Page 102 of Lady and the Camp
Yeah, so he did. “I can’t hand the camp over to Brycen. Not after everything.”
She toyed with a woven friendship bracelet on her wrist. “Are you protecting the camp or is this some other quest you have to punish Brycen?”
I started to object but fell quiet. Dang it. Why couldn’t she take the director job and I’d be on my way? Possibly on my way. “When Alan and Alice told me they trusted me with the camp, I took that to heart. They trusted me over their own son. How could I say no?”
“I just told you no.”
“Yeah, but this is different.”
She looked at me. I looked at her.
“Talk to Brycen.” Maggie stood. “Hear him out. Maybe you can both get what you want.”
Brycen met me at an agreed upon spot. A place away from our day-to-day existence that would put both of us at ease. A hiking trail about ten miles outside of camp.
After a few minutes walking a shady uphill path, Brycen slowed his pace. “That Kristoff Krom arrest sure was wild. I can’t believe he turned up at the camp. And I can’t believe I ever looked up to him. The man is unhinged.”
I had a lot of opinions on Krom. None of them kind. “No argument there.”
“You handled the disruption well. Credit to you. You’re doing great running the camp.”
I waved him off. “No. I’m terrible.”
“What? No, you’re not. Stop being modest.” He walked several paces before speaking again. “I thought I had this camp thing all figured out. But the parents are so demanding. The schools we’re working with for the sports camp keep listing more requirements. We’ve spent so much money getting facilities up to code—” He stopped. “What I meant to get at it is you’re making the camp work in a way I couldn’t grasp while I worked under my parents’ thumb.”
“We’re not doing anything different.”
“Whoever you hired for your online media is doing a fantastic job. The branding, the stories on Instagram. It got me nostalgic for my old camp days.”
“Hudson,” I said. “You’re right. She’s done tremendous work.” She’d claimed she wasn’t a web designer, but she’d spiffed up the website too.
“Definitely hang onto her.”
Failed on that front. I’d sure managed to bungle a great partnership. If I’d been smart, I would have offered Hudson to stay on managing the social media as a freelancer. But I couldn’t. She needed to move on without strings attached. Me, I wasstrings.
The conversation lulled, giving me an opening to tell Brycen what I needed. Still, I hesitated. If I told him I wanted to leave, he could seize back the camp for himself.
And…what? What was I so afraid of?
“I think…I was jealous,” I admitted. “You had this incredible job, a legacy, with the camp. I quit my construction job to work for the camp because I was inspired by your drive toward success. I wanted that for myself. I figured it would happen once I wanted it enough.”
We stepped aside to let other hikers pass. “But when that legacy wasn’t enough for you,” I continued, “I didn’t understand. I couldn’t make sense of your vision. You were reaching higher, building on the camp’s values, but I didn’t see it that way at the time. I saw higher cost and fancier facilities. A shift to sports training over outdoor exploration. When your folks told me they wanted me to preserve the camp the old-fashioned way, I took their side. I completely dismissed yours.”
“I was arrogant. I should have listened more.”
“If I’m being honest, I should have heard you out too. Your ideas were good. Ambitious, but good. I don’t know if Camp Junebug would have survived much longer without some kind of kick in the pants.”
We walked with only the sounds of leaves rustling and distant voices from other hikers. “I don’t want to wreck that vision,” Brycen said. “This summer has shown me what works and what doesn’t. Seeing my dad’s health decline, the simple values stand out more clearly. I went to see my parents after we met the other night. I apologized. I told them I wanted to combine the camps again and offer two varied experiences. The rustic camp and the more sports-focused camp. Even with Dad’s struggles, he seemed to understand what I was asking.”
“That’s great. I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’d love for you to lead both.”
I stared at him. “You want me to runbothcamps?”
“You’d be great at it.”
A slow chuckle fell from my mouth. Then another. I outright laughed.
