Chapter 25
Martha gazed out the window as she passed the "Welcome to Summer Bay" sign. She was so excited about seeing all her old friends and family, but she was also worried that they'd moved on and forgotten about her.
"Here please." She said, reaching in her purse and paying the Taxi driver the fair. "Thanks." She said, hopping out in front of the Diner, and excitedly strolling through the door.
"Oh my gawd!" Colleen screamed.
"What now Colleen-" Irene said, coming out of the kitchen. "MARTHA!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands to her mouth. All the eyes in the Diner were now looking at Martha, everyone's faces were as white as sheets.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." She joked, trying to break the silence. Sadly, no one laughed, but an extremely happy Tasha did run up and hug her, nearly knocking her off her feet.
"Mac!" She shouted. "Oh my god you're alive!" Martha laughed.
"Looks that way don't it? Hey Rob." She said, hugging Robbie.
"But young Jack said you were dead." Colleen said. Angry thoughts of Jack returned to Martha's mind.
"Well, he was wrong." She smiled. "If that's okay?" She joked.
"It's great darl, we're so happy! You're granddad will be over the moon!" Irene cheered.
"Do you know where he is?" Martha asked. She was so excited about seeing her granddad after so long.
"He's at Noah's." Irene said.
"Thanks Irene." Martha replied, briskly walking out of the diner with her bag on her hip, shortly followed by Robbie and Tasha.
On the way to Noah's, Martha filled them both up on what had happened.
"So you and Jack are back together then?" Tash asked.
"No. Tash, I'd rather not talk about it now, I'd rather listen to what you've been up to!" Martha said, changing the subject. Robbie and Tasha looked at one another, they knew something wasn't right, but they left the subject alone.
Martha strolled into Noah's, she didn't know why but she was nervous as well as excited. She knew that her granddad would be overjoyed, but she still had the butterflies in her stomach. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him in so long, or maybe it was because she feared of giving the old man a heart attack. She took a deep breath before walking through the double doors of her old work place. Everyone was busy working, or drinking to notice her. She took a second to look around at the people that she'd missed for so long, and the most important person of all, her granddad.
"Granddad!" She shouted, dropping her bag to the floor. Alf spun around in response to the familiar voice he heard.
"Strike me flamin' handsome!" He exclaimed. "Martha!" Martha ran up and hugged her granddad tight, tears of joy running down her cheek.
"I've missed you so much!" She said. "I love you granddad!" Alf broke away from their hug and looked at her in disbelief.
"How?" He asked. But Martha was distracted by the crowd of people she'd attracted, each one had a more bemused look as the previous. It was obvious what everyone was asking themselves, 'how Martha could be stood there?' Of course, Martha had to answer all of their questions, but she only gave a brief explanation, ensuring that she didn't mention Jack's name. She couldn't deal with the questions about him right now, as she didn't have the answers. So she stood there, laughing, joking and generally catching up with her old friends. She couldn't have been happier.
"Jack will be thrilled when he sees you Martha." Tony smiled, he could just imagine his sons reaction. "Shocked, of course, but thrilled none the less."
"Oh, he will!" Alf added. "He really cares for you Martha, when he came back to tell us the news, he was the one that suffered the most. Sure, the young lad tried to act cool about it, but I think we can all safely say he was heartbroken."
"Yes, his speech was marvelous at the ceremony. It came from the heart." Beth said.
"What ceremony?" Martha asked perplexed.
"Oh, well, we had a ceremony for you. We couldn't have a funeral as we didn't have your body, but the people of the bay paid their respects on the beach." Alf explained.
"It was gorgeous. Jack's idea." Beth added.
"Yes, he organized most of it. He also chose the plaque and the bench." Alf said. "Great lad." Alf smiled.
"Plaque, bench?" Martha was getting seriously confused.
"We'll show you later." Tasha said, nudging Martha.
"Oh, ok." Martha nodded.
"So when's Jack back?" Alf asked Tony.
"He's not back?" Martha asked surprised. "I thought he'd have been back by now…" Martha mumbled.
"You mean, you knew he was gone?" Alf enquired.
"Yea, he was the cop who was undercover. The one that got me out..." She mumbled.
"The one that saved you?" Tony asked proudly. Martha sighed.
"Yep." She didn't mention that he was also the one who put her life on the line, even though she hated him right now, she didn't want to ruin his reputation.
"So he knows you're alive!" Tony exclaimed. "Why isn't he with you?" Tony said, starting to become suspicious. He knew that Jack's investigation was over, so he could have told him about Martha on the phone earlier, but he didn't. Something was definitely wrong.
"I don't know where he is." Martha stated, shocking everyone. "Can I stay over at the flat granddad?" Martha asked, both breaking the silence and changing the subject.
"Yea sure." Alf managed to spit out, still bemused at the Jack situation.
"Thanks, I'll go drop off my stuff and I'll see you later." Martha said, picking up her bag and leaving the bar with Tasha and Robbie.
"I wonder what's gone off there." Tony muttered to Beth, who was clearly thinking the same thing.
