Part 9
"You kids sure you want to be paying for rooms tonight?" Skip asked Joey and Aden as he watched them gather their bags. They had been two of the best crew he'd worked with and they'd managed to make him a very nice profit this run. If he was lucky he'd get them to come out with him on some of his shorter runs, maybe even the next long haul in the autumn. "You can use the boat if you want."
Joey had just brought the last of her bags up onto the deck and was keen to be on dry land again. Being at sea for so long was great, but the feel of solid ground again? She just wasn't willing to give it up, even for one night if she didn't have to.
"Thanks for the offer Skip but we'll be fine." She said for both of them. Aden was already moving the mass of bags onto the harbour.
Skip nodded and walked over and held out his hand first to Joey and then going to the side of the boat and shaking Aden's hand. "Been a pleasure, that's for sure. Boats going out for a four day weekend next Friday, got a spot for you both if you want it."
Aden grinned and took his hand again. "You're on, see you next Friday!" He said happily, pleased with the offer of more work.
"What about you Jo?" Cody asked as he joined them.
Joey wasn't sure what to say, she liked the idea of working on this boat again, especially with Aden already agreeing, but she had to think about it. It was early Monday morning so the boat wasn't going out again for over a week, "Can I let you know in a few days?"
Skip nodded but smiled as if she'd just said yes, "Sure you can Kid."
Cody smirked as they watched Joey throw the last of the bags over to Aden then climbed over the side to join him on the harbour.
"Don't be calling Tim before ten guys, or he'll give you the worst apartment he's got." Cody advised them as they picked up their stuff. "Just tell him his little brother sent you, he'll set you up somewhere decent, not one of the tourist joints."
Aden slung the last of his bags onto his shoulder, "Will do, thanks again for everything!"
Skip and Cody watched them both walk away from the boat, saddened that the trip had come to an end.
"Ah well, time to go see if the wife still remembers this ugly mug." Skip said slapping Cody on the shoulder before moving below deck where he had still to pack up his gear.
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"So you okay with this?" Aden asks tentatively as they walk towards the caravan park.
Joey resisted the urge to roll her eyes, they'd already discussed coming back to Summer Bay to live, even though they both admitted early on that they didn't have much to hold them here. Aden was willing to just find another long haul and take off again, but Joey needed to see if she still had any glimmer of hope at salvaging her relationship with Charlie.
If it didn't work out then chances were she'd be leaving as fast as she could, so although she was open to making her stay permanent, she accepted that her decision was in someone else's hands.
She opened the gate and waited for Aden to pass before she closed it again.
"Yeah, we can crash here today at least, or until we find somewhere else if Cody's brother doesn't have an apartment we like." She replied.
Aden grinned as they made their way up to the main house, "Cool."
"Dork!"
Aden ignored her and knocked on the door to the house. "Hello?" He poked his head inside and came face to face with Alf, who was sat at the table drinking his morning coffee.
"Well would you look at that, Aden Jefferies is back in town." Alf said getting to his feet as Aden entered through the doorway. "What can I do for you? Looking for a caravan are you?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind, should just be for a night, maybe two." Aden replied as he followed Alf over to the ledger.
"Well you're in luck then, booked up solid from Thursday. There's a big Fair coming to town, got the place buzzing I tell you." Alf explained.
Aden frowned as he didn't recall any kind of fair that came to the town at this time of year, but you couldn't complain too much as the town, and so many like it around the coast, relied on the tourists to survive.
"There you go, van twelve." Alf said handing over the keys to the younger man.
Aden took them and shoved them into the pocket of his jeans then took out his wallet.
Alf held out a hand to stop him, "You can square up when you hand the keys back."
"Okay, thanks." Aden put his wallet away and turned to leave.
"Anyone else know you're back in town?" Alf asked, suddenly remembering watching Angelo and Belle having a quiet dinner at the diner last night.
"Nah, Jo and I just landed less than an hour ago, only person we've seen so far is you." Aden replied.
"Joe?" Who does he know by that name? Alf didn't think the two Joe's he knew were who Aden was referring to.
Aden stopped halfway back out the door, "Yeah Joey, we just got done with the long haul down the coast."
Alf held the door open and followed Aden with his eyes as he walked towards a girl he instantly recognised as Joey Collins. He watched them both carry their bags in the direction of the van he'd just given them. He walked back inside as they disappeared around the corner of another van.
"Strewth! Never rains but it pours." It wasn't any of his business but he wasn't sure what to think of the arrival of Joey and Aden back in the Bay. Belle and Angelo were making a real go of their relationship and even Charlie had seemed happier in the last week or so.
What would happen now?
"I'm too old for this malarkey." Alf muttered as he moved into the kitchen.
"Too old for what Alf?" Miles asked as he joined him and set about making his own breakfast.
Alf grunted just when things in the Bay had settled down something always had to happen to stir everything up again. Maybe Sally had the right idea when she left, there's only so much drama you can put up with.
"Life." He replied as he picked up his keys and headed out for his bait shop where he was supposed to be meeting Hugo. He was just thankful that this time none of the drama to come would have anything to do with him.
Miles watched Alf leave and then shrugged, he was about to have a house full of hungry people wanting fed very soon, if Alf needed to talk he knew where to find him.
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Charlie pushed her legs as hard as she could in an attempt to catch up with Angelo who was only just beating her.
"Argh!" She cried as they passed the flag they'd been heading for and bent over gasping for breath.
Angelo grinned and tried not to look just as out of breath. He'd won but only just, and considering he ran several miles most mornings when he had the time, Charlie had really impressed him on their last few runs together.
But...
"Looks like you owe me breakfast." He pointed out smugly. "Again."
"Yeah, yeah." Charlie muttered as she slowly recovered. She'd been putting in a lot of extra time at the gym lately and as annoying as it was to lose to her friend she wasn't at all disappointed. He didn't slow for her, or treat her differently just because she was female. Roman had the few times she'd gone running with him, as if she didn't understand the advantage he had over her just because he was male. They hadn't gone running together very often because of it, she wanted pushed, and no one was as competitive with her as Angelo was so even though it meant he almost never paid for breakfast she didn't mind.
"Next time though, I'll have you." She said as they started to jog towards the diner cooling down from the last few miles they just ran.
Angelo laughed, "Sure, you just keep dreaming, some of us are just younger, in better condition, and-" He had to dodge out of the way as she tried to hit him for the age comment.
"Why you little..." Charlie took off after him as they ran the rest of the way to the diner.
Angelo collapsed laughing into a seat just outside the diner. He held up his hands as Charlie neared. "Truce?"
Charlie narrowed her eyes at him making him sweat, "Fine." She relented taking as seat next to him.
"And I'll even buy your coffee, how's that for nice?" He added still grinning.
She huffed, still a little ticked off with the age comment, "Thirty isn't exactly old you know." And it wasn't like she'd been thirty long either.
He winced not having meant his words to be taken seriously, "Charlie we've just run close to five mile, the last two of which we more or less sprinted and I beat you by what? Six feet?" He asked incredulously. "I'm the one feeling old and decrepit around here, not to mention unfit."
That made Charlie feel better, it was just that during the small get together she'd had to celebrate turning thirty Colleen had come over to see what they were up to and had made some offhand comment about how she should start thinking about settling down and starting a family soon. Of course she ignored the part about finding a nice young 'man' to settle down with.
But as she'd looked around at her friends later she realised that most were at that stage in their lives, married or in long standing relationships, with kids or with one on the way. It had also hurt that no one but Leah was aware that Ruby was in fact her daughter. Her housemate had given her a sympathetic look at Colleens mention of starting a family now that she wasn't getting any younger.
She sighed and tried to smile at Angelo, "It's fine." And it was, she just resented the fact that the one person she'd wanted with her that day was somewhere off at sea. It had made her wonder if Joey wouldn't be better off with someone her own age, they'd never really discussed it, but all this time apart left Charlie with nothing to do but question everything about them. Joey was now officially closer in age to Ruby than she was to Charlie.
Was it really possible for them to work out long term? Even Ruby's been making jokes about Joey moving in with us when she gets back. Would she even want that?
"Charlie?"
"Hmm?"
Angelo reached over and touched Charlie's arm to get her attention. "You okay?"
Shaking her head Charlie raked her hand through her hair and was about to reply when movement at the door to the diner caught her attention. "Great, just what I need."
Angelo frowned then cast a glance over his shoulder and saw Hugo leave the diner carrying a box. He turned back to Charlie, "Want me to stick around?" He asked quietly.
With another sigh Charlie shook her head, "Just make mine a strong black."
Angelo nodded and stood giving Hugo a warning glance as they passed by each other.
Hugo ignored him and moved over to Charlie, placing the box of food he'd just collected onto the table. "Hey, you guys seem to be hanging out every time I see you, people will start to wonder just who exactly it is he's dating."
"What do you care?" Charlie could have kicked herself for even engaging in conversation with him, she just wanted him to give up and leave her alone.
Hugo shrugged, "I don't," He picked his box back up. "It's just that it's been over three months Charlie and she's not coming back, why are you still blaming me?" He didn't stick around for an answer he'd said what he'd wanted to.
Angelo was confused as he returned with the coffees to find Charlie grinning in front of him.
"Okay, what did I miss?" Charlie had never looked like this before after one of Hugo's encounters, he always seemed to go out of his way to say something to upset his friend, only here she was smiling. "Is he leaving the Bay?" It wasn't likely but it was one of the only things he could think of that would make her this happy.
"I just remembered it's the twelfth today." She answered before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Uh huh?"
"Not long till Thursday."
"Uh huh?" He still didn't have a clue what she was on about.
Smiling Charlie just picked up her coffee and stood, "C'mon I'll give you a lift back and then I'll see you at work."
Angelo gave up as he followed after her, but he was suddenly wondering what was so special about Thursday.
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"What do you think?" Aden whispered into Joey's ear as Tim walked ahead of them.
Joey was really happy with the small apartment, the rent wasn't too expensive and it was really close to the beach. "I think it's great."
Aden grinned. "Me too."
The place was in a small apartment block but they were on the first floor and it had the two bedrooms they needed and an open plan kitchen and living area. It was perfect.
Tim turned as he put the keys and papers down onto the breakfast bar. "So what do you think?" He'd normally use this apartment for short term rentals, but he could only get good money for it three months out of the year and it was often empty over winter, or he let it out at a much cheaper rate. Cody had talked his ear off all morning about giving these two one of the best places he had, and this was it. Although it meant he now had to switch around some of his other bookings but he didn't mind, tourists were tourists after all.
"I think we'll take it!" Aden informed him happily.
Tim grinned. "That's great."
Joey left them to work out the details as she wandered over to the windows and stared out. She was a little nervous about doing this because it meant she was committed to staying in the Bay, she now had rent to pay, bills to pay, which meant she had to sort out some sort of work, she didn't want to rely on her savings to get by.
So if she was sticking around she'd have to announce her presence. But was she ready?
Aden hadn't been able to hold in his excitement as he showed Tim out the apartment. All that was left to do was moved their bags down from the caravan park and they'd be moved in. The place was already furnished but Tim had given the okay to change anything they wanted, within reason, and Aden had handed over first and last months rent in return for the keys.
He walked over and picked Joey up spinning her around, "Woohoo!"
Joey laughed and hit him lightly on the shoulder, "Put me down you idiot!"
He did.
"Come on admit it, this place is awesome!" He told her.
Joey nodded. "Yeah, it is."
He put his arm around her shoulder and moved them towards the door. "Tell you what I'll give you these," He said giving her a set of keys. "And you can shout me lunch before we pick up our stuff and come back here."
"Sure." That meant the diner, but maybe she'd get lucky and they'd eat somewhere else.
They both seemed to falter as they drew closer to the diner.
Joey swallowed, grateful that Aden wasn't pushing her.
"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea right now." Aden said as he stared at the place, wondering just who would be inside.
Joey frowned and looked at him. Then it hit her, he was worried about bumping into Belle.
She took hold of his hand and tugged him gently, "Can't avoid them forever."
No, guess not.
Aden had been so focused on getting Joey back with Charlie that he'd almost completely forgotten about Belle. He didn't want her back but he also hadn't meant to hurt her, she'd been a very important part of his life, but right now he didn't think it was possible for them to be friends.
Aden blew out a breath and let Joey lead him into the diner. It wasn't too busy and he could see Irene behind the counter, a quick scan of the room and he relaxed. There was a guy waiting the tables which meant Belle probably wasn't working.
He felt the grip on his hand tighten and he looked up to see Leah stood with her mouth open at the counter beside Irene.
"Oh my god! Joey?" Leah couldn't believe her eyes and quickly ran over and pulled the younger girl into a hug. "I am so happy you're back, I can't believe this. Have you called Charlie? No of course you haven't she would be here if you had." That made Leah frown as she pulled back enough to look at Joey. "Why haven't you called Charlie yet, or better still why are you back early, is everything okay?"
Joey blinked and felt a smile creep across her face, she'd missed the older woman and her son.
Aden scratched at the stubble covering his face and inched away from the pair. He had yet to mention to Joey that he'd sent Charlie a letter a few weeks ago, and now didn't seem the right time to bring it up. "I'll just go..."
Joey shook her head at him as he headed over to Irene, she'd get him later.
"So?" Leah asked still wondering if anything was wrong.
"Ah," Joey turned back to Leah who was anxiously waiting on her answer. "Nothing's wrong we just got back early, but how did you know when I was due back?"
Leah shot Aden a glance guessing he hadn't told Joey anything about his letter. She smiled as she stared at Joey, "Tell you what, you can both have anything you want, on the house. My way of saying welcome back!" She said as she moved back around the counter.
Joey walked over and crossed her arms looking from Aden to Leah, it was obvious something was going on that she didn't know about.
Aden was wondering how he could tell Joey what he did without getting hit when a shout from the doorway got their attention.
"Joey!"
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AN/
There's really only one of two people that could be but find out next time :p
