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He limps over to the other side of the tree and stands in front of me, arms folded as he looks down. Even though we’ve been working at the same company for over a year, I didn’t quite realize how tall and lanky this man was. Perhaps because there’s rarely a need to get this close to him. I clear my throat and ask, “How’s the hip?”
“It’s holding up. The surrounding muscles are aching like there’s no tomorrow, but it’s solid. Doc did a fantastic job.”
With a single nod, I decide I’ve made the right decision and continue. “I think you probably should play the role of leader on this one, given your recent surgery.”
He scowls at me. “I’m riding a horse just fine. I think I’ll be okay for one of your littleteam building games.” He raises both eyebrows, bobbles his head on the last part, and takes a deep breath. “You don’t need to mother me, Jack, especially since you’re younger than my youngest child.” He turns away from me to rejoin the team.
My blood boils for a hot second over the mothering comment, but I recover quickly. “You’re right, but—” I grab his arm, and he stumbles as I pull him around. Case in point. Not that I would say that to him or wish hip replacement surgery on anyone. Still, it’s a little nice to be right. “I know you signed a release, but this might require some awkward bending. I’d rather be safe than sorry.” I pause to wait for him to give in, but there’s very little except a stubborn set to his jaw. I try a different tactic. “Please?”
Bruce purses his lips but then nods. Good. “Your goal as the leader is to figure out how to get us over the rope without touching it. Caveat: we all must be touching one another throughout the activity. The object is to cross over the electric fence one at a time and not touch the electric fence. If anyone breaks the rules, you make us all start over. You can take suggestions from your team, but it’s your final decision how we get over the rope. Easy enough?”
“As pie,” he answers.
“I will facilitate a team discussion after the activity.”
“Oh, boy. Maybe I’m happy to be leading this one.” He rolls his eyes.
As we take the first steps on our return to the group, my eyes drift over to where Luca and Wyatt were standing. Wyatt’s still there, but in the few seconds I spoke with Bruce, Luca has disappeared.
I stand next to Eddie as Bruce starts explaining the objective of this activity. I try to pay attention, but I’m keeping one eye out for Luca.
When Bruce finishes, Derrick pipes up, “Let’s start by holding hands in a line. The tallest people can probably just step over the line.”
I’ve done this activity before, and it’s much trickier than that. But I keep my mouth shut, because I’ve seen some of the best ways to conquer the challenge. The first up is Sean, the tallest in the group, but as he tries to straddle it, the rope starts swinging.
Bruce calls out, “Nope! You just fried the whole team. Start over. Anyone have a different suggestion?”
As he’s prompting the team, Luca reappears from over a small hill, leading a calf on a rope. The surrounding noise fades a little as I watch his slightly bow-legged walk.
Luca
As I return to theshady area with one of the calves that wouldn’t leave the heifer alone, I can see a team-building game in full swing. There is a rope, and two of the men decided to get down on bended knee. I walk closer to the activity with the calf but stand back and see how everything will play out. I’m a little intrigued by the kindergarten-age nature of it.
“Jack, why don’t you try to cross? You could put your weight on my leg and then Calvin’s to get over the rope,” Sean says.
Jack smiles, like Sean has solved some sort of riddle that no one else is aware of.
“Let’s try it,” she says.
Jack puts her weight on Calvin first, and he wraps his hand around her waist to balance her. She then puts her foot down on Sean and steadies herself. She’s not very tall, but she manages to hop over the rope, never letting go of Calvin’s hand.
“That’s one. Calvin, you have to come next,” Jack says, continuing to look proud of herself.
I watch as one after another makes it over the rope. No one ever breaks the connection with the others. Sean comes last. Eddie, from the finished side of the rope, takes one knee to allow Sean a step. From there, the man is so tall, he clears the rope without much effort. The whole team stands and cheers.
Jack is a good teammate, I’m realizing. She doles out positive reinforcement and high tens to everyone on the team. Perhaps it’s a show, but she sure seems like the biggest cheerleader of the group. It’s high spirits all around. Even those who went into the activity skeptical of the thought of forced team fun is smiling now.
Jack’s big brown eyes flit over to meet mine before she focuses on the team, and the question she asks is quite the surprise falling from her lips. “What exactly did we learn from this game about... trust?”
A smile spreads on my face as I turn and stroke the calf’s neck. Perhaps this retreat is the perfect place for a girl named Jack after all.
Chapter Seven
Jack
Acowbell clangs in the distance,and I look over to where Emma has a couple trays of sandwiches, bags of chips, and bottled waters lined up on a log she’s using as a makeshift table. Wyatt, standing beside her, chews thoughtfully and laughs as she snuggles up to him to whisper something only for his ears. How adorable, I think as I avert my eyes.
The rest of my team starts veering in the direction of the food, but Eddie remains behind and starts untying the knot I made to secure the rope around the tree. I trail my hand along the braid to the other end to do the same. When I circle the trunk and reach for the knot, Luca’s hand darts into my vision.
