I Kissed Ya

Chapter 49

Charlie sat down on the kitchen floor and sighed. She looked around at the many half filled boxes which adorned the room, wondering how long it would take to fill them all.

"Rubes!" She yelled, wiping away a bead of perspiration.

"Yeah!"

"You wouldn't like to make your poor old sister a coffee, would you?"

"No, I'm busy packing!"

Charlie tutted and sighed just as Joey entered the house with a bag of goodies from The Diner.

"Lunch!" Joey said, holding up the bag and smiling.

"Oh! What a wonderful sight!" Charlie smiled. "Give me a hand up. Think my legs have got stuck being in the same position for too long!" She said, holding out her hand.

Joey grinned and pulled her up.

"Want a coldy or a coffee?" Joey asked, placing the lunch bag in the only vacant spot on the kitchen table.

"Coffee please."

"How's it going or shouldn't I ask?" Joey said, grimacing as she looked around the box-littered room.

"It's not! I'm afraid I'm not very good at this sort of thing. I can never get my head around what I will need first at the other end and what is delicate or whatever! Are you working this afternoon?" Charlie asked; her eyes pleading for Joey's help.

"No, that's why I'm here, and I thought I'd bring sustenance; I guessed there wouldn't be much organisation around these parts! Do you know, for one who has such an acute mind when it comes to sussing out the criminal fraternity, you're absolutely pants when it comes to sorting out a few kitchen utensils!" Joey teased.

Charlie frowned anxiously at her organisation skills.

"I'm pretty useless, I know."

"No, darling, you're pretty, but useless!" Joey grinned.

Charlie smiled into the steaming, polystyrene coffee cup from The Diner which Joey handed to her.

"Ooh! Lovely." She murmured.

"Ruby!" Joey called. "Come and have some lunch!"

The thunder of running feet was heard as 'little' Buckton rushed through from the lounge.

"Hey Jo! What's to eat?"

"Help yourself!" Joey said, indicating to the bag on the table.

Ruby rummaged through, 'Ooh-ing' and 'Ah-ing' at the delights which Joey had to offer. Her feelings for Joey had relaxed and she was no longer secretly embarrassed when Joey was around. She was still very much aware of Joey and attracted to her, but the feelings which had once threatened the happiness of their lives together, were now subdued into something like hero-worship rather than hopeless devotion.

"Notice you're not too busy to come and eat!" Charlie remarked to her sister; winking at Joey.

"Yes, but food is more important than a silly old cup of coffee!" Ruby said, breaking into a Tuna pasta salad pot.

Joey grinned at the sisters. Life with the Buckton's wasn't ever going to be dull.

The three girls cleared a space on the floor to enjoy a carpet picnic; taking a break for an hour before continuing to pack boxes again, ready for transportation to their new home, over the other side of Summer Bay.

***

"What time is the removals van due tomorrow?" Joey asked as she and Charlie lifted a full crate between them.

"At about eight o'clock."

"Good. If I get here at six, that'll give us time to strip the beds and get breakfast over with before the guys arrive." Joey said, making a few mental notes.

"Six?" Charlie said, looking at Joey with a shocked expression.

"The earlier the better!" Joey advised.

"I was thinking more like seven!" Charlie said frowning.

"Six is my advice."

"Aren't you gonna stay over with me tonight; to give moral support, I mean?"

"Darling, if I stay over, we will get side-tracked and then we'll be up late in the morning; the guys will be banging on the door and we'll still be in our jim-jams or more than likely out of 'em!" Joey predicted as they lowered the heavy crate.

Charlie pouted; glancing side-ways at Joey. Joey grinned and leaned over to kiss Charlie on the lips.

"Sorry, am I being bossy and boring?"

"No." Charlie said, sitting down on the crate and encouraging Joey to straddle her lap. "You're talking wise-words as always!"

Joey sat on Charlie and studied her dirty face.

"You know, even with streaks of dirt on your face, you are still captivatingly beautiful, Goddess!"

"Don't feel much like a Goddess at the moment, I must confess!"

Joey smiled and kissed Charlie again. This time the kiss lasted longer and all thoughts of packing and moving home started to fade away as soft lips and eager, dancing tongues began to inspire a fairy-land of opportunity. Hands began to wander and breath became shorter. Fingers began to open shirts and lips and tongues caressed warm, salty bodies.

"Oh for goodness sake, you two! Isn't there time for all that when we've moved!" Ruby declared as she walked into the room.

Charlie and Joey scrambled to do up buttons and giggled nervously at being caught out.

"Stop creeping around!" Charlie scolded.

"I wasn't!" Ruby squeaked. "I was yelling for help to drag this dirty great box in, but seeing that everyone was far too busy with their own pursuits, I managed it by myself!"

"You're such a hero, Rubes! Shows what you can achieve when you put your mind to it!" Charlie grinned.

"Yeah! And if I pull a muscle, I will be a useless, achievable hero!"

"She's right!" Joey said, kissing Charlie's cheek and getting off her lap. "Let's get back to it ... and I don't mean what you think, either!" She grinned, quelling Charlie's saucy look.

"Spoil sport." Charlie murmured in Joey's ear. "You wait until we get moved in! You'll be in such trouble then!"

"Yeah! But just make sure we've unpacked first!" Ruby said, overhearing Charlie's apparent suggestion.

"Big ears!"

***

The packing continued with only one or two little skirmishes of sisterly-bickering or over-heated passions. By eleven thirty that night, Joey had managed to organise all the crates into a system where they were numbered and contents listed for easy access. She had dispatched Ruby and Charlie in turn, to the shower room and had made hot chocolate drinks ready for bed. She checked all the rooms once more and when convinced all was well, tucked Charlie into bed with an over-long goodnight kiss and left the house ready to make her way back to the caravan. Her own possessions from her flat were in storage and ready to be moved into their new home whenever necessary. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

After arriving back at the caravan, she fell gratefully onto her bed, remembering to set the alarm for five fifteen a.m. She would need to wake Charlie and Ruby; of this she had no doubt, so needed to be up and ready before their deadline.

***

Joey reached the Buckton household at ten to six the following morning. She quietly let herself in with the spare key which Charlie had awarded her and switched on the kettle. She made three cups of coffee and popped bread into the toaster ready for breakfast. She was surprised when Charlie entered the kitchen with a yawn.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Charlie asked with bleary eyes as she leaned against Joey's back.

"Good morning! I came to wake you up with breakfast in bed!" Joey said with a smile. "But it doesn't look as if it was necessary!"

Charlie smiled sleepily as Joey turned and handed her a coffee.

"How did you sleep?"

"Like a log! I was so knackered!" Charlie admitted; sipping the hot drink.

"Well, big day for us all! Any regrets?" Joey said, sheepishly.

Charlie smiled.

"None whatsoever! You?"

"Only one."

Charlie frowned anxiously at Joey.

"What's that?"

"Just wish I'd remembered to bring some jam with me for the toast!"

Charlie chuckled and smacked Joey's bottom.

"You rotter! You got me all worried for a moment!"

Joey grinned and couldn't resist holding Charlie in her arms for a few minutes. Charlie smelt warm and bed-like and Joey was tempted to accompany Charlie back to the sheets for fifteen minutes or so, but sense prevailed and instead, buttered some toast.

***

"The removal guys are here!" Ruby yelled from the lounge window.

"Oh God!" Charlie cried, anxiously.

"Don't panic!" Joey said, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. "Everything is in apple-pie order. Nothing will go wrong!"

"Wish I had your optimism!" Charlie said holding on tightly to Joey.

The removal men started to load the crates and furniture into the van and Joey dispatched Ruby to The Diner to pick up lunch which she had specially ordered the day before. Charlie stripped the beds and packed away the linen in 'Pinky' and Joey washed up the last of the kitchen ware.

Ruby and 'lunch' headed for the new house; it was her job to be there to open up and air the house before the arrival of the removals van. Joey was to travel in 'Pinky' alongside the van and Charlie was to remain behind to do last minute tidying and checks before locking up and leaving the keys with the renting agent.

***

"Hey Rubes!" Joey said as she arrived at the new house. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah! I've opened up all the windows and doors as Charlie told me to and have put lunch in that little room; it's fairly cool and dark in there. Colleen wanted to know how everything was going and has threatened to pay us a visit later, with a pot of soup!"

"Oh great! Just what we need on a boiling hot day! Still, it's the thought that counts. Oops! Here come the guys with the first of the stuff!"

***

Charlie arrived at the new house an hour after the removals van, and shuddered at the thought of what might be going on inside. She walked in with timidity but was pleasantly surprised to find Joey had stage-managed everyone to perfection and so far, everything was going to plan.

"Hi hun! Everything okay with you?" Joey called brightly when she saw Charlie.

"Yeah! Looks like everything's going well here, too!"

"Not bad. Ruby is in charge of bedrooms and I'm doing kitchen and bathroom. Can you do the lounge?"

"Yeah." Charlie said gratefully; pleased that Joey was in charge.

***

By lunch time, the removals men had left and the girls were left alone to organise their new home.

"Well, I'm starving!" Ruby announced.

"A good enough reason to stop and eat, then!" Joey grinned.

Ruby ran to the cool, dark room and recovered the bag of lunch things. Charlie laid the food out on the table and the girls sat down gratefully to eat. Charlie suddenly disappeared out into her car and came back brandishing a bottle of sparkling wine.

"It's not very cold, but I thought it would be nice for a toast to our new home!"

"Do we have any glasses?" Ruby asked, fearfully.

"Yep! In that cupboard over there!" Joey announced proudly.

"She's right, too!" Ruby grinned, producing three wine glasses.

"Coo-ee! Anyone there?"

The three girls glanced at each other and grimaced as they recognised the dulcet tones of Colleen Smart.

"Come in, Colleen! The door's open!" Charlie cried.

"Oh thank you!" Colleen called as she bustled in with a large pot in her hand. "My! Aren't you all cosy?"

"Well, we will be once we've got everything unpacked." Joey grinned. "Would you like a glass of ...?"

"Ooh! I really shouldn't." Colleen said, sitting herself at the table, picking up a wine glass and holding it out for Joey to pour.

Joey glanced at Charlie who was struggling to suppress a smile.

"Well, here's to you all in your new home! May you have many years of happiness and few struggles. Cheers!" Colleen said as she glugged down the whole glass in one take then, holding it out again for a re-fill.

The three girls stared in disbelief as the middle-aged woman smacked her lips appreciatively.

"I told Ruby I was going to drop this over. It's something for you to eat this evening. Enjoy!" She said, rising and wobbling. "Ooh dear! I think that lemonade was a little stronger than I appreciated!" Colleen said, stabilising herself against the table.

"Would you like another?" Joey asked innocently.

Charlie shot her a look.

"No dear! I have the afternoon shift at The Diner to do, so I must get back. Bye for now!" She called as she staggered towards the door.

"I think I'd better drive Colleen back to work!" Charlie said, grabbing her arm.

"Thank you for the soup, Colleen! We really do appreciate it and when we're settled, you must come over for a proper visit!" Joey suggested, kindly.

"Oh! How kind. Maybe next week sometime?" Colleen suggested.

All three girls glanced at each other and frowned.

"Yes, maybe... let's just get you back to work first." Charlie said, steering Colleen to the door.

"Thank you, Senior Constable Buckton. I'm much obliged to you! Hic!"

Ruby and Joey grinned at Charlie as she pulled a face at them.

"Good Lord! She sure knows how to drink!" Joey laughed as she set out some plates on the table.

***

It wasn't long before Charlie chuckled her way back into the kitchen.

"What's so funny?" Ruby asked as her sister sat down at the table.

"Irene's face as Colleen staggered into The Diner!"

"I hope she'll be alright!" Joey said with a tinge of conscience.

"She'll be fine. Irene stuffed a muffin down Colleen's throat; that'll soak it up! So, lunch...I'm starving!"