Hi
Another huge thanks for the wonderful reviews :)
Here is Chapter 9.
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"Casey is big enough and ugly enough to look after himself especially," Brax checked his watch for the time, "before 5 o'clock."
"You're right bro, it's after five that we need to worry about but I'm sure he'll be fine, Buckton's senior and junior will look after him, I'm sure."
Brax stared at Heath, refusing to ask him to elaborate yet demanding it through his glare.
"Oh, no one told you?" Heath began feigning ignorance. "Buckton has moved back into Leah's for a while."
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Heath watched his brother process the new information; it didn't take an idiot to work out what conclusion Brax had come to after finding an empty motel room.
Heath could see that at that point his brother was struggling to remain in control. Brax stood slowly, his beer long forgotten and walked straight into the shower.
Heath heard the water being turned on.
"I'll say it again, you do realise how whipped you are, don't you?" Heath called out down the hall.
Heath barked out a loud laugh when the slam of the bathroom door was the only reply he received.
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"You going into work?" Heath asked surprised when he saw his brother dressed in his normal work attire.
"Looks like it doesn't it."
"You think it's a good idea?"
"And why wouldn't it be?" Brax demanded firing the question straight back to his younger brother.
"Dunno, maybe because you're smashed."
"Nah, didn't drink enough to be smashed."
"Really? Because the bottles are telling me a different story, brother."
"You don't clean up after yourself, most of those bottles were yours from god knows when, I only had two!"
"Hmmm, whatever bro, say hi to Buckton for me." Heath added before Brax was through the door.
There was some sort of get together happening with the women of the Bay at Angelo's that night. Bianca and Leah had organised it as a stress release or something, and now that Buckton was obviously staying in the Bay she would most likely make an appearance. Brax must have known about the get together too which was why, Heath surmised, Brax was going in to work.
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It was coming close to 9 before Brax caught sight of her.
Leah and Charlie arrived together and headed straight toward the table Bianca had reserved.
Brax was certain that Charlie hadn't seen him when she walked in because a few moments later she looked towards the bar and her eyes met his. Without letting the other two girls know, Charlie made her way towards the bar.
"Hi."
"Hi yourself."
"Can I have a white wine please?" Charlie asked sweetly, surprised at the nerves that had suddenly appeared.
"Sure thing," Brax answered and he reached under the bar for a glass.
"I'm sorry about this morning at the hospital," Charlie started breaking the silence, "I freaked out a little when you weren't there in the morning."
"Yeah, I figured that much, don't worry, you got yours back."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't give me that look Charlie, I find out from a cleaner that you had checked out of the motel and then from Heath that you moved back into Leah's. Like I said you got your own back." There was no malice in his voice and Charlie realised what he must have thought immediately.
"It wasn't my intention to get payback."
"No not at all." Brax said with a sarcastic tone as he poured her wine, the gently smile on his face relaxed her. "And let me guess, now that you know that I thought you had left all afternoon..." He let the sentence linger
"I'm not going to lie, it feels pretty good to know that you haven't had the greatest day either."
"I had the greatest night last night though." He added, smiling when Charlie blushed.
"Well you're not alone on that one. But I told you I wouldn't leave without letting you know so you should have believed me," Charlie said before turning away and walking towards the table where Bianca and Leah were seated.
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Brax had shouted out the last call for drinks almost a half hour earlier and he was just letting the last of the stragglers out of Angelo's when he found Charlie sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant.
Bianca and Leah had left almost an hour earlier and Brax had thought that Charlie had left with them.
"What about her?" A completely intoxicated patron asked Brax, as he was being herded out the door.
"She's with me," Brax answered as he closed the door behind the last group, latching it closed.
"I thought you'd gone?" Brax asked, both hands rested on his hips.
His mind drifted to the night before.
Charlie just shook her head slowly, her eyes remained on his.
"You didn't drink much tonight?" Brax observed. From what he saw, Charlie had only had one glass of wine and drank water the rest of the night.
Charlie shook her head again, nervous at being alone again.
"Want one?" Brax asked as he walked towards the bar.
He poured himself a drink and Charlie a wine and headed back to her table.
"Thank-you."
"You're very welcome."
They enjoyed what had become a comfortable silence between them.
"So you're staying?" Brax asked.
"I am staying," Charlie began with a smile, "but not at Leah's that's only temporary."
"Why?"
"Been there done that, I think it will be good for Ruby too, not having her mother hanging around and... I think it would be good for me too, to get a place of my own."
"You could always move in with me." Brax offered.
Charlie laughed in response, "I'm sure your brothers would love that, especially Heath."
"I noticed you didn't decline the offer."
"I'm declining the offer now."
"Too bad, we could have had some fun."
"I'll bet." Charlie laughed as she took a sip of her wine.
"Are you going back to work?"
"At the station? No. My time as a police officer is over."
"Why?"
Charlie paused.
"The truth?" She asked him.
"Always."
"I guess, I never had been put in a life or death situation before, and with Jake and knowing that my partner Shelley is still in hospital, it scared me. While I was in hospital all I could think of was what if he got me first, what if I was in hospital or worse, what if I died. I would have been alone and I just wondered, was being a police officer worth my life? I worked out that it wasn't."
Brax nodded in understanding.
"In case you're wondering, being a police officer was not worth our relationship either, I was valuing the wrong thing, I know that now."
Brax nodded along with what Charlie said and they sat at the booth looking gently at the other for what seemed like hours.
Brax stood up. "Do you want a lift home?" He asked, as he moved to Charlie to pull her up with him.
"Mmmm, I don't think that's a good idea, I might just walk," Charlie answered.
"No, no you won't walk Charlie, it's 2am."
Charlie began to argue but Brax cut her off.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can play hard to get all you like, Charlie Buckton, you can play hard to get for the next 10 years for all I care. I know how this story ends," Brax began to grin as Charlie's eyes widened at his speech.
"I know that in the end it's going to be you and me I don't know when or where or how, but it will be you and me, and what's even better is you know that too." Brax's grin widened when Charlie began to smile.
"You are so damn important to me and I'm not letting you go ever again, you are part of me and I love you and have loved you for the past three years and will love you for the next thirty and then some. It's you and me."
"That's a pretty good speech you got there." Charlie acknowledged teasingly after a few moments.
"I thought so too, you better have taken notes."
"I don't need to, you said yourself, I know how this story ends too."
"Damn straight," Brax nodded.
Before he could turn away from Charlie to continue closing up, Charlie pulled him gently towards her and kissed him slowly, she smiled when she heard her lover growl slightly.
"You are part of me too."
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YAY!
That's the end.
Thank-you for every reader, review, alert and PM to do with this story.
I'm considering a sequel, please, when you review let me know if you're interested.
Also considering more CHAX stories, we need some to keep us going, again please let me know if you're interested.
Thanks heaps for the support of this story.
Don't forget let me know if you want a sequel.
xoxox