Take Only Pictures (6 page)

Gloria took Kristine’s smile as an all clear. “So…Teeny? How does a woman of your stature get a nickname like that?”

“Ugh. I was a late bloomer,” she responded, swigging from her bottle. “I was a regular beanpole when I was seventeen. But later, even when my size didn’t match the name, it was their way of reminding me of my place. You heard Dozer, I’m sure. They’ve always seen me as the tagalong for wanting to learn what they were doing…well packing the mules anyway. I never wanted to cook for the overnight trips or lead the day rides. I’ve always wanted to be with the stock, and some didn’t take to that too well.” Her eyes stayed on her bottle instead of targeting anyone in the circle.

“You look a lot like your brother. Who’s older?”

“He lords his seven inches over me, but I’ve got two years on him, and I don’t ever let him forget that.”

Gabe wrapped up a song, and Dozer shouted across the campfire. “Teach me that one you say works wonders on the ladies.”

Sandy smacked Dozer’s arm.

“It’s good for tips,” he defended himself.

“I’m sure that’s Kristine’s excuse, too,” said a cowboy so lanky his chest seemed concave. He wore a mean expression with a hawkish nose and dirty blond mustache. She recognized the speaker as Leo’s son and read the animosity in the eyes that blazed in Kristine’s direction.

“Nothing wrong with being a flirt,” Kristine said, lightheartedly, eyes not meeting Nard’s.

Dozer guffawed. “Your reputation goes way beyond flirting!”

“C’mon. I was a teenager away from my parents trying to set a good example for my little brother. Sing that George Strait song for us. The chords are easy enough for Dozer, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.”

Gloria noticed Kristine’s hands tight on the bottle she held and realized that she was uncomfortable with the ribbing from her friends. She could easily read the dynamics between Dozer and Kristine, his crassness something she, too, experienced from colleagues who argued that their pushing the line with their jokes was their way of accepting her as “one of the guys.” His taunts, though, didn’t rattle Kristine in the same way Nard’s did. He’d fixed his hard stare on Kristine, and she studiously kept her eyes from him.

From the stories they told of their past summers, their triumphs as well as their disasters, Gloria gathered that most of the group had worked many seasons together. Since she had become a specialist, traveling around to work with different crews on bear/human cohabitation, she often found herself the outsider observing tightknit groups.

Most of the time, she enjoyed her solitude, but the banter at the campfire made her realize how much she missed the camaraderie that came along with the chaos. The warmth of the campfire extended beyond the flickering glow of the flames. Their shared memories made Gloria miss her family back in Eureka. Her earliest memories were of singing rounds at the campfire with her mom and dad in the summers, back when they used to pick a different camping destination every summer. Back when her mom had the stamina to hike the most difficult terrain.

“You have siblings?” Kristine’s voice interrupted her memories.

“Nope. Just me.”

“All the attention lavished on you, huh?”

“You could say that.” Gloria admired Kristine’s natural beauty. Flecks of gold in her brown eyes reflected the dancing flames of the fire.

“I imagine it would be even more fun to be the one lavishing attention,” Kristine said.

A wave of warmth shot through Gloria’s body, and she openly stared at Kristine, who was leaning back into her chair, propping her feet on the stones of the firepit. Nothing in her posture suggested she’d uttered the come-on, yet Gloria’s body hummed with the prospect of Kristine’s scrutiny fixed upon her. Wood popped and shifted in the pit, sending another shower of sparks beyond the ring which Kristine quickly stamped out. Smoke rose into the canopy, and owls hooted as the night deepened.

Kristine spoke, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “Don’t they miss you? I imagine you’re out in the forest quite a bit.” The fire popped sending a spray of sparks into the night.

Gloria frowned. She thought they’d been flirting, but there was certainly no innuendo in Kristine’s question. “They do. But I’m their vicarious link to all this,” she said, gazing up at the treetops. A stronger wind moved in the canopy, a distant roar like the ocean in a seashell. She shuddered as much at her memory of the ocean and home as how cool the evening grew as the sky deepened to the blue-black before dark.

Kristine shrugged out of the heavy cowboy coat she wore and held it out to Gloria.

“I’m about to head out anyway,” Gloria said, shaking her head.

“Not quite,” Kristine said, quirking an eyebrow.

Gloria raised her eyebrows in question, waiting for Kristine’s explanation.

“You’ve hardly touched your drink. And besides, what if we have a bear visitor?” she winked.

Gloria accepted Kristine’s offer. She thought about the heat of Kristine’s body as she settled into the warmth of the coat that already smelled of woodsmoke. She couldn’t help thinking of Kristine’s arms wrapped around her body. Kristine was right. She did want to stay. All that waited for her back at the campground was a very cold sleeping bag.

“You’re not uncomfortable?” she asked, feeling guilty for accepting the coat.

“Just the opposite.”

Gloria tipped her chin, listening.

Kristine leaned in close and whispered, “It’s nice to have an intelligent woman who plays on the same team to talk to. This crowd…” She frowned, leaning away from Gloria and letting the thought drift away as she finished off her beer.

“And you’ll work with them all season?”

“No. My brother and I are up the road at the Aspen Outpost.”

“So you don’t work for the Lodge?” Gloria asked, puzzled.

“Oh, we all work for Leo. He’s got another station about fifteen miles down the road.”

“By the Aspen Grove Campground.”

“Yep.”

“He owns both?”

Kristine nodded. “The outpost is smaller. Gabe and I don’t do the long travel trips that stay out in the backcountry overnight. Teams like Sandy and Dozer take trips out anywhere from five to seven days. We do what are called spot trips, dropping stuff off in the backcountry. Sometimes they ride with us, but others they hike in on their own to where we’ve left their gear, and we coordinate with them to pick up everything on the day they hike out. Travel trips leave out of the outpost, too. Leaving out of there shaves a day off trips out to Yosemite or gives a good starting point to trips that return to the Lodge. So we’ll see this crew a bit, but only when they ship their stock up and then pack up their trips that leave from our trailheads. Most of the time, though, it’ll just be me ’n Gabe.”

Gloria felt disappointed. She realized she’d been anticipating chance run-ins with Kristine since the campground where she’d parked her camper was so close to the employee cabins at the Lodge. “Sounds quiet.”

Kristine laughed. “I’ve got Gabe. I’m sure my life’s a whole lot less quiet than yours down at the campground.”

Sol, who must have had an ear on their conversation, said, “We’ll be trying to get the two of you down here to play. Isn’t anyone else who picks a tune like your brother. Play me one more song, that one about God being a cowboy, before I take these old bones to bed.”

Gabe extended the guitar to his sister. “That one’s Kristine’s specialty.”

“You do a great job with that one. Keep it up.”

“Your turn to play, my turn to drink,” he winked.

Kristine took the guitar and looked a bit sheepish. Gloria was grateful for the dark as she wondered if the song Sol had requested was one of Kristine’s conquest specialties. She knew the group thought she’d come with Gabe but was pretty certain her expression would betray her interest in his sister. She didn’t know them well enough yet to feel comfortable revealing that.

Kristine kept her head bent as she found her way through the chords. She sang more quietly than Gabe, but her voice was beautiful and true. As she neared the end of the chorus, her voice gained strength, captivating all at the campfire.

Longer silence filled the night when Kristine handed the guitar back to Gabe. “Thanks, Sol. It is good to be back, but I’m beat, and if I remember, morning comes early around here.”

Gloria stood as the others tipped their hats to acknowledge her departure. She, too, thanked everyone for the evening.

“Want a lift to the campground? It’s on my way over to the outpost,” Kristine said to Gloria as they stepped away from the fire.

“That’d be nice. Thanks.”

They climbed into the cab of Kristine’s truck and sat in silence as Kristine rubbed her hands together in her lap while she waited a few minutes for the engine to warm.

“I should give you back your coat,” Gloria said, though she made no move to take it off.

“It’s mostly habit,” Kristine said, stopping the motion.

Gloria searched for something else to say. Kristine put the old truck in gear and eased out onto the road. After spending the evening enjoying her company, she should be able to think of something during the short ride, but she was at a loss. “This small camper here in Slot One is home,” she said. She started to shrug out of Kristine’s coat.

“You’re fine,” Kristine said. “Keep it. The cab’s warm, much warmer than where you’re headed.”

Gloria pulled the collar around her again, smelling saddle oil and horse and Kristine. There was no reason for her to continue to sit in the cab, but still, she could not motivate to open the door. Nothing in Kristine’s body language conveyed that she was anxious to get going. Nothing encouraged pursuit, either. That her job entailed teaching a local team to manage bear problems meant that after a few weeks, at the most a few months, Gloria would move on. Because of this nomadic existence, she never worried about being forward when the opportunity arose, not having the luxury of time to draw out a courtship. Short and uncomplicated worked for her, and the places she worked were usually filled with other seasonal employees who felt the same way. Something about Kristine intrigued her, but she was having a very difficult time reading whether the feelings were reciprocal.

“I’m not keeping you from your campground exploit?” she asked, unable to resist her curiosity.

“I’m liking the company here just fine.” A slow smile crept across Kristine’s face.

“Better than the company at the campfire?”

Kristine smirked. “That company is exactly why I’m headed back to the Aspens.”

Gloria laughed, enjoying Kristine’s candor. “With friends like that, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to help someone warm up her sleeping bag.”

“That an invitation?”

The question flooded her with desire. “Like you said, it is cold where I’m headed…”

Since her previous question had come so quickly, Gloria was thrown when Kristine sat quietly. She seemed to weigh her decision. For a moment, her eyes held desire, but then it was like Kristine shut the door on them. “Six years ago, I’d have jumped at the chance to help you out with that, but that’s not what brought me back to Mammoth.”

“You have to know that your reputation in no way bothers me,” Gloria said, hoping Kristine would change her mind. Instead, her words seemed to make Kristine bristle more. Hoping to clarify, she added, “I’m a seasonal employee and get the ‘Take only pictures’ philosophy.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know the motto: Take only pictures; Leave only footprints. Dating can be like that. You don’t disrupt the habitat. You take your memories and leave as little trace as possible.”

“I’m sure Campsite Seventeen would be willing to play that game if that’s what you’re looking for.” Kristine tipped her hat to hide her profile. Gloria tried to think of something that would bring the flirty, fun atmosphere back, but Kristine added, “It is late,” effectively dismissing her.

Reluctantly, she let herself out of the truck, stepping out into the cold. She watched as Kristine pulled away, the taillights quickly disappearing around the bend, plunging her into utter darkness. The level of disappointment she felt from Kristine’s departure surprised her. Reviewing the day, it was clear that the store clerk welcomed her presence more than the cowgirl. Too bad the evening had served to pique her interest in Kristine. She wondered what Kristine had meant about the reason she’d returned to the Lodge. A smile crept to her lips. She had at least a few weeks to work her charm on Kristine and felt pretty confident that it wouldn’t take long to bring her around.

Chapter Seven

“I knew it was a brilliant plan to have you run the Aspens with me.” Gabe sighed, helping himself to coffee, eggs and toast.

The last thing that Kristine wanted was to be Gabe’s caretaker. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Gabe’s sloth and desire to be looked after had scared off Bridget, the girlfriend he’d been set to run the outpost with before she’d dumped him, prompting his plea for Kristine to come back.

“Because Bridget got tired of cooking you breakfast?” Kristine asked pointedly.

Gabe covered his tracks quickly. “Thanks for breakfast, sis. We could, uh, take turns?”

Kristine smiled. “That’s better.”

“Surprised your truck was already here when I rolled in last night. Sure seemed like the bear lady was into you.”

“C’mon, Gabe. If that’s what I was after, I would have been at Campsite Seventeen.”

“I can’t believe you passed up on that. You think she plays for both teams?”

She threw a towel at him.

“No, seriously, sis. You’re on fire from day one, hitting it off with all of these hot ladies. How about a little help here?”

Kristine sat down opposite her brother and tried to console him. “You’re assuming the day rider was hot.”

“No. Brian told me just how hot she was. He’s got a little crush of his own going, if you ask me.”

“You want me to ask Brian if he thinks you’re hot?”

Gabe scowled. “You’re dead if you do. But the new day-ride girl, Takeisha. There’s someone you could ask.”

“You’re on your own there, buddy. I am not getting mixed up in your disastrous love life. Though it would be fun to see what dad thinks of interracial dating.”