Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming!...
The next morning Joey woke up with a sea of thoughts swimming through her head. Ruby, Charlie, Angelo.... last nights 'tell all' by Charlie had left them both tired and emotionally drained.
Joey took a look over her shoulder as she got out of bed, Charlie looked so peaceful. She understood now what Charlie had gone through in the last 12 months since Joey had left Summer Bay. The emotional baggage she carried, never really being able to let it go. Finally last night she confessed to Joey her inner most feelings, secrets that had been carried for so many years until Ruby find out about Charlie really being her Mum not her sister and the strain of that relationship after the confession. Ruby didn't let her back into her life after that, as much as they could Charlie and Ruby had talked, but only on a superficial level. Charlie admitted that Ruby never even allowed the motherly instinct in Charlie to have a chance. She would just block her out completely and not talk to her for weeks on end.
'This has to stop', Joey said to herself. 'I have to find Ruby and find out whats going on, why she wants to have so little to do with Charlie'.
After getting dressed she left a note for Charlie, saying she's gone to find Ruby. She took one last look at Charlie, still asleep and gave her a gentle kiss goodbye.
Joey was not sure where to look for Ruby, whether to go to Irene's first or head to the diner in hope she would catch her at the beach or nearby. The beach was a more appealing walk she thought....
With her feet in the water, Joey admitted to herself she had missed Summer Bay. She shouldn't have stayed away for so long but who would know what would have happened if she returned earlier.
Upon taking in the beautiful sunrise, Joey found herself 2 minutes from the diner when a familiar voice yelled out "Joey!!!! What are you doing here?"
Bombarded with a stack of questions, Joey turned around to face a huge hug from Ruby.
"Geez Rubz, after being away for so long i was expecting you to be angry and upset at me, not happy!!"
"Come on Joey, how can i be angry at you, you left because Charlie did the unthinkable and you guys couldn't work it out. I hold it against Charlie that she slept with Hugo not you. You just protected yourself by leaving...." Ruby replied.
"I'm glad i found you Rubz, I need to talk to you, It's about Charlie actually" Joey cut in, cringing at the thought of Hugo. As much as possible she hadn't given much thought to him but her relationships demise always came back to that night. There was no real way to avoid it.
"I know she's still living at Leahs and she's still working herself to the bone, I have no idea what else is going on..." Ruby replied as her thoughts trailled off.
"I know Rubz, I got back and Charlie was on the beach. I've been living at Leahs place since. She told me what happened with you guys and Angelo. I just want to try and help you sort things out with Charlie. I mean you're her daughter and she's so distraught that she can't be closer to you. You're not letting her in Rubz", Joey reached out and held Ruby's hand, looking into her eyes for some sort of response.
Ruby's eyes were stone cold. "I can't go back there Joey. She lied. She made me believe I was her sister, and then out of the blue, tells me she's my Mum. Then I found out she was raped. I mean, I'm the product of a rape. My own mother didn't have the heart to tell me that or raise me. I mean what was I to think?"
Joey wasn't sure how to comfort Ruby, to change her outlook, instead she pulled Ruby in closer for a hug and told her what Charlie had admitted the night before. How sorry she was that she left Ruby when she was just a newborn and instead of fighting for her, just leaving her own parents to adopt her and raise Ruby as their own. "She wanted to tell you so many times, but it got harder each year that went by. The caesar scar, it was never meant to be found out but she's glad you know now Rubz. The lying and untold secrets are no longer something she has to go to sleep with and worry that it will all come out. It's out in the open. She wants nothing more than to protect you, to love you as she has each day since you were born, as her daughter. She wants you to come home. Rebuild the relationship so to speak."
Ruby was crying into Joey's shoulder, trying to absorb the truth about Charlie and the fact that she had finally opened up and spoken to someone. The cold cop instinct had suddenly dissapeared. In its place, a vulnerable woman had come into view. Ruby shook her head and thought, that can't be. Charlie's too strong to be emotional.
Almost as though Joey had read her thoughts she said, "Rubz, Charlie's not as strong as you think. As a cop she's brave and courageous, she's learnt that since she entered the academy. Her own emotions and self courage, she's still vulnerable like you and me. She's scared of saying or doing the wrong thing and losing you forever.... actually maybe thats why she never really put her heart on the line with me either. She's learning to finally admit what's going on in her heart."
"So you're staying to work it out and be a couple again?" Ruby questioned with a crooked brow.
"I haven't made up my mind yet. The boat i was working on will be leaving in the next couple of days and depending on what is left for me here, will depend on if I stay."
"Come on Joey!! You know Charlz loves you. She just can't admit it!!"
"Actually that's were you're wrong Rubz. I've been in Summer Bay barely 24 hours and she has changed heaps since I left. I'm talking to a different woman. Same body, same gorgeous soul, different emotional set up."
"What on earth are you going on about Joey, emotional set up? What does that mean?"
"I suppose you'll have to come home and find out huh? Now lets go get something to eat. I'm starving and I want to get something for Charlie too. Something tells me her cooking still hasn't improved" Joey and Ruby both burst out laughing and arm in arm strolled to the Diner.