Chapter Twenty One

"This has been such a wonderful weekend," Joey mused.

It was Sunday afternoon and she was reluctantly packing her things to go home. She loved spending time with Charlie and she was starting to live for the days that she got to see her. They were taking things very slowly but Joey was pleased to be receiving some vague memories of her past life. Plus, kissing the pretty police officer was an experience she very much enjoyed.

"It's been wonderful," Charlie agreed.

She was perched on the edge of the bed she gave up for the weekends, smiling gently at the woman she loved. It still felt unreal to have been given a second chance to win Joey's heart. She missed her terribly between visits, even though they had started talking on the phone or the Internet every day in between.

"Are you free next weekend?" Joey asked hopefully, zipping up her bag and sitting beside her.

"Joey, I'm free every weekend you want to spend with me," Charlie said earnestly.

Joey couldn't help but smile. She leant in and brushed her lips against Charlie's. She smiled more when she was gratefully received.

"I'm free all the time," she said when she pulled away. "I didn't have a life until I met you."

Charlie stroked her cheek, kissing her again.

"Well, maybe you could stay for longer sometime?" she suggested. "Like, you could come for a week or...?"

"Won't Ruby and Leah mind?" Joey wondered. "And wouldn't you? I mean, it's a big ask to get you to share a room with your daughter for an extended period."

"It's fine," Charlie assured her. "We did it for weeks when you stayed here the first time. Nobody minds."

"I just don't want to be a burden," Joey said uncertainly.

Charlie caught hold of her hand, tilting her face to gaze into her eyes.

"You could never be a burden," she said firmly.

Joey smiled a little shyly.

"As long as you're sure, I'd love to come and stay for a bit," she said. "And if you didn't mind, I'd love to keep doing the things we've been doing."

She coloured when Charlie raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Like recreating conversations and stuff!" she said, swatting Charlie playfully on the arm.

Charlie giggled.

"I'm sure that could be arranged," she said. "And I have one more left for this weekend when I take you home."

"You do?"

Charlie nodded but didn't elaborate.

"I'd love to meet some more people too," Joey ventured. "I mean, it's been really nice spending time with Ruby and Leah. I like Casey. And VJ is awesome. But maybe you could introduce me to some of the people I used to know? Would that be okay?"

"That would be fine," Charlie said, although she was immediately panicked about Joey encountering someone who might tell her the truth before she did.

"And um... well, what do you think about me trying to make contact with my brother?" Joey asked. "What did you say his name was? Ben?"

"Brett," Charlie said.

Joey nodded, repeating his name.

"Do you think I could do that?" she asked. "Or did we leave things too badly? I mean, you're the person who would know – not me."

Charlie swallowed uncertainly. Brett was exactly the person who would tell Joey the whole truth, possibly embellishing things.

"Maybe you should hold off on that for a little while," she said, feeling guilty at putting her off. "Just until you're feeling a little less vulnerable."

"I don't think I'm going to," Joey admitted. "I mean, I'm happier than I've been in two years but until I remember everything I'm supposed to, I don't think I'll stop being afraid of my own shadow."

Charlie sighed and nodded. She put her arm around Joey's shoulders.

"Well, maybe when you're staying here for a bit longer," she said. "When you've remembered a bit more and you're at least feeling a little bit more settled."

Joey smiled and nodded, thanking her.

Having had a lovely and very filling dinner with Leah, Miles, VJ and Ruby, Charlie drove Joey out of Summer Bay and towards the place she reluctantly called home.

"So when is this re-enactment going to happen?" Joey wondered.

Charlie smiled a little shyly and pulled up in the car park by the beach.

"Now," she said, killing the engine.

Joey continued to look confused.

"It was right here, like this that I first told you I loved you," Charlie explained.

Joey looked startled and then elated.

"What happened?" she asked, eager for details.

"Well, we hadn't spoken for a little while," Charlie said, gazing into Joey's eyes. "Eleven excruciating days, actually."

"Not that you counted," Joey smirked.

"Not that I counted!" Charlie agreed with a laugh. "You called the police about an assault you'd witnessed and when I'd finished dealing with the situation, I tried to smile at you but you just ignored me."

"I'm sorry," Joey said.

Charlie reached out and squeezed her hand.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to apologise for things you don't remember," she said gently. "And besides, you didn't do anything wrong then either. You weren't talking to me because I broke your heart."

"By telling me that you didn't want to be with me?" Joey asked.

Charlie had less than enthusiastically told her about one of several goodbyes at the house.

"By telling you that even though I wanted to, I couldn't," Charlie corrected.

Not wanting to be with Joey had never been the issue. Joey nodded and apologised again. Charlie chuckled and shook her head.

"I spoke to you later that same day," she said. "And we had a brief conversation. You told me that I'd broken your heart and I admitted that I'd broken mine too. And we had this moment..."

"Moment?"

"It's hard to explain in words," Charlie said. "It's like, we looked at each other and we just knew how we both felt."

Joey smiled, wishing that it was a memory she could hold onto.

"But I got called away. I was making dinner at home when you knocked on the door and asked to talk. You'd accepted a job on a long haul but you gave me one last chance to be with you."

Charlie closed her eyes, picturing the moment that they had finally got together.

"I drove us down here on a night like this," she said, gesturing to the world around them. "And we talked things through properly for really the first time. I'd been pretty guarded up to that point, unable to explain how I really felt. I told you how scared I was about the way people might judge me if I was with you. I was worried about work and Ruby and the rest of the Bay."

"You were embarrassed to be with me?" Joey wondered.

Charlie looked up sharply. Joey jumped in surprise and quickly apologised if she'd said something wrong. A tear rolled down Charlie's cheek, landing on her lips as she smiled.

"What?" Joey asked nervously.

"That was what you asked me that night," Charlie said.

Joey's eyes widened and her smile was dazzling.

"I did?" she asked hopefully.

Charlie nodded.

"You did," she confirmed. "Can you... can you remember it at all?"

Joey closed her eyes, trying to imagine the scene but sighed and shook her head when nothing came.

"I told you that you were simplifying things but you countered that for you it was simple."

Joey kept her eyes closed. Her heart raced as she imagined everything Charlie told her.

"You told me how you felt about me and then you asked me if I wanted to be with you," the police officer explained. "I said I did. You touched my face. Like this..."

Joey opened her eyes as Charlie lifted her hand to cup her face. She became tearful as she saw the same image in her minds eye. It felt like something she knew.

"And I held your hand," Charlie said. "You told me again that you were in love with me and I told you that I loved you too."

She smiled.

"Then you smiled at me and asked what we were going to do about it," she said.

Joey heard her own voice in her head. She knew she was on the cusp of remembering. And she wanted it so badly.

"I still remember the way you looked in the moonlight," Charlie ventured. "I looked at you and I thought you were the most beautiful woman in the world. No, more than that... the most beautiful person. I could hardly believe I was on the edge of being with someone as amazing as you. I was terrified but also, I knew I was the luckiest person in the world."

Joey opened her eyes.

"Then we kissed," Charlie said.

As she leant forward, Joey was able to picture how it had been that night with genuine clarity. As Charlie kissed her tenderly, the memory of their first night together suddenly hit her in waves. Pulling away, Charlie gazed into Joey's eyes, trying to read her expression.

"I remember," Joey almost whispered. "We kissed for ages. We got cramp from being so uncomfortable in the seats, so restricted."

Charlie smiled, nodding emphatically.

"And then you called Ruby and told her you had to work all night," Joey said. "And then we went to a hotel."

They both blushed at the memory. Joey shook her head, bewildered and embarrassed and she remembered significant details of the night they had spent together. Her lip trembled as she pulled Charlie closer to her. She closed her eyes, clutching Charlie tightly and pressing her lips against her neck.

"I remember," she whispered again. "I remember."

Charlie wrapped her arms tightly around Joey's waist.

"I mean, I only remember that night," Joey added. "But that's more than anything I've managed before. It feels like a miracle. I can't believe I remember so much, Charlie. Thank you."

They kissed as night began to fall.

Next time... Joey has another memory and Charlie finally confesses...