Chapter Twenty Seven

"This is the best holiday ever," Ruby decided. "I wish it wasn't over so soon."

She, Charlie and Joey had spent three glorious weeks in Orlando, Florida. They'd taken on all the amusement parks and gone swimming with dolphins. All of them had enjoyed every single second of their trip and none of them were that keen to go home.

"We've been talking about some stuff, Rubes…" Charlie ventured, having silently checked with Joey that it was okay to start discussing things.

They were at a Ponderosa restaurant on International Drive and it was the last night of their holiday.

"Are we moving here?" Ruby asked hopefully. "Right outside Universal Studios would suit me down to the ground!"

She grinned, making them both laugh.

"We're not moving here," Charlie told her. "But we were thinking of moving somewhere else. Like to Joey's house."

"The mansion?" Ruby asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes, the mansion," Joey confirmed.

"Awesome!" Ruby said jubilantly.

She paused, pondering the situation for a moment.

"Why now?" she wondered.

"Honestly?" Charlie said. "Because of how unhappy you've been."

Ruby frowned, looking a little puzzled.

"But we've had a great holiday," she pointed out. "I've been happy."

"You haven't been happy at home though, have you?" Charlie said. "You're struggling at school and stuff."

"I thought I was meant to be all brave and deal with it," Ruby said.

Both Charlie and Joey looked a little startled, wondering where that advice had come from.

"If that's what you want to do, then we'll support you," Joey told her. "But if you want to start afresh somewhere else then we'll support you in that too. We just want you to be happy."

"Don't either of you want to stay in the Bay?" Ruby wondered. "What about your job, Charlie?"

"I've been making some calls and I could transfer to a station near the mansion," the police officer explained.

Joey still hadn't quite got her head around the fact that she indeed owned a mansion.

"What about your friends and everything?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I don't really have that many," Joey said.

"And we can always visit the people we care about," Charlie said. "Like Leah and VJ. And I'm sure they'd come to visit us."

"In that mansion, everyone will want to!" Ruby giggled.

"That's part of the reason as well," Joey admitted.

"What is?"

"Ever since everyone found out about our money, it's been… awkward," she explained.

Charlie was touched to be included in such a way and reached for her girlfriend's hand.

"Angelo and Paulie tried to con me," Joey continued. "Every time I see Colleen she makes some sort of remark. When Brett realised I was back in town and had cash, he started hassling me. And it's just… difficult. I never wanted to make a big deal out of the cash that Elizabeth left me. But I feel like that's what people care about."

"That's not what we care about," Ruby said quickly, just in case she was worried.

Joey chuckled and nodded.

"I know," she said. "I just think if we moved away and started afresh, we could really make things great again. We'd be a family, I'd actually be using the property that Elizabeth left. Charlie can transfer to a closer station and there's a really good school in the area where nobody has to know anything about you that you don't want them to."

"What do you think?" Charlie asked.

"I'm in," Ruby said without hesitation.

Three weeks later, Charlie, Joey and Ruby found themselves in the mansion surrounded by boxes. They'd had a meal with Leah and VJ the night before and said their goodbyes to other people. After a long discussion with Charlie, Joey had given Paulie the $30,000 he had asked for and they hoped to have seen the last of Angelo, whose business was seriously floundering.

"Okay, I can't move another thing," Joey decided. "I quit!"

Charlie flopped down beside her, very much of the same mentality.

"Shall we order pizza?" Ruby suggested. "It feels like a pizza day. Although I cannot wait to try and cook breakfast in that massive kitchen! Seriously, have you seen it? It's huge!"

The teenager could hardly contain her delight at her new surroundings. She missed Summer Bay much less than she thought she would.

"Pizza sounds good," Joey said. "My phone is in my bag…"

She pathetically reached out for it and groaned. Ruby got the message and went to pick up from where they had put it on a bureau in the corner of one of the many lounges.

"Oh!" Ruby said when the corner of the bag snagged on the front handle. "Sorry!"

The bureau opened, revealing various pens and papers inside.

"Hey, what's this?" she wondered.

"What's what?" Charlie asked, craning her neck in curiosity.

"It's for you," Ruby said to Joey, forgetting the bag and bringing over a white envelope.
Also curious, Joey opened it up. Her heart stopped for a second when she realised it was a letter from Elizabeth. She read it aloud.

My dear Joey,

I don't know when you'll find this letter, if ever. It may be the day I died, months later or even years. I just wanted to leave it for you to find in your own space and time.

I hope that Chris hasn't caused trouble for you after the outcome of the will. I believe you will have been surprised to have been left everything but for me, there was no other option. You have been the daughter I never had and always wanted. You made an old woman very happy in what could have been the loneliest time in her life.

Thank you, Joey, for everything you have done for me. The joy and comfort you've brought me over these months has been overwhelming. I don't think I would be greeting the end with any grace if you hadn't been there. Thank you for your care, your jokes, your stories and your love. And of course for all the practical help as well. You mean more to me than I could say.

I hope that you will go back to Summer Bay when you are ready. I hope that you will take that risk and fight for your Charlie. Life is too long to be lonely and you need to seek your own happiness. Joey, your whole face lights up whenever you talk about Charlie or Ruby and it's so obvious how much they mean to you. Go after them. Be a family again. Show them how much you love them and let them do the same. And honestly Joey, I have no idea who wouldn't love you.

I know I have said all of this before. I've nagged you to high Heaven about trying to give yourself another shot at happiness. But please try. I just know that if you head back home, Charlie will see what she lost and beg for another chance. I don't know of anyone who deserves to be happy more than you.

I'd love if you would bring Charlie and Ruby here. I would love to think that this big, old house could be a family home again. I can just picture you making it yours and being happy here with the people you love.

Thank you for everything, Joey. I hope you know how much you have changed my life.

Love,

Elizabeth

Joey sank back against Charlie with tears in her eyes.

"You really didn't see this until now?" Ruby wondered. "Because you've done everything she said and…"

"No, I didn't know it was here," Joey said. "I mean, she nagged lots about me coming to find you. But I didn't know about her ideas of us living here as a family or anything."

She smiled, although a lump was still aching in her throat.

"I like to think we've made her happy," she ventured. "If she can see us now."

Charlie put her arm around her.

"She'll be happy with everything you done," she assured her. "You would have made her proud."

"You came to find Charlie," Ruby agreed.

"And you," Joey put in. "You come as a package."

Ruby grinned broadly, as did Charlie.

"You donated to all the charities you knew she cared about," the police officer added. "You've followed your heart. We've moved here as a family. You've done everything she obviously wanted you to do."

Joey nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, thank you both for helping me do it," she said. "Thank you for still loving me. Thank you for being my family."

She leant in and kissed Charlie gently on the mouth.

"Wait!" Ruby squeaked.

They jolted apart in surprise.

"Order the pizza before you get all snuggly wuggly and sickening!" the teenager teased, leaping up and grabbing Joey's bag.

"Hold that thought," Joey whispered as she dug around in her bag for her phone.

Charlie kissed her cheek.

"I will," she promised.

Guess where I went on holiday! Lol. Seriously though, thank you for reading this fanfic. I hope you have enjoyed it. As I didn't update yesterday, I will post the first chapter of a new story after I update 'A Different Way'. Love, IJKS xxx