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Dylan slowed down his bike as he approached the gate to the Rodeo Festival site. He smiled in nostalgia at the sight of the circular ring fence and the half-stand around it from the distance, as well as Ferris Wheel setup on the side. He had fond memories of these sort of shows when he was a kid; a happier time with his parents before the forced sale of the farm. Back then, his father used to bring a few of their most prized cattle to the agricultural shows. He even went as far as Annual Royal Easter Show in Sydney and Ekka in Brisbane as their cattle were just that good.
He wondered if this sort of country festival would have been a regular occurrence in his adult life if their farm had still been in their family’s possession. Would he join the Navy at all? Or would he be a full-time cattle farmer?
“G’day mate.”
In his musing, he almost missed the attendant at the gate. “G’day. Sorry mate, was lost in my head.”
“The good thing is you can’t be lost around here, it’s pretty much a square site with the bull ring in the middle.”
Dylan chuckled in response to the attendant which strangely looked like he could be Charge’s brother if Charge had ever worn a cowboy attire.
“Free entry, you can park on either side of the grass at the front, you just can’t park on the camping ground. Caravan or motorhome only from that point.”
Dylan then asked, “I’m meeting a friend who’s staying at the camping ground, do I need to pay to enter the ground?”
“No, only if you’re the one bringing the caravan.” The Not-Charge replied, “Powered or Non-Powered site?”
“Sorry?” Dylan stared in confusion.
“Your friend, is he renting the powered or non-powered part of the ground?”
“Not sure….” Dylan frowned, “and it’s a She actually.”
“Then probably powered.” The Not-Charge looked at him pointedly. “The non-powered part is at the front of the ground. The powered one at the back. So, you’ll have a bit of a walk from here.”
“Alright, cheers then.” Dylan nodded curtly at the man. His smile disappeared as he felt a bit offended on Kate’s behalf for the other man’s assumption based on her gender. Country town’s attitude could be backwards sometimes, even though as farmers, blokes should have known that their wives often were the toughest sort, just like his mother. And what’s wrong with wanting a bit of convenience if that’s what she wanted?
He shook his head a little bit to be much more present in the moment. He didn’t know why his brain just couldn’t shut up today.
The sight of caravans, motorhomes and tents greeted him as he entered the campground. He was a bit surprised at the attendance level but then remembered that winter months coincided with tourist season in the Far-North Queensland. Maybe that’s why the festival was so popular. Thankfully Kate had sent him the rego number of her campervan, otherwise he would be looking for a needle in the haystack.
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Kate felt a strange sort of peace as she sat on the steps of her campervan with a mug of coffee on her hands. The sounds of families cooking breakfast on their portable stoves and kids running amongst the arrays of motorhomes around them provided a soothing background noise for her psyche.
No more boardings to lead, no more navigation system to man, and no more sailors to babysit or dole out punishments to. At least for a few months anyway until command sorted through a position for her. She didn’t realise how much she needed a break from Navy life until now. Although she missed her crews, especially a certain bosun that had become her best friend, she was glad to be away from it for a while.
Speaking of her best friend, it’s been a week since she had last seen him. Her farewell drinks had been a sort of reunion party with both present and past Hammersley’s crews gathering at their usual pub, sharing stories and memories of her 4 years with the ship.
Spider, who had happened to be in Cairns visiting Bomber and 2Dads, had shared story of their shared experience being seasick for the first few days of patrol aboard the Hammersley, while Buffer and Nikki, who had flown from Sydney for the occasion had expressed their gratitude for her support during some of their toughest personal struggle while serving with her. She had been very touched by their words and by the time Mike had finished giving farewell speech on behalf of the crews, she had been closed to bawling her eyes out.
Throughout this rollercoaster of emotions, Dylan had stood by her side, just like every boarding they had done together in the past year. It might’ve seemed strange to the crews to see their bosun had still assumed his post a step behind her as if they had been at work, but to her, his silent support had meant the world. And now that their friendship was no longer bound by work, she wondered how their interaction would look like. Would they still have anything in common? Would their conversation flow as easily?
Her musing was interrupted by some kind of lull from the noises surrounding her. She frowned at the sensation and looked up from her mug to her surroundings.
Holy hell….
While she had seen Dylan in casual clothes before, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of him wearing an attire that made him looked like those cowboys from Marlboro commercial in the 90s. His long-sleeved blue flannel shirt paired with dark blue jeans and leather boots along with the Akubra on his head definitely suited him, which served as a reminder of his background as a country kid.
It looked like he hadn’t seen her yet due to his eyes carefully checking the rego of the vehicles on the camp, trying to find hers. He inevitably attracted some curious and appreciative eyes from the ladies, a few of them even trying to make eye contact with him. But it seemed that even if he met their eyes, he just politely nodded at them and moved along to check the next set of regos.
The closer he got to her, the faster her heart seemed to beat. She could feel her skin flushed as a result, which she tried to control to no avail. She resigned herself to her predicament, fully intending to blame the strong winter sun for what surely be a pink hue on her cheeks.
His smile was blinding when he finally saw her. And she’s pretty sure that her answering smile was equally as cheesy.
“Ma’am.” He took off his Akubra and smiled teasingly at her.
She rolled her eyes at his typical teasing and stood up to greet him. “I’m not your boss anymore, you know. I might think that you’re calling me old for using that greeting.”
He laughed, “sorry, old habits die hard.”
She only smiled in return, somehow feeling a bit awkward now that he’s in front of her.
As if sensing her discomfort, his smile turned soft when he offered his hand as if to shake hers. “Hi, I’m Dylan, nice to meet you.”
Her answering smile was just as soft when she grabbed his hand and said, “I’m Kate. Nice to meet you too.”
Their hands stayed linked together as they stared at each other before Kate finally cleared her throat and let his hand go. “Do you want a brew?”
“Yes please, that’ll be great.”
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“Did you have fun?” Dylan asked with a smile as Kate hugged the large koala plushie to the side of her hip like a small child.
“Yes. So much fun.” She grinned widely at him, “you’re amazing at lasso throwing. Thank you for this,” gesturing to the large plushie.
“Anytime,” He could only grin back at her. He hadn’t had this much fun for ages too. Seeing her childlike enthusiasm for the games that they’re playing and the unrestrained glee on her face in the last hour had made his heart swelled.
Her wide smile was rarely seen in the ship, and he was sure that part of it was due to the stress in keeping the ship running as tightly as possible. But he suspected that the bigger reason was that she had to maintain a carefully curated image as a woman in the male-dominated occupation.
“Being on holiday seems good for your mood.” He commented when they finally sat down on one of the benches at the grandstand to watch the bull-riding competition.
She shrugged and replied cheekily, “maybe it’s because I don’t have to deal with you.”
“Bullshit,” he laughed as he pulled a few threads of her fairy floss from the container and ate it, “admit it, you miss me….”
She huffed at him, but didn’t deny it, “I might have missed everyone a little bit.”
“Come on Kate,” he nudged her upper arm playfully, “you sure it’s everyone and not just me?”
“Don’t push your luck,” she glared at him half-heartedly before stuffing a handful of the fairy floss to his open mouth to shut him up.
“I think my teeth is glued together now, thanks to you.”
“Serve you right.” She nudged him back but didn’t move again after that, seemingly comfortable to rest her body to his side. He thought that he could really get used to the feeling of contentment blooming in his chest.
“Do you know that fairy floss was invented by a dentist?”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.” She shrugged, “too much sugar equals to rotten teeth, and I guess more business for him as a result.”
“That’s nuts,” he shook his head and whispered back to her, “in our case, it’d be if the government secretly funding the illegal fishermen on our waters to ensure that people like us have a job!”
She laughed, “careful, you sounded like Charge with his conspiracies just now….”
“Don’t you think that the older we get, the stuff he’s saying is making more sense?” He frowned a little bit.
“Hey, nothing like that,” her hand reached out to smoothen the frown on his forehead, “today is a happy day, no conspiracies please.”
He went still as he felt her touch and his eyes met hers in surprise at her gesture. He could feel her hand went still for a second before it continued down the slope of his nose and to his lips, tracing his slightly chapped ones.
“Kate….” Her name slipped past his lips softly, breaking off the trance they seemed to be in.
She blinked her eyes before sending him a sheepish smile and withdrew her hand from his face.
Not wanting to lose whatever forward momentum they found themselves in, he grasped her hand before she could withdraw it fully and kissed the tip of her fingers softly, while their eyes stayed locked together. He could taste the sugar residue from the fairy floss on his lips now and he wondered whether her lips would taste even sweeter.
She blushed beautifully at his gesture, but before he could lean forward and kiss her, he could hear the announcer chose this precise moment to blast his voice through the loudspeaker.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! Welcome to the annual Mareeba Rodeo Festival!!!”
The crowd rose around them with raucous applause in response while they remained seated.
He chuckled at the timing of it all and pulled her up to a standing position to follow the crowds’ example. A few seconds later, he could feel her tugged their entwined hands and he instantly dreaded that she wanted him to let go. He turned to her apprehensively, ready to apologise for the liberty he had taken.
“I can’t see anything.” She pouted at him while gesturing at the large man standing in front of her, “can we switch?”
He grinned in a mixture of relief and amusement before shuffling to her seat and she to his. She then grinned back happily at him and entwining their hands together again before paying her attention to the announcer.
He looked at their joined hands for a little longer, ensuring this was not a dream. And as if sensing his apprehension, she squeezed his hand tightly in response.
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“Here you go. One Dagwood Dog and tomato sauce.”
Kate moved the plushie to her other side to free up his seat before taking the offered stick and the sauce packet from Dylan’s hand. “Thanks. Did you get the same?”
“Yeah, I got us some chips to share too.” He held up the container with his right hand for her easy access. “You know, I seemed to recall that this hot-dog stick was called Pluto Pup when I was a kid. Not sure why it’s called Dagwood Dog now.”
“Hmm,” she chewed the fried goodness while mulling his question over, “I think it’s a Queensland thing. Pretty sure, Pluto Pup is the New South Wales term. And apparently in South Australia it’s called Dippy Dog.”
“Maybe we should just call it Corn Dog like the Americans and be done with it.”
“Well, they invented this stuff. So, it’s not unreasonable.” She shrugged and continued demolishing her snack. While she was generally a pretty healthy eater, deep-fried stuff was her weakness, except probably a deep-fried Mars bars. Although the deep-fried ice cream she once ordered at a Thai restaurant was not too bad.
“Ouch, that’s got to hurt….”
Too engrossed in her snack, she missed the moment where one of the riders was tossed from on top of the bull quite a few meters away until she heard his exclamation and looked back to the middle ring for the aftermath. The thrown man was lying still on the ground when the first aid team was running to check him over, while a team of wranglers tried to contain the large bull and pull it back to the cage.
You could feel the anxiety rising amongst the crowds while they all waited for any updates from inside the ring. She turned to Dylan worriedly, “do you think he’s alright?”
“It doesn’t look like he landed at a bad angle,” he replied, “but maybe he hit the back of his head during landing, although the helmet he wears should help lessen the impact.”
A few tense minutes later and the man appeared to be waking up slowly with the help of the first aid team. The crowds then cheered for the man as he stood on his own two feet and gave a small wave while slowly walking out of the ring.
“It’s good that you’re not competing.” She frowned, “as much as I would love seeing you in action, I would probably be too worried.”
He chuckled, “we’ve faced some bad guys with guns before, and I’ve never seen you flinch. The bull is a much bigger enemy, much slower than the speed of a bullet, you shouldn’t need to worry so much.”
“But still, we wear Kevlar at work, sometimes with extra plate to cushion the impact even more. There is no Kevlar anywhere in sight here, just a flimsy helmet.”
“You’re cute.”
“What, why?” She stared at him in confusion at his comment.
“For worrying about my imaginary-self competing in bull-riding.” He teased her, “I didn’t know you worry about me that much.”
She scowled indignantly, “I wouldn’t have to worry so much if you don’t have a history of being reckless.”
“Yeah, pot meet kettle,” he winked, “who pulled me to reckless situation all the time, hey?”
“Shut up….” She glared at him before staring resolutely at the ring to watch the new rider took on the bull. She saw that this rider looked older than the last one and maybe had more experience. She wondered if women were allowed to complete as well. But knowing the backward attitude of some sporting codes, maybe not. Although in this case, it might be too dangerous indeed, even for men.
“Hey….”
She only hummed in acknowledgement, still feeling a bit annoyed at his teasing.
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
She turned towards him to find him staring at her softly. She didn’t know what to say to his statement. But she let him hold her hand again.
“I worry about you all the time too….”
She felt his hand squeezed hers tightly when he saw her about to open her mouth in rebuttal.
“And I know what you’re going to say about it,” his lips curved up in amusement, “that you can take care of yourself. That you don’t need a man to rescue you. But that’s not the point….”
“Then?” She stared at his eyes curiously, trying to decipher his thoughts.
“I think it’s nice to be worried about. It means that the person cares about you.” He huffed self-deprecatingly, “of course, not to the unhealthy level, like what I was doing when supposedly protecting you but giving you a black eye instead.”
Her lips curved up at the reminder of the disaster of their first few patrols together.
“I worry about your stress level sometimes.” He let go of her hand to caress her temple, “the vein here would show up when you were stressed. You tend to skip meals too…. You are already slight to begin with, I worry that one day you might be carried away by the wind.”
She chuckled at the image and felt her heart swelled at the fondness she could see in his eyes. She then decided to share her thoughts as well, “I worry that you take too much burden on your shoulder too. You are so protective of the people you care about that I worry if you ever experienced another loss, you would break.”
“What a pair we are….”
She shook her head, “we’re human, we’re breakable, we’re flawed. And that’s OK.”
He stayed quiet after that, but she felt his arm raised around her and pulling her to his side. She went willingly and put her head on his shoulder while her eyes went back to the bull riding once more. They stayed in each other embrace until the competition finished and the winner in each category were announced.
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“Happy Birthday, big fella….”
Dylan turned around from his seat on Kate’s campervan steps to find the sight of her carrying a plastic tray of what looked to be two small vanilla slices with a candle on top.
“This was the only thing I could find at Coles this morning that looked pretty decent.”
He smiled as she gingerly sat on the floor of the campervan facing him while trying to cover the flickering candle from being blown over by the afternoon breeze.
“Make a wish if you’d like….”
“Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows at her, surprised that she believed in this sort of things.
She shrugged, “it won’t hurt….”
He nodded then took the tray from her hands and closed his eyes briefly for a few seconds before blowing out the candle.
“What did you wish for?” She asked while taking away the candle and giving him one of the plastic spoons to eat the slice.
He chuckled, “you know that it’s supposed to be a secret yeah? Otherwise, it won’t come true.”
She laughed, “I know. Just checking if you know. I would’ve stopped you if it looked like you were going to blurt it out.”
“I thought you’re going to sabotage my wish.” He smirked at her. He then took a few bites of the slice and hummed, “this is pretty good…. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome….” She smiled softly at him, glad that he seemed to enjoy the slice. “I was too busy organising the holiday that I didn’t have a chance to get you anything before I started the trip.”
He shook his head, “as cliché as it is, this whole day with you is a whole present in itself.”
“What did I say before about saying nice things to me?” She waggled her index finger towards him as she could feel her cheeks heated up once more.
“And I meant what I said then too,” he stared intently at her, “I want you to do inappropriate things to me, Kate.”
“Dylan….”
The sound of his name from her lips made him bolder, and he closed the meagre distance between them to finally kiss her lips softly.
He could feel her lips froze for a few long seconds, long enough for a shred of doubt to emerge in his head. But when he was about to pull away, he felt her hands cupped his neck to pull him closer and for her to start kissing him back.
He spent the next few minutes deepening the kiss. He could taste the remnant of the vanilla slice as their tongue met and he hummed in recognition. His hands were busy caressing her face, her neck, her hair and pulled her even closer to him until she ended up on his lap.
He swallowed her quiet moans as their kiss heated up even further and he finally had to force himself to let go of her lips when his jeans became uncomfortable sometime later.
He cursed as he felt a keen sense of loss when he stopped kissing her. He could hear her whine at the loss of his lips too and that made him give her a few more pecks to soothe her.
“Why did you stop?”
His eyes softened at the rare vulnerability he could see in her eyes. “If I don’t stop, we would give everyone here a show. And I want to take you out to dinner first.”
“Can’t this vanilla slice count as dinner?”
He grinned when her pout appeared, “nope. This is a snack. In fact, I think we have only eaten snacks all day today.”
“But you’re starting patrol tomorrow for the next 3 weeks. That means dinner would be forever away.”
“Someone is eager….” His teasing earned him a slap to his chest. He then caught her hands in his and kissed her knuckles before she could slap him again. “Do you like Italian?”
She nodded, “of course, who doesn’t really?”
He pecked her lips again, “would you like to go to dinner with me then, around 3 weeks from now?”
She beamed at him, “I would love to.”
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