“Why do I have to go first?” Brooke hissed as the kids crowded around excitedly in a loose circle to watch. Their talking and laughing muted Brooke’s and her conversation.
“Why do you care? Do you have some reason not to trust me?” Alice asked very quietly.
Brooke’s gaze skittered anxiously off the surrounding faces and then back at Alice.
“I’m not going to drop you. I’m not that petty,” Alice said through stiff lips, making a subtle reference to what Brooke had done on the zip-line platform.
Just as she suspected, her reassurance had the opposite effect on Brooke, who briefly looked even more nervous. Nevertheless, Brooke lifted her chin and turned around, a grim expression of determination falling over her face.
Alice had to hand it to her. She had courage, especially since Alice would have loved to see her fall on her ass in front of all the kids.
And Brooke knew it.
In the periphery of her vision, she saw Kehoe’s head appear at the back of the crowd. Brooke stood stiff as a statue. She fell gracefully, and Alice caught her with ease. As she stood, Brooke’s gaze glided over the crowd and landed on Kehoe. They switched places, and Brooke brought her gently to the grass.
Alice calmly ignored Terrance’s and Judith’s disappointed expressions at the lack of drama (in Terrance’s case) or violence (in Judith’s). Alice praised the kids for a job well done and dismissed them to wash up for dinner. Brooke took off toward the cabins, surrounded by her team. Alice did the same, herding her chattering campers. In the distance, Kehoe walked toward the main lodge alone.
She was positive Brooke hadn’t seen Kehoe come to observe. Brook had been turned away from him when he’d quietly arrived at the back of the circle. Alice, on the other hand, had fallen knowing Brooke was aware of Kehoe by the time they’d switched places.
So why had Brooke trusted that Alice would catch her when she had no knowledge of Kehoe hovering? The question festered like a splinter under her skin. Somehow, it meant Brooke had been the bigger person. Brooke had excelled at the personal challenge, choosing to trust even when she doubted …
While Alice had never really taken a risk like Brooke had. She’d never trusted.
Alice had only played it safe.
THAT night after dinner and the evening activity, Alice sat with three of the girls on the sectional couch in the common room. A television show had got them casually talking about the highs and lows of dating, and—much to Alice’s shock—Judith had actually drifted over from where she’d sat alone reading and listened in on the conversation. Predictably, she remained standing, hovering around the periphery, instead of totally entering their circle.
“You’re giving him too much power over you,” Judith said abruptly as Darcy Givens, a talkative, anxious-to-please sixteen-year-old, gushed and anguished over a guy in her neighborhood back home. “He’ll walk all over you with that attitude. You’re like a puppy begging to be petted. You’ll get kicked instead.”
Darcy looked stung.
“What are you hoping to achieve by talking to her like that, Judith?” Alice wondered, irritated and genuinely curious at once.
Judith’s expression turned truculent as she regarded Alice. “I’m trying to give her some advice.”
“Really?” Alice asked.
“Why else would I have bothered coming over here with you losers?” Judith snapped. She started to turn away in a huff.
“If you really meant to help Darcy out, then sit down and do it,” Alice challenged. Judith’s hair whipped around her shoulders. She glared at Alice fiercely. Alice just arched her eyebrows in pointed expectancy.
A few seconds later, Judith fell to the sofa, crossing her arms in a belligerent gesture. Alice inhaled slowly to calm herself.
“I believe you,” Alice said, holding Judith’s stare.
“You believe me about what?” Judith asked, sarcasm dripping like toxic ooze.
Alice silenced her own knee-jerk, aggressive response with gargantuan effort.
“I believe you wanted to help out Darcy. I’ve seen how good you are with Jill,” Alice said pointedly, referring to Jill Sanchez, the young, vulnerable girl who worshipped Judith. In the distance, Jill looked up from where she was diligently drawing in her sketch-book. Art had proven to be Jill’s strength and solace. Alice was keeping close tabs on her with the camp’s talented art therapist, Miguel Cabrera. Jill was still drawing and painting comfortable landscapes versus working out some of her past domestic trauma through her art, but Miguel assured Alice she’d venture into more challenging topics when she felt more psychologically secure.
Presently, Judith noticed Jill’s anxious expression, and forced the frown from her face. She smiled reassuringly at the girl. Looking reassured, Jill went back to her drawing. Alice nodded once at Judith in approval.
“When you come on so strong,” Alice continued more softly, “it’s really hard to take in what you’re saying.” Judith opened her mouth to retort. “A bitchy attitude gets through to people, Judith,” Alice said before the girl could interrupt. “Just not in the way that you want it to. It hurts. It doesn’t help. If you came over to give advice, then the arrow strayed way off target by the way you offered that help.”
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Judith just stared for a moment, her mouth falling open.