There’s concern for Irene (Lynne McGranger) next week, as her memory issues cause her to miss a dinner date.

Irene’s finally settled back into life in Summer Bay after returning home from rehab back on February, though a couple of throwaway comments over the past few weeks have been hinting at some new underlying issues.

In a recent conversation with Alf (Ray Meagher) at the coffee cart, Irene was happy to hear that Roo (Georgie Parker)—who at the time was taking a break in Merimbula with mum Martha (Belinda Giblin)—was feeling much better after her difficult time with foster child Eliza (Martha Kate Morgan).

Later the same day, Marilyn (Emily Symons) shared the same news, and Irene again expressed her delight at hearing the update.

Confused, John (Shane Withington) was quick to point out that Alf had already told Irene that earlier, but Irene had no recollection of the conversation.

At the same time, John noticed that Irene had begun wearing her smartwatch again, something which she had stopped doing after her return from rehab as she tried to break out of following such a strict routine.

John asked about the watch, but Irene claimed to have no idea what he was going on about.

Next week, Marilyn (Emily Symons) suggests to Irene that she could finish up at the diner early and take herself out for dinner.

Irene agrees that it’s a nice idea, and decides to invite John. Whilst at one point the besties would regularly go out for dinner together, this would mark the first time since Irene came out of the clinic.

“Irene was quite cagey around John for some time, because he was the one who caught her drinking and called her out on it,” Lynne told Aussie magazine TV Week.

But with everything now rosy between them once again, John is more than happy to accept Irene’s invitation, and confirms to her via text that he’s booked them a table at Salt.

Marilyn again reiterates to Irene that she’s fine to close up the diner that evening so she can go out and enjoy herself.

So it’s with some confusion that Marilyn finds Irene cleaning the coffee machine later that evening, at a time when she should already have left and be dining with John.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to leave?” Marilyn asks.

“Well not unless you want to lock up by yourself,” Irene casually replies.

At that moment John walks in, and asks Irene what she’s doing.

Irene points out that she’s working, wondering what on earth is going on with John and Marilyn tonight, before John points out he’s been waiting in Salt for the past half an hour.

As Irene asks why he would be doing that, John reminds her that they were supposed to be having dinner. Irene is left bewildered.

Irene’s sure that John’s made a mistake, but when he pulls out his phone and shows the earlier text exchange between them, the proof is right there in black and white.

Irene’s shaken—how on earth could she have forgotten?

Irene soon changes tack, claiming that she simply changed her mind about wanting to go to Salt. Marilyn asks if it was because of the alcohol offered at Salt and Irene quickly latches onto that as an excuse, claiming she’s unsure if she can trust herself yet.

John suggests they could eat there or go back to his place, but Irene instead asks for a rain check and heads home.

As John, Marilyn and Leah (Ada Nicodemou) all share a concerned look, Irene stands outside as she tries to get her head around what just happened.

The next day, John, Leah and Marilyn share their concerns about Irene’s strange behaviour—something’s clearly off, and they all know it.

A concerned Irene listens in as they chat, and when Leah asks Irene to confirm that she’ll still be able to cover her shift the next day, Irene freezes.

Realising she’s completely forgotten, Irene quickly covers by telling Leah that yes, she remembers, and that she’s not an imbecile, before storming out.

John follows and catches up with Irene, not willing to let it go. That’s when Irene opens up. She admits she forgot they’d even made plans the night before.

And it’s not a one-off—she’s been having other forgetful moments lately. Just the other night, she suddenly found herself standing in the garden, in her nightie, with no idea how she’d got there.

John gently suggests they can’t just pretend this isn’t happening and proposes they go see a doctor together. But that’s not what Irene wanted to hear. She was hoping he’d tell her it’s nothing to worry about. So instead, she brushes it off and firmly tells him to let it go.

Will John be able to convince Irene to seek help?

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Elsewhere in Summer Bay, Eden is beginning to regret reaching out to estranged dad Jimmy (Aaron Jeffery).

Eden had refused to have anything to do with her dad since she was a teen, after he cheated on wife Deb (Tammy MacIntosh) and subsequently left the family home.

Although siblings Levi (Tristan Gorey) and Abigail (Hailey Pinto) have always maintained a relationship with Jimmy, Eden could not bring herself to forgive him.

Eden kept true to form when Jimmy briefly visited Levi in Summer Bay last year, unaware that Eden was also living there.

Eden was furious to spot Jimmy in town, and made it clear that she wanted him to leave.

With the planning for Eden’s wedding to Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) now underway, Eden recently commented to Abby that she couldn’t wait to have all the family together again.

Abby quickly pointed out that if she really meant that, she would also invite Jimmy.

After a visit to their mum confirmed that even Deb had come to forgive her ex-husband, Eden reluctantly agreed that she would invite him to the wedding.

Yet she was hit with an unexpected hurdle when Levi, who has always been one to try and convince Eden to forgive their dad, piped up that it would be a terrible idea.

When Levi went on to explain that any arguing between the pair would spoil the wedding day, Eden realised that he was right. If there was any way forward, Eden knew that she would have to clear the air with Jimmy before the wedding, and so she made the call.

Next week, Eden arrives at Cash’s place in a frenzy—she’s been talking to her dad… and somehow ended up inviting him to Summer Bay the very next day. She’s in full panic mode, but Cash reassures her he’ll be right across the street if she needs him.

The next morning, Eden puts a backup plan in motion—inviting both Levi and Abby to a BBQ with their dad, along with their partners Mackenzie (Emily Weir) and Mali (Kyle Shilling). Levi thinks it sounds like a good thing, but Abby is fully expecting the gathering to be a train wreck.

Eden scrambles to set up food as Jimmy arrives, all smiles and thrilled to see her. But no sooner has he set foot in the door than Eden turns up the frostiness.

As the rest of the family arrive, Jimmy is introduced to Mac and Mali.

But Eden’s clearly not coping, and when Jimmy commends Cash and Eden for entering into such a commitment, she quickly retreats to Remi’s (Adam Rowland) room.

Cash follows, where Eden points out that Jimmy is hardly the man to talk about commitment. Cash reminds her that she cannot fault every word that comes out of Jimmy’s mouth if she hopes to reconcile with him, and after a breather, Eden returns to the BBQ.

Jimmy’s in his element, happily mingling with Mali and Mackenzie, sharing old stories—some of which get shut down fast when he veers into Eden territory.

Mali eventually has to excuse himself, heading off to deal with some family stuff. Jimmy thanks him as he goes, explaining that it was thanks to Mali that he reconnected with Deb, which eventually led to him being here today.

As Jimmy points out it’s the first time he’s been with all three of his kids in over ten years, he thanks Eden for forgiving him, and is hopeful they can now move forward.

It’s all too much for Eden, and she makes a hasty exit to Cash’s place.

There, Eden lays it out straight to Cash. This was a test run to see if she could handle having Jimmy back in her life. Turns out, she can’t.

She tells Cash it’s time to pull the plug—Jimmy can’t be at their wedding, and she needs Cash to go tell him to leave.

Cash returns to the backyard, apologising to Jimmy as he shuts things down, but Jimmy refuses to go quietly. He’s waited ten years for this, and he’s not leaving now.

Moments later, Jimmy tracks Eden down at Cash’s place. He asks her straight—why did she invite him here?

Eden admits she wanted to see if there was a path forward, but it’s clear to her now that there isn’t.

Jimmy doesn’t accept that. If things are broken, then it’s about time they fix them—whether Eden’s ready or not!