Next week on Home and Away in the UK, as a new River Boy settles into Summer Bay, will Felicity fall for Rory’s charm? Elsewhere, as Dana gets proof that Bronte is a fraud, Bronte takes drastic action to shut her up.
Last week saw Mali (Kyle Shilling) call his old mate Dean (Patrick O’Connor) to get him out of a sticky situation with the Allen siblings, who were looking for revenge on Iluka (Dion Williams).
Dean put him in touch with his former River Boy contacts, and the gang’s new leader Rory (Joshua Orpin) arrived with sidekick Dingo (JK Kazzi) to help out Mali as he met with Nat (Claire Lovering) and her brothers Campbell (John Harding) and Gordie (Brandon McClelland) for a good old-fashioned fist fight.
Next week, Rory decides to make the most of his trip down the coast as he takes in the sights and sounds of Summer Bay.
Rory’s first introduction to the bay’s residents comes when Kirby (Angelina Thomson) finds him checking out the boards at Mantaray Boards, after former owner Dean recommended the place. He’s looking to place an order, but with Mali out of action as he recovers from his beating, Kirby tells Rory that he’ll have to leave his contact details.
“You know, if you wanted my number, you could’ve just asked,” Rory quips as he flirts his way through the interaction, but Kirby makes her feelings known as she tells him, “Trust me, I’m good.”
It’s not long until he finds his next target, as he heads up for a drink at Salt. Spotting Kirby, Felicity (Jacqui Purvis) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) from the balcony, he lets out a loud wolf whistle.
Flick is disgusted by Rory’s old-fashioned flirting technique, calling it juvenile and rude, but Eden finds it amusing, pointing out that “he’s kinda hot.”
Flick is having none of it, and heads straight for the balcony where she asks Rory to apologise for his misogynistic wolf-whistle, but he tells her that the tactic clearly worked: “You couldn’t race up those stairs fast enough.”
Flick puts him in his place as she explains that she owns the place and came to put a stop to him using her restaurant as a pick-up spot, but it only spurs him on.
“So you’re the boss then,” he smiles. “I do like a woman in charge.”
After Rory makes it clear that he “wasn’t whistling at women,” just at Flick, Eden makes it her mission to set her friend up with the flirtatious River Boy.
She soon notices that Flick can’t keep her eye off the newcomer, and doesn’t believe Flick when she points out that keeping an eye on rowdy customers is just part of the job.
As the shift goes on and Flick continues to eye Rory up, Eden points out that she hasn’t seen her crush this hard in ages. But after Eden tells her she should go and put him out of his misery, Flick heads over and puts Rory in his place.
“I’m flattered, but it’s not gonna happen.”
Eden steps in to apologise, telling him that she tried her best, but Rory isn’t one to give up. Taking the pen from behind Eden’s ear, he writes his number down on a coaster before making his exit.
“In case she changes her mind.”
That evening, as Felicity and Eden finish up for the day, Eden gleefully hands Flick the coaster.
When she pushes her bestie on why she’s so reluctant to give Rory a call, Flick points out that her track record “doesn’t exactly scream success,” with the last guy she hooked up with being Tane’s (Ethan Browne) lawyer.
Yet the following day, after some encouragement from Cash (Nicholas Cartwright), Felicity gives into temptation and gives Rory a call.
Of course, Felicity has no idea that Rory is part of Mangrove River’s infamous gang, who brought endless trouble to Summer Bay for years.
Nor does she know that Cash has just received a life-changing phone call. Cash has been trying to get back into the police force after his disastrous move into private security, but he’s informed that there are no spaces in Yabbie Creek or Reefton Lakes – the only available vacancy is at Mangrove River, the infamous town that the River Boys call home.
With romance on the cards, and Cash on his way back to the police force, what could possibly go wrong with Felicity dating a River Boy?
Elsewhere next week, Dana (Ally Harris) continues her crusade against Bronte (Stefanie Caccamo).
Last week, Irene (Lynne McGranger) learnt that the diner’s insurers wouldn’t cover the insurance claims from Joseph (Paul Winchester) and Bronte, who were suing the diner after falling ill.
It was Irene herself who suggested that Bronte sue her business, believing it was an easy way for her to raise the funds for her ‘treatment’.
Leah (Ada Nicodemou) managed to convince Joseph to withdraw his claim, but while Bronte agreed to drop hers too, she emotionally blackmailed Irene as she explained that without the money for the clinical in Canada, she may as well give up.
With Irene still desperate to help Bronte raise the funds for her experimental treatment in Canada, she decided that would pay Bronte the $50,000 out of her own pocket.
Dana is the only one who suspects that Bronte is a fraud, and told Bronte that she’d make it her own personal crusade to prove that she was lying.
Next week, Dana finds that Bronte has come home with bags of new clothes – suspicious for a woman who’s busy asking strangers for donations. Harper (Jessica Redmayne) points out that Bronte can’t have anything to hide if she’s left the clothes lying around, but the guilty look on Dana’s face gives away that she found them snooping through Bronte’s room.
“I don’t think it’s crazy to worry about Irene,” Dana replies when Harper accuses her of crossing a line, adding that “she’s lying and I’m trying to prove it.”
Dana then heads to the Coffee Cart, where she fills Leah (Ada Nicodemou) in on Irene’s plans to pay Bronte out of her own money.
Leah does her best to talk Irene out of the idea, pointing out that starting over with a new mortgage is a risky decision at her stage of life, but Irene isn’t having any of it.
Irene gives Leah an impassioned speech as she points out that Bronte sees everything that she has – her beautiful home, her business – whilst facing death. “How do I look her in the eye and tell her that my possessions are more important than her life?”
Her speech wins Leah over, and she admits that Irene is right. She offers to pay half of the $50,000 herself, using her and Justin’s (James Stewart) savings, meaning Irene won’t need to borrow so much money from the bank.
After Irene and Leah leave, Dana confronts Bronte once again, telling her that she knows exactly what she’s doing – “getting Irene to remortgage her house as part of your scam. And that’s on top of the insurance, the need to travel for your treatment. Because you’re not sick. It’s all fake, yeah?”
Rather than defend herself, Bronte all but admits it as she tells Dana to “prove it.”
Having coaxed a half-confession out of Bronte, Dana tries to convince first Xander (Luke Van Os), then later Irene and Leah, that she’s discovered the truth, but none of them will give her the time of day.
Dana then tries with Rose (Kirsty Marillier), but Rose points out that she’s making a lot of serious accusations with no evidence, and tells her to come talk to her if she gets some – but until then, it’s time to let it go.
Obviously, Dana has no intention of doing so. She heads straight into work, where she looks up ‘Bronte Langford’ on the hospital’s record system.
It’s clear that they’re not here for a social call, and as Bronte tells her accomplice that it’s time to “get this done,” Chase grabs Dana’s phone, before the pair of them tape Dana’s arms and legs and drag her out.
Will Dana be able to raise the alarm before it’s too late?