Chapter 10

MANGROVE DREAMING
By Kerrie Bygrave

Chapter 10:

Dear Miss Caitlyn
After reviewing your first instructional lesson, I felt obligated to give you a review on your performance. On your casting ability, after some practice, I give you a ... pass. On your ability to tie a knot, a pass. And on your ability to reel in a fish, I once again grant you ... a pass. However, I would like to stress, that a follow up lesson is strongly advised in order to increase your ‘pass’ grades to ‘pass with flying colour’ grades. Therefore, I am proposing that we meet at thirteen hundred hours next Saturday at the Broome Jetty to continue your valued tuition.

Your ever faithful teacher.
Thomas




Thomas leant over the balustrade of ‘Blue Lady’, the fishing trawler he worked on. He glanced at the horizon in the distance. He hoped like nothing else on earth that the note he had left in Caitlyn’s fly wire door would do the trick. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. From the moment he first saw her sitting at the table in her front yard, he had been totally captivated. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on why, but he knew that he wanted her. Not only did Thomas find her strikingly beautiful, but he sensed in Caitlyn a vulnerability that made him want to wrap his arms around her and protect her from the world. It had taken a lot of strength to resist going back to her unit the day after their fishing date, but he didn’t want to scare her off by appearing too keen, so he had waited a week and a half. He knew she would be at school, so he had spent hours trying to write a note that wasn’t too full on, but would hopefully piqué her interest. Thomas must have wasted about twenty pages of note paper trying to find something to write that he thought Caitlyn would find witty and charming, yet casual at the same time.
When he first walked into the garage sale, he had assumed she must be leaving town, and he wondered why he hadn’t seen her around Broome before. He had been flooded with a strange sense of relief, when he realised that she was in fact new in town and would be staying.
The next trick had been working out a way that he could see her again. He got the feeling that if he had just tried to ask her outright on a date, she would have run a mile, figuratively speaking. So when they had got to talking about fishing and how she’d not been able to teach herself, it was the perfect opportunity to talk her into going fishing with him.
After spending the day with Caitlyn at Redell beach, Thomas found Caitlyn to be refreshingly different to some of the other women he had met in town. He was all too used to women who thought because he was a young guy living in Broome, that he wanted to do nothing party hard and that he would only want one thing from a woman.
His mates were forever paying out on him. They couldn’t understand why he didn’t take much more advantage of the attention women seemed to throw at him when he was out with them. They thought he was almost weird for rejecting their advances. His mate Peter even went as far as to accuse him of being gay, despite his reassurances that he wasn’t. In the close quarters of the ‘Blue Lady’s’ cabin, he was often the butt of ‘gay’ jokes, thanks to Peter’s jibes.
He didn’t care what they said. Now that he had met Caitlyn, he would do whatever he could to win her over...


Caitlyn giggled as she read Thomas’ note. She had just got home from school when she found his note. It had been a particularly tiring day at school. It was very windy outside and for some reason, the kids in her class were all in a restless mood, and she’d had a great deal of difficulty getting them to settle. In the end, she had done a meditation session with them laying on the floor, closing their eyes and listening to mellow music, and they had finally calmed down. But after being outside in the wind at lunch time, they had come inside all unsettled again. Caitlyn had been unusually relieved to hear the final siren for the day, signalling home time. She loved her kids to bits. They had hearts of gold, but she was just glad to get some alone time.
After staying behind to do some preparation for the next day’s class, she finally dragged herself home. She couldn’t wait to have a long soaking bath. The weather was cooler than it had been in January when she had first arrived, and she was starting to enjoy having a bath after work some days. She found the note on the door and had assumed it was Sam again
Two days after her fishing trip with Tara and Sam, Caitlyn had found a package on her doorstep when she got home from school. When she opened it, she found it was a nice bottle of white wine with a small card from Sam, apologising for the fishing trip. Caitlyn had rang her aunt and got Sam’s phone number. She then rang Sam and thanked her for the wine before reassuring her that she had nothing to feel guilty for. But Sam had insisted that she still felt bad, and besides that just wanted to let Caitlyn know she was thinking of her. Caitlyn then told Sam she would save the wine for an occasion that they could share a drink together.
At first when Caitlyn had seen the note on the door, she had groaned to herself. She had hoped that it wasn’t another ‘peace sake’ from Sam. When she realised it was from Thomas, she had let out a sigh of relief. She was also quite happy to hear from Thomas again. After they had spent the Sunday fishing, she had known she wanted to get to know him better, even if it was as a friend, although she knew she was attracted to him as more than just a friend. But she also acknowledged to herself that after what had happened with Ned she would want to be extremely sure of herself before she got involved with anyone else. Still, she definitely wanted to see him again. However, as they hadn’t exchanged numbers, she wasn’t sure if or how they would meet up again.
Then after her trip into the mangroves, she had spent the rest of the weekend holed up in her unit with the air conditioner on full bore, dealing with her unresolved emotions. She had written some of her feelings down in her journal, which she had abandoned writing in when she broke up with Ned. She had found some old photos of her and Ned in the back of the journal, which she had taken out onto the back veranda and burnt. Strangely enough, she didn’t burn them out of bitterness, but rather as a form of a cleansing process, ridding herself both physically and psychologically of any remnant of her memory of their time together. Then she had taken the time to pamper herself with a long bath, before administering on herself a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. She had never been the sort of women to pay a beauty salon to do what she felt she could quite adequately do herself.
By the time Tara rang her on the Sunday night to check that she was ok, Caitlyn was feeling a whole lot better. She was able to tell her auntie that she felt fighting fit and ready to face whatever lay ahead of her.
Caitlyn had just folded up the note Thomas had left her, and tucked it away in her bag when she noticed Jolene walking down the street past her unit. She walked across her small front yard, and waved. ‘Hi Jolene. I haven’t seen you for a couple of weeks.’
‘Hi Caitlyn, how have you been?’
‘Not bad thank you, and you?’
‘Good, I’ve been keeping to myself the last couple of weeks, just going out on the odd occasion. This town can be so boring sometimes. Don’t you find that?'
Caitlyn laughed. ‘Not really, I guess I’ve been too busy to notice, with school and what not.’
‘Oh yeah, sure, everyone goes to work. But apart from that what else is there to do. It’s just totally boring’ Jolene gave a mock yawn.
Caitlyn felt sorry for her and without thinking, said ‘Well, I’m going fishing on Saturday with a friend at the jetty, why don’t you join us.’
‘Fishing.’ replied Jolene screwing up her nose. 'I think I told you before, I’m not really into that.’
‘Then don’t fish. Just come along for the scenery. Bring some magazines and have a relax on the wharf.’
‘Gee, I guess there’s nothing better to do, and I’m not working this Saturday, why not. How are we getting there?’
‘I didn’t think about that. I’m meeting my friend down there, so I guess I was planning to ride my bike. Do you have a bike?’
‘No, I don’t, but I can borrow one from my neighbour. What time are we going?’
‘We’re meeting at the jetty at one o’clock, so I guess if you get here by midday, that will give us an hour to ride out there without pushing ourselves too hard.’
‘Sound’s good. I’ll see you then’ and with that Jolene started to saunter off before turning around and adding ‘Who knows. Maybe I’ll get to perve on some cute fishermen down there.’ Then she walked off.
Caitlyn suddenly wondered if it was a good idea to invite Jolene after all. She didn’t even know why she had done it. It was almost out of pity, she guessed. Then she figured that what was done was done. She could hardly uninvite her. She hoped Thomas wouldn’t mind. Come to think of it, it might work out for the best. She was still dealing with the remnants of her emotions about Ned, so maybe taking another person would be a good way to keep the situation with Thomas more casual for now. All she knew was that despite the last week she was looking forwards to seeing him again.
Caitlyn turned on her heals and headed inside to run herself a bath.



Halfway out to the Port, Caitlyn almost regretted inviting Jolene to come along. The weather was divine, making the bike ride along Port drive very pleasant indeed, but from ten minutes into their ride, Jolene had done nothing but complain. She complained about the heat, which Caitlyn didn’t find an issue at all. Jolene also complained that her legs were hurting, and about the red dust, and the big trucks that barrelled past them. Caitlyn swore to herself that Jolene’s complaining was worse than any complaining she’d ever heard her ten and eleven year old students do.
Jolene had stopped complaining briefly to ask who they were going fishing with, and Caitlyn had explained that it was just someone she had met at the end of the garage sale who had offered to teach her how to fish.
After that, the complaining had started again, so Caitlyn had decided just to tune out and enjoy the ride as best she could. She was very relieved when they finally reached the port and they each chained their bikes together near the entrance of the wharf.
Jolene was still complaining as they walked along the Jetty, when suddenly she stopped and grabbed Caitlyn’s arm so tightly that Caitlyn had to bite her lip to stop herself yelping out in pain.
‘Oh my gosh, there he is!’
‘There who is?’ enquired Caitlyn.
‘The guy I told you about. The gorgeous one I’ve seen at the Roey sometimes. Look he’s just up there!’ she pointed.
Caitlyn looked up to where Jolene was pointing. Immediately she realised Jolene was pointing straight at Thomas, who was about twenty metres away, where he had a line out over the edge and hadn’t noticed Caitlyn coming yet.
‘Umm, well, yeah, that’s Thomas. That’s who we’re going fishing with.’
In an instant Jolene’s demeanour had gone from being sullen and whingey to being bright and happy. ‘Oh Caitlyn, thankyou sooo much for inviting me. You’re the best. Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to meet this honey?’ She didn’t even wait for Caitlyn to reply, instead, grabbing her compact mirror quickly from her bag she applied some lip gloss, and ran a small comb through her short dark hair. ‘Do I look OK?’ Once again, she didn’t wait for Caitlyn to answer, but grabbed her hand and literally dragged her at a fast walking pace down to where Thomas stood. Caitlyn nearly dropped her fishing rod in the process.
Just before they got to the spot where Thomas was standing, he looked up. He smiled brightly as he noticed Caitlyn, but his smile subsided slightly when he realised that she was not alone. He recognised the girl who was pulling Caitlyn along like a rag doll. He’d seen her at the Roebuck Hotel a few times. She always stared at him as if she wanted to pounce on him, and it made him uneasy. He could guess what kind of girl she was and he wasn’t interested. He took some effort to avoid her normally if he could. He was mildly surprised to see that she was obviously a friend of Caitlyn’s. He wouldn’t have picked it.
When they reached Thomas, Jolene didn’t wait to be introduced, instead she gushed ‘Hi, Thomas. I’m Jolene. Caitlyn’s told me so much about you.’ She let go of Caitlyn and thrust her hand towards him.
‘Hi Jolene. Nice to meet you’ replied Thomas, having little choice but to shake her proffered hand. Thomas noticed straight away how awkward Caitlyn looked and realised they may not be such good friends after all.
‘Hi Thomas.’ Caitlyn interjected much more quietly when Jolene finished shaking his hand. ‘Nice to see you again.’
‘You too, Caitlyn.’ Thomas reached out and gave her an affectionate squeeze on the arm, and they swapped shy smiles.
Jolene notices the exchange in looks straight away and her eyes momentarily narrowed. She didn’t like that look between them one little bit. But she brightened quickly. Before the day was out, she was sure she could turn on the charm and get him to notice her a whole lot more. ‘So Thomas’, she began again, using her most seductive voice. ‘I hear you like fishing. Personally, I love fishing, but I’m not really that good at it. Do you think you could give a girl a few tips?’
‘I thought you told me you didn’t like fishing?’ Caitlyn naively interjected.
Jolene quickly turned around and shot a look at Caitlyn. For Thomas’ sake, she kept her voice sugary sweet, but there was a look of warning in her eyes. ‘I think you misunderstood me sweetie. I just meant that I rarely get the chance to go fishing, not that I didn’t actually like fishing.’ She then turned back to Thomas. ‘So are we going to fish here or what?’
‘Yeah sure, I guess’ said Thomas falteringly. Where’s your fishing gear?’
‘I’m sorry, when Caitlyn told me we were riding our bikes here, I didn’t think to pack any. Could I borrow some of yours?’ Jolene purred.
‘I guess so, I have a few handlines here, take your pick...’
By this stage Caitlyn really was starting to regret inviting Jolene. She was getting a tight feeling across her chest. She should have known that being so ‘boy crazy’, Jolene was bound to be attracted to someone like Thomas. Not that Caitlyn had any claim on him. They were just friends, but already she was starting to feel like a bit of a green eye monster, watching Jolene turn her charm on for him in such an overt fashion. She put some bait on her line and cast it out without interrupting Jolene for Thomas’ help. She remained very quiet for the next half hour and found it more and more unpleasant to watch and listen to Jolene flirting outrageously with Thomas, although she also noticed that Thomas was hardly returning her banter with gusto. She decided to go for a walk to the end of the jetty for a bit of a break. She excused herself and got up and started walking off.
‘Are you sure you’re ok?’ Thomas asked, his voice full of concern.
‘I’m fine, I’ll be back soon. I just haven’t walked to the end of the jetty yet. That’s all.’ Then she walked off trying not to look like she was desperate to get away.
‘Let her go.’ Jolene told Thomas, ‘It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other better.’
‘I don’t mean to be rude’, replied Thomas who was struggling not to lose his patience at Jolene, ‘but I actually invited Caitlyn down here and I was kind of hoping to get to know her a bit better.’
‘What’s to know?’ Jolene shot back. ‘Don’t get me wrong. Caitlyn’s a nice sort of girl, but come on. She’s a boring school teacher, who never goes out and has fun.’
‘That’s not the impression I got.’
‘Look, I know Caitlyn’s kind of, well, sweet I guess you could say, if you’re into that sort of thing, but I have noticed since I met her that she really is a bit naive, especially when it comes to the opposite sex.’
‘I hadn’t noticed.’ Thomas said through gritted teeth. Jolene was really starting to get annoying now. The nerve of the girl. She was actually starting to more or less bad mouth Caitlyn to him.
Jolene ignored his annoyed tone and put on her sexiest voice as she stepped up close to him. ‘Now, me on the other hand, I know how to have fun, and you and me could have a lot of fun together if you get my drift.’ She reached out and rubbed the back of her hand seductively against his groin.
Thomas immediately recoiled and stepped back, nearly falling over a bucket that was standing behind him. ‘I think you should keep your hands to yourself.’
‘Oh, I get it. You’re not into public displays of affection then.’ She said coyly. ‘You’d rather somewhere more private.’
‘Look, I’d rather not at all. Can’t you take a hint?’
Suddenly Jolene wasn’t in quite such a good mood. ‘What is your problem. Don’t tell me that you’re waiting for that prissy little teacher to give you some fun. You’ll be waiting a long time.’
‘I really don’t care, and that’s none of your business. That’s between Caitlyn and myself.’ He glanced to over Jolene’s shoulder and could see Caitlyn walking down the jetty, occasionally stopping to look in the water. He looked back at Jolene. ‘Look, maybe it’s best if you leave.’
‘I beg your pardon. Are you actually kicking me off a public wharf.’ Her voice suddenly held a hint of menace in it.
‘Of course not. It’s a free world. I can’t make you leave. All I’m saying is that I don’t think you and me have a whole lot in common. And your obviously not here for Caitlyn’s company.’
Jolene did an about face and turned on her sweet voice again ‘Now Thomas, of course I’m here for Caitlyn. She’s such a lovely girl.’
‘That’s not what you said a minute ago. Like I said, I think it’s best if you go.’
As quick as a flash, Jolene was in a bad mood yet again. ‘Well, I rode down here with Caitlyn and I’m way too tired to pedal back yet.’
‘Fine. When Caitlyn gets back, you can have a lift home. Your bike can go in the back of my car.’
Jolene said sarcastically ‘How nice of you.’, but she turned her back on Thomas and secretly smiled to herself. She wasn’t done for yet. She’d make sure Caitlyn didn’t come with them. Once they were alone in his car, and Caitlyn wasn’t around, she’d work her magic on him. He was bound to come around. She still had a few tricks left up her sleeve. She’d start by apologising for their ‘misunderstanding’. Then she’d give him a sob story about herself, so he felt sorry for her. He’d be sure to offer her a shoulder to cry on. From there it would be easy. Men were such suckers, she thought.
Caitlyn was still wandering along the jetty. She was starting to feel sick in the pit of her tummy. The one time she’d glanced back at the spot where Thomas and Jolene were, she’d seen Jolene stepping up close to Thomas. She had immediately looked away. She could take a hint. Three was obviously a crowd, and they were taking full advantage of her absence.
Caitlyn decided she would postpone it no longer. She’d head back, collect her backpack and rod, then head off and leave them too it. It took her three minutes to cover the distance back to their spot on the jetty.
She was just about to pick up her backpack and explain that she was going, when Thomas asked her ‘Caitlyn, do you have a car licence.’
‘Yes, I do. But I don’t drive much. Why do you ask?’
‘Jolene’s not feeling the best.’ Thomas said tactfully. ‘I thought maybe you could take my car and give her a lift home, and I’d stay and watch our stuff until you get back.’
‘Alright’ replied Caitlyn.
But before she could say anything else, Jolene interrupted. ‘Hold on, I thought you were taking me home.’
‘No I think it’s best if Caitlyn takes you home.’
‘Forget it, I’d rather ride my bike.’ Jolene didn’t even say goodbye. Instead she just stormed off towards the car park.
Caitlyn quickly excused herself, taking her keys out of her pocket. ‘Our bikes are chained together.’ she explained. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ She had to almost run to catch up to Jolene. By the time she reached the bikes, Jolene was standing there, with her arms crossed, glaring at her. She was angrily tapping her foot.
‘You took your time, didn’t you?’
‘I’m sorry, look if you’re not feeling well, let me take you home. I’ll just go and get Thomas’ keys.’ Caitlyn bent down and undid the chain lock.
Don’t bother. Some friend you turned out to be.’
‘What have I done?’ Caitlyn was now very confused.
Jolene spat out with utter contempt. ‘I told you, I liked that guy, and all this time, you’ve been secretly seeing him behind my back.’
‘Hold on. I had no idea that Thomas was the one you told me about. How could I have known?’ Caitlyn was flabbergasted that they were even having this conversation.
‘You knew. You probably only invited me so that you could rub it in my face. I hope I never see either of you ever again’
Caitlyn went to reply, but Jolene didn’t give her a chance.
‘Thanks for nothing.’ She grabbed her bike. In the process she purposely pushed Caitlyn’s bike over on the ground. Then she took off without another word.
Caitlyn picked up her bike and chained it to a pole before heading back out to Thomas.
She still looked perplexed when she got back to their fishing spot.
Thomas looked up when she got back. ‘Did Jolene get away alright?’
‘Yes she did. But she wasn’t too happy...’
‘Excuse me if I’m out of line, but how good a friends are you two.’
Caitlyn reeled her line in and changed her bait before casting out again. ‘I guess we’re more acquaintances than friends. We met when I did some shopping at Seaview Supermarket where she works. When I first got to town, she helped me out a bit, and we kind of stayed in touch.’
Thomas looked as relieved as he felt. ‘Just be careful around her, that’s all I can say. I don’t think she necessarily has your best interest at heart.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Nothing in particular. Let’s just call it intuition.’
Caitlyn continued with great caution. ‘You know I thought when I got back, that I was going to be interrupting the two of you.’
‘From what?’ It suddenly dawned on Thomas what Caitlyn was getting at. ‘Oh no, Caitlyn. No way. Girls like Jolene don’t interest me. Her sort’s a dime a dozen. They’ll go with any guy that looks sideways at them.’
Caitlyn was tempted to ask what kind of girl did interest him, but instead said ‘Well yeah, I definitely got the feeling she wasn’t that happy when she left. I think I might do my shopping on a Sunday for a while.’
‘Why Sunday?’
“Jolene doesn’t work Sunday.’ Caitlyn smiled, before adding ‘Less chance that she’ll overcharge me.’
Thomas laughed. After that, Jolene’s name wasn’t mentioned again. They continued to fish for another hour, before Thomas gave Caitlyn a lift home. Once there he lifted her bike out the back of his car.
Feeling particularly brave, he turned to her and asked almost timidly. ‘Look, I don’t know if you’ve been out for dinner in town yet. But I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner at Bloome’s tomorrow night. I mean, if you’re not busy.’
Caitlyn was surprised at how happy she was to hear him invite her out. Without even thinking, she replied ‘That would be nice. I’ve had breakfast there, but never dinner.’
‘Great, then should I pick you up, say about seven?’
‘Yep seven’s good. See you then.’ This time it was Caitlyn’s turn to feel brave. She reached out and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before quickly disappearing inside. Even though the kiss had been on the cheek, her lips still felt strangely tingly as she heard his car drive off down the road.


On their first date at Bloome’s, both Thomas and Caitlyn felt nervous, yet excited. They had a table outside on the street, and they chatted for a couple of hours over dinner, while they watched happy revellers enjoying the balmy weather while they wandered around the still lively sidewalks of China Town.
Thomas ordered the steak and grilled vegetables for his main meal, and Caitlyn ordered the Seafood Laska. Little did she realise how hot the dish really was, and not wanting to offend Thomas on their first dinner out, she took to slowly sipping small spoonfuls, whilst they chatted. After about ten minutes, Thomas asked if he could try the Laska, and had to restrain himself from calling out a profanity when he realised how hot the dish was.
After gulping down a glass of water he finally managed to say ‘Gee’s that’s hot. How can you eat that?’
‘With great difficulty.’ She admitted, before adding ‘Does this mean you won’t be offended if I don’t finish the dish.’
‘No, of course not.’ Thomas summoned a waiter over to their table and explained the situation. The waiter immediately offered to get Caitlyn another dish on the house. Caitlyn thanked the waiter and said that as she had enjoyed an entree, she would just enjoy a dessert next. When the waiter walked away, both Thomas and Caitlyn burst out laughing and continued to talk, until their coffee and cake arrived.
Afterwards, Thomas dropped Caitlyn home again. Once there, Thomas offered to walk Caitlyn to her door, but Caitlyn quickly reassured him there was no need. Like the day before, Caitlyn reached out and gave Thomas a kiss on the cheek before heading inside. Thomas wished he could have taken Caitlyn in his arms and kissed her passionately, but he still sensed a reservation in her that he didn’t quite understand, and there was no way he was going to risk scaring her off.
So from that moment on, Thomas made every effort to court Caitlyn in the old fashioned way. They went out numerous times in the weeks that followed. Sometimes they were day trips to various fishing spots around Broome, and other times, he took her for lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants and cafes available in town. The first few times, their dates always ended the same, with Caitlyn kissing Thomas on the cheek in the car before taking herself inside.
Eventually, Caitlyn told Thomas about what had happened in Perth with Ned. She explained how when she had got to Broome, she wasn’t over what had happened, but now that time had passed, she had managed to let go of all her anger and resentment. Thomas realised that this is probably why he had felt Caitlyn hesitating in the past. That Sunday night, after a particularly nice meal at Cafe Carlotta’s, Caitlyn finally let Thomas walk her to her front door.
She dug into her purse and pulled out her key. She almost dropped the key as she fumbled it into the lock. She couldn’t believe how nervous she felt. After she turned the key, she let the door open, put her handbag down on the door stop and turned back to Thomas. He took both her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes.
‘You know, Caitlyn’ he said softly, ‘I’ll never hurt you. I could never do to you what Ned did.’
‘I know.’ She replied in a barely audible tone.
Then ever so slowly, he leant into her and slowly placed his lips on hers. At first he gave her a slow, sweet peck. But then he dropped her hands and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, before joining his mouth to hers once more, but this time he parted his lips, silently inviting her to do likewise. She put her arms around his waist as she felt his tongue slowly exploring the edges of her mouth, and she let herself revel in the feel of it. She couldn’t believe how utterly soft and warm his lips were. She had kissed Ned many times, but it had never felt like this.
After a minute or two, she pulled away, and said in a warm silky voice. ‘I should go inside. I’ve got school tomorrow.’
‘Of course.’ Thomas replied. ‘I’ll see you soon.’ And he kissed her one final time on the nose before reluctantly heading back to his car. He waved as he took off and disappeared into the night.
Caitlyn walked inside after picking up her handbag, and she locked the door behind her. She headed straight to bed, but despite the pleasant ambient temperature of her room, she was barely able to get a wink of sleep. All she could do was think about the kiss she and Thomas had just shared. Even hours later, she swore her lips still felt warm from his touch.