Bed Of Roses

Louisa is embarking on a new chapter of her life as co-owner and editor of the Rainbow's End Echo. She is in love with Nick, and her daughter Holly is planning to attend university in Melbourne. Everything seems perfect in Louisa's life until the bubble bursts. Months after Sandy's death, Minna is gripped with a grief that threatens to sink her.

Louisa is derailed when she loses her engagement ring, finds Holly is considering a gap year and hears Minna is planning to drive again. Then on top of it all, she uncovers a damaging story about Sean's father and is forced to grapple with her duty to report the truth or to protect Sean and his Dad.

When Louisa helps a local woman whose husband has left her, she learns the extent of the childcare crisis and gets some firsthand experience at caring for a baby with Nick. Meanwhile, the new priest in town is bothering Minna and seems determined to support her in her grief.

Minna wants to take up ballroom dancing again, but her plans are derailed by a burglar in her home. Meanwhile, Nick unwittingly forces Louise to confront her fear of marriage by insisting they replace her old bed.

Rainbow's End is divided over the Domestic Cat Regulations. Louisa finds that her two closest friends, Deb and Marg, fall on opposite sides of the argument. Marg's suggestion of pre-marriage counselling leads Louisa to a secret that Nick has been keeping.

Minna's estranged sister Frida arrives in Rainbow's End to launch her new book and sparks fly between them. Meanwhile, Holly sets about trying to save her favourite trees but in the process, both she and Minna discover that it's all too easy to waste one's life living in the past.

Rainbow's End gets a visit from the Army. Whilst in town, a member of the Army recognises Nick from his time spent in Queensland and the rumours spread like wildfire. Holly and Sean have a fight and he later turns to the army leader but Holly finds out. Elsewhere, Minna accuses Frida of using Holly's relationship in her writing.

When a teenage boy arrives to reconnect with Nick, Louisa welcomes him into her home until his errant ways drive a wedge between her and Nick. A fundraising concert acts as a catalyst for Minna and Frida to have a long-overdue heart-to-heart, while Holly's broken heart provokes uncharacteristic behaviour.

When Deb receives shocking news, Louisa and Marg try to support her through an emotional minefield. Louisa writes a profile on a local winemaker who might be able to resolve Deb's problems - until he also proves to be the right man to distract Holly from her heartbreak.

Marg pressures Gavin into selling their business so that she can renovate the pub. At the same time, Gavin's first foray into writing doesn't get the thumbs up from Louisa. Later, he suffers a heart-attack but it does some good by bringing Marg and him back together.

It is a week before Louisa and Nick's wedding, and Louisa is still without a dress, so she sets off on a shopping excursion to Melbourne with her mother and daughter. But the weekend does not go as planned, and monumental revelations come to light. Meanwhile, Nick experiences his misery when he is injured on a fishing trip with Sean.

Louisa wants for nothing more than to be married to Nick, but things are not going according to plan. With adverse weather conditions and fire warnings, Rainbow's End is instructed to enact their fire plans and Nick is called to duty with the CFA to fight the fires.