Chapter Twelve

"Joey, what the hell were you thinking?" Charlie demanded as soon as they were out of Angelo's sight and hearing.

They walked back up the beach together.

"I'm sorry," Joey apologised. "I thought it was a good way to get rid of him."

"Not that," Charlie said. "I'm talking about the money."

Joey just shrugged and smiled.

"Joey, I'm serious," Charlie insisted.

She tugged on her arm so that she would stop walking and face her.

"How on earth are you going to afford it?" she asked desperately.

"I have savings," Joey replied.

"How much?"

"Are you just after me for my money?" Joey smirked.

Despite herself, Charlie burst out laughing. She sat down on the beach, pulling Joey with her.

"Seriously though," she said, "you ride around on a motorbike with your every possession in a bag on your back. How could you possibly spend a thousand dollars on one date?"

Joey stretched back and lay on the sand. Charlie lay on her side next to her.

"It'll be fine," Joey assured her, reaching for her hand. "And a grand was the upper limit. You don't need to worry about it, Charlie."

The police officer sighed, not looking terrible content.

"You don't object to the idea though?" Joey checked. "I figured that if you gave him one last chance and you still didn't want him then perhaps he'd get the message a bit quicker."

Charlie nodded.

"I don't want to go out with him," she said honestly. "But I get your point. If this is the way to get rid of him, then I guess it's worth it."

Joey moved onto her side so that she could gaze into the blue eyes she loved so much.

"You're not going to fall back in love with him, are you?" she teased.

"Back in love?" Charlie scoffed. "I never loved him in the first place. I tried but… well, I guess when you've loved someone the way I've loved you, anything else is pretty much going to pale in comparison. Maybe in a different life, I could have loved him. But you're the one that's been in my heart all this time."

Smiling, Joey leant in and kissed her.

"I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to hear you say that," she said.

That evening, Charlie and Joey went for dinner at the Diner with Ruby. They were very aware of people like Colleen watching them with curiosity but neither of them particularly cared. They were just happy to be together again.

"So, you're going out on a date with Angelo tomorrow and Joey on Saturday and then you have to choose between them?" Ruby asked incredulously.

"No, I have to endure a date with Angelo tomorrow, enjoy a date with Joey on Saturday and then hope that Angelo will understand once and for all that he's not the person I want to be with," Charlie corrected.

Ruby looked bemused.

"Charlie, how unhappy were you?" she wondered.

"Very," her mother admitted.

"But you kept breaking up with him," Ruby said. "If you were that unhappy, why didn't you stay broken up? I don't understand."

"Honestly? It was because I didn't think I deserved better than him," Charlie explained. "After that date we had, around the time everything kicked off with Martha and Hu…"

She trailed off and panicked. Joey touched her hand.

"You can say his name," she assured her. "We drew a line under all of that, remember?"

Charlie nodded and smiled gratefully at her.

"When it all kicked off and Angelo and I had that date, I freaked out, remember?"

"Well, it's hard to separate all your freak outs but yes," Ruby smirked.

"I went to another counsellor that Michael had recommended when he had to stop seeing me," Charlie said. "And she basically told me that if I didn't have him then someone else would and then I'd just be alone."

"Sounds like a great counsellor!" Joey remarked.

"Tell me about it," Charlie replied.

"So, that's why you got back together with him?" Ruby asked.

"Pretty much," Charlie replied. "I've been scared of having to live with my own company all this time. I didn't realise I'd get a shot at actually being happy."

"Well, it's a good job I came back when I did!" Joey smirked.

Charlie chuckled and readily agreed, kissing her gently on the mouth. She was oblivious to how much attention their table was receiving from onlookers.

Next time… Charlie goes on her date with Angelo while Ruby gets drunk and disorderly…