"This must have been an interesting place to grow up in." Austin grinned. "It really is beautiful. It's like walking around in a museum."
"Yeah. Well, I'm off to bed. I'll be across the hall if you need anything. Set your alarm so that you're up and ready for breakfast at six. After that, I want to take you somewhere, and then we'll go down to the beach."
~ ~ ~
Rory and Austin were back in the old car after having breakfast with Angel and Mick. This time, Rory had taken the opposite path from the house. Austin saw part of the golf course as they continued further on, until they came upon a cattle style fence with an open clearing with small hills, beautiful gum trees, and a tiny creek off in the distance. Rory grabbed a small bag from the car and crossed the fence. She walked out about thirty yards into the clearing and began making a strange noise.
"What the hell are you doing?" Austin asked.
"Be quiet. You'll scare him." Rory whispered back loud enough for Austin to hear.
Scare who? Just then, a large kangaroo came hopping across the field towards Rory. Holy shit! The large animal stopped a few feet from Rory and she pulled a few carrots from the bag she was carrying. The reddish brown animal was nearly as tall as Rory when he stood up. He hopped closer, taking the carrots that she held out to him, before hopping off in the opposite direction.
"Did you see him?"
"Yeah!"
"Isn't he gorgeous?"
"Wow, he's fascinating."
"His name's Roo. My Grandfather got him for me when he was a Joey and we built this habitat for him. I can't believe how grown up he is."
"Can't he get out?"
"No, the fence keeps him in and he's domesticated. He has a large territory though. It's much larger than he would have had at the zoo. Uncle Mick put a female out here a few years ago, but they don't get along, so they haven't mated yet."
"That is unbelievable. You amaze me." Austin smiled as she reached out, squeezing Rory's hand. Rory froze, but she returned the warm smile before squeezing back. "There are a few koalas out there in the trees and we also have wallabies too. I forgot the binoculars, shit!"
"Don't worry about it—your kangaroo was cool enough."
"Bob is going to drop us off at the beach in a little bit. I called in some favors and I have one of my female riders bringing a stick down for you to ride. Do you think you're up to it?"
"Hell yeah!"
~ ~ ~
Rory watched as Austin paddled out behind the break. She was nervous, knowing Austin had never surfed these waters, but she'd have to get used to surfing all around the world if she wanted to join the tour.
Austin sat up on her board, watching the waves crest to six or seven foot before breaking and crashing into the shore. She'd dropped and wiped out on the first two waves. "You can do this," she said to herself. "If you choke now, this is over. You might as well kiss her goodbye."
"Come on, Austin. You can do this," Rory paced in the sand, watching Austin bob up and down on her board.
Austin took a deep breath and paddled into the line-up, backing off the first wave and dropping on the second as it crested over her head. She carved back and forth, riding the edge of her board and dragging her hand through the cool water. She rode up the face of the wave into a tight power snap off the top of the wave that let her re-enter it with more speed as she ripped back up again into a floater along the top of the wave before re-entering on last time and riding the wave until it flattened.
Austin began floating back to the beach, but stopped when she saw Rory waving.
"Get another wave!" Rory shouted, waving her arms and trying to tell Austin to stay out.
Austin shrugged, paddling back out to the line. She sat back on her board, watching each set of waves roll by. She began paddling as hard as she could, dropping on top of the next wave in the set, carving down the face to gain speed as she rode back up, launching into a front-side aerial and landing on the lip of the wave. She floated along the top of the wave before re-entering and carving down into a cutback. Then, she climbed the face of the wave, performing a snap under the lip and trimmed out the rest of the wave as it weakened.
Rory watched with a smile on her face as Austin caught another wave, and then dumped it as the water started to get choppy. She paddled back to shore.
"What did you think?" Rory asked, meeting her as Austin walked out of the water.
"It was off the hook," Austin replied with a huge grin.
Rory smiled. "Yeah, it's a lot different here than in Cali. The waves here are fast and tight," she said, handing her a dry towel. "This particular spot is tricky though. It's either going off overhead or blown out, but sometimes it closes out into the most beautiful lines you've ever seen," Rory's voice faded as her mind drifted to her past. She'd grown up surfing the very same beach.
"Did I look like a shark biscuit or whatever your uncle called me?"
Rory laughed. "No, you have the maneuvers down, Austin. There's no question about whether or not you have mad skills. You charge every wave like I've never seen, but we really need to work on flow and consistency. In a competition, power tricks are your base points so to speak and aerials are what push your score higher. We need to work on your baseline and get you doing power tricks, one right after the other, smoothly. Pumping a wave or doing cutbacks to gain speed will only hurt your score."
"Okay," Austin nodded.
"Backside surfing will get you high numbers from the start and snaps, floaters, slashes, and tail slides should be the base of your ride every time you ride a wave. Laybacks, aerials, and other extreme maneuvers, should be performed towards the end of a ride, unless it's a short line or a barrel. Then, you just have to go for whatever you can get. Also, trim the rail on long lines and inside tubes for higher points."
"I'd love to surf a tube. That would be so sweet." Austin's face lit up.
"The first time is like using your virginity. Once you do it, it's done. You can never get that first time back and it will be an experience you will never forget."
"Nice analogy…I think," she said furling her eyebrows. "My first time was horrible," Austin laughed. "Maybe my first tube wave will be a hell of a lot better!"
Rory wondered who had made her first time so unpleasant, but thinking about Austin having sex with someone else made her stomach roll. "Sophie will be here in a bit to get her board and Bob will be right behind her to take us back."
"Sophie Wood?" Austin asked.
"Yeah. She's one of my sponsored riders who lives here. She's a little taller than you, but most surfers are," Rory grinned. "I figured you'd be able to ride one her boards and I was right."
"Wow. I had no idea that's who you were talking to."
"I told you I was borrowing a board from one of my riders."
"Yeah, but I guess…hell, I don't know what I'm saying," she laughed.
~ ~ ~
Rory was still walking on eggshells around her mother when they arrived back at the house. Austin was unable to find Rory when she'd finished her shower, so she went into the lounge and opened her tablet to finish reading the last of her assigned chapters for the week.
Angel walked into the room, surprised to see the young woman alone. She jumped at the opportunity to find out why she had accompanied her daughter on the trip.
"Hi, I didn't see you there," Austin said, swallowing the lump in her throat as she smiled.
"I was actually looking for Rory."
"I haven't seen her since I got out of the shower."
Angel walked further into the room, taking the seat across from her. "So, Austin, how do you know my daughter?"
"We…uh, we met at her office."
Angel nodded. "So, you're a surfer, I presume?"
"Yes ma'am. She doesn't sponsor me or anything."
"Oh, really? Why did she bring you with her then? I guess I'm confused," she smiled slyly.
"She wanted me to see the competition."
"Bob informed me that you two went to th
e beach this morning."
"Yes ma'am. I went surfing and she watched."
"I see," Angel furled her brow and sipped the tea she was holding. "Do you have a boyfriend back in the states?"
"Uh…no."
"Are you a student?"
"Yes ma'am, at California State."
Angel nodded her head, pursing her lips. "What exactly are your intentions with Rory? Forgive me if I sound like a stickybeak. I guess I'm slightly confused. My daughter has only ever brought one person here. Have you met Martie?"
Austin nodded. She'd only encountered the woman once, and it hadn't been the most pleasurable experience.
"Rory and Martie have been inseparable for many years. You can see why I'm surprised that she isn't here and yet, you are."
"Ms. Zane, Rory and I are…"
"G'day, mate," Mick grinned, walking up to Austin.
"Hi." Austin smiled in relief.
"If you will excuse me," Angel said. "I need to ring my office."
Mick watched his sister walk out of the room. "Don't let her knock you. She's a polly, but really she's been a bounce since we were ankle-biters. She's spewin' with Rory for bringing you here. The barney between them has nothing to do with you. She'll be right."
Austin stared at him, wondering what the hell he was saying. "If you see Rory, let her know I went up to my room to get some work done."
"No worries."
Austin nodded and disappeared up the stairs.
~ ~ ~
Mick walked into the garage, where Rory was tinkering with her old car. He walked over to the small refrigerator next to the workbench, pulling out two beers.
"I miss seeing this thing out and about," he said, handing Rory a beer before opening the passenger door and sitting in the seat.
"I'd love to ship it across the pond, but it'd probably cost me my inheritance to do it." Rory smiled, wiping her hand on a rag and opening the beer.
"Your mum had Austin cornered in the lounge when I walked inside," he said. "I think she's ready to give her the flick."
"Bloody hell. I knew we should've stayed in the hotel."
"You know how she is. So what's the real story?"
"Uncle Mick, it's complicated."
"It must be something since you brought her here. Your mum seems to think something happened with you and Martie."
Rory tossed the rag on top of the tool box and closed the engine panel. "Martie and I will always be best mates. Austin has nothing to do with that. "
"Well, are you having the naughty with her?"
"Uncle Mick! What the bloody hell makes you think I'm going to talk to you about my sex life?"
"I think you're cracking onto her." He laughed. "Good on ya, I say. She's a spunk."
Rory shook her head and smiled. "It's way more complicated than that and if you ever tell my mother that I'm a lesbian, I'll make sure you disappear, you ratbag."
"Rory, your mum's cunning as a dunny rat. She's known for a while now."
"What do you mean?"
"Start this old heap and let's take a drive," he said, grabbing another couple of beers from the fridge.
Rory obliged. She wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation, but it was too late to turn back. She drove through the rolling hills, stopping alongside the cattle fence on the backside of the property.
"Roo looks good," she said. "I saw him this morning."
"Yeah, I'm beginning to think he needs a different mate."
"Maybe…Hell, I don't know."
"You think he's like you?" Mick pursed his lips.
"As in he needs a male mate?" Rory laughed, shaking her head. "I have no idea. Have you ever heard of a gay kangaroo?"
Mick laughed hysterically, shaking his head no.
"Me either. Maybe she's just not his type."
"I bought another Jill. She should be here next week, so I guess we'll see. Unless, maybe the Jill we have is the problem. Bloody hell, I may have just bought her a new mate," he said laughing again.
"Nice," she smiled, shaking her head.
"Maybe I should bring your mum out to see him. She's pretty good at reading people."
"How long has she known about me?" Rory asked, opening her second beer.
He shrugged. "Uni, I guess. I don't remember her cracking the shits about it until you were here for your first championship tour."
"Did you tell her?"
"Fuck me. You know better than that."
"Well, how did she find out then?" Rory asked, running her hand through her hair.
"A mum's instinct, I guess," he replied, watching the large kangaroo hopping in the distance. "You're her kid too. Sometimes, I think you forget that."
"Yeah, well she forgot I was someone else's kid too. I'll never forgive her, Uncle Mick."
"She knew what is was like to be a battler and she never wanted you to have that life. She made a blue, Rory."
"Yeah, well it was one big fucking mistake then."
He opened another beer and changed the subject.
"I remember the day you were here for that first competition. All eyes were on you, especially the eyes of one yank surfie that you'd brought home with you. You pretty much stood out like a shag on a rock when you walked around grinning at her like a shot fox." Mick shook his head, smiling. "Your mum nearly spit the dummy."
Rory grinned, remembering the time he was referring to. She'd just come home for the first time since leaving for college on the other side of the world and had brought her girlfriend, Martie, along with her.
"You're very lucky she never caught you two having the naughty. If Bob had nine lives, he blew right through half of them that weekend," he laughed, shaking his head.
Rory giggled. "Oh yeah, I forgot he found us in the back of the car."
Mick laughed. "The following week, he told your mum the car was shit house and got her to trade it in."
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Rory chuckled.
"Angel was mad as a cut snake, but after you won your first tour and then graduated uni; she stopped cracking the shits. Then…the accident really brought everything back that she'd gone through with your father and…it was just too much for her, Rory. I think she realized in that moment, when Martie never left your side, that she was going to have to learn to accept your life and accept her in it," he shrugged. "They spent a lot of time together while you were in the hospital. Hell, we all did."
"Martie and I had broken up long before the accident. We're much better mates than anything else. Trust me. We're not each other's type at all."
"I don't think your mum knew that. She definitely wasn't very impressed when you blew in here yesterday with a schoolie that's grinning at you like a shot fox."
Rory sighed. "She's not exactly that young."
"Don't get me wrong, I like Austin. But, why did you really bring her with you?"
"She wants to join the pro tour and I've been sort of showing her the ropes."
"Are you surfing again?"
"No! Hell, no. I wanted to see how she handled competition waves and let her see how things go at a big competition."
"I think there's more to it."
Rory stared through the windshield, smiling when she saw Roo. "I care for her, Uncle Mick, but she's so young and I'm a washed up has been. She has so much ahead of her."
"So do you. Rory, you're only thirty. You still have your whole bloody life ahead of you. If this Sheila makes you happy, then give it a fair go."
Rory rubbed the gold pendant hanging on the chain around her neck. "We should probably get back. I'm sure Matilda will have dinner on the table soon."
Chapter Twelve
The next day Rory, Austin, and Mick arrived at the competition. Rory stepped out of the limo with Austin, and Mick walked around from the other side. "Your mum's gone to the office—she's buried in cat shit, so she won't be here today."
"That's fine. I wasn't expecting her anyway," Rory said, walking towards the crowded beach.
"Here come the f
lies," Mick exclaimed as the fans flocked towards them.
Rory smiled and shook hands with the women and men as she signed her name on calendars, pictures, magazines, t-shirts, towels, hats, surfboards and anything else they pushed into her face. Austin wasn't sure where to go, but Mick pushed her closer to Rory, nodding with a smile on his face.
After signing the last item, Rory walked towards the competitor's tent.
"I can't believe you signed that girl's bikini," Austin laughed, shaking her head.
Rory chuckled. "Yeah, I get some odd requests sometimes. I generally don't go to many of the surf competitions for a lot of reasons, this being one of them. I know I still have fans, but to me, all of this," she said, fanning her arm towards the crowded beach. "This is over for me," she sighed. "Come on, I'll introduce to the best surfers in the world."
"I'm already standing next to the best one," Austin whispered.
~ ~ ~
The competition started out casually. Many of the magazines and sportscasters took photos of Rory and spoke to her in brief interviews. She was glad to see they'd finally stopped asking when she was coming back into the sport. Austin tried to stay close by her so that she could see how everything worked behind the scenes, but she finally took a spot on the sand with the rest of the crowd as the surfers began taking to the waves. She watched the surfers in the water, studying the line-up. One wave would be perfect and a surfer would drop, having an awesome ride, then the next wave would be flat, leaving the others to wait their turn. Eventually, everyone had ridden at least one wave, completing the heats.
"What do you think?" Rory said, sitting down on the beach towel next to Austin.
"Hey. It's crazy out there. They're waiting for the perfect wave, not knowing what the next line will look like. It's completely unpredictable and nothing like what I'm use to, that's for sure."
"Yeah, it's like a game of poker. You never know what you'll be dealt, but you still have to play your hand when you're in the blind." Rory leaned closer, bumping her shoulder into Austin's. "So, you think you can do it?"
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