Part 1 (2/2)
She turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Her mother followed suit and stroked her hair. She had her father to thank for her height and thick hair, but in coloring and features, she and her mother matched. When she'd worn her light brown hair long like her mother, people often mistook them as sisters, noting the same pixie shape of their faces. ”I'll be okay,” Kristine said.
”Your father's right. I know Gabe's been looking forward to running the Aspens, but he'll be fine at Leo's main outfit.”
”I know he'd be. It's just that...” Kristine couldn't explain how she was motivated by more than the fact that Leo was giving the autonomous position at the smaller outpost to an established team if Gabe was returning to the outfit by himself. She owed it to Gabe to go back. She studied her mother's strong hands hoping she took some of that strength with her because her future depended on being able to confront the past. Once she put things right, she knew she'd gain the confidence she needed to land the job that would take her away from her father's ranch forever.
Kristine's journey to the Lodge was a study in contrasts. Previously, she would have been blazing the road with an eye out for cops, blaring the radio and singing at the top of her lungs to the songs she adored. When the season started early enough, she could drive to Mammoth straight from her college campus, first at the local community college in Quincy and later when she was studying agriculture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
The school year drained her, juggling the demands of her coursework and what social life she could piece together. The Lodgepole Pine Pack Outfit offered the complete opposite. She thrived at the outfit that offered an array of day rides led on horseback as well as all kinds of guided trips out into the backcountry. At school, she learned equine training techniques and some of the basics for packing. The Lodge offered total immersion to the art of taking a pile of camp gear and loading it into two balanced packs onto a mule to carry into the backcountry. She learned some hitches from the old-timers that her professors back at school had never even heard of.
Each summer she gorged herself on the social opportunities first denied by her small-town origins and later by her heavy course load. Her gregarious nature was an a.s.set in interacting with the tourists who chose to experience the backcountry on horseback instead of by foot.
Since she'd left the Lodge so abruptly six years ago, her summers had been completely different. She'd done photography interns.h.i.+ps that were often so rigorous she was relieved to get back to school. The last one was a position at a museum. Unfortunately, it ended when the funding to keep her permanently had fallen through, and she'd reluctantly returned to the ranch. For a few weeks, she'd enjoyed its quiet, but while her days were peaceful, her mind was not. She sensed her father watching her. If she could have simply accepted her place on the ranch and settled happily into the work, she would have been fine, but they both knew she was biding her time, wanting to be anywhere but rural Quincy, California.
She eyed the speedometer and applied the gas, climbing back up to the speed limit. Clearly, her feet were not anxious to make good time on the five-hour drive. She could have explained it as her maturing in the years since she'd been gone if only the increased speed didn't make her break out in a sweat. She should have felt relieved to be back on these once-familiar roads, snaking her way through the mountains. But she was not the innocent girl who had last driven there, and, she hoped, not the terrified one who had hightailed it back home.
That was the only time she'd driven the route in the dark, and when she'd arrived as the sun broke over the familiar valley of home, she'd hoped it was a symbol for leaving it all behind. The truth was, she'd never been able to put it fully to rest. It still ran inside her like a dark and cold undercurrent, one she constantly tried to avoid, fearing if she stepped back into it, it would suck her in completely.
Now that she was finally returning, she dreaded the questions she knew would come. They'd be on her like a bear who remembers scoring at a Dumpster. Every summer since, the staff had peppered her brother with questions even though he had never had anything to offer them. It didn't matter. She'd been the one to feed them something in the first place, making her an easy target. Now that she was there in person, would the questions come immediately, or would they wait? In her worst possible scenario, their anger washed over her from the moment she arrived. Her former friends might bombard her with accusations and insults. She braced herself, knowing she would not be able to defend any of their charges.
Steeling herself, she pulled off at the Devils Postpile parking lot about a mile from the Lodge and a good fifteen miles from the outpost she would share with Gabe. Stock wasn't allowed near the national monument, a stand of symmetrical columns created by lava flow, so she had only ever viewed the natural wonder on horseback from the trail way over on the other side of the San Joaquin River.
She rolled down her window, filling her lungs with the crisp pine-scented air before flipping open her phone, pleased to find she had service. She dialed the outfit's number and asked for Gabe, waiting as the employee with an unfamiliar voice went to track him down. ”Gabe here,” he said.
”Give it to me straight. Who's back, and what are they saying?”
”Where are you, sis?” he asked.
”Almost there,” Kristine answered honestly.
”Dozer's still chewing on why you left, but the others are just curious about you being back. It won't take long for them to come around. And h.e.l.l, we'll be up at Aspens most of the time, so f.u.c.k 'em if they're p.i.s.sy.”
She tipped her head back against the headrest, grateful for his unquestioning support, but he'd only answered the second question, the one she considered less important. What she really wanted to know was who was back, banking on a pa.s.sing comment her dad had made about the possibility of Nard buying a tourist shop up in Mammoth with his stepsister instead of spending the summer at the Lodge. It would be so much easier to make peace with the way she left without having to confront him, but she feared that if she asked about him specifically, her brother would suspect the truth about why she had bailed and make it his responsibility to protect her.
”Thanks, Gabe. I'll see you soon.”
”Drive safe, hear?”
”I will.”
”Can't wait to see you.” She could hear his beaming smile in his words. ”We're going to kick some serious a.s.s this summer!”
That made her laugh out loud. ”I sure hope so,” she said, soaking in his enthusiasm.
She grabbed her camera and walked the short trail to the Postpile to grab some shots before she finished the drive and faced the past head-on.
Chapter Two.
Gloria woke with hard nipples and the mouth that had brought them to attention kissing its way down her abdomen. She parted her legs, groaning as her sometimes lover rolled between them and pushed against her center with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”What time is it?”
Meg crawled up her front, pulling again at Gloria's nipples with her lips and a little nip of her teeth. ”You seriously want to know what time it is?”
”I'm due in Mammoth tonight. I have to get on the road.” Though she protested verbally, she raised her hips, grinding into Meg.
”I don't think it'll take long to get you there.”
Gloria gasped as Meg entered her with two fingers. She rode the hard thrusting, climaxing quickly as Meg had predicted. ”G.o.d, you're good at that.” She scooted her hips and rocked Meg onto her back, stretching her out in the morning light. Meg's confidence in her body and what she wanted made it easy for Gloria to fall into bed with her whenever she was home from her research projects. She traced one finger from clavicle to navel before wrapping her hands around Meg's bountiful hips.
”Inside. Now,” Meg growled as Gloria teased her, tracing a finger through her folds. ”I'm so ready for you.”
Gloria gave Meg what she wanted. They had explored each other's bodies enough times to know exactly what the other liked and needed, and the familiarity was part of being home. She was aware of the curve of Meg's hip, the arch of her back as she got close, how she held the sheets, tilted her head back, enjoying Gloria's touch. When Meg tipped into her own climax, Gloria held her palm tight against Meg's curls, waiting for the shudders to stop before she stretched out next to her.
”How long are you going to be gone this time?” Meg asked, turning to face Gloria.
”Couple of weeks, maybe a month.”
”Depending on what the pickings are in Mammoth?”
Gloria swung her feet over the edge of the bed and began collecting her clothes, not wanting to deal with the undercurrent of insecurities that resurfaced for Meg when she traveled away for work. She threw on some sweats and a tee and folded her work clothes over her arm.
”I'm due at work,” Meg said, backpedaling. ”Want to grab a bagel?”
”I need to check in with my folks and get on the road. I'm heading in for a shower.”
”My cue to leave.” Meg flopped back across Gloria's bed, brown curls splayed across the pillow. She was short enough that she looked comfortable stretched out in the cramped bed. Gloria could only almost achieve that if she lay diagonally.
Gloria tried to tamp down her frustration. She pulled her shoulder-length blond hair into a messy ponytail. Meg knew that she had already kept her longer than she should have this morning. As much as she enjoyed the alive hum in her body from the morning s.e.x, she hated the guilt that came with it. She should feel a pang in leaving instead of relief to be away again, but she'd never made any promises to Meg. She tried redirecting to the positive. ”Thank you for a lovely wake-up.”
Meg frowned. ”I miss you when you're away. I only feel complete when you're home. When are you going to get something permanent here? There's probably something at the local field office.”
”You sound like my mother,” Gloria sighed. She rested her hip against the bed but didn't sit down.
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