Hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy One

Charlie, Joey, Ruby, Ross and Morag were enjoying breakfast round the dining room table the next morning. Charlie and Ruby were still thrilled that Ross and Morag had made it to the party and thought it was so sweet that Joey had arranged it as a surprise for them. But then it was such a Joey thing to do. They were surprised they hadn't suspected it in the first place.

"How long will you be staying?" Ruby asked, hoping it might be a few days.

"Oh, we'll have to head back today," Morag said. "But perhaps you'll all come to the city to see us soon?"

"Yes, definitely," Charlie said. "Now we've got this move and everything out of the way, we'll actually get some time to ourselves."

They were interrupted by Joey's phone. She excused herself and took the call, returning to the table a few minutes later looking grumpy.

"The dishwasher is leaking and Angelo doesn't know what to do," she said. "I'll be back."

She apologised to Ross and Morag, kissed Charlie goodbye and hurried out the door.


Indi felt extremely awkward as she knocked on Romeo's front door that morning. He had refused to speak to her the night before and angrily sent her away. He had ignored her phone calls and her messages and she had opted to give him some time to cool off. She just hoped that overnight he had had time to calm down and that this morning, they could talk things through rationally.

"What do you want?" Romeo snapped when he pulled open the door.

Maybe not, Indi thought to herself, as she stepped inside.

"I want to talk," she said.

"Well, I don't really want to talk to you," he replied, although she was glad that he had at least let her in the building.

"Look, I'm sorry," Indi said. "What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe not make me look like an absolute dork in front of all our friends? Not let them all laugh at me?"

"Nobody was laughing at you, Romeo," Indi said.

"Of course they were!" he snapped.

"Everyone was just worried about you being upset."

"Don't patronise me."

"I didn't know what to do," Indi said. "I wasn't expecting such a dumb question. What was I meant to do? Lie? Be honest? I didn't know."

He just glared at her.

"I'm sorry."

"And all of that is on top of everything else," he snarled.

"Everything else?" she asked, although she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You know what I mean," he said, looking her in the eye.

She looked as blank as she could.

"Annie's letter," he said. "You lied to me. Honestly, Indi, I feel like I don't even know you anymore."


Joey arrived at the restaurant in a flurry of stress, preparing to sort out the leak. She had been practising not getting angry with Angelo for being useless and not being able to sort it out himself. But then, she supposed, that was why she would never be able to promote him to anything above his current pay grade.

"Hey," she greeted stiffly when she walked through the door. "What's happening?"


"Well, there's a surprise," Indi said bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Romeo snapped, equally as bitterly.

"Well, I should have known that was what it was about," she said. "Your precious Annie and her precious letter."

Romeo's eyes blazed.

"Don't you dare turn this back on me," he said. "You were in the wrong both times, Indi. With the letter and last night."

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" Indi said. "I just can't get anything right, can I?"

She knew she was just arguing for arguing's sake now. But she was hurt and angry and she just couldn't stop herself.

"Not when you're reading my mail and hiding it from me and embarrassing me in front of my friends!" he shouted.

"You know what?" Indi snapped. "I can't deal with this. Have your stupid letter. And I bet your precious Annie would never ever make a mistake, would she? I bet she always gets every damn thing right! I hope you'll be very happy together!"

With that, she stormed out in tears.


Leah was nervous as she and VJ sat on the plane, ready to leave for the trip that would make or break her relationship with Elijah. VJ was chattering excitedly beside her. But her little boy didn't really understand the depth of what was happening. And she wasn't completely listening to him. Miles had very sweetly driven them to the airport and waved them off. Now she just had hours to fret over what would be waiting for them.


"I agree with Charlie," Ross said.

"So do I," Morag added.

Ruby frowned.

"But you're the one who didn't want me to drive in the first place," she pointed out to her mother.

"No," Charlie corrected her. "I was hesitant to teach you to drive. I never said I didn't want you to learn. I think you should learn. It'll be great for you to have that skill and that independence. And Joey and I have talked about it and we're willing to help you pay for a proper instructor if that will help you feel more confident."

"Really?"

Morag and Ross exchanged looks.

"How about if Charlie and Joey chip in half, your father and I chip in the other half?" Morag suggested. "Then you can have as many lessons as you need?"

"Are you serious?" Ruby asked, more excited than she was expecting to be.

She really did want to learn but the accident with Penn had really shaken her up.

"Serious," Morag, Ross and Charlie confirmed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ruby said, hugging all three of them.

"You're welcome," Ross said.

"We want you to be happy, Rubes," Charlie said. "And we know this is important to you."


Indi found herself at the restaurant where Joey looking a little damp and dishevelled.

"What's going on?" Indi asked, a little amused.

"A leak," Joey said. "Incapable staff. Waiting for a plumber. What's up with you? You look a little down."

"Romeo," Indi told her.

"How did I guess? Honestly, what am I going to do with that boy?"

"Any chance you can make him reasonable? Make him understand me better?"

Joey wiped her hands on a dish towel and poured Indi a glass of lemonade.

"What's he being unreasonable about?"

Indi blurted everything out.


Miles arrived back in the Bay, having left Leah and VJ at the airport. He would miss his friend while she was away. Their trip felt a little more than a holiday. But he was hopeful that she and Elijah would work things out. So long, of course, that that didn't mean she and VJ would then move away to Africa.

Alone in the car, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. He thought about Alf. He was always thinking about Alf these days. He felt like he was seeing his friend visibly age these days. He just seemed so tired and sad right now. He always seemed so stressed and worried. Miles just wished there was something he could do. He wished he could make Penn disappear. He had never hated someone like he hated Penn. He had never felt the urge to run someone out of town like that before.

He paused at traffic lights and tapped the steering wheel. Maybe that's what we need to do.


Joey had sent Indi off with what she hoped was decent advice. All she could say was to try and calm her own hurt and anger down and try to talk things through properly with Romeo, to be honest and open about her feelings and her insecurities. She told her to explain exactly why she had opened the letter and to apologise and accept she had done the wrong thing. To not excuse herself but to make him understand what had driven her to do so.

"Hey, do you still need me?" Angelo asked.

The plumber was busy working in the kitchen.

"Well, I was kind of hoping you'd supervise and I could go home," Joey said.

She had just been getting ready to leave. It was her day off to spend with her family. Angelo was supposed to be in charge. She didn't want the plumber to be supervised by someone with less experience than him or her.

"I just wanted to pop out for an hour," he said, clearly itching to leave.

"You're on shift, Angelo," Joey protested.

"Please?"

"Why?"

"I just have some stuff to do."

He'd had a text from Miles calling an urgent meeting about Penn and he didn't want to miss it. He also didn't want to tell Joey about it.

"Can't it wait?" Joey asked. "Ross and Morag are only here for a few more hours."

Romeo walked into the restaurant looking stressed. Joey groaned silently.

"Fine," she snapped at Angelo. "But if you're not back within the hour, you're fired."

"Thanks, Boss!"

He dashed out.

"I need help," Romeo said to Joey, getting straight to the point.

"I thought you might," Joey replied.


Angelo arrived downstairs and joined Sid, Miles and Alf at a table in the Surf Club.

"Were you working?" Alf asked.

"I have an hour or I'm fired," Angelo replied. "I think she was joking…"

"I wouldn't trust it," Miles chuckled.

"Right, what's the plan?" Sid asked, getting straight down to it.

"I don't know," Miles said. "But we have to do something. This cannot go on any longer. We have to get rid of Penn. For good."

"And how are you going to do that?" said a sneering voice.

They looked up to find Penn standing right behind them.


Joey sat at a table with Romeo, patiently listening to him rant about how awful Indi was. She was sneaky and secretive, deceptive and dishonest. She had embarrassed him in front of their friends at the party last night and she had hidden an important letter from him.

"Okay," Joey said. "Can I talk now?"

"Yeah," he said, sitting back in his chair and finally taking a breath.

"First, the party," she said. "What did you want her to do?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Did you want her to lie?"

"I don't know."

"If she'd have lied, being the mood you're already in with her, don't you think you would have been angry with her for being ashamed of the status of your relationship?"

He shrugged, irritated at the valid point she was making.

"I bet she was in a complete and utter panic when she got that question," she said. "She wouldn't have known what the hell to say. What would you have said?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just… I was embarrassed."

"And I'm sure she was too," Joey told him. "Give the poor girl a break."

He sighed heavily, silently admitting he had probably been a bit too hard on her.

"And as for the letter," Joey said, "I know she did completely the wrong thing. I'm sure she knows she did completely the wrong thing and I'm sure she's very sorry. But have you ever stopped being angry for just a second and asked yourself why she did it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why would she hide the letter? What would have motivated her?"

"Selfishness," he said bitterly.

"No."

"What then?"

"It took you fucking ages to get together, Romeo," Joey said rather harshly.

He looked up sharply.

"And why?" Joey asked. "Because you were still so hung up on Annie. Indi was besotted with you and you were still in Annie World. Then just as you and Indi are in a really good place, Annie writes you a letter. What is that going to do to her? How much is she going to panic? How many crazy thoughts are going to race through that girl's head about what Annie wants from you? All the worst thoughts in the world will be there about Annie wanting you back, stealing you away from her. Yes, she made a bad call but can you at least understand why?"

"Maybe…" he conceded.

Joey raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," he sighed. "But doesn't she trust me?"

"How would you feel?" Joey asked. "Indi has a gorgeous ex that she was totally in love with and he reappears on the scene? You get an opportunity to intercept? Wouldn't you at least be tempted?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"Cut her some slack then," Joey told him. "She's not a bad person, Romeo. She just loves you."

Romeo sighed heavily and rubbed his face.

"She just loves me," he repeated.

Joey patted his leg and stood up.

"Don't fight with her about it. Try to understand where she's coming from and forgive her mistakes. She's not worth losing."


"Aww, so you think your little gang can beat me up and run me out of town, do you?" Penn mocked. "Now, that's something I would love to see!"

He laughed, throwing his head back. Alf stood up, squaring up to him.

"Forget them," he said angrily. "I will get you the hell out of my town myself."

"Oh, your town now?" Penn said, practically nose to nose. "What are you going to do, old man?"

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Alf threatened.


Joey was relieved to get home that day, but disappointed to only have caught Ross and Morag for the last hour of their visit. She was annoyed with Angelo for his lazy attitude towards the restaurant today. She was sure he could have done more to sort the leak out. But at least it was done now and at least it hadn't cost too much to fix either.

"So, did you have a good day with your Dad and Morag?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was nice," Charlie said. "It was good to see them. And Dad seemed well."

"He did, didn't he?" Joey said. "It was nice to see."

"And they helped me persuade Ruby to go for it with the driving lessons. She's online looking for instructors now. They said they'd go halves with us."

"Oh, that's awesome," Joey said. "It'll be good for her. If the instructor's any good, maybe I'll get lessons myself."

"Really?"

"Can't be any harder than driving a boat," Joey grinned.

Charlie chuckled and kissed her.

"So, your day was pretty irritating, hey?"

"Oh, just Angelo not pulling his weight," Joey said. "And trying to sort out the leak, the restaurant, Romeo and Indi's relationship… the usual."
Charlie sighed and shook her head.

"What would any of these people do without you?" she asked.

She leant in and kissed her.

"What would I do without you?"

They kissed again.


Across town, Indi wasn't feeling any better. She had hoped that Romeo might call her. She had nearly called him several times. She knew she needed to do what Joey had told her. Be honest. Be open about how she felt and try to explain but not excuse her actions. She was so desperate to sort things out but she was so scared that she had lost Romeo for good.

"Hey, darling," her father said, finding his daughter curled up on the couch, looking sad. "Is everything okay?"

"Just… boys," she said.

He came to sit beside her.

"Why don't you tell your old Dad all about it?" he said. "And I promise I won't respond by killing anyone who might have upset my only daughter."

She managed a smile for the first time in what felt like so long.


It was early the next morning and Summer Bay was only just beginning to stir. A hotel maid knocked politely on a hotel room door. There was no answer and no 'do not disturb' sign either. She entered the room in order to clean it, the first room of her shift that morning. She stopped short when instead of a typical hotel room scene that might greet her and granted, those scenes did vary, she was met with a pool of dark red blood on the floor.


Next time… Nearly the whole of Summer Bay come under suspicion in the disappearance of Penn Graham...