She held on to Dylan tighter, willing the agonizing moment to pass.
THE next day, she submersed herself in her work. Every time she started to feel fuzzy and disconnected, like she was watching herself in some kind of detached fashion from a perspective about two feet above her head, she reached out to Kuvi, Thad, Dave, or one of her kids, forcing herself to concentrate on the conversation and the moment.
All in all, it was a pretty decent day, despite everything. Again, she was reminded that she was a good actress under pressure. She and Terrance completed their exercise, Terrance complaining, puffing for air and joking the whole time, until Alice got a stitch from their slow-paced jog and laughing nonstop. Marco was extremely nervous for his public speaking demonstration, but came through with flying colors while Alice stood close by and played both support person and kitchen assistant.
Her team had been quietly amazed when she’d made the announcement that Judith would be their student team leader. Clearly, they’d been expecting that Noble D would be chosen. But when Noble was the first to clap and shout out an encouraging word to Judith, the rest of the team began to join him. Their cheer started subdued and escalated to enthusiastic as Judith stood to go and stand next to Alice, trying to hide her grin. Alice realized she’d never seen the girl smile without a trace of sarcasm or bitterness. Her happiness transformed her.
During the last activity before dinner, she and Dave Epstein were leading an archery activity. The numbers of interested campers had increased to twice the size of what they’d had earlier in the week, and many of the new attendees were novices. As a result, Alice wasn’t too surprised that arrows were being released haphazardly and going far afield.
“I’ll make this run, you did the last,” Alice told Dave resignedly when yet another camper’s arrow zinged into the woods. She and Dave allowed a half a dozen or so to go before they’d make a retrieval run.
“I’ll switch them off this target,” Dave called, meaning he’d stop the kids from shooting in Alice’s direction as she scurried toward the edge of the woods. She cautiously moved past the tree line, avoiding the high grass and peering around the dim woods. She recovered five of the arrows, but had to hunt for the sixth. After several seconds, she spotted the orange arrow in the dirt between two oaks. Picking through the brush, she recovered it and turned to leave.
“… why you can’t just tell me what’s going on.”
Alice paused upon hearing the female voice in the near distance. The tone had been a little irritated and tense. Cautiously, she looked around the trunk of an oak tree. She saw Thad and Brooke standing in a secluded clearing around twenty feet away.
“Do you think I should have refused?” Thad asked.
“No, of course not. But why all the interest in her? It doesn’t make any sense,” Brooke said, and Alice heard desperation in her tone.
“I’m not going to defend myself on that score again. I haven’t lied to you about anything.”
Brooke stepped into him. Thad’s face hovered over her upturned one.
“What do you think it’s like for me?” Brooke asked him in a choked voice. “Knowing that practically everyone in this damn camp thinks you’re crazy for her?”
“I can’t help what they think. She doesn’t feel the same way, so what difference does it make?”
“It makes all the difference in the world,” Brooke said miserably.
“Then why are you here with me?” Thad asked quietly, his hand bracketing her jaw. His golden head dipped. Their mouths fused.
Alice slowly, carefully fled the scene.
WHILE she and Kuvi partnered to get the bonfire on the beach ready, Alice had time to think about what she’d seen in the woods. In many ways, it was comforting for her, to have something so concrete and thought provoking to distract her. True, it worried and confused her, what she’d seen and heard, but at least it was better than focusing on everything she’d learned yesterday in Dylan’s den.
She was pretty certain that she—Alice—was the person to whom Brooke referred. Alice couldn’t think of anyone else that other people at the camp might suspect Thad was interested in romantically. He certainly never gave the impression he was partial to Brooke. Alice had thought Brooke’s interest in him entirely one-sided. Clearly, she’d been wrong. It disturbed her, to think of Thad purposefully misleading her.
“Do you ever see Thad and Brooke together?” Alice asked Kuvi as they laid some thick logs in a ring on the beach to serve as an outer limit for the beach bonfire.
“Sure,” Kuvi said, frowning and straightening from a kneeling position. She dusted off her hands. “She follows him around like she’s an addict and he’s her favorite drug.”
“Well I know that,” Alice said. “I just mean … do you ever see him reciprocate the interest?”
Kuvi’s eyes went wide. She suddenly looked very uneasy. “Do you have some reason to think he’s cheating on you?” she hissed.
“Cheating on me? No, Kuvi, you’re all wrong about Thad and me—”
“Really?” she squeaked. She seemed surprised, and then relieved. “Good, because I’ve been on hot coals trying to figure out whether or not I should tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Alice asked, dropping a log on the beach.
“You said you were going to be busy this weekend, so I thought—you know—you and Thad were going to go away together or something for your night off. But then I saw him on Sunday night with Brooke past dark out on the dock. They looked a little chummy from what I could see. In fact, I made a fool of myself and called out your name. I thought that’s who Thad was with.”
Alice shook her head. “It wasn’t me. Thad and I aren’t together.”
Kuvi’s eyebrows knitted together. “Hey—then where have you been going all these nights?”