Hello! *waves* How is everybody? I'm baaaaack! I got out of hospital today after a lot of painful treatment and I have a chapter fresh and ready for you. And I came back to so many emails! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and sent messages while I was away. And to sweetandlovely who appears to have decided every story I have posted is a favourite! You officially rock. And thank you to drowningnotwaving who has kept me amused with lovely text messages all week while I have been laptopless. I got it back on Thursday once I had permission from the nurses and I have written lots of chapters for you, including new stories. But for now, I hope you enjoy the chapter. And I hope you appreciate how awkward it is to update when your beloved cat has missed you sufficiently that she has wedged herself between you and the laptop and on your arms, which already hurt from a week of vein pumping via cannula's (spelling?!) Anyway, enjoy! Love you all! Missed you all! IJKS xxx

***

Chapter Ninety

Ruby was disappointed. She'd agreed to spend the night with Xavier but after Gina's surprise new boyfriend had shown up, Xavier had got irritated and instead of spending the night being intimate and loving, he was desperately complaining and working himself up over his mother having a boyfriend. It wasn't exactly the way she'd hoped things would turn out. And the more irritated he got, the more she thought she'd rather be at home watching TV with Geoff and Annie.

***

The following morning, Joey grabbed the post and handed it around the kitchen table to the right people. She was surprised to find she had a letter of her own. She never got mail. Sitting down beside Charlie, she opened up and frowned unhappily when she realised that it was from her lawyer. If she ever did get post, it was from him, which always meant it was about Robbo. Suddenly her eyes lit up.

"What is it?" Charlie asked.

"I don't have to appear in court," Joey said, her voice flooded with relief.

"Really?" Charlie and Leah said at the same time.

Joey handed the letter over, wanting to double check that she'd got it right. Charlie nodded and smiled.

"He's pleading guilty," she said. "You don't have to testify. Thank goodness for that!"

Joey breathed a sigh of relief and leant against Charlie. The sooner the hearing was over with, the happier she would be and that little bit more easily she would be able to move on with her life.

"That's fantastic news, Joey," Leah said.

Joey beamed.

"Well, there was a good cop running the case so how could he really deny it?" she said.

Charlie laughed and hugged her, kissing the top of her head.

***

At lunch time, Joey headed out to the Diner. It felt ever so strange not to have a job anymore. She had always been such a grafter but now she had no idea what to do. Her only experience was on fishing trawlers and behind bars. The only local bar was the Surf Club and she doubted that she would be taken back by Alf after leaving him in the lurch that time. And as far as trawlers went, they weren't part of her comfort zone anymore. Spotting Ruby, Nicole and Annie all sitting in a huddle in the corner, Joey braced herself to go over to them. While she didn't know Annie very well, she and Nicole got along and despite what was happening right now, she loved Ruby as if she were her own.

"Mind if I join you?" Joey asked, looking directly at Ruby.

The two hadn't really spoken that much since Joey had laid out exactly how it felt to be raped.

"Of course you can," the teenager told her with a smile.

"Thanks."

Joey sat down between Annie and Nicole.

"We were just complaining about our love lives," Ruby explained.

"I'm intrigued."

"Xavier really irritated me, Nicole got rejected by Sid..."

"Nic!" Joey said, having warned her about Sid before.

"I know, I know," the blonde said dismissively.

"And Annie's fallen out with Jai because he saw her kissing Dexter."

"You guys have been busy!" Joey commented. "I feel boring!"

"Yeah, right," Nicole said. "Do you know what we'd do to be in loving, happy relationships? You've got it made!"

Annie remained quiet. Joey got the feeling she wasn't too sure about the whole gay thing but she'd had a lot worse reactions than silence.

"I am pretty lucky," she admitted.

Ruby smiled at her. Regardless of everything that had gone on between her and Charlie lately, she was glad they were both happy.

***

Charlie placed a coffee down in front of Angelo. Despite herself, she was worried about him. He was stressed and anxious all the time. His behaviour wasn't dissimilar to the way he'd begun behaving after Jack's death. And she was intrigued as to why he was so interested in Hugo. He looked up gratefully and smiled.

"What's up?" she said. "Hangover?"

"A little," he admitted. "But other than that, I'm just flat out at work."

"Your mission?"

He looked up sharply and checked that nobody else had heard.

"Charlie, can you just forget I said anything yesterday?" he begged.

She sat down beside him.

"That depends on if you need help or not," she said.

At any other time, he would have been thrilled at the prospect of working with his ex-girlfriend. To this day, he still adored her and would give almost anything to win her back. He hoped that maybe one day he would succeed, if only the shine on her relationship with Joey would diminish a little bit. But he couldn't let her in on his mission. He had to do it by himself and he had to keep it a secret until it was done.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Everything's fine."

Unconvinced, she stood and returned to her office.

***

Once the girls had gone back to school, Joey sat alone and finished her smoothie. Seeing Irene alone at the counter, she wandered over and said hello.

"Hello, love," she replied. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No thanks," Joey replied. "I am stuffed like a turkey!"

She grinned.

"How's everything?" Irene asked.

It was obvious she was referring to Charlie.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Joey admitted. "How's Ruby? I'm worried about her. We both are."

Irene sighed.

"She seems okay," she said. "Geoff and Annie have been looking after her and you know I'll always do my best. But it's obvious that she misses Charlie. I just wish..."

She trailed off.

"Me too," Joey said. "Charlie misses her like crazy. So do I."

"Just give her time," Irene said. "She'll come round. You'll be able to sort this whole thing out eventually."

"I hope so," Joey sighed. "Hey, um, random question but uh... there isn't a job going here, is there?"

Irene looked surprised.

"I thought you were working down at the docks," she said.

"I was but... it didn't work out. And trawler work is pretty much all I know so I'm trying to look for something else."

Irene's eyes suddenly lit up. Joey eyed her curiously.

"I've been trying to start up Lou's trawler business again," the older woman told her. "Would you be interested?"

"Maybe," Joey said.

Part of her was leaping for joy but part of her was scared. Being comfortable on that boat, the same one she'd been attacked on, would be hard. She'd only be able to do it with the right crew.

"It'd be wonderful if you did, love," Irene said. "I was going to ask Aden and Geoff – get them both off their backsides and keep them out of trouble. I reckon you'd be a fantastic leader of that team."

Joey grinned. She could definitely cope with working with Aden again. He was on a par with what Ruby meant to her. And Geoff seemed like a nice guy. It was obvious that Ruby certainly thought a lot of him. Charlie had accidentally broken a confidence by revealing everything Ruby had told her recently about Geoff and Xavier.

"That sounds pretty awesome actually, Irene," Joey said.

Irene beamed back at her.

"Well then, you leave it with me."

***

Back at home, Ruby stared at the Facebook page Jai had helped her set up. She'd tracked down Grant Bledcoe and he'd accepted the friend request she'd sent him under the guise of being an old mate at school. Now, she could see his pictures and read his profile. It was strange. He just seemed like a normal man with a wife and kids. Who would ever have known he was such a monster? She sighed and pondered her options. Joey's words echoed in her ears as she described the violence that both she and Charlie had gone through at the hands of evil men. She wanted to forget her whole plan. She wanted to be satisfied with seeing pictures and knowing him from afar. But deep down, she knew it would never be enough. There was so much to do and say, if only she could pluck up the courage.