Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Six
Joey had fallen asleep on the bed. She felt guilty for yelling at Charlie and Ruby but between the stress of work, Aden and then home, she'd had enough. She fell into fitful dreams, largely involving drowning. And Robbo made several guest appearances. In her sleep, Joey cried.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Ruby wondered, checking the oven.
After Joey's outburst and refusal to speak to either of them, mother and daughter had made peace and decided to cook dinner for her. Usually, it was Joey or Leah that did the cooking. Neither of the Buckton girls had a lot of skill in the kitchen department. But they hoped that their cottage pie – one of Joey's favourite meals – would go down well in gesture, if not in digestion.
"I hope so," Charlie frowned. "I'm not used to her being angry with me."
"I'm getting unfortunately used to it," Ruby said.
Charlie's unhappiness increased.
"She's only shouted at me when she's been protecting you and I've been behaving like a bitch," Ruby added. "I deserved it every time. But I really hate it when she's all disappointed in something I've done. It makes me sad."
She sighed heavily. Charlie hugged her.
"It is pretty horrible when she gets upset," the older woman agreed. "I know I must have done something pretty bad if someone as placid as Joey gets pissed off!"
They both giggled.
Aden sat at the Surf Club, drinking too much and feeling sorry for himself when Angelo walked in.
"Are you alright, mate?" the police officer asked.
"I'm not your mate," Aden replied.
Angelo sighed and headed up to the bar, feeling immediately down. One moment it seemed like people were starting to accept him and then the next, he was reminded that not everyone had. Tony and Rachel tolerated him, Martha ignored him, Alf was friendly, as were people like Miles and Leah. And then of course, there was Charlie. But Hugo was a pain and Aden had hated him since well before Jack's death. Still, it wasn't so easy to handle sometimes.
Charlie jumped when she heard Joey scream. Ignoring the burn on her hand from being interrupted while taking the dish out of the oven, she raced towards her bedroom and found Joey sitting up, dishevelled, sweating and confused on the bed. Charlie gathered her into her arms, holding her tight and asking what had happened.
"I had a nightmare," Joey admitted, feeling ashamed.
Charlie gazed at her. Suddenly she seemed like the vulnerable young woman she had met back in March. So much had changed since then and her girlfriend had grown so strong. It shook Charlie a little to see her so upset. She held her close and kissed the top of her head, promising that everything would be okay.
Ruby hovered uncertainly in the kitchen. Joey had been screaming so she didn't want to interrupt, but dinner was ready and the table was set. She didn't want it to go cold and therefore ruin everything. Anxiously, she sat at the table and waited.
"We made you dinner," Charlie said, still holding Joey tight.
"You did?"
"Yeah," Charlie replied. "Me and Rubes. We made cottage pie for you."
"But I was so mean to you," Joey said, gazing up at her with wide eyes.
Charlie shook her head and said that she'd been right. She apologised sincerely for trying to drag her into the row with Ruby and assured her that they had made up now.
"I'm glad," Joey said. "I hate it when you fight. It's sad."
"Yeah," Charlie sighed.
She moved to lie back on the bed, pulling Joey gently with her. Joey rested her head on Charlie's chest and held her hand.
"We're going to do better though," Charlie said.
"Baby steps," Joey suggested.
"Baby steps," Charlie agreed.
They rested in silence for a few moments before Charlie asked if Joey had had a bad day.
"Is it that obvious?" the younger woman asked.
Charlie chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Well, you don't traditionally tell us off and then have a nightmare," she said. "You haven't had a nightmare for months. Have you?"
Joey shook her head. It had been a fact she'd been rather proud of. And now she felt like she had let them both down.
"So, bad day?" Charlie asked.
"Kind of," Joey said. "Aden was complaining and whinging so much I thought my ears were going to bleed. It just... pissed me off. And I feel bad about it because he's such a great guy but I just couldn't cope with the constant whining about Liam today. Between that the fact that we're so obviously going to lose our jobs... I guess I've just had enough."
Charlie kissed her.
"Well, how about we get up and have a nice... well, okay, Ruby and I made it so it might not be a nice dinner but why don't we have it anyway?"
Joey grinned and nodded. They hauled themselves off the bed and headed towards the kitchen.
Martha and Hugo entered the Surf Club. Xavier and Gina had agreed to look after Bambang for the evening so that the newly reunited couple could spend some alone time together. Martha glared when she spotted Angelo propping up the bar. He sighed and focussed on his pint. Hugo glared at Angelo a little longer, certain that he had some kind of secret vendetta against him. He was nervous over what Angelo might have on him. It wasn't like there weren't a lot of skeletons in his closet. Angelo definitely made him nervous.
"Just in time," Ruby said brightly, standing up.
She pulled out a seat for Joey and gestured for her to sit down.
"Are you okay?" the teenager asked.
"Yeah," Joey said. "Just had a bad dream."
Charlie poured out soft drinks for all three of them while Ruby served up.
"I'm not sure how good this is going to be but..."
She put the plate down in front of Joey and smiled anxiously. The Buckton girls sat down with her.
"Seriously," Joey said. "I'm rude to you both and I get rewarded?"
"Well, you were right," Ruby said. "And we're sorry for upsetting you."
Joey put a gentle hand on her step-daughter's arm.
"It wasn't your fault," she said. "Either of you. I just had a bad day and I'm really sorry."
"We're sorry too," Charlie and Ruby said in unison.
All three women grinned.
"Let's tuck in," Joey suggested.
Aden arrived home to find Liam and Nicole watching television in the lounge. Still a little drunk, he glared at both of them and stormed into his room.
"I'm really not sure that me living here is a good idea, Nic," Liam frowned. "Aden actually hates me."
"Well, where else are you going to live?" Nicole asked. "Your place isn't safe."
"I'm not sure this place is safe!" Liam laughed. "I might get stabbed in my sleep!"
"I'm sure you can take care of yourself," Nicole smirked, leaning in to kiss him.
"Listen, I really think you need to tell Geoff about your hospital trip," Charlie ventured, hoping that she and Ruby wouldn't get into another row.
"I really don't want to," Ruby objected. "He'll only fuss and flap around. We've only just got past that. I don't want to put up with it again. I love him but he really can be an old woman sometimes."
Joey smiled and finished her drink.
"He just cares for you, sweetheart," she said gently. "That can't be a bad thing, can it?"
"I know," Ruby said. "And I don't mean to be ungrateful but..."
She sighed.
"You know, this doesn't taste half bad actually," she added.
"It's nice," Joey agreed. "I'm very impressed."
"I'm very relieved!" Charlie laughed.
"What happened to your hand?" Joey asked worriedly when Charlie winced.
Charlie frowned and showed a small burn on her palm, explaining that she lost a fight with the oven.
"Did you run it under cold water?"
"I got distracted," Charlie admitted, not prepared to say with what.
Joey frowned and promised to put some cream on it when they had finished.
"Rubes, seriously, will you think about talking to Geoff?" Charlie asked, changing the subject.
Ruby hesitated.
"Colleen knows," Charlie pointed out. "She's the one who told me. Don't you think he'll be hurt if you don't tell him yourself?"
"Okay, fine!" Ruby said dramatically. "I will talk to him tomorrow. I promise."
"Good girl," Charlie and Joey said in unison.
Ruby laughed.
"You two spend far too much time together!" she remarked.
Next time... Ruby tells all to Geoff, Miles struggles with depression and Aden and Liam get into a fist fight...
