Take Only Pictures by Laina Villeneuve Read Free Book Online Page B

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