Indignant, Blythe squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m simply looking out for Evie’s best interest.”
“As I recall, you weren’t real crazy about it when your parents did that with you.”
Air rushed in and out of Blythe’s nose, her chest rising and falling with each annoyed breath. “I don’t have to take this.” With that, she turned on her heel and marched back down the path toward the camp. She’d had enough of Daniel Stephens and his rose-colored-glasses view of life. Sure camp was supposed to be an escape, but there was also reality. Kids got sick even when they were having fun. And she’d do whatever she had to in order to protect them.
“Blythe!”
She heard Daniel’s voice behind her as she approached the camp. The sound of each muffled footfall as he grew closer.
Still, she refused to acknowledge him, even as he moved beside her.
“I’d like to see you in my office.”
Her gaze narrowed on him.
“Now.” He turned and started toward the small building where they’d shared far too many revealing late-night chats. Except it was usually Blythe who was revealing some deep, dark secret. Well, not today.
She followed him onto the porch before storming inside while he held the door. Then jumped when it smacked shut behind him.
She watched as he moved around to the other side of the desk. The lines of his face were rigid. More intense than she’d ever seen them. Let him be mad. She wasn’t exactly in the best of moods herself.
“All right, Blythe, what’s going on?”
“What’s going on is that I’m supposed to be Evie’s companion and you’re trying to insert yourself into that equation.”
“First of all, I am the director of this camp. If I think a child’s needs or wishes are not being met, then it is my duty to step in. Second, I want to know what’s going on with you. All week long you’ve been having fun with Chloe and Evie, doing whatever it was that they wanted to do. Now that it’s just Evie, you’re trying to talk her out of everything. I’m surprised you haven’t confined her to the cabin for some arts and crafts.”
Blythe’s gaze shot to his, her heart racing. “How dare you?”
His blue eyes bored into hers. “I get that you’re hurting, Blythe. Yeah, Chloe got sick. Yeah, it stinks. But for you to make Evie sit on the sidelines isn’t fair to her.”
Splaying her hands across the edge of his desktop, she leaned toward him. “I wasn’t—”
Opposite her, he mimicked her stance. “Yes, you were.” Though the words were spoken calmly, they weaseled their way into her being, messing with her mind and twisting around her heart.
“I was only trying to protect Evie.” Her words were barely a whisper.
“Protect her from what?” He eased around the side of the desk. “She’s been all over Adventure Haven this week. All of the kids have, and nothing happened.”
The piles of papers atop his desk seemed to swirl into a single blur. “Yes, it did.” She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the threatening tears to remain unshed.
“No, it didn’t, Blythe. Everyone is just fine.”
Though her eyes were still closed, heat streaked down her cheeks. She was crying. How could that be? She was a master at overcoming her emotions.
“Look at me, Blythe.”
Shaking her head, she turned away. She couldn’t let him see her tears. No one could. She was strong, capable of keeping everything inside.
“Blythe, you are not responsible for Chloe getting sick.”
“Yes, I am.” In that instant, the dam she’d built around her heart exploded with a vengeance, unleashing everything she’d tried so hard to keep inside. The pain and guilt sent tears pouring down her face. She would have collapsed had Daniel not been there to catch her.
He eased her into a chair and held her while she sobbed.
“Her mom kept thanking me.” She hiccupped. “Hugging me. I didn’t...deserve that.”
“Yes, you did, Blythe.” He set her away from him, forcing her to look at him. “You did nothing wrong. You allowed Chloe to experience camp the way it was meant to be. And you loved her.”
Blythe fell silent then, though the tears continued to stream. Daniel was right; she did love Chloe. And Evie. Even though she didn’t want to.
Meeting his gaze, she said, “And therein lies the problem.”
His eyes searched hers. “What? That you loved her?”
“Yes. If I don’t feel, I won’t hurt.”
He watched her curiously. “Your premise may seem good in theory, but it’s almost impossible to execute. Because things like love can’t be stopped. God created us to have an abundant life. He wants us to love without condition, just the way He loves us. And I know it can be scary, but that’s simply an opportunity to trust God. To understand that whatever the outcome, He’s right there with us.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, trust isn’t my strong suit.”
“Yes, we’ve discussed that. However, that may be why God keeps offering you opportunities.”
Puffing out a laugh, she swiped her palms over her cheeks, trying to remove the wetness. “I almost hate to admit this, but it does feel better to let it all out.” Until this week, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d cried.
“See?”
Her brow lifted. “Were you hoping to make me cry?”
“What are you, nuts? I’m a guy. We hate tears.” He smoothed a wayward hair behind her ear, unleashing another wave of emotions she wasn’t about to acknowledge. “I just wanted to get to the heart of the problem so we could move forward on a positive note.”
She stood then, suddenly needing to put some distance between herself and the good-looking camp director. “Well, you did, so mission accomplished. Now I need to splash some water on my face before I head back to Adventure Haven for some zip-lining with Evie.”
His grin carved the slightest dimple into each cheek and she wondered why she hadn’t seen them before. She hoped they didn’t become a regular occurrence. Otherwise, she’d be in big trouble.
Chapter Eight
Under a crystal blue sky without even a hint of breeze, Daniel waved as the last of the campers pulled away late Saturday morning. Camp Sneffels’s inaugural session was officially in the books, and Daniel couldn’t be more pleased.
Overall, it had been a successful week, except for the incident with Micah and Chloe’s unexpected departure. And much of that success was due to Blythe.
Despite his initial misgivings, he was glad she was here. She had a heart for kids and without her valuable input, he wasn’t sure how this week would have turned out.
Besides, he’d really enjoyed getting to know her. The softer side of Blythe was something he suspected very few people ever got to see. She wasn’t at all like he’d first imagined. Instead, she was complex and intriguing, and he couldn’t seem to find enough excuses to spend more time with her. Like, maybe later this evening.
For now, though, it was time to prepare for round two. Kids aged thirteen to seventeen would arrive tomorrow, and they’d require a different mindset. Taking teens away from their electronic devices for a week meant making sure they were thoroughly entertained. And that was always a challenge.
“Should I move my stuff back to the other cabin?”
In the shade of a pine tree, he turned at the sound of Blythe’s voice and simply blinked. “Why would you do that?”
Her brow pinched in confusion. “Because camp is over and I’m back to being just the overseer.”
What did she mean, just the overseer? “You mean, you won’t be staying on as a camp companion?” It wasn’t like Felicia was planning to come back. If Blythe wasn’t filling her slot, he’d have to either jockey campers around or come up with another counselor. And considering the campers would be arriving tomorrow, bringing
in another companion was going to be tough.
She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “Why would I? I mean, don’t you have another rotation coming in?”
“No, all of our volunteers signed on for two weeks.” Something he should have told her when she offered to step into the role. “I just assumed you’d do the same.”
“Oh. I was not aware of that.”
“That’s my fault.”
Looking down, she dragged the toe of her sneaker through the gravel. “It’s not that I didn’t have a great time this week. It was just...” her gaze drifted toward the trees “...more taxing than I’d imagined.”
While he understood her hesitation, he was definitely disappointed—and not only because it left him in a bind. Blythe was a great companion, sensitive and caring. “Yeah, I guess the whole thing with Chloe was a little stressful.” He shifted from one foot to the other, his mind racing, wondering how quickly he could get an alternate up here.
“It most certainly was that,” she said.
Now he had less than twenty-four hours to acquire another companion and make sure they received all of the last-minute training everyone else had gotten. And while such a feat seemed impossible to him, he also knew that nothing was impossible with God. It just meant he wouldn’t get to spend any free time with Blythe.
“Yeah, you just go on back to the other cabin. I’ll see what I can come up with. Worst case, Allison can split the two extra girls between other companions.”
Blythe turned to leave then stopped. “What do you mean? I thought you only had two campers per companion. You make it three, and there could be some discontent, especially with teenage girls. You have an odd number, and somebody is bound to feel left out.”
Yet another example of why she fit in here so well.
“Hmm... I hadn’t thought of that.”
Her brow puckered. “Are you saying that you don’t have another backup?”
“Not at all. I have a list of alternates, but whether they’re available or not remains to be seen. If they can’t get up here right away, I’ll have to consider something else.”
Chewing her bottom lip, she looked uncharacteristically timid. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
Finally, she met his gaze. “What made you want to open a camp for youth cancer patients?”
A laugh puffed out of him before he could stop it. “I can’t believe that, in all of our discussions, I’ve never mentioned the reason behind this camp.” Usually he couldn’t wait to tell people. Yet even when she’d told him about the camp she went to and how disappointed she’d been, he’d never said a word.
“Follow me.” He started toward his office. “You know how I said that I’ve always been known as the adventurer in my family?”
“Yes.” Her short legs moved swiftly to keep up.
“And that my mother had cancer.” Stepping onto the porch, he reached for the screen door, holding it open as Blythe moved inside.
“Yes, I remember.”
“While she was sick, she asked to go on one of my adventures with me.” He moved around his desk and tugged the middle drawer open. “She wasn’t really able to travel, so I took her white-water rafting on the Uncompahgre.” He reached for the notecard with a columbine on the front. “And she loved every minute of it. Afterward, she told me I had a gift. That I should use it to bring joy to others the way I had with her.”
Pausing, he closed the drawer as he sought to hold on to his emotions. “Not long after her death, I started organizing white-water rafting trips for cancer patients. That’s how Jack and I first connected. With the foundation’s help, we were able to do trips year-round.”
“How did you do that? I mean, you can’t exactly raft in the winter.”
“Well, when it’s winter up here, it’s summer in South America. Peru and Chile have some of the best white-water rafting anywhere in the world.”
“So, these were adults?”
“Yes. But kids were always in the back of my mind. When I thought about all the stuff I got to do when I was little, it made me sad for those who might never have the chance to experience any of that.” He eyed the card in his hand. “Anyway, a couple of years ago, after plans for the camp were already in motion, I received this confirmation.” He passed the card to Blythe. “My sister-in-law, Carly, found it with my mother’s crafting stuff.”
Blythe opened it and read aloud. “Daniel, my beautiful baby boy. God has a plan for you. I know you often feel as though you’re floundering, wondering what to do with your life, but don’t forget who you are. God instilled a love of adventure in you for a reason. I believe it’s so you can share that passion with others and bring joy into their lives the way you did mine.”
Blythe was blinking rapidly when she looked up at him. “Oh, Daniel.”
“My mother is the reason I started this camp, Blythe. If I can bring even a little happiness into these kids’ lives...”
She closed the card and a few silent moments ticked by before she said, “What was she like? Your mom.”
He took the card from her and returned it to the drawer. “Mona Stephens was amazing. Strong, independent, so full of life. And unbelievably passionate about her faith, family, horses, crafting and community theater.”
Blythe let out a soft laugh. “Sounds like she was a really neat lady.”
“She was. I only wish she could be here to see that her wish came true.”
Blythe’s nod was followed by a long stretch of silence. Then, “Daniel?”
He looked at her.
“I’d be honored to serve as a camp companion again.”
* * *
Later that afternoon, after camp preparations were complete, the college-age volunteers took off for a movie in Montrose, while others simply wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to rest up before the next day.
Blythe, on the other hand, needed a new pair of shoes. Hiking shoes, to be exact, because while she was ready to take on another week of camp, her sneakers weren’t.
After pairing her skinny jeans with a top that was much cuter than the Camp Sneffels T-shirts she’d worn all week and a pair of strappy sandals, she grabbed her leather tote and headed for her car. The stillness of this morning had given way to a whisper of a breeze, leaving them with an almost perfect day.
Clicking the fob to unlock her vehicle, she wondered where she might go to look for the shoes. Considering that this area was a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, there was bound to be some sort of sports store.
She pulled her phone from her pocket, ready to do a search when she spotted Daniel returning from Adventure Haven. “Just the person I need to see.”
He had a large coil of rope slung over his shoulder as he approached. “What’s up?”
“I need some hiking shoes. Any suggestions where I might find some?”
“All Geared Up is the place to go for any and all outdoor clothing and equipment. It’s right on Main Street in Ouray. Just make your way back to Ridgway, make a right onto Highway 550 and head south. You’ll run right into it.”
“Sounds easy enough.” And with the GPS on her phone to assist...
“It is. Actually...” He rubbed his chin. “Now that I think about it, there are a couple of things I need to pick up there myself. Perhaps we could go together. You ever been to Ouray?”
Why did her insides flutter? “I have not.”
“Well then, I’d be negligent if I didn’t show you around. And since the chow hall is closed tonight, we could grab a bite to eat while we’re there, too. What do you say?”
While part of her was ready to leap at the prospect, the cautious side of her wasn’t so sure. After hearing Daniel’s story this morning, his reason for starting the camp, she found herself inexplicably drawn to the man. Spending so much time with him, alone no less,
could be dangerous. Or completely wonderful.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
They opted to take Daniel’s four-wheel drive SUV rather than her car.
“See that place there on the right?” He pointed after they’d been on the highway for a bit.
She eyed the expanse of land dotted with cattle, set against the backdrop of the mountains. “The one with that big building?”
“That’s Noah’s rodeo school.”
“This is your ranch?” Surprise had her jerking her head to face him.
He chuckled. “It belongs to my dad, but Abundant Blessings Ranch is the only home I’ve ever known.”
She eyed the house and barn in the distance. “You still live there, then?”
“When I’m in town. Though, not for much longer. With Dad getting married, it’s time to find my own place.”
“Aww...” She sat back in her seat. “That’s sweet that he found love again.” Reminded her of those romance novels she read every once in the while. The ones that made her long for things she’d never have. “When’s the wedding?”
“Next Saturday.”
“Oh, wow. That’s coming up quick.”
“Yeah, guess you know where I’ll be a week from tonight.”
She noticed the river winding to her right. “Where are they getting married?”
“At the church we belong to in town. I think Dad would have preferred to get married at the ranch, but his fiancée really wanted a church wedding.”
As they drew closer to town, Blythe said, “It feels like the mountains are getting closer.” The open range that stretched to the left and right down most of the highway seemed to be shrinking.
“You haven’t seen nothin’ yet. Just wait until we get into Ouray proper.”
Just then she saw the city limit sign. Daniel lowered his speed as he wound left, then right.
“City pool?” She pointed to the complex on her right that boasted a series of pools and water slides.
Her Rocky Mountain Hope Page 8
