Mackenzie Booth (Emily Weir) receives distressing news about Salt this week, when a letter from her insurer confirms that they will not payout for the losses suffered by the restaurant as a result of the organophosphate attack last year.
The news comes just as Salt’s barman Ryder (Lukas Radovich)—who has recently earned himself a pay rise after graduating from his TAFE course in hospitality management—has put the finishing touches to a new cocktail. Mac gives the go ahead for Ryder to put it on the cocktail menu, but her attitude soon changes when she opens the mail.
Ryder is stunned when, on giving Mac another creation to sample, she’s dismissive of it and orders him to ring the printers and cancel the new food menu they had planned. She’s suddenly decided that it’ll be too confusing to change the dishes mid-season.
Mac’s brother Dean (Patrick O’Connor) is next in the firing line, when he orders a drink and Mac insists that he needs to pay for it—she’s sick of being taken advantage of, and as of now, she’s cutting him off!
Dean checks in with Mac’s boyfriend Logan (Harley Bonner) to find out why Mac is acting so strange, but he’s none the wiser.
Mac later gets hold of the insurance company on the phone who only confirm what they put in the letter. Despite Mac losing thousands of dollars worth of contaminated food stock due to the criminal damage, not to mention the cleaning fees, they’re not willing to pay out.
Mac can no longer put up a facade as Dean finds her in tears in the storeroom, admitting that she’s broke.
Mac explains that the restaurant was already running at a loss, after she took time out following her breakup with Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) and subsequent miscarriage.
The gas attack at Martha’s (Belinda Giblin) black tie event was the icing on the cake, and Mac was relying on the insurance money to get back on track.
Mac insists to Dean that she doesn’t want Logan to know she’s facing ruin, despite the fact that he may be able to help out.
The next day Ryder is confused to find that his hours have been cut in the latest roster, and on questioning Mac he learns that it’s no mistake!
Ryder points out that he’s now earning less than he was before his recent pay rise, which doesn’t seem fair. But, not wanting to reveal the reason why, all Mac can do is offer her support in allowing him to find casual work elsewhere.
Ryder’s dealt another huge blow when Mac later announces that she’s cancelling the entire cocktail menu—his speciality. Despite Ryder’s protests, Mac won’t budge, his cocktails are simply too expensive.
Told that he should take the rest of the day off, Ryder is putting some stock away before leaving when he comes across the discarded insurance letter in the storeroom. Suddenly Mac’s attitude begins to make some sense.
Rather than bring it up with Mac, Ryder instead goes to Dean who admits that Mac told him about it.
Against Ryder’s better instincts, Dean persuades him to open up Salt’s accounts on the computer to see how bad things really are.
The situation is grim, suppliers haven’t been paid in weeks, and the only outgoings are the staff wages which are being covered by the overdraft. Ryder panics as he realises that Salt’s closure is imminent!
As Ryder leaves, Dean decides to go against Mac’s wishes and makes a phone call to their estranged but stinking-rich father, Rick (Mark Lee)…. but will he be willing to help, or just laugh at Mac’s failure?
Also this week, Marilyn (Emily Symons) finally returns to Summer Bay after a two month break.
Marilyn decided to take some time out, as she struggled to cope with the psychological symptoms she’d faced after her exposure to the organophosphate leak at Salt, and went to visit son Jett (Will McDonald) and former charge Raffy (Olivia Deeble).
Roo (Georgie Parker) is delighted to have Marilyn back at home, as the two catch up over a cup of tea.
But their conversation is interrupted by the surprise arrival of Alf (Ray Meagher), who went off to Merimbula two weeks ago to visit Martha.
Roo had turned down the opportunity to visit her mother, following their fallout over Martha’s decision to not accept Roo’s kidney for a lifesaving transplant, but immediately started to second-guess her decision.
Alf admits to Roo that Martha has deteriorated further, and he’s back briefly to make arrangements before returning to Merimbula for what could be a long stint.
When Marilyn points out to Roo that the latest developments could potentially mean it’s Roo’s last chance to visit Martha, Roo tells her dad that she wants to return with him. She might just be able to change Martha’s mind about the operation.
But Alf isn’t happy with Roo’s suggestion, telling her that she would have to respect Martha’s wishes if she were to visit, and not bring up the transplant again.
Realising that Alf isn’t giving her the full story, Roo asks Logan if he can make some enquiries with Martha’s transplant team, and he discovers that Martha’s prognosis isn’t good. Not only is the dialysis becoming less effect, Martha is also showing signs of cardiovascular disease.
Logan is forced to tell Roo that there’s a real possibility that Martha is going to die.
Roo confronts Alf, who admits that he was too scared to talk about it with her.
Roo once again tries to convince her dad that they need to change Martha’s mind about the transplant if she has any hope of survival, but Alf is unwilling to compromise.
“I can’t go to Merimbula and not talk to her about it” an exasperated Roo explains to Alf.
“Then don’t go” he replies bluntly.
Will Roo be able to see her mother before it’s too late?