Hidden Burdens

Horse Camp

As they moved further into July, Ben and Kayla helped keep the kiddos busy with similar activities they had planned last summer. In the meantime of dealing with the stress of her mom, Kimmy also avoided Pops as much as she could whenever he came over.

Tristan left Saturday morning before she got up, though she could hear Ben waking him. He had also helped Tristan pack the day before, letting him borrow a few things, and took Tristan shopping like Ben had taken the rest of them.

She laid there, listening to their faint voices, when Kimmy heard the faint call of the horn, letting the guys know Pops was there.

It wasn't like Kimmy wanted to avoid Pops or anything. The anxious feelings inside of her had just become too strong whenever she was around him, and tried so hard to shake the thoughts from her mind.

Kimmy hated how much she overthought every tiny detail about everything and everyone. Her mom always told her she took things too seriously and oftentimes told Kimmy to lighten up.

Maybe that's all this was: her overactive imagination running wild again... That caused Kimmy herself to run away and avoid what felt like the unbearable feelings rooted deep inside of her.

A couple of hours later, Ben got the rest of the kids up for a day trip to Sedona and told them to wear their swimsuits. Kimmy wore hers underneath her clothes and slipped on her sandals.

Once the jeep was loaded and packed, including themselves, they were off, grabbing breakfast on the way.

Claudia claimed the back seat to herself as usual whenever it was at least the three of them. It was fine by Kimmy, who liked that the middle seat was separated into two seats instead of one.

It was a four-hour drive, taking all morning. Ben and Kayla chatted for the most part, shooting the breeze. Nothing really important, and bored the kid with what she heard over her headphones. John eventually chimed in from his reading while Claudia slept for the first half.

Halfway through the drive, Kayla switched and let Ben drive the rest of the way. Once he pulled into the parking lot of Slide Rock and found somewhere to park, they set up their picnic for lunch and applied lots of sunscreen.

Kimmy made sure to be extra careful and cautious once she stepped into the water. There was probably a reason the place was called Slide Rock. The water was shallow while the current was somewhat swift. Sort of like the creek Pops helped Kimmy to cross.

With the ladies doing their own thing, suntanning and enjoying the cool water, Kimmy mostly hung out with the guys. John playfully teased Ben about keeping his shirt on, to which Ben pointed out the twig that he was, that no one wanted to see.

"Nobody cares, Ben," John reminded him, leaning back in the shallow water on his hands and pointing out there were mostly families around.

"Yeah, well, kids are especially honest," he stubbornly argued.

John laughed. "You're gonna worry over what a kid says when they innocently don't know better?"

Ben, knowing the young man was right, pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it over onto their blanket, nearby. He then joined him and Kimmy in the water, who had brought along her kickboard, even though the water was too shallow for it in the part of the creek they were in. Kimmy still had fun with it, including gaining some slight confidence to flick water at the guys. Both of them got the kid back with vengeance.

The group stayed for a few hours, all of them having fun. Eventually, the girls joined Kimmy and the guys. At some point, Claudia started a splash fight, and soon, their whole group was splashing water at each other, even Kimmy.