I did update this yesterday but I never got confirmation through so I hope nobody who wanted to read it, missed a chapter! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Three Hundred and Sixty Five

"What on earth did you say to Leah last night?" Elijah demanded of his mother.

She looked nonchalant and continued reading the paper. Irritated, he snatched it away from her.

"Mum!" he said. "What happened last night?"

He wondered if she even understood the havoc that she was causing in his previously happy relationship

"Ask Leah," Lijuan replied easily.

Elijah sighed in frustration and sat next to her at the kitchen table.

"All I could get out of her was that you went to talk to her at the Diner last night," he informed her. "I need more than that. I need to know why she's so unhappy."

"I just gave her the chance to prove herself," Lijuan replied, taking the newspaper back. "And I'm waiting for her to come through."


"So, what on earth am I meant to do with that?" Leah asked, exasperated.

She was sat at a table in the Diner with Charlie and Joey who had, as usual, stopped for coffee before work began.

"She said Elijah wasn't husband material?" Charlie clarified.

Leah nodded. It didn't quite make sense. All three women agreed that Elijah was definitely husband material. They didn't think you could find someone more stable and committed.

"Why would she say that?" Leah asked, genuinely longing for an answer.

Joey shrugged helplessly.

"I have no idea," she admitted. "Sorry."

"Maybe you need to ask her," Charlie suggested.

"Right now, I want to get as far away from that family as I can," Leah admitted.

"Don't do that," Joey pleaded. "Just sit down with Elijah and be honest with him. Let him into how you're really feeling. Hiding insecurities only make matters worse, I can assure you."

It wasn't often that she and Charlie held things back from each other but they both knew that things were better when they were completely honest about their feelings.

"Is it even worth it?" Leah wondered.

"Of course it is," Charlie said. "If you love him as much as we all know you d then the only thing you can do is start communicating."


Nicole tried not to comment on the way Indi was so obviously looking at Romeo as they walked to school together with Dex. Her crush on the blonde surfer was on display for all to see but Romeo didn't appear to have a clue. He was too focussed on the problems he was having with Jill to even begin to deal with anything else. And aside from the ill advised kiss that Nicole had shared with him, she was aware that he was still vulnerable after the way Annie had messed him around. But she knew that Indi was a nice girl and she liked the idea that her two friends could be happy together, the way she was currently happy with Penn.


With only three minutes to go until they were both supposed to start work, Charlie and Joey eagerly found John and Alf in the Surf Club.

"Aren't you meant to be somewhere?" Alf commented, not that he minded.

He doubted there was anything Joey could do to make him angry. She had become rather like a daughter to him ever since she'd first started working at the Surf Club, before she'd taken over the bait shop for him.

"I have three minutes!" Joey squeaked, showing him her watch as proof. "And we wanted to get in before you showed anyone else around upstairs."

"Are you interested?" John asked hopefully.

"Absolutely," Joey said. "We'd love to rent it from you for our restaurant."


Leaving Irene and Colleen to hold the fort, Leah had gone back home to speak to Elijah. If Charlie and Joey thought that the way to make the relationship work was to communicate with each other then she would follow their advice. They were a pretty good example of a happy relationship.

"Hi," she greeted.

She tried not to frown when she realised that he was with his parents. Despite Lijuan's constant interference, Leah did like her and her husband. She just struggled with the lack of space and the way they had such a strong effect on her engagement to their son.

"Hi," Elijah said warmly, standing up.

The look of pure hope on his face was rather heartbreaking and she felt terrible for the way she had been snapping at him all this time. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"I love you," she said. "And I want to marry you."

She looked pointedly at Lijuan.

"I very much think you're husband material and I'm looking forward to spending my life with you," she continued. "I've been panicking about omens and all the planning we have to do for the wedding. I'm sorry I haven't been communicating and I'm sorry I've been taking everything out on you."

Elijah closed the gap between them and wrapped her up in his strong arms. She had never felt safer.


Angelo left his lawyer's office in a strange mood. The prosecution had offered him a deal. If he voluntarily resigned from the police force, then all charges would be dropped and he could draw a line under the whole Hugo fiasco and start again. He wasn't pleased. He didn't want to leave the police force. But he also didn't want to go to jail. He'd been there, done that and barely survived. This was the only solution out of a bunch of terrible ones.


Joey was just closing the bait shop for the day when Jill approached her.

"I've taken your advice," the older woman said curtly.

Even when she was trying to be polite, she came across as rude.

"You did?" Joey asked, double locking the door and putting her keys back in her pocket, where they were attached to her jeans by a chain.

"I've spoken to that Irene woman," Jill said. "And I'm starting AA at the end of the week. For Todd."

Joey nodded and managed a smile.

"I'm pleased," she said. "I hope the two of you can work through everything."

Jill nodded stiffly and left.

Joey brightened when she spotted Charlie approaching. They had a meeting with John and Alf tonight to sign all the paperwork and cast everything in stone for the restaurant. And then the real work would begin. At the moment, the room was empty and dusty. According to John's schedule, they didn't actually have all that much time to set up and get started.

"What did she want?" the police officer wondered, nodding towards Jill who was further down the beach.

She pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss.

"To tell me she's going to AA in a bid to fix things with Romeo," Joey informed her.

Charlie smiled.

"That's great!" she enthused.

"Yep," Joey agreed, taking Charlie's arm and heading back up the beach towards the Surf Club. "I just hope it lasts."


Angelo's former boss stood up and extended his hand. Angelo refused to shake it. Upon the advice of his lawyer to try and sweep the whole mess under the carpet, he had resigned completely from the police force.

"Thanks for putting me through hell," he said bitterly.

He turned and walked out of the room without giving the boss the right to reply.


After signing contracts with Alf and John, Charlie and Joey headed across to the Diner for a celebration dinner.

"You look cheerful," Leah commented as she came to serve them.

"As do you," Charlie remarked. "Did you get things fixed with Elijah?"

"Yep!" the Diner owner beamed. "I went home, we talked about everything, pledged our commitment to each other, passed the omen test and got Lijuan and Song's blessing for the wedding."

"Wow!" Joey grinned. "That really is good news!"

"Do you have time to join us for dinner?" Charlie asked hopefully. "Because we have something to celebrate too."

"Oh?"

"We just signed the contract to rent the room above the Surf Club for our restaurant!" Joey squeaked happily, not able to hold her excitement in any longer.

"Then I can definitely join you!" Leah decided, sitting down. "Well done!"


In the early hours of the morning, drunk and dizzy, Angelo lit a fire on the beach. He stripped completely, removing the uniform he had worn for the occasion. He tossed it into the flames, sat down naked on the beach and watched it burn.


Next time… Angelo is arrested after giving Colleen and Joey a fright, Alf is alarmed by the arrival of Mr Oddly and Penn starts to cause trouble for Nicole...