Destiny Interrupted

by Ruth Davidson

  “I left my phone in the cabin,” Whitney said.

  “I’m sorry,” Jenny replied. “I probably overreacted but I called Kyle and Trevor and they went out to start looking for you. They’re out on the four-wheelers searching the trails right now.”

  Whitney’s heart dropped in dissatisfaction. “They’re out looking for me right now?”

  “I could tell how upset you were,” Jenny quickly explained, her blue eyes full of remorse. “I didn’t know what might have happened to you. You were gone for such a long time and my mind went crazy with the possibilities. I sincerely apologize. I didn’t mean to cause unnecessary commotion tonight. I truly didn’t.”

  Whitney felt more than a little disappointed at the disturbance. She in no way wanted to face Trevor right now, especially after their previous turbulent conversation. She wasn’t ready and she imagined he wasn’t either. “Both Trevor and Kyle know I’m fine, don’t they?” Whitney asked. “They know I’m okay? We can leave it at that?”

  Just as she finished speaking, the sound of a motor could be heard in the distance. Whitney could soon see a set of four-wheeler lights headed directly for the cabin. As she watched its approach she could quickly make out that it was Kyle Fisher’s stocky form and not Trevor Matthews who had come. Whitney could see the frustration on Kyle’s broad features the moment he faced her in the glowing light. He turned off the motor and jumped angrily off the four-wheeler. “Where were you tonight?” Kyle demanded resentfully, planting his boots firmly on the hard ground.

  “I was down by the lake,” Whitney replied, somewhat unnerved by his sharp, accusing tone. “I apologize for the late hour. I didn’t know everyone would be worried about me. I would have come back sooner if I had known.” Her voice trembled as she’d spoken but she hadn’t been able to conceal it.

  “There are curfews that are to be honored at this camp by everyone, counselors included,” Kyle insisted, his tone grating. “Don’t you think those rules apply to you? Trevor didn’t need this tonight. This is his second interrupted night’s sleep and he’s already wearing thin. I would have hoped you’d have some respect for others besides yourself.”

  “I’m sorry,” Whitney said, hardly able to understand Kyle’s unhidden antagonism as she dipped her eyes away from his glaring, frustrated gaze. Why did he seem upset at a small, minor infraction? He’d been friendly and kind to her in the past when she’d worked here and she’d been doing her best to hold her own at the camp. She hadn’t tried to make any enemies, especially when it came to Kyle. Then why this?

  “What are you doing back at camp anyway?” Kyle forged on, still upset. “I’d like to understand the reasons why you’re here.”

  “I…” Whitney hopelessly began.

  “Trevor didn’t need you coming back like this,” Kyle interrupted her. “He was doing fine until you thrust yourself into his life again.”

  Whitney stared at Kyle in stupefaction, not able to respond. Why would he verbally chastise her in front of Jenny like he had been doing? Why did he have this kind of personal animosity slanted toward her? What had she ever done to him to deserve the kind of resentment he had been showing?

  “Trevor was finally getting his life back on track. He was finally settling down from all that fiasco you and your family put him through,” Kyle continued on. “Then without any forewarning you just come back and push yourself into his life once more. You weren’t thinking of him at all, were you? You were only thinking about yourself. It’s always been about you, you, you—not about him or what he’s had to experience. I understand you were hurt but you weren’t the only one hurt. You’ve been too self-absorbed to see that.”

  “Kyle,” Jenny scolded him, her hands perched angrily on her hips. “Stop it.”

  “Let me finish what I need to say,” Kyle said, turning on her for a moment before whipping his head back toward Whitney. “Do you even know what Trevor went through after the accident? Do you want to know what his life was like? He was like a zombie barely going through the motions, barely surviving day by day. He was bombarded by guilt and could hardly live with himself. Do you know how long it took him before he could start functioning effectively? About as long as it took for you to come back and let this all blow up in his face again. He doesn’t need you disturbing his life right now. If you respected his feelings—if you cared at all about what he’s been through—you’d leave him alone and let him get back to whatever of his lifestyle he can now salvage. I imagine your presence has conjured up a few unpleasant memories he’ll have to deal with. You have no idea what he’s been through, no idea. I wonder if you even care.”

  Whitney had stood still and unmoving throughout the whole outburst, standing calmly as she listened intently. She finally braced her shoulders and spoke. “I do care,” she told Kyle in a cold monotone, her mouth set in firm determination as she stared evenly at him. “I care a great deal about Trevor and what he’s had to go through. I’m sorry for whatever you think I’ve done to him by coming back like I have. I know you’re his friend and that you’ve been his friend for a long time. If I’ve hurt him by doing this, rest assured it’s been unknowingly and without any willful intent on my part. I’m sorry if I caused both of you further commotion tonight. I’m sorry if my presence has been a burden to you and to him. I never intended for it to turn out this way. I’m sorry that it has.” Whitney pivoted and turned toward Jenny. “I’m going in. I’m sorry about this whole unfortunate mess. I really am.”

  “Wait,” Jenny said, trying to stop her. “Wait a minute, Whitney. Please don’t go.”

  Whitney didn’t stop, ignoring Jenny’s gently pleading tone as she walked quietly past her and inside their darkened cabin. Whitney firmly shut the door behind her, not willing to expose herself to Kyle’s unrestrained venom any longer.

  “What do you think you were doing back there?” Jenny yelled at Kyle Fisher as Trevor dismounted his four-wheeler, placing it alongside Kyle’s in the dimly-lit stable. Trevor had been called in a few minutes earlier to say they’d found Whitney and that everything was fine; there had been no need to worry. He’d come back to park the four-wheeler inside the stable just in time to see Jenny Cantwell angrily confronting Kyle Fisher near the front entrance.

  Trevor had never seen Jenny as upset as she seemed now. Her cheeks were a bright crimson and her hands were planted angrily on her hips. Trevor pulled off his helmet and gloves and set them on the seat so he could listen. “Why did you yell at Whitney like that?” Jenny continued, shaking her blonde head in increasing frustration. “She didn’t deserve it.”

  “What’s going on?” Trevor questioned.

  Jenny turned toward Trevor, her tan features curled downward in icy contempt. “Kyle just let Whitney have it back there. He accused her of coming here and unsettling your life and he blamed her for all the disruptions you’ve been going through.” Jenny turned back toward Kyle. “Do you even understand what that girl has gone through herself? Do you even have the slightest inkling of what she’s had to face in her own life?”

  Kyle seemed unmoved, his legs spread beneath him on the ground as he looked at Jenny passively. “She’s not the only one who’s suffered because of the accident,” Kyle countered coolly. “She thinks she’s the only victim here.”

  “You’re just being callous and hardhearted,” Jenny accused him, becoming even more upset. “You’re being a great big jerk. Guess why Whitney left to have some time on her own tonight? I walked in on her talking to her father on her phone. She had been yelling at him because he had lied to her. He had lied to her about Trevor leaving her after the accident. I heard her blame her father for interfering, for pushing Trevor away like he had. Can you put your stupid pride aside and think for a moment about what she’s going through? She doesn’t remember the day of the accident. She doesn’t know what happened then and perhaps for days before. She had to piece the past together. She came to do just that, to ‘put the past to rest,’ she told me. Don’t you see what’s happening?
Don’t you get it? Whitney lived with the belief that Trevor no longer wanted her in his life. It was a huge emotional risk for her to open herself up to being rejected again. It took a great deal of courage for her to come back to face someone who she thought didn’t want her, to leave a father who didn’t want her coming back at all. I’m telling you, Kyle, you might not care about what Whitney is going through right now but I do. If you ever have anything to say to her again, you’d better say it to me first. There’s no way I’ll ever let you talk like that to her in front of me again. Ever.” Jenny frowned in fierce forewarning before she stormed angrily off, leaving Trevor and Kyle standing silently and staring at each other in the quiet aftermath.

  “Do you think she’s lying?” Kyle suddenly questioned.

  “What do you mean?” Trevor asked, his dark brows lifting in question.

  “Do you think Whitney is lying about her father’s involvement?” Kyle said.

  Trevor sighed heavily as he shook his head. “No. I don’t think Whitney is lying.”

  Kyle stood in place, surprise evident on his features.

  “I had a chance to talk to Whitney last night at the hospital,” Trevor told him in answer to his expression. “Some things came out in our conversation that I hadn’t known. Her father told her that I had left her when I thought she wouldn’t be okay. He told her that I walked out on her the minute I found out she might not be whole. He never told her the truth or that I’d gone to the hospital to be with her. She only found out the truth last night from me.”

  Kyle seemed disturbed at the information. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Trevor said. “We talked last night and the truth came out.”

  Kyle shook his head, clearly uncomfortable with the information. “I’m sorry. I apologize for the way I acted tonight. I honestly didn’t know.” He waited for several seconds before he let out a disturbed breath, shaking his head in self-disgust. “I didn’t mean to lose my head with her like that. I only did it because I think you’ve faced enough from the past and I didn’t want to see it thrown in your face like it has been. You haven’t been yourself lately.”

  “I know I haven’t been myself,” Trevor agreed, “but I’m relieved Whitney came back. I’ve learned things about what happened that I never would have discovered on my own. She remembers nothing about the day we were together before the accident.”

  Kyle lifted his startled eyes to Trevor’s, looking shocked. “She remembers nothing?”

  “Nothing.”

  Kyle’s gaze dropped onto the ground and he shook his head once again. “I was hard on her tonight. I need to apologize. I don’t know if she’ll believe me when I tell her that I’m sorry, but I was functioning under the belief that she remembered what happened that day and yet she still came back. I thought she was treating it as inconsequential, as if it didn’t matter.”

  “There have been a lot of misunderstandings about the past,” Trevor admitted. “I’ve had my fair share. We all have.”

  “I’ll do my part to help clear this up,” Kyle promised, clearly remorseful now. “I’ll try to speak with Whitney as soon as I can.”

  “I think that would be a good idea,” Trevor countered, nodding.

  “I’m calling it a night before me and my big mouth cause any more damage,” Kyle said in self-disgust before he pivoted and walked in the direction of his cabin, his head bent downward in deep dissatisfaction.

  Chapter Six

  Trevor knew he needed to speak to Whitney about Kyle’s confrontation as soon as he possibly could the following morning. He had been walking by the front office to try to track Whitney down when Deborah, the office manager, waved at him with a polished hand, her brown primped hair and heavy makeup—not usual camp protocol—as always perfectly in place. “I need to talk to you, Trevor,” Deborah called out, slowly walking toward him. She motioned him over as she scanned the list on the brown clipboard she held in her hands. “I know Laura Benson is expected back at the first of next month but do you think she might be able to come back sooner?”

  “Why?” Trevor questioned curiously, glancing at the list she held.

  “I just got notice this morning that one of the counselors plans on leaving after this session,” Deborah explained. “I need to fill the spot and I hoped Laura would be available. She’s usually pretty flexible with her schedule, isn’t she? It seems like she has been before.”

  Trevor didn’t usually take note of the constant influx and outgo of counselors at the camp but after the previous night’s events, he felt certain he knew who had given notice. “Is it Whitney Hunsaker who’s planning on quitting? Is she the one who gave you her notice this morning?”

  “How did you know that?” Deborah questioned, puzzled, as her thin brows shot up in surprise. “She just barely talked to me about fifteen minutes ago. She said she needs to leave sooner than she originally planned. I guess she had some personal issues come up and felt like she couldn’t continue to work here because of them.”

  “Please wait before you do anything further,” Trevor said, stalling pointedly. “I’d like to speak to Whitney about this first. I hope there’s a possibility I can talk her into staying.”

  Deborah didn’t seem overly concerned about the situation. “Just let me know if I need to move ahead and find someone else, will you?”

  “I will,” Trevor replied, nodding. He walked off, mulling intently over the matter, when he saw Jenny Cantwell walking toward the cabins, her short blonde hair tucked behind her ears as she concentrated on the uneven ground beneath her. “Jenny,” Trevor quickly addressed her, walking directly toward her. “Do you have a minute?”

  Jenny immediately stopped in her tracks, glancing at Trevor quizzically as she did, her blue eyes squinting against the mid-morning sun. Trevor didn’t often have a reason to speak to Jenny privately and he could tell she felt hesitant about his intentions. “What do you want?” Jenny questioned.

  “Did you know that Whitney gave her notice to quit this morning? Deborah just informed me about it. She talked to Whitney about fifteen minutes ago.”

  Jenny frowned deeply, shaking her head in latent perturbation. “It’s because of what happened last night with Kyle,” Jenny remarked bitterly, obviously still upset over the incident. “You should have heard him lay into her. She didn’t deserve it and she certainly didn’t need it. I’m still mad at him for losing his temper like he did. He was out of place, completely out of line.”

  “He was out of line,” Trevor conceded. “Kyle plans on apologizing to her.”

  “He needs to apologize to her,” Jenny insisted fiercely. “He was brutal. He basically asked her to leave you alone and said that you were doing fine until she came back and destroyed your life. He practically ordered her out of this place. How can we blame her for wanting to quit? Anyone put through that kind of grueling situation would want to get as far away from this place as possible.”

  “Kyle had been functioning under some misconceptions about the past,” Trevor slowly explained, trying to soften her mood. “He knows it was wrong of him and he intends to do all he can to rectify what he did. I was going to track Whitney down to speak to her about the situation when I ran into you. I want to see if I can talk her into staying.”

  Jenny eyed him skeptically. “Whitney hasn’t had an easy time these last few days. She came back to piece her life together but I don’t think it’s happening in the way she wanted. If you want my honest opinion, I think she needs to get away from this place and away from everything here, at least for awhile.”

  Trevor noticed how Jenny purposefully steered away from saying that Whitney needed to get away from him, but he knew that’s what she had wanted to say. “No one should have ever made Whitney feel like she shouldn’t have come back,” Trevor said. “Kyle didn’t reflect my feelings in any way when he spoke to her last night. Out of anyone, I had hoped I would have your support in asking Whitney to remain.”

  “Of course I would want her to sta
y if it were up to me,” Jenny responded energetically. “She’s a great friend and I enjoy being around her. But you and I both know it can’t be in her best interest to keep putting herself through all this heavy emotional garbage that’s she’s been going through. She’s barely hanging on as it is. Can’t you see how hard this has been on her?”

  Trevor folded his arms across his chest. “I have seen it and I’m sorry for any part I’ve played in making it harder. I realize I don’t deserve another chance to make amends after the way I reacted to her being here. I understand that I’m a major part of this mess. But Whitney’s staying will be the only thing that could give us a chance for any further closure. I’ve learned a lot these past couple of days and I know she has, too. I believe we need more time to work everything out. I believe you can influence her decision to some degree and for my sake, I’m asking that you would try.”

  “You didn’t even talk to her yesterday when you could have,” Jenny countered resentfully, eyeing him doubtfully. “Whitney knew you understood the truth about her dad but you still didn’t say one thing to her. With that and everything else, Whitney is absolutely convinced you don’t want anything to do with her. She was convinced of that almost from get-go.”

  “I understand why she would feel that way,” Trevor acknowledged. “I didn’t talk to her because I was sorting through my own issues, issues I’ve come to learn were based on completely inaccurate information. It’s taken me some time to readjust my thinking but I am readjusting it. I was on my way to talk to her this morning when I found out she’d given her notice. Please, Jenny. Help me out with this. I obviously haven’t been doing very well on my own and I think you could be influential in this situation. I’m asking if you would at least try.”

  Jenny let out a slow, resigned breath. “I’ll talk to her,” she finally stated. “I don’t know how she’ll react but I will try. I’ll do it as a favor to you. It’ll have to wait until later, though. All the kids were clamoring for Whitney to join them for a swim and I know she planned on it. I’ll talk to her when she’s through with rotations.”