After a few steps, Kristine stopped and swung about, catching Gloria midstare. Her eyes twinkled in response. “What’s the holdup?”
“You,” Gloria said. “I’m sorry I took my frustration out on you.”
“Oh.” Kristine looked down the trail and then back to Gloria. She smiled. “You can make it up to me when we get home tonight.”
Gloria liked the sound of that very much.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kristine stood in the stirrups and craned her neck around to see if she could spot the chopper coming into the valley. Not wanting to risk spooked stock on top of all of the other excitement of the day, she’d left with her mules after Gloria had helped her bandage Ramsey’s leg. Judd was on his own for the cleanup but lucky to have only the big mess and no casualties to manage. She was happy to leave it all behind. She should have been fuming about the accident. She should have been worrying about her upcoming trip with Nard.
Instead, her thoughts were full of Gloria. She admired her skill and had found it difficult to pull herself away from watching her confident hands moving over the rider’s body to assess any damage. Her own body responded to the memory. They’d been professional, and as that guest said, they made a great team. She was one who usually preferred to work alone, typically finding that people got in her way. Yet Gloria didn’t get in her way. They had worked together instinctively. Kristine flushed hot remembering just how well they’d worked together in the cabin…
Instead of leaning on her when her old fears returned, Kristine realized that she had pushed Gloria away, regressing to her I-have-to-tackle-this-on-my-own mentality. The irony suddenly hit her. She trusted Gloria enough to share her past but not enough to risk her future. Their night together was far beyond casual, and that scared Kristine. She didn’t know what the end of the summer meant for Gloria. Instead of risking that discussion, she created a distance at the first opportunity. That way she didn’t need to acknowledge her own fear, something she’d have to fess up to Gloria when she came back in.
While she waited, she put up her stock. Since she didn’t want to miss Gloria, she couldn’t head down to the Lodge to do proper laundry. Instead, she dragged a pile of dirty jeans to the porch and began thwacking them against the railing to see if any could be salvaged.
“What in the world are you doing?” Gloria asked, appearing as Kristine started in on the third pair.
“Laundry,” Kristine said simply.
Gloria’s wonderful laughter filled the yard. Kristine had missed that laugh when Gloria was out in the backcountry, undoubtedly stewing about how insensitive Kristine had been. “You know they have machines for that. Water. Soap.”
“That’s not very Western. We aim for authentic around here.” Kristine beat the pair of jeans in her hands against the railing a few more times, held them up, nodded and folded them to add to her pile. “That’ll do.”
“You’re a puzzle, you know that?” Gloria said, her head cocked to the side studying Kristine.
“That sounds like a bad thing.”
“Who is the authentic Kristine?” she asked, her eyes searching. “I don’t know that I’ve seen her.”
At first Gloria’s words seemed confrontational. Kristine felt like marching into the cabin, but she could hear that the words were not delivered with malice, just confusion. She fought the urge to run. She recognized that it was Gloria who had remained steady throughout the summer while, true to her form, Kristine had swung wildly from flirtatious to detached, from confident to unsure. She took her time gathering the jeans to take inside, feeling Gloria behind her. She shut the door gently, and Kristine could see how tired she was. The long day they’d shared had shaved off some of the radiance Gloria usually brought to a room.
Tentatively, Kristine set down her clothes and crossed the room to wrap her arms around Gloria. “I have to be honest with you. I don’t know that I know the answer to that question. I’m kind of working on it.”
“That confident woman on the mountain, the one who backed me up. I’d like to believe that’s the authentic Kristine.”
Kristine smiled and ran her fingers down Gloria’s neck, cupping her hand around her face. “Believe me, I’m trying to stick with that one.” Her hand slipped down Gloria’s shoulder and arm and intertwined with her fingers. “You look like you could use a shower and food.”
Gloria simply nodded, so Kristine pushed her toward the bathroom, leaving her to undress while she found clean clothes for her.
When she stepped back into the steamy bathroom, she could see Gloria’s naked form silhouetted behind the glass door. One thing she knew for certain: she wanted Gloria. Quickly, she stripped and slipped into the shower. She took in the beautiful, toned body that stood before her, water running off Gloria’s nipples, cascading down to the blond thatch between her legs. Gloria pulled her head from the stream of water. Her eyes were waiting for Kristine’s when she made her way back up the tour of her body. She handed the bar of soap to Kristine, increasing the heat Kristine felt stepping into the shower.
Gloria turned, covering her chest with her hands, tucking her chin over her shoulder to block the hot spray of the shower as Kristine lathered the soap. Her hands traveled freely over Gloria’s shoulders, back and hips. She pulled Gloria’s hips back into her own, her body warming in response to the moan that escaped Gloria’s throat. Gloria lowered her hands, reaching behind her to pull Kristine closer. Kristine took advantage, running her hands around Gloria’s hips, up her belly and over her breasts, loving how Gloria arched into the cups of her hands.
The rise and fall of Gloria’s chest matched Kristine’s own. Gloria reached out to brace herself between the walls of the shower, her head bent forward in the spray of the shower.
Kristine sputtered when Gloria tilted her head, spray hitting her directly in the face. Gloria spun around. “I’m so sorry!” she said, wiping water from Kristine’s face.
They laughed together and circled to let water rinse soap and weariness away. “I have to admit that I’ve never gotten very far in a shower,” Kristine said, kissing her way around Gloria’s collarbone, reaching around her to shut off the water.
“Me neither.” Gloria closed her eyes, as Kristine’s hands traced the droplets of water cascading down her body.
They grabbed towels, drying off enough to tumble into bed, so they could get wet again in different and wonderful places.
* * *
Later, Gloria lay with Kristine’s naked form draped over her belly and legs. “I don’t want to move, but I’m hungry.”
“I don’t know if we have any food,” Kristine said. “Good in that it got Gabe out of the house…”
Gloria swatted her playfully. “I don’t care if it’s PB&J. I need some sustenance.”
Kristine rolled out of bed, grabbing clean tees and sweats for both of them. They scrounged together soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Though clothed, they touched frequently in the small space of the kitchen. Each time she felt Gloria’s hand at her waist or brush past her butt, she again felt the energy of their connection surge.
“You’re never getting food if you keep that up,” Kristine said.
“What,” Gloria asked, running her hand along Kristine’s ass again, “I thought it was important to let you know I was behind you, so you wouldn’t kick me.”
“Ah, so you do think I’m an ass.” Kristine had meant it as a joke, but she could tell that her words had taken both of them back to the last time they’d stood in this kitchen, fighting instead of touching.
“I am sorry I took out my frustration on you.”
Kristine carried their food to the table. She paused before sitting. “No. I’m sorry. I was awful to you because of this photography trip.”
“Trip?” Gloria stepped closer to Kristine, taking her hand.
“I’d just found out that Nard put me on his photography trip. Five days, four nights.”
“No. Since when?”
Kristine couldn’t meet
her eyes. “Since you were down at Fish Creek.”
“And when does it leave?” Gloria insisted.
Kristine sat and bit into her sandwich, instantly regretting it because her suddenly dry mouth made it hard to chew.
Gloria sat next to her. “Tomorrow morning? That’s why you were doing laundry before?” Kristine nodded.
“Well that explains a lot. I wish you’d told me.”
“Kind of hard to get a word in edgewise.”
Gloria shot her a penetrating look. “You still could have shared that with me.”
“I know.” Kristine’s mind spun. She considered telling Gloria it just wasn’t her instinct to reach out when she got scared. Instinct told her to protect herself, and she’d felt particularly vulnerable. She knew, though, that Gloria would have argued that was all the more reason to tell her, to let her help or at least offer support. Kristine blew out a breath, feeling lost. “I don’t have a lot of practice telling people stuff like that.”
Gloria traced the back of Kristine’s hand. “Maybe that’s something we could work on.”
Kristine smiled and tipped her hand over to hold Gloria’s. “That’s fair. As long as we can work on other stuff, too.” She arched an eyebrow.
“Food. Quit trying to distract me.” Gloria’s expression had finally softened. She spooned up some soup. “So where will you be for this photography trip?”
“Starts out at Rosalie. We’ll base camp there for a few days and then head across to Thousand.” Having just cleared the air, Kristine was surprised when Gloria’s spoon reversed direction and plopped back in the bowl. “What?”
“Can you start out at Thousand and go somewhere else?”
“What’s wrong with Rosalie?”
“I have a really bad feeling about that bear up there. After you left, I talked about it with Rick. He’s had some experience with the bear in past seasons, but this season his behavior has changed, dramatically in the past few days. He recalled a hiker talking about a weasel acting weird. He’s going to see if he can track down which report it’s in for me.”
“Why do you care about a weasel acting funny?”
“What we’re looking at doesn’t sound like a food-conditioned bear. It sounds like a rabid bear. And if that’s the case, I’d have to prove myself wrong before another big party enters his territory.”
“Bears get rabies?” Kristine asked, not wanting to argue but also shocked. When she’d been in the valley last, no one was even talking about food-conditioned bears, much less sick ones.
“Not very often, in fact it’s quite rare, but I’d be negligent if I didn’t issue a warning and follow through on my analysis.”
Kristine wondered if she was being more cautious than she needed to be because of the Fish Creek bear that had been attracted to the campsite by the dead horse.
“You think I’m crazy,” Gloria said, breaking the extended silence.
“I think it wouldn’t hurt to talk to Leo tomorrow morning.” She held Gloria’s eyes. “I doubt he’ll move the trip on such short notice, but at least you’ll have someone there who’s backing you up.”
“I like it better when you’re on my side.”
“Sorry that was in question before,” Kristine said, and she meant it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A few of the Lodge employees acknowledged Gloria when she stepped into the employee dining room, but she didn’t see Leo. She’d headed over first thing to see if she could convince him to redirect his trip.
Nard stood with his plate and coffee cup and glanced out the window. “Teeny with you?”
“She let me borrow her truck. I’m looking for Leo.”
Nard swigged the last of his coffee and appraised her, his lips pursed under his scraggly mustache. Gloria met his gaze and did not blush or offer any explanation. He gave up the glaring contest first, sucking some of his breakfast from in between his teeth.
“Dad’s up at the corrals. Dude animals are out of water.”
Gloria thanked him and strode up to the corrals, locating Leo easily with his grunts and mumblings. He wore his typical plaid shirt, jeans and suspenders, though the suspenders had lost the fight to keep his jeans up over his rear. Gloria cleared her throat.
Leo rocked back onto his heels next to the trench he’d dug, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of a grimy hand. “Miss Fisher. Does Sacramento back up your assessment that I’m causing in the backcountry?”
“I’ve only had the chance to check in with my boss in Ontario who was going to contact the Director in Sacramento. I haven’t had a chance to hear what he said yet about the Fish Creek problem, sir. I’ve been up at Rosalie Lake. I’m sure you heard about the bear up there?” She hoped her tone conveyed that the number of incidents involving bear and human contact alone suggested that he should listen to her.
“Oh, yeah. Heard all about the mess it made before my guys got in there to pack them out.”
“Two encounters with two different bears in less than a week warrant a re-evaluation of your policy to pack whatever a client wants into the backcountry.”
“They know they’re headed into the wilderness. What they choose to bring is their business. Far as I know, backpackers have that same right.”
But backpackers actually have to carry what they take in, which gives them the common sense that many of the Lodge clients lacked, she thought. That lack of common sense raised her ire when she was in Fish Creek. It was certainly magnified by the Rosalie trip he’d allowed. However, that wasn’t why she was standing in front of him now. “Unfortunately, what a group takes into the backcountry isn’t my only concern anymore. I didn’t have a lot of time up at Rosalie, but I have talked to the ranger in that area, and we are both worried about that animal. We cannot ignore his unnatural behavior at the campsite.”
“Isn’t this where you get your rubber bullets out? Give him a good spanking?”
“That might work if the bear were merely habituated or food-conditioned. In those cases, the precautionary measures I discussed at the beginning of the season might be effective. We fear, though, that this bear is no longer sane.”
“You’re suggesting the bear is crazy?” He did not bother to stop his work as she talked.
“Sir, food conditioning happens with exposure and opportunity. Nothing in the ranger’s reports indicates that the bear has been taking advantage of humans for food this season.”
“You see how much crap that group hauled in, and how bad they were at securing it? My bet is that’s what attracted the bear.”
“Yes, but if that were the case, the campers should have been able to scare him off easily. I’d like some time to study the animal before you put more parties in the area. The ranger and I suspect that the animal may be rabid,” she said frankly.
Leo finally paused and tipped his battered straw hat back on his head. “Never heard of no rabid bear. I’ve worked down here just about my whole life.”
“It’s not common for an animal that large to contract rabies, but it’s not undocumented.”
“How many?”
“None documented in California, but nearly a dozen in North America.”
“None in California,” he repeated, turning back to his tools.
“You already have the incident with another bear down at Fish Creek. The horse carcass is likely to be pretty attractive to bears for some time. Juanita assured me that she would be warning campers to avoid that area for weeks, and I would hope that your staff isn’t dropping any other campers there. I’m asking that you do the same with the bear at Rosalie. At best, he’s food-conditioned which already presents a risk to your guests. At worst, he’s sick and dangerous. The Rosalie bear disturbs me much more than the scavenger down at Fish Creek.”
“Then feel free to keep an eye on it. But that’s your deal. Mine is keeping this place going, and I trust my staff to keep food away from all the animals they encounter.” He loosened a screw and pulled the line apart. Water sputtered from
the pipe above. “Here’s our problem. Damn pumice gums up the works.” He fiddled with the screwdriver and blew through the lower part of the tube a few times. When he hooked it back up again, water sputtered into the bathtub.
Gloria wasn’t to be dismissed so easily. “Sir, there are three stages of rabies. Prodromal comes with behavioral changes and lasts anywhere from one to three days. What happened out at Rosalie three days ago qualifies as behavioral changes. I’d guess he’s moving to the next stage, the excited, or since we’re talking a large animal, the furious stage. You’re sending a trip back into the area at the very time this animal is most likely to have increased activity, and more importantly, no fear of its natural predators. It’s already demonstrated some of that. The next encounter that animal has with a person could turn deadly.”
“You said three stages.”
“The last is paralytic. That’s when you’ll see the frothing associated with a rabid animal.”
“And the timeline?”
“Sometimes a week for the second stage. Once they hit the third, they usually die fairly quickly, within a matter of hours.”
“You’re asking me to keep trips out of there for a week?”
Gloria felt a glimmer of hope. Leo had stopped working and had been listening to what she’d said. She wanted to say at least a week, but she didn’t want to push her luck. “A week, yes.”
Leo set down the tools and rose to his feet awkwardly. He kicked pumice back over his lines to bury them and wiped his hands on a bandana. “I’ve got a lot of trips going out. Don’t know where else I’d send that photography trip. If you’re worried, you’re free to keep an eye out.”
“There’s no way for me to police his entire territory. My last trip out, I wasn’t able to locate a den.”
Leo shrugged. “Maybe Scott has some manpower. I’ll make sure Nard is aware of your concern.”
He limped back to the tool shed, dismissing Gloria and raising her ire. She already knew Scott had no other rangers to send up to the Shadow area. Nothing to lose, she flipped open her phone. Grateful she had signal, she called the Ontario office hoping to catch someone working early. She met less resistance than Leo had given her, but the same conclusion. There wasn’t enough evidence to force Leo to change his plans, or mobilize a bear hunt. She got the bureaucratic response of their being happy with her reports and trusting that she could handle the situation. Snapping the phone shut and grumbling about the lack of help, she headed back to the Aspens.
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