This chapter took a while to write. It just kept on growing and growing. I hope you enjoy it and it was worth the wait. J S I know you have issues with Ricky. She will be coming into the story for a reason but not to break up Charlie and Brax. After all she will have a wedding to photograph or will that be two weddings...

They watched as the woman with Danny bought the drinks and joined him at a table. Adam and Brax watched for a few minutes giving them time to settle down before they walked over. Brax smiled to himself when he saw the look of horror when he and Adam walked over to the table. Both men sat down and stared at him.

It was Brax who spoke first. "Fancy meeting you here."

Danny didn't answer for a minute before he replied. "The pub does have a cat he probably dragged you two in." As he spoke the brassy woman sat next to him giggled.

Brax looked at the woman next to Danny and smiled to himself. Cheryl would wipe the floor with her. His mum might have issues with the pokies and drink but one thing was you could say about her. She was a better class of woman than the one sat in front of them now.

"We want to know what your plans are. Are you coming back to Summer Bay any time soon?" Brax asked.

Danny stared at his eldest son for quite a while before he answered. "Why should I bother coming back? I have nothing there to come back for except a bunch of no good sons. Even Casey couldn't do what I wanted."

Both Brax and Adam shook their heads slowly. Brax couldn't believe what his old man said about Casey. He fought down the urge to smack Danny in the face.

It was Adam who spoke next. "What are you doing for money?" He asked.

"What has it got to do with you?" Danny replied sarcastically. He remembered just as he was about to go to jail seeing Adam strike up a friendship with his elder son. Danny took a swig of his beer before he answered him. "I have enough. I have real friends that know how to look after me. A mate has a bar and he says that I can go and stay with him. So I shall be off soon."

"More fool them," Brax muttered under his breath. Danny glared at his eldest son. "What about Kyle?" Brax asked.

"What about him." Danny replied. "He couldn't even get Casey back for what he failed to do for me. He came up here snivelling wanting help but I sent him packing."

As Danny said this both Brax and Adam felt sympathy for Kyle. Brax thought it was bad enough having Danny as a dad but if he treated Kyle like he treated him and his brothers he suddenly felt sorry for the kid. Brax and Adam glanced at each other and stood up and left Danny and the woman were they were sat.

The following morning after breakfast Brax and Adam headed for home. Brax wanted to get home quickly so he told Adam that he was happy to drive for longer. Adam persuaded Brax that it would be better and safer if they stayed overnight to break the journey up. When Brax told Adam he wanted to get home to Charlie Adam laughed.

"I never thought I would ever see you so settled with one woman. I thought you would always be single after seeing how Cheryl and Danny's marriage worked out."

"Charlie is different to Mum." Brax smiled when Adam laughed. "I know she was a cop but it is more than that. Charlie is a good woman and strong to. There is Ruby her daughter as well."

"She is going out with Casey as well. Isn't that a bit odd? You are dating your brother's girlfriend's mum."

"It took a while for Charlie to see who I was. I had to change my ways." Brax smiled as he said this. Adam knew more than anyone what Brax had to do to put food on his family's table in the past. "Buying into Angelo's was the start of something good. It gives us all a good living. Charlie has her own job at a local solicitors doing filing and answering the phone. It is part time so sometimes she helps me in the restaurant." Brax smiled before he spoke again. "Ruby is much like a daughter to me. As for her and Casey, I don't know what the future holds for them. I know they are young to be living together but Ruby is good for Casey in that she made him study when they were at school. She is going to study social work at university. Casey doesn't want to go so I don't know what he will do."

"What are you going to do about Kyle? He has got to be feeling let down big time by Danny. I bet you weren't pleased when you found him after he kidnapped Casey."

"No I wasn't. I could have killed him for what he did to Casey. He could have killed Casey leaving him in the desert like he did. But if I was honest I don't know what to do about Kyle. He might not want to have anything to do any of us. I think we will have to have a family meeting to decide what to do. Casey won't be pleased if we invite him into the family after what he did to him."

Adam made Brax pull in and book rooms in the same motel they stayed on their way up the coast. As they went into their rooms after they had eaten Adam smiled at Brax's conversation with Charlie on the phone. Adam had thought that when Brax was younger he would never settle down and here he was in a relationship.

The following morning after they had breakfast they continued on their way to the airport. When they got back to Sydney Brax left Adam at the airport and headed back to the bay for a reunion with Charlie. He laughed at her when he spoke to her when she told him she had made sure everyone would be out for the evening. Heath had been talked into staying at Irene's by Bianca and Charlie had paid for Ruby and Casey to go the pictures followed by pizza at Angelo's.

It was lunchtime the morning after Brax had arrived home that they held a family meeting to discuss what to do about Kyle. It was a heated discussion with much shouting and arguing. Casey did not want any more to do with him. He argued that Kyle had kidnapped him and would have left him for dead if Brax and Charlie had not found him and brought him home. Brax argued Kyle's side by telling everyone that Danny had conned him into doing a job for him and that even if he had succeeded Danny would have left him high and dry. After two hours no one could come to a decision so everyone went their separate ways. Charlie and Brax disappeared to the beach so that Brax could surf and Charlie watch.

That evening everyone met at Angelo's to make their final decision. The only ones not to agree with visiting Kyle were Ruby, Casey and Bianca. She felt though he should be contacted he should not be invited to join the family. Charlie voiced her doubts but she thought it was better that they knew where he was so that they could keep an eye on him.

In the end Brax made the decision to go and find Kyle and meet up with him. When everyone started to protest at his decision he said, "I am going to leave it up to him as to whether he wants contact with us. If he does then he can come up here and meet everyone. Curiosity might get the better of him and he will turn up. But if not…" Brax's voice tailed off leaving everyone with the impression that he was going to leave it up to Kyle. After that everyone at the meeting drifted away from Angelo's except Brax and Charlie. Brax went to work behind the bar and he made Charlie sit at the end of the bar so she could watch. She smiled to herself as she watched Brax work. She watched as he sliced lemons to use and thought back to the night she had first done this. It was night after Casey had left home after Cheryl had rowed with him about his schooling and he had left home and was on an official night at Leah's unlike the night before when it was anything but official.

Charlie had been sat at the bar giving the world the impression that she was just a customer at the bar having a drink when all the time she watching her secret boyfriend at work. It was also the night Tegan had turned up and she had to slip away discreetly. She remembered catching Brax cheekily winking at her as she left. Now it was different. Now they were a couple with plans for a future together. Plans that involved a child or children. Until she had met Brax she had never considered having another child. Now they were considering it seriously. They had to wait until a year after her last operation but after that who knows what was going to happen.

It was several weeks after the family meeting that Brax got a call from Adam. He had found where Kyle was living in Melbourne. Brax hadn't told the others that Adam was looking for Kyle. Brax thought after Kyle had been dumped by Danny Kyle might have disappeared not wanting to be found. Being used and dumped by Danny was not funny. Casey told him that he felt hurt that Danny had done what he had to him. He told Brax that he did not how he felt about Kyle. After what he had done to him Casey told Brax he might punch Kyle if he met him. As for how Heath felt about Kyle Brax thought it could be best described as total indifference. Heath was too busy helping Bianca with Rocco and they were busy planning their engagement party.

The day Brax got the call about Kyle he arranged to meet Charlie on the beach. He wanted to talk things over with her before he told the others. He left Angelo's after the lunch rush to walk down towards the beach. He smiled to himself as he walked as he remembered meeting Charlie here on the quiet after Tegan had turned up in the bay to dig up information about the mystery woman Brax was seeing. Sneaking around had certainly made their early time together fun. Brax was carrying a box of pizza for them to share. He had asked Charlie to bring some drink with her. When he got there Charlie was at one of the picnic benches watching the water in front of her.

"Is it bringing back memories?" Brax asked.

Charlie laughed. "What the day that Tegan saw us here or the other times we snuck around all the quiet corners round here?"

Brax put the food down on the table before he replied. "The other times we snuck around. I bought a meat feast is that alright?"

Charlie nodded and they tucked into the pizza. Charlie had brought the drinks for them. They ate the food quietly before Brax told Charlie why he wanted to meet her in secret. "I had a call from Adam this morning. He has found Kyle. He is back in Melbourne sharing a house with a young musician called Phoebe.

"What are you going to do Brax? Are you going to Melbourne to see if you can find him?"

Brax took a swig of his drink before he replied. "I thought we could go to Melbourne and have a chat to him and see what happens next."

"What about Heath. Won't he want to go with you?"

"He will want to kill Kyle for what he did to Casey so if he comes with us Heath will have to be on his best behaviour." Brax took a bite of his pizza and ate it before he continued. "Adam offered to put us up at his place but Heath won't like that either. He did jail time in juvvie for Adam so he isn't keen on Adam."

The next four days were spent getting ready for the trip to Melbourne. Heath had decided to have nothing to do with finding Kyle. He had spent the days arguing with Brax on why he shouldn't go. Brax told Heath exactly why he was going. The house was pretty tense with Charlie and Bianca keeping neutral and out of the arguments. Bianca had told Charlie that although she agreed with Heath she felt it was not her place to get involved.

Brax had decided that he and Charlie would drive down to Melbourne with the journey giving them time to plan what they were going to do when they got there. Brax was putting the bags at the front door on the morning they were planning to leave when Heath came into the living room and slung a rucksack on the pile.

"I thought you weren't coming," Brax asked his brother.

"I changed my mind. I thought you and Buckton should have the benefit of my expert help."

"OK you can come with us and no winding Charlie up." Brax told his brother. Instead of taking Brax's ute they now had to pack their bags into Charlie's car and after a breakfast stop at the diner they headed out of the bay heading for Melbourne. Despite Heaths protests that they should get there as quick as they could Brax and Charlie stopped overnight. It was evening on the third day that Charlie parked outside the hotel that Adam had booked them into. The three of them had shared the driving. Heath had spent his time when not driving talking to either Bianca or Irene checking on how Rocco was.

The following morning they awoke to wet rainy skies. Heath commented over breakfast they wouldn't be getting a surf with that weather. Over breakfast the three of then discussed how they would get Kyle to talk to them. In the end after much heated discussion it was decided that if Charlie knocked on the door and asked after Kyle he might not run. After breakfast they left the hotel and drove to the address that Adam had supplied them. Leaving Brax and Heath with her car out of sight round the corner Charlie walked up the path and knocked on the door. The door was opened and the young woman when asked if Kyle Bennett lived there replied, "He's not here. Who are you?"

What do you think has happened to Kyle? Will they find him and will he want to know them... Who will hold an engagement party?