Chapter Forty Three

Grant was frustrated at Ruby continuing to refuse to speak to him. He had gone to the school several times over the last day but she kept shutting him down. She ignored his texts and phones calls and had now turned her phone off completely.

Leaving the school, he drove back into Summer Bay to go for a coffee and reconvene with his thoughts. He was determined to come up with a new plan of action.


The pain was definitely getting worse. And more frequent. And Joey couldn't get hold of Charlie. She looked at the clock. She had three hours to go until she finished work for the day. She touched her tummy.

"Can you please hold your horses, little one?" she asked her unborn child. "I just really need to get in touch with Mummy Charlie before you propel me to the hospital. We really don't want to be doing this without her, okay?"

She eased out a breath and closed her eyes before grabbing her phone and trying to call her girlfriend again.


"Why don't we get some fresh air and talk the case through?" Angelo suggested, once he and Charlie had collected their lunches and coffees and headed back out of the Diner.

"Um… I guess we could," Charlie said. "Although I told Joey I'd be at the station all day."

Angelo took a chance, hoping that his colleague wouldn't check for her phone.

"She can call you if she runs into any problems," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said. "Beach?"

"Sure," he said, relieved that she trusted her memory of putting her phone in her bag.

They walked down together. Suddenly, Charlie stopped abruptly and dropped her lunch and drink.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded.

Angelo hurried after Charlie as she charged up to a man he vaguely recognised from a photo that had been sent round the police station. He was in no doubt that this level of anger could only mean that the person in front of them was Grant – Ruby's father, Charlie's rapist.

"Just taking a stroll," Grant drawled. "You?"

"I am warning you now to get the hell away from me and my family," Charlie told him.

Angelo was startled by her tone of voice. It wasn't something he had ever heard from her before. He was suddenly a little worried about getting caught over hiding her phone.

"I believe you approached me," Grant replied, not fussed at all by how angry she was. "Just like our daughter approached me the other week."

"Don't you dare refer to her like that," Charlie snarled. "Ruby is my daughter. She is nothing to do with you and she never will be."

Grant looked cocky. Angelo was torn between admiration and disgust over his bravado.

"But we're bonding so well," he said. "I'm really enjoying our meetings."

Charlie stared at him in shock. Grant was pleased to have hit his target.

"Hasn't she told you about the time we've been spending together?" Grant asked smugly.

"You've been spending time with Ruby?" Charlie asked, her voice shaky and small.

Angelo stepped a little closer behind her, feeling protective.

"Yeah, yeah, it's been great getting to know my little girl," Grant said. "Well, she's almost grown now really but it's all so new, just getting to know her and everything. I gave her my number that first day when you took your little girlfriend to the hospital. She called and we've met a fair few times since then. You've raised her well, Charlie. Oh, wait. You didn't raise her, did you? You lied to her. Just like you lied to your girlfriend when you fucked some guy behind her back."

He peered at Angelo for a moment.

"Was is this guy?" he asked. "Because he's puffing out his chest and looking like he wants to play the big man right about now. Are you fucking him too? Are you lying to that chick now?"

He stepped closer to Charlie. She shrank back in revulsion.

"Your whole life has pretty much been a lie, hasn't it, Charlie?" he asked. "So why the hell do you think Ruby or anyone is ever going to believe anything you say about me?"

He stepped back.

"Catch you later," he said. "Maybe at parents evening or something."


Feeling fretful, Ruby escaped school and went to see Geoff. The moment she arrived at the house, she blurted out her whole confession. She didn't even care if he judged her. She wanted him to judge her. She deserved it. But she needed to unburden herself and find a way forward. All she wanted now was to get rid of Grant and be with her family – Charlie, Joey and the babies. Them and Geoff were all the mattered to her now. She had learnt her lesson. She just hoped she hadn't learnt it too late.


Angelo had barely managed to get into the car before Charlie had sped off furiously back to the police station. In a state after her confrontation with Grant, she had tried to call Joey, only to find her phone missing.

"Charlie, calm down," Angelo begged.

"No, I will not calm down," Charlie replied, flinging the car into a space and leaping back out of it.

Angelo pelted after her, somewhat panicked himself as she stormed into her office, frantically trying to find her phone. She furrowed her brow as she couldn't find it on her desk. She shook out her bag, a tremble beginning to take over her body.

"Where the fuck is my phone?" she demanded.

Angelo shrugged, trying not to look at the drawer he'd shoved it into earlier.

"Would you phone me?" she barked.

He pulled out his own mobile and dialled obediently.

"It's ringing," he said.

"Well, where the fuck is it?" Charlie asked, panic beginning to take over.

She mentally went over her steps, wondering where she could have lost it between here and the Diner, up to her confrontation with Grant.

"It's fine, Charlie," Angelo said calmly, trying to take control without giving himself away. "We'll find it."

"It could be anywhere!" Charlie snapped.

She began rummaging around on the desk. Angelo's eyes widened in horror as she messed up all their paperwork, not caring about anything other than finding her precious device. Charlie's heart pounded as she tried not to panic. She threw open a drawer in desperation, thinking it a stupid thing to do. There was no way it could have got in there by accident. She stopped. There it was. She grabbed it urgently and lit up the screen, her alarm growing when she saw the number of texts and calls she had missed from Joey. She also noted that it was on silent. Turning, she fixed her eyes on Angelo, whose face gave everything away. She was about to scream at him, her blood pressure undoubtedly going through the roof when Watson poked her head round the door.

"Charlie, um, sorry to interrupt but Joey's been calling you," she said. "She asked if you could pick her up from work."

Leaving Angelo without so much as a backwards glance, Charlie kept hold of her phone and her bag, thanked Watson and headed back out of the police station.


"Rubes, you need to be honest with Charlie and Joey," Geoff told his girlfriend. "You don't know what this Grant guy is capable of. Well, you do. That's the point."

Ruby sighed and hung her head. She was relieved that he was at least being gentle with her, even if he was horrified by what she had done.

"He's not going away, Ruby," he said. "And all it's going to take is one conversation with Charlie and he'd probably love to tell her that you've been spending time with him. It'd break her heart doubly if it came from him and not you. You've got to stand up and be honest with her. Tell the truth."

"I guess…" Ruby said unhappily.

"And you've got to do it now," Geoff urged. "Before you get caught out."

Ruby reached out and hugged him. She took a breath and turned her phone on, only to find she had an urgent message from Joey, telling her to call as soon as she could. Sarah was on her way.


Next time… Sarah arrives!