Chapter Sixty-Eight
Charlie woke with a start. Joey jumped in surprise. She felt guilty immediately, as she hadn't meant to go to sleep. She'd intended to stay up all night and watch over the woman she loved. Charlie looked at her fearfully. She hadn't slept well. Joey pulled her back into her embrace and felt her slowly begin to settle. This was going to be an exceptionally long week.
***
Ruby came to slowly. She yawned and stretched and blinked open her eyes, momentarily confused as to why she wasn't in her own bedroom at home. Memories hit her like a slap in the face. She turned to her right where her boyfriend slept quietly beside her. Disappointment filled her soul as she realised that last night hadn't been a bad dream after all. She lay back against the pillows and sighed heavily. The movement and noise made Xavier stir.
"Hey," he greeted sleepily.
"Hi," Ruby replied.
He stretched and reached out to hold her. She fell into his arms.
***
Morag was surprised and worried to wake up alone. She sighed and wondered where her husband had gone. These days, there was no guarantee that he was alright. He shouldn't be wandering off on his own. It was dangerous with his condition. She hauled herself out of bed and wrapped her dressing gown around her, heading downstairs to find him. Wandering through the house, she found it empty until she reached the kitchen. Aden was making coffee.
"Morning," he said.
"Morning," she replied. "Have you seen Ross?"
He shook his head. She frowned. Where had he got to?
***
Martha and Hugo were carrying out their usual morning routines of breakfast and chat. They stopped abruptly when Xavier and Ruby entered the room. Neither had realised that she'd stayed over and they weren't terribly amused at being deceived. If Xavier wanted his girlfriend to stay over, he needed to tell them. Charlie would be furious! Martha was just about to open her mouth in reprimand when she realised that Ruby was looking tearful and distressed.
"Is everything okay, Ruby?" she asked.
The teenager burst into tears. Martha hurried to her side.
***
"Would you like some breakfast?" Joey offered.
Charlie kissed her softly on the mouth. Joey kissed her back and ran her hands through her hair.
"I want you," Charlie whispered.
Joey pulled back uncertainly. It didn't seem like the right time to become romantic. Charlie was under too much stress. They kissed again and Charlie's hands settled on the top button of Joey's pyjama top.
"Charlie..." she protested, not wanting to upset her.
"Please?" Charlie said. "Please let me lose myself in you."
"I don't want to take advantage," Joey said.
"You're not," Charlie breathed, kissing her again. "I need you."
Joey relaxed into her girlfriend's embrace.
***
Morag sat in the lounge feeling tense. She'd tried to call Ross several times but he hadn't picked up. She was a few moments away from going to find him when he breezed through the front door. Morag leapt to her feet.
"Where have you been?" she demanded.
"I went for a walk," he replied.
"I was worried about you."
He looked like a scolded child and apologised.
"I just needed some air," he explained. "Some space to think."
She nodded and moved across the room to hug him. He accepted her embrace, feeling comforted.
"Shall we get some breakfast?" he asked.
***
Hugo sat at the table, stunned. In Martha's arms, Ruby had tearfully explained that Charlie had been raped as a teenager and given birth to her. The whole family had lied and she'd been raised as Charlie's sister when all along, she'd been her daughter. Hugo was suddenly grateful that Charlie had knocked him back that night on the beach. He would have felt terribly guilty to have taken advantage of such a vulnerable woman. Nobody had any idea what the police officer had been through.
"Can Ruby stay here?" Xavier asked.
Martha stuttered uncertainly and looked to Hugo for help but his face was blank.
"Please?" Ruby asked. "I can't go back home. I can't live with Charlie, not after this."
"Don't turn her out on the street," Xavier begged, reaching for Ruby's hand.
"Well, I don't see why not," Martha said. "I mean, we wouldn't see you with nowhere to go, would we, Hugo?"
"Of course not," he said, still stunned.
"So I can stay?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Of course," Martha said. "Just make sure you tell Charlie what you're doing."
Ruby frowned.
"I never want to talk to her again," she said quickly.
"She'll be worried about you," Hugo tried.
"I don't care. If she cared that much she wouldn't have spent my entire life lying to me."
Martha sighed, silently deciding to speak to her friend herself, just so she'd stop worrying about little sister, or daughter or whatever Ruby was supposed to be.
***
Alone in the kitchen, Morag and Ross pondered what to do. Ross wanted to head right round and comfort his daughter but his guilt made him feel awkward and shy.
"Maybe we can just call her first," Morag suggested, opting for a happy medium – not that anything felt happy right now.
Her husband nodded and picked up the phone.
***
Charlie and Joey lay in bed side by side, holding each other close. Joey had gently made love to her girlfriend and she hoped she'd succeeded in taking her to a place where she could momentarily forget her pain. Charlie's mobile rang on the bedside table. Charlie leapt up and answered it, not bothering to look at the screen.
"Ruby?" she said urgently.
"It's Dad," Ross replied.
Charlie sighed.
"Hi," she said.
Joey leant forward and Charlie put an arm around her. She felt like she never wanted to let her go. There were two people in Charlie's world that meant everything to her – Ruby and Joey. She'd lost one the previous night and she was determined to never lose the other.
"We were just wondering how you are," Ross said.
Charlie sighed again.
"As good as I can be," she said.
***
With the decision to move in with Xavier, Martha and Hugo made, Ruby took a deep breath and left the house. Her plan was to go back to her old house, hoping that Charlie wouldn't be home. She wanted to get all the things she needed and then never have to return to the place again. All she had in mind was to stay as far away from her ex-family as she possibly could.
***
Charlie and Joey were showered and dressed. Charlie had tried to call Ruby a couple of times but she'd got no reply. The girls had talked about going to Martha's to speak to her but Charlie was trying and failing to give her the space she needed to come home in peace. She and Joey leapt up when they heard the kitchen door open.
"Ruby!" Charlie said desperately.
Sure enough, the girl she longed to see appeared, looking pale and unhappy.
"I'm not staying," she said quickly.
"Ruby, please, can we just talk about this?" Charlie asked, hovering close but a little too afraid to get near her.
"No, Charlie," Ruby said firmly. "I don't want to talk to you about anything, least of all the way you've lied to me my whole life."
She brushed past her and headed towards the stairs. Charlie glanced at Joey and both women followed her.
"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, hovering in the doorway.
"Martha and Hugo said I could move in with them," Ruby explained.
Charlie's eyes widened.
"Ruby, no..." she started.
Her daughter whirled around to glare at her.
"Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do, Charlie," she warned.
Charlie swallowed, feeling helpless.
"We just don't want you to go, Ruby," Joey tried.
"Well you don't get a say in what I do anymore."
"Please, can we just...?" Charlie pleaded.
"Just what?" Ruby snapped. "Live our lives pretending that nothing ever happened? I think you've done enough of that for the last sixteen years."
She turned furiously and began flinging things into a bag. Charlie watched her in defeated silence. Joey held onto her hand.
***
Morag pulled out of the drive with Ross in the passenger seat. Charlie hadn't felt strong enough for a visit so they'd decided to take themselves out of Summer Bay to get some space for a few hours. They needed to catch their breath.
***
Charlie and Joey stayed with Ruby as she packed but nobody spoke. There didn't seem to be anything left to say. Charlie couldn't believe that her baby girl was walking out on her like this.
"Bye," Ruby said without emotion.
She brushed past Charlie and Joey and headed towards the stairs. They followed.
"Please stay!" Charlie burst out when they reached the kitchen.
"No," Ruby replied.
Then she turned and left. Charlie began to sink to the ground. Joey caught her just in time.
"How can she just leave like that?" Charlie wondered.
"She just needs time," Joey said, although her own certainty that everything was going to be okay was definitely wavering.
"And how dare Martha invite her to move in?" said Charlie. "It's none of her business. She shouldn't be interfering."
Spurred on, Charlie broke away from Joey and headed out of the door full of determination. Joey bolted after her and just about managed to jump into the passenger side of the car before Charlie sped away.
***
Angelo sat in a corner of the Surf Club anxiously pondering his predicament. He had made a huge mistake by snooping into Charlie's past and then revealing what he knew to Ruby - both in terms of his life in Summer Bay and his undercover work. He was meant to be lying low and keeping his head down, quietly integrating with the community. As well as being in love with Charlie, she was his best means of acceptance. She was respected and admired amongst the town they lived in and her friendship and kindness had played a huge part in the way he was treated by others, even with his murky past. If she publicly turned against him, everything he was working towards may well go wrong. Also, he couldn't bear to be in his bad books. However unlikely it looked, Angelo still dreamed of her waking up and decided that being bisexual or whatever she was claiming to be was all a big mistake. He hoped that Joey was just a phase, something she had to go through before she realised that she truly loved him only.
***
Ruby arrived back at Xavier's house and together, they moved her into the spare room. In ordinary circumstances, the teenagers would have been excited to be living together. It was a huge step in their relationship, on the back of making love for the first time. Living together was ever such a grown up thing to do. But these weren't normal times for Ruby. She was heartbroken to have to move out of a house she knew and a sister... a mother, she loved. As angry as she was, Charlie was still the centre of her universe. As far as Ruby remembered, Charlie had always been around. She had always protected her and supported her. She had always loved her and taken care of her. Their bond had always seemed unbreakable. Once upon a time, Ruby had even wished that Charlie was her Mum. It was a thought she'd felt bad about at the time but with her apparent older sister taking on such a guardian role in her life, from when she was small, Ruby had always looked up to her and held her in the highest esteem. But now everything was ruined. Now everything felt like a lie.
***
Martha was moderately busy behind the bar of the Surf Club. She amused herself with putting glasses away and keeping an eye on her customers. Angelo had been nursing a beer for a couple of hours. He looked unhappy and lonely. Martha concentrated on Hugo, who had come to see her on his break. Sometimes she felt strange to be with him, like she was betraying Jack somehow. But she hoped her late husband would be happy that she had allowed herself to love another. And Hugo reminded her of him in so many ways and he'd loved him like a brother. If she was going to be with anyone after Jack, Hugo felt like the right choice.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Martha stopped abruptly and faced Charlie who had stormed into the bar.
"Well?"
"Charlie..."
"You do not tell my Ruby that she can live with you! It's not for you to say, Martha. She needs to be at home with me."
"I'm sorry," Martha replied calmly. "But she really didn't want to be at home."
Joey stood close behind Charlie, ready to step in if necessary. Angelo observed the argument from his corner.
"If you hadn't bailed her out then she'd have no choice to come home and sort all this out," Charlie said, torn between fury and desperation.
"Charlie, I think Ruby would have done anything rather than go home," Hugo said, immediately regretting his late of tact when she turned to him, eyes blazing.
"You can keep your nose out!" she snapped.
She turned back to Martha, who was frozen in place. She didn't think she'd ever seen Charlie so angry before. The police officer hadn't arrived in Summer Bay in the best of moods. It had taken her a long while to relax and calm down. Jack had struggled with her terribly in the beginning but eventually, Charlie had made friends with everyone.
"You tell Ruby that she can't stay with you," Charlie ordered.
"Charlie, I don't think that's going to help," Martha tried.
"She needs to be at home with me, not living with you two and her boyfriend."
"It's not forever," Martha said. "Just give her time."
"Don't you dare tell me what to do," Charlie warned.
"Charlie..." Joey said softly.
Charlie turned to face her.
"Maybe Ruby staying with Martha is a good thing."
"Don't betray me now," Charlie pleaded, tears forming yet again in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm not," Joey said quickly, squeezing her hand. "But if Ruby is determined to get space then isn't it better that she's somewhere we know she's safe? If we go in all guns blazing then she might run off somewhere completely different. At least this way, we know where she is."
Charlie gazed at Joey, suddenly feeling torn as to what was the best course of action. She looked at Martha tearfully.
"We'll look after her until she's ready to come home," the barmaid promised.
Charlie nodded dumbly and clung onto Joey.
"Sorry," she said quietly.
Martha held onto her hand for a moment.
"It's okay," she said calmly.
Hugo kept his mouth shut. From his chair, Angelo watched Charlie and her girlfriend turn to leave. He stood quickly and called Charlie's name. She turned and glared at him, angry rising up within her once more.
"Don't even talk to me," she said.
"Please give me a chance to explain," he begged.
"Explain what exactly?" Charlie challenged. "Explain that somehow you found out private information about me? That you went behind my back? Or explain that you told my baby girl that she was the product of a rape?"
"Charlie, I'm so sorry," he said, reaching for her.
Her movement was so quick that he didn't see it coming until her fist had connected with his jaw. He yelped in pain and clutched his jaw. Charlie trembled as Joey quickly led her out of the Surf Club. Looking up, Angelo saw every pair of eyes boring into him.
