on her water. “A little higher than I’m used to.” By more than three thousand feet.
“The good news is, it’s not far. Here.” He motioned for her to take the lead. “Why don’t you go first?”
Why would she do that? She had no idea where they were going. Yet she did it anyway, assuming he would stop her if she was about to lead them off a cliff.
With few trees to provide shade, she began to sweat. How unattractive was that?
Not that she was concerned about being attractive. Except it annoyed her that Daniel was still as cool as a cucumber. He wasn’t huffing. Nor puffing. And he definitely wasn’t sweating.
At the next turn, she reached to steady herself on a spindly tree. “Ouch.”
“Are you all right?” He was at her side in an instant, something she found rather sweet.
“I broke a nail.” She stared at her ragged index finger.
“Hmm, that is unfortunate. I have good news, though.”
She looked up at him.
“You’ll live.” He urged her forward.
Annoyed with both him and her fingernail, she forced herself to pick up pace. Dust puffed beneath each footfall. Then she stepped on a rock, losing her footing. She slipped, her whole body tightening as she prepared for impact.
Yet before she hit the ground, Daniel’s strong arms caught her. “I gotcha.”
Staring up into his mega-blue eyes she swallowed hard. “Yes, you do.” She righted herself. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced left then right. “Stand by. I think I can help.” Next thing she knew, he started back down the trail.
Where was he going? He’d already helped her, now he was leaving her?
A minute later he returned with a long, rather substantial stick. “Here. Use it as a walking stick. It’ll help you keep your balance.”
Looking up at the towering adventurer, she simply blinked. The fact that he’d gone out of his way to not only protect her, but to help her, warmed her heart. Perhaps he wasn’t such a brute, after all.
“Thanks.”
“We’re just about there,” he said. “But I promise, it’ll be worth it.”
Strange, but she actually found herself believing him. Quite a feat for someone who was prone to pessimism.
His words kept her going. And only a few minutes later, they came to an outcropping.
“Oh, my.” She held a hand to her chest as a view of the entire camp stretched out below her. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Isn’t it, though? From here we can see both Mt. Sneffels—” he pointed to their left “—and the Cimarron mountain range.” He moved his hand to the right.
Eyeing the jagged peaks, she said, “This is stunning.” She lowered her gaze again to check out the camp. “I can see the cabins and the chow hall. Look—” she pointed “—there’s a lake.”
“That’s where the fishing and canoeing will take place.”
“What’s that over there?” She homed in on an area just east of the lake, tucked within the trees. There seemed to be a lot of stuff going on, though she couldn’t tell exactly what.
“That’s the zip line and challenge course.”
“In the trees? How is that even possible? And is it safe?”
Daniel laughed. “Safety is our biggest concern here. And yes, everything has been inspected and approved.”
He really had thought things through. Too bad she hadn’t. Could she really pull off being a camp companion? She wasn’t exactly the outdoorsy type. And her black running shoes were now covered in dust. This was so not her.
Lord, how am I going to do this?
The early afternoon sun was high in the sky as Daniel loaded a cooler full of bottled water onto the golf cart Saturday. He still wasn’t sure what to make of Blythe. Or why God had chosen her to meet Daniel’s need for a camp companion. Yet that was exactly what had happened. So, whether he understood it or not, he had to trust God’s word that all things would work together for good.
After all, it wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate Blythe’s willingness to step up and take on the rigors of being a camp companion. What he wasn’t sure of, though, was if she could take it. She was a city girl, after all.
Moving back inside the kitchen, he retrieved the picnic basket Juanita had filled with chips, cookies, granola bars and other snacks before returning to the cart to settle it beside the cooler. While the other female companions embraced the outdoor events, Blythe had been much more standoffish when he’d walked her through Adventure Haven Thursday. As if she was afraid of getting dirty or breaking another fingernail. And that didn’t bode well for the kids.
Yet yesterday, when he’d decided to steer clear of any outdoor activities and concentrate on all of the classroom training, she was fully participatory and offered up all sorts of great ideas.
He shook his head. Who knew what today would hold? He and Levi had planned an afternoon of fun for the staff and volunteers with some team building exercises over at Adventure Haven, along with a little free time. If Blythe was half as excited about those as she had been about sharing ideas yesterday, he’d be a happy camp director.
He climbed into the cart and stepped on the gas. Continuing around the circle drive, past the camp office, he spotted Blythe and Teri heading in the direction of Adventure Haven.
Hitting the brakes, he said, “You ladies care for a ride?”
They looked at each other and smiled before hurrying to the cart, which kind of made him feel like he was back in high school.
Wearing gray yoga pants and a green Camp Sneffels T-shirt, Blythe scooted in beside him while Teri sat on the outside. It didn’t take him long to catch of whiff of something tropical emanating from Blythe. Her shampoo, maybe? Whatever it was, its sweet scent reminded him of the Amazon Lilies he’d seen on one of his white-water rafting trips in Peru.
Once they were in, he maneuvered the vehicle into the woods, moving up the trail until they reached Adventure Haven where Levi and a couple of his assistants were waiting near the multi-tiered, wooden zip line platform.
Teri, who usually worked as a paralegal at a law office in Durango, leaped out of the cart as soon as it came to a stop and hurried toward Levi while Blythe didn’t move.
Hands clasped tightly in her lap, she stared straight ahead. “Teri tells me you’re planning to have some team-building exercises out here.”
“Yeah, kind of a time for everyone to have a little fun before the campers arrive tomorrow.”
She had yet to make any attempt to move. “What kind of exercises?”
“Oh, just some fun challenges, where everyone has to work together. Things like Build a Bridge, Up and Over the Wall, Follow the Leader. Fun stuff.”
With the sun filtering through the trees, she continued to watch Teri as Levi harnessed her for a go on the zip line. “I would prefer not to participate.”
Twisting to face her, Daniel said, “But you have to. I mean, you are part of the team, aren’t you?”
“I’m not comfortable with these sorts of things.” She moved to the other side of the seat and stepped out.
With one hand draped over the steering wheel, he continued to watch