Chapter 10

Charge finished work, closed the office and headed for home. He decided to pick up a bottle of wine, and a tub of ice-cream for the kids. He briefly entertained the thought of flowers for Amy, but dismissed the idea – she would be horribly embarrassed. Tonight's dinner wasn't a date, it was more of an honesty session.

I'll talk about that day, he thought, and listen to her story. It might do us good. But it stops at forgiving Mike Bloody Flynn -again Charge felt the anger surge against his former boss. He forced it down, and walked into his house. He headed for the shower and decided to spruce himself up a bit. Casual, but neat dress. This was an important night…

Amy tidied the house quickly, and asked her kids to set the table. Kristy , always quick on the uptake asked, "Who's coming?"

"Andy Thorpe, my boss at work."

Emmett chimed in: "Oh yeah, that big bloke I sometimes see practising his golf near the footy field. You like him Mum?"

"Never mind. Just get ready for dinner, will you?" Amy was in a flurry of grabbing plates, finding glasses and checking the roast. Don't know why I'm doing a roast in summer, she thought. And why am I so nervous?

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Emmett went to open it.

"G'day. I'm Andy. You must be Emmett."

"Yeah, come in, Mum's expecting you." The boy pushed the door open and stood aside to let him in. Amy came up to him.

"Thanks Emmett." Leading Charge to the lounge room, she said, "This is Kristy. And this is Darcie." The two girls, so like their mother in looks, said, "Hi."

As everyone sat down at the table, Emmett turned to Charge. "Mum says you were in the Navy. You like it?"

Charge paused. "Yeah…it was ok. I was at sea a lot of the time. I didn't see much of my family."

Kristy asked, "You got kids?"

"Yeah, two. A boy and a girl. They're grown up now. My boy joined the Navy, my girl is a teacher. Down in South Australia."

"Do you see them?" Before Charge could answer, Amy said, "Ok, enough with the questions. Eat up."

Afterwards, while Emmett and Kristy loaded the dishwasher and Darcie went for her bath, Charge and Amy sat outsidein the backyard, drinking their wine.

Kristy whispered to her brother, "I think Mum likes him. Do you reckon they'll go out?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Shut up Kristy," he said and absorbed himself in his computer game.

Charge said, "What did Pete tell you?"

Amy said, "He told me about the Army bloke and your friend Swain defusing a terrorist bomb and how they were killed in the process."

Charge was looking at the ground. "There's more," he said. "The CO, Flynn, had twice ordered Swain and Jim off the boat. When we saw Swain appear, throwing something over the side, we thought they were done. We were watching as the time ticked away, closer to it detonating. Flynn didn't launch the RHIBs to get them off the boat while there was time. He just stood there, and watched the boat explode. All of us, Amy, all of us saw that."

When Charge looked up at Amy, there were tears in his eyes. "Then, at the memorial service, all Flynn could say was 'he was a good sailor, and he will be missed.' Well, that was the stone end. Swain was my best mate; he never did a bad turn if he couldn't do a good one. He was dedicated, and to hear such a brief tribute hurt, and I didn't want to stay in the Navy after that. Another feller I served with, Leo Kosov-Meyer, we called him 'Two Dads'; well, he went to pieces after the memorial. Our XO, Kate, arranged for him to go on leave, and he went AWOL in Singapore. I haven't heard of him since. Swain left a wife and a little girl behind. I just can't forgive Flynn, Amy, I just can't. He didn't do enough. Yeah, I went to the wedding, but I did it for Kate. I never want to see Mike Flynn again. Ever."

Amy sat there silently. After a bit she said, "Andy, I'm so sorry. I'm not just saying that; I mean it. I know you know about Greg, and what happened. But I don't blame my boss, I blame myself."

"Why?" asked Charge. "You were completely cleared of any wrong doing. You had no part in what happened to Greg."

It was Amy's turn to look at the ground. "It wasn't what happened at work. It started before that. Greg and I had this almighty row. I can't even remember what it was all about now. Anyway, he slammed out of the house without so much as a goodbye, and drove to work. By the time I arrived there, it was all over; Greg was killed, and I have felt so guilty ever since. And I've carried this around for years now; it's affecting the kids too. Darcie never knew her dad, I was pregnant with her when it happened, but Emmett has grown up way too quickly. He feels he has to take his dad's place as man of the house. He's never really had the chance to be just a kid. Kristy just misses her dad. I have to be mother and father to them, Andy, and some days, it's just too much. And I miss Greg terribly –" Amy covered her face, and to Charge's astonishment, began to weep. Her sobbing was uncontrollable. Charge put his arms around her, and held her until the weeping subsided.

Gently, Amy disengaged herself. Wordlessly, she got up, went inside, and washed her face. Then she disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Charge sitting outside. He felt he should leave, but it didn't seem right. Instead, he went into the lounge room where Kristy was reading a book, and Emmett was still playing his game. Sitting down next to Emmett, he said, "What's the game you're playing, mate? Can I have a go?" Smiling, Emmett passed Charge a second game console, and explained the game to him.

Amy, sitting on her bed, was annoyed with herself for giving way to her feelings like that. And to Andy of all people. Yet, he understood what she felt. For the first time in five years, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Walking down the passageway, she saw that Darcie was already in bed, and asleep. She continued to the loungeroom, and there was Andy, playing the computer game with Emmett on one side and Kristy on the other.

She smiled. Peace entered her soul.