Gus says he doesn’t like seeing anything locked up. He leaves, commenting that he’s communicated with the human race enough for one week. Pippa asks Sophie how her day went.

At the Diner, Carly is chatting to Bobby about cooking while Adam is telling Matt and another friend about how he was spotted by a police car doing 150k but it was too dark for them to see the license plate. Carly wants Bobby to help with the cooking for the wedding since Pippa is struggling but Bobby says she has enough of cooking. She does, however, agree to them using the kitchen at the Diner after hours. Adam and Matt come over to pay as Paul comes in and sits at the other end of the counter. Despite Matt trying to get him to walk away, Adam goes over and starts poking him, making remarks about Emma and Paul’s father, until Paul punches him. Adam lunges at him but Matt and a newly arrived Alf pull the pair apart and drag them down the surf club. Both blame the other but Alf isn’t interested and tells them to shake hands. They both refuse so Alf tells them if they want to fight they’ll do it in the ring: They’re to come back there at five o’clock on Sunday, when Alf will be referee, and stay apart until then.

That night, Pippa, Carly and Ben are making the cake mixture at home while Steven reads the recipe from the cookery book. Ben notes that his mother tends to use oil rather than butter in a cake but Pippa thinks they should just stick to the recipe. Carly tells Steven about Adam and Paul’s altercation at the Diner. Steven goes to see Paul at the surf club and is shocked when he tells him about the boxing match. Paul agrees it’s not the sort of thing he usually does but thinks it’s the only way. Steven doesn’t think Paul has a chance. Paul argues that he knocked Adam down before but Steven says Adam’s fit and angry.

At the Diner, Pippa, Carly and Ben take the three layers of cake out of the oven. Ben jokingly takes the credit for their efforts. All three of them are exhausted since it’s the early hours of the morning but they can’t take the cake out of the pans until it’s cooled so they leave them in the Diner. Next morning, Grant pops by Ben’s caravan to find him frantically searching the place. He explains he’s lost the ring Carly gave him and knows she’ll be mad if she finds out. Grant, who has a day off because of the HSC study, suggests Ben go for a run with him to clear his head but Ben wants to keep looking.

Steven finds Ben searching the house and Ben explains about the missing ring, asking him not to tell Carly. Steven suggests he look in the bathroom since that’s where the girls leave theirs. Pippa and Sophie come down; Pippa is still in her dressing gown and notes that Carly’s still in bed. Ben heads out, claiming he’s going back to bed. Steven reminds Sophie he has the day off to study and says she won’t need to avoid him; he thinks she has a mystery man since she didn’t walk home with him but Sophie denies it. Sophie heads off and Steven also leaves to see Adam. At the beach house, Steven and Matt both try to convince Adam to put a stop to the fight but Adam refuses and says Paul should call it off if he’s worried. Steven asks whose idea the fight was and Adam tells him it was Alf’s. Steven goes round to see Alf at the store and tells him he’s got to put a stop to the fight since Paul’s no match for Adam. Alf agrees but thinks they’ll have both cooled down by Sunday and it won’t happen. Steven isn’t so sure.

Sophie is with Gus down on the beach again while he sands a boat. She asks him why he didn’t tell Pippa and he says it’s none of his business and he’s not like most grown-ups. Sophie tells him about what happened at the amateur night and how everyone’s laughing at her. Gus notes he’s learned not to care what people think and Sophie says she’s used to people not wanting her around. Gus thinks Pippa isn’t like that but Sophie says that since Tom died she’s been too busy with Carly’s wedding to notice what’s going on with her. She’s used to foster families sending her back so she’s not going back to school. Meanwhile, Pippa is vacuuming the girls’ bedroom when she finds a box full of sea shells, a book and a towel under Sophie’s bed.

Ben is getting more and more angry as he continues to fruitlessly search his caravan. Grant comes back and gets him to calm down and think about when he last saw the ring. Ben recalls he had it on when they were mixing the cakes since the cake mixture kept sticking to it. He realises that might be where the ring is. The pair head to the Diner where a bemused Bobby watches as they poke holes in the cake layers to try and find the ring. She points out Carly will be just as angry at them ruining the wedding cake as losing the ring and makes it clear she’s nothing to do with it. Grant asks how they’re going to get the ring out if they find it and Ben says they’ll think of that when they get there.

Paul arrives at the surf club and sets up his tape deck on top of the piano. Adam comes over and suggests that he and Paul settle things in private rather than doing things Alf’s way. Paul refuses. He knows that he’s going to lose but he also knows that Adam won’t go away if he backs down and admits that he’d rather have Alf there for protection. Adam throws Paul’s tape deck to the ground, saying it’s a reminder of what will happen if Paul doesn’t show up.

Pippa asks Carly if she ever wagged school and asks her what she’d do if she did. Carly says she’d go down the beach and read some magazines. She finds Ben’s ring down the back of the cooker and is annoyed that he hasn’t noticed it’s missing. Pippa heads out, saying there’s something she has to do. Meanwhile, Ben and Grant have practically demolished the cake trying to find the ring. Ben asks Bobby if there’s any way they can stick it all back together but Bobby tells him his only options are to move interstate or learn to cook. She’s too busy to help them and just asks to be informed when he tells Pippa and Carly because she wants to watch.

Sophie and Gus are using the metal detector on the beach and find a 1926 coin. Sophie says she’d like to live on her own like Gus but Gus says she should wait until she’s sixty and tells her to get going, since if she wants to keep visiting him she shouldn’t outstay her welcome. Sophie cheekily asks if that means she can come back the next day before skipping away. As she does so, Pippa watches them from the headland, looking annoyed.