When Cody finally lifted his head and nodded, blond hair falling over his eyes in a cowlick he’d been fighting since his first day on the ranch, Max drew a sharp intake of breath. For a minute, he’d seen something so familiar in Cody’s expression, it’d been like looking in a mirror.
Must be his own past saying hi to Cody’s present. How many times had Max felt the exact same way Cody looked? Confused. Lost. Trapped in his own skin.
More determined to help the boy than ever, Max shut the door behind him with a solid thump and briefly rested his forehead against it. He still needed to find out what made Cody tick.
Which meant one thing.
He needed to talk to Emma.
* * *
Emma didn’t know which had her more on edge—the constant awareness of everything Tonya did or didn’t put in her mouth, or the fact that Stacy stood armed and ready ten paces to her left with a bow and arrow.
Rubber tipped, but still. Good thing she didn’t have an apple on her head.
Emma pulled the sleeves of her hoodie down farther over her hands to warm them as Luke and one of the part-time counselors jogged back and forth between campers, demonstrating the proper technique of drawing back the arrow on the bow. The goal was to let it fly toward the stacked hay bales so many yards downwind. It looked impossibly far to her.
“What’s the point of this whole archery thing?” Emma snagged Max’s shirtsleeve as he strolled past, his face relaxed and bronze in the sunshine streaming across the open field. The afternoon breeze rustled the hair under his cowboy hat, and he glanced down at her hand on his arm before she abruptly removed it. Definitely had to remember her no-touching rule, or she’d permanently walk around feeling as if she’d been zapped in the hand.
“It’s a group competition. I’m teaching them the value of teamwork and encouragement.” His grin widened. “Plus, it’s fun.”
Teamwork and encouragement. Right. Emma just hoped it wouldn’t teach a new vehicle for violence. They weren’t exactly in the presence of a bunch of Maid Marians.
“Trust me.” Max squeezed her shoulder before moving past her. “You’ll see.” He winked, and she was left torn between focusing on the butterflies stirred by his touch and snorting over his request to trust him.
Either inevitably proved useless, so she focused on her girls instead.
Beside her, Katie bounced excitedly, waiting for her turn, while Tonya stood coolly with arms crossed, no doubt concerned that archery wouldn’t go much better for her than the obstacle course. Those two were on Luke’s team, while Jarvis, Stacy and Cody had been placed on the other male counselor’s team.
“Archers ready!” Max clapped his hands. “Luke, you’re up. You won the toss.”
Luke’s team slapped high fives, while he quickly bent and went over a few reminders to Katie. “You’re up, Red.”
She blushed at the nickname but seemed to enjoy the cheers from her group. Emma slowly relaxed. Apparently the team idea was a stroke of genius, because even those that had mocked the competition previously were suddenly on board, shouting encouragement to Katie.
Her first shot went high, over the bales, but her second nailed just to the right of the target’s bull’s-eye. She struck a sassy pose before passing the bow to the boy in line behind her.