According to them, the crash was simply a tragic accident—one Jo barely remembers due to the trauma of the event. To this day, Jo claims she cannot recall exactly what caused the vehicle to lose control.

For Lacey, however, that explanation has never been enough. Since David and Jo arrived in Summer Bay, Lacey has done everything possible to keep them at arm’s length.

Her hostility reached a boiling point when Jo attempted to talk things through at the Surf Club. What began as a tense conversation quickly escalated into a heated confrontation

that spilled into the nearby parklands—ending with Lacey striking her sister after refusing to back down. Yet despite the bitterness, a fragile opportunity for reconciliation briefly appeared in the coming week.

David decides it’s finally time to tell Lacey something he knows will upset her. Unfortunately, his attempt to soften the blow fails immediately when Lacey makes it clear she intends to keep pretending he doesn’t exist.

Determined to proceed anyway, David seeks help from Theo, asking him to be nearby when he shares the difficult news with Lacey. But when Lacey witnesses the conversation from a distance, she immediately feels betrayed—believing Theo has sided with her estranged father.

Their argument later erupts at Salt, just as David arrives carrying a suitcase.

The moment instantly raises alarm. When Lacey demands to know what he’s doing with her belongings, David finally reveals the truth: he has sold their family home.

The house, filled with memories of their mother, was simply too painful for him to remain in. Before leaving, he packed several personal items he believed Lacey might want to keep—pieces of her childhood that once meant everything to their family.

Later that night, still shaken, Lacey sits with Theo in the diner apartment and reluctantly begins sorting through the suitcase.

Inside are fragments of a life she thought she had buried—family photographs, childhood keepsakes, and even the ballet shoes she wore as a little girl. As the memories flood back, her hardened exterior begins to crack.

“I just miss her so much,” Lacey confesses quietly.

The emotional moment brings unexpected comfort as Theo helps her rediscover stories from her past—her time on the netball team, her role as student council president, and the childhood nights she couldn’t sleep without a beloved teddy bear.

For the first time in months, Lacey begins to reconsider the possibility that her father may still care more than she realized.

The following morning, she sends David a message asking to meet.

Their conversation on the beach begins cautiously but soon softens as David apologizes for selling the house without speaking to her first. He explains that the home had become unbearable without her mother’s presence and that moving to Summer Bay was his attempt at a fresh start.

For a brief moment, it seems father and daughter might finally be finding common ground.

But then David makes a devastating mistake.

When Lacey excitedly mentions finding her ballet shoes in the suitcase, David fondly recalls the day “they took her to the dance shop to choose them.” There’s just one problem.

That memory wasn’t Lacey’s.

It belonged to Jo.

The painful mix-up instantly shatters the fragile progress they had made. Feeling once again overshadowed by the sister she resents, Lacey storms away in fury, leaving David standing alone on the sand.

Elsewhere, Jo faces her own complicated emotional journey as she navigates a growing attraction to Tane Parata.

What started as a rocky encounter after Tane repaired her broken-down car has gradually evolved into something more promising. Encouraged by her father to build friendships in the Bay, Jo even gathered the courage to ask him on a date.

But their romantic spark quickly collided with reality when Harper unexpectedly appeared needing a babysitter for Archie—revealing to Jo that Tane’s life was far more complicated than she realized.

Though Harper later assures Jo that Tane is free to move on, the emotional baggage surrounding his past proves overwhelming.

When Tane eventually asks Jo out again, she makes a surprising decision.

Despite their chemistry, Jo turns him down—convinced that the complications surrounding his life are simply more than she can handle right now.

With family wounds reopening and relationships becoming increasingly tangled, the coming weeks promise explosive emotional consequences for everyone involved in Summer Bay.

And if recent events are any indication, peace for the Langham family may still be a very long way off.