Having been caught going through the belongings in the parked car, Jack is confronted by Heather, Tam’s mother, who soon changes her tune when she realises that he’s a cop – even if by then she’s already revealed enough for him to realise that she and her daughter have been living in their car. The events of the day – not least a police warning that they’ll have to start playing by the rules and use a caravan park if they’re going to keep up their current living arrangement – are enough to prompt Heather into action; it’s time to track down the family she’s been looking for. Cue a particularly shocked Brad, who the next day finds himself drawn away from another work-related clash with Sally by the news that he has a half-sister he never even knew about. Naturally, Rachel shares Brad's utter astonishment as Heather explains that she had an affair with their father for years and found herself cast aside when she fell pregnant with Tam; it was a condition of her receiving maintenance payments that she moved away. But why tell them all this now? Well, it turns out that Heather is struggling with a gambling addiction; she’s managed to get a place on six-week rehabilitation programme but needs someone to look after Tam while she’s there. And, of course, that’s where Brad and Rachel come in. As both of them point out, though, they’re hardly in the position to be assuming responsibility for a teenager; the best they can do is to arrange an appointment with a social worker. Little do they know that Heather’s not really one to take no for an answer…Unlikely friendsMeanwhile, Rory’s thrilled when Jack makes him a gift of his recently returned watch, and even more so when he proposes that the two of them spend more time together by enrolling in diving lessons – only, once again falling victim to bullying, it’s no sooner than Rory’s been given his new keepsake that a bully’s taken off with it.Still, his spirits are slightly lifted when he runs into Tam on the beach and, her also feeling the worse for wear after her earlier meeting with her estranged siblings, the pair of them manage to find some common ground as they talk over their problems. Better yet, Tam determines to make amends for the events of the day before by retrieving his watch for him – which will probably make his reaction to what happens next slightly more positive than that of Rachel and Brad. You see, having had no success at finding her daughter a place to stay, Heather decides to go ahead with her plans and leaves the Bay without a forwarding address; when Rachel returns home with Brad, they’re faced with a truculent, angry and upset fifteen-year-old girl sitting on the doorstep.

‘She was never going to take no for an answer,’ Tam says, reading the look of surprise on their faces. ‘Sorry, you’re stuck with me.’

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