Gloria punched in the numbers of her calling card and relished the sound of the ringing that said her call had finally gone through. She'd spent too much time wandering around the campgrounds trying to find a cell phone signal, and had given up and headed for the payphones at the Lodge.

"Hey, Ma," she said when her mother picked up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I can't call you?"

"You send cards. That's what you do. I got your last one, by the way. Lovely, lovely place. But you don't call unless something's wrong. Bear attack?"

"No." Gloria pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Stupid campers?"

"Same as usual."

"Something wrong with the camper? You need to talk to your father?"

"Mom. I'm fine. The camper's fine. Can't I just call to say hi?"

There was silence on the line as her mother processed all of that. Just as Gloria thought she would let it slide, she began to laugh. "No. Your evenings, you hunker down with your work or a book. What's got you worked up enough to find a place to make a call? This isn't your cell. Are you up in Mammoth?"

"At the Lodge, Mom. There are payphones here. The cell coverage is spotty." Gloria rested her back against the building, watching the activity at the corrals, looking for the real reason she'd walked over. She couldn't stop thinking about Kristine. Unanswered questions had been buzzing around in her head, especially during her quiet evenings. Though she realized that Kristine was at the Aspens most days, Gloria still walked over to the Lodge around six thirty, hoping that Kristine might have headed back down for dinner or another campfire gathering.

"You're lonesome," her mother diagnosed.

"I'm fine. I like my solitude."

"Usually when you say that, I believe you. This time, I don't. What's going on?"

Gloria realized she might as well talk to her mother. She had after all called her. "There was this campfire thing a few days ago, after my talk." She shrugged even though she knew her mother could not see her. The line remained quiet as her mother waited for her daughter to continue. "I guess it made me homesick. I move around so much that there's never a group who welcomes me back, no old-timers..." Movement in the yard distracted her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Kristine riding in with a string of mules behind her.

Suddenly self-conscious, Gloria swiveled away from looking at the parking lot and corrals.

"Old-timers?" her mother prompted.

"Old-timers," Gloria repeated, kicking herself for not making a plan if she did happen to find Kristine.

"You were saying something about old-timers."

"Oh, right." Curious about what the cowboys were doing, she pivoted back around. She saw Kristine tying her lead mule to a post by a large wooden platform. It looked exactly like a dock she'd expect to see in a lake with a rowboat tied to the side, yet this was on dry land. "Old-timers telling stories about back when I was a teenager just learning the ropes," Gloria said.

"Adam's got those stories, and he's always saying he wished he had funding to keep you at the field office here. I always thought you were kind of relieved there wasn't money for something full-time for you here. I thought you liked being out in the wilds on your own."

"I do like where I am. I love what I do." She kept her eye on the group that had gathered to help unload the mules. "I'm just realizing that it would be nice to have a group." Like the one that she watched working together. They were a unit. The rangers she worked with became units. She'd always been the outsider. Strange that she'd never been so aware of it before.

Her mother laughed heartily. "Does this phone have a record b.u.t.ton? I want to hear you say that again. Don't you remember me bugging you to go hang out with people your own age when you were in high school?"

"I remember," she said. Gloria wished she was closer to the work. In a flash, Kristine and Sandy pulled large leather bags from each side of the mule and tossed them onto the dock. Dozer emptied out the bags, stowing the canvas tarps and long ropes in the shed. Kristine glanced toward the building where Gloria stood. Her eyes. .h.i.t Gloria like an arrow finding its target.

"You sound so blue," her mother's voice brought Gloria back to the conversation she was having. "Not your usual whip-people-into-shape self."

Gloria knew she should respond, but couldn't find words. When they had finished unloading the mules, Dozer and Kristine appeared to discuss something before Dozer took the string and led them away from the dock. Kristine sauntered across the yard, spurs clinking, the fringe of short chaps she wore slapping below her knees. She pushed her rolled-up sleeves back down, concealing her strong forearms, and her black hat shaded her face as she concentrated on b.u.t.toning her cuffs. As she entered the store, she glanced briefly in Gloria's direction.

"I'm just in that adjustment period, finding my bearings," Gloria answered. She shifted her position and was able to look in the doorway. Kristine had paused at the counter, chatting with the spellbound store clerk as she rang up an ice cream. As Kristine walked to her truck, the clerk followed her with her eyes until she realized Gloria was watching. She shrugged with a smile of acknowledgment as if to say they'd both been caught. Oblivious to the two women behind her, Kristine climbed into the cab of her truck and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Maybe you should give Meg a call. Touch base."

"Mmm," Gloria mumbled.

"Take care of yourself, sweetie," her mother said, letting her off the hook.

"I will, Mom. I love you." Gloria replaced the receiver in the cradle and paused. Something made her glance in the store again though she knew Kristine was long gone. The clerk smiled brightly.

Gloria didn't miss how the clerk's tight tank showed off her lean figure. She'd swept her dark hair up into a bun that instead of looking messy came off as stylish and cool. She returned Gloria's appraisal with an openness that invited Gloria over. She thought about simply waving because by comparison she felt frumpy in her standard loose-fitting hiking pants, her Department of Fish and Wildlife tee and unexciting ponytail tucked through the back of her ball cap. What she'd said to her mother was true-she was finding her bearings. With the hope that talking to someone would make her feel more settled, she headed toward the store.

"Checking in with the girlfriend back home?" the clerk asked without preamble.

"Mom," Gloria corrected, noting the clerk's reaction, the sport in her eyes.

"I never got to introduce myself the other night," she said. "I'm Ocean."

"Ocean?"

"Daughter of Deadheads and thus destined to be a whaler or marine biologist."

"I know plenty of people whose names match their profession, a Melody in chorus, a baker named Baker."

"Alas, the water is no draw to me." She smiled, her eyes openly a.s.sessing Gloria's body. "If you've got some time this evening, I'd be happy to show you what I am drawn to."

In the back of her head, Gloria heard Meg's voice commenting on the wealth of selection Mammoth had to offer. Pushing it aside, she smiled and said, "My evenings are nothing but time."

"Super." Ocean smiled brightly. "You had dinner? I usually grab something at the cafe."

"That sounds good," Gloria said. Gravitating toward the cards against the wall, she smiled and stepped aside to let Ocean do her job. Though she told herself she should find another photographer's perspective to send to her mother, Kristine's cards still spoke to her the most. She lifted one from the display.

Two backpackers crossed a sheer expanse of granite. The color of the rock, which dominated the image, should have made the picture feel cold, and the tiny backpackers remote. When she studied it though, Gloria felt warmth, felt like Kristine had captured something resonating between the two women and their surroundings.

When the clock rounded to seven, she laid the image on the counter.

"Last sale of the day," Ocean said, slipping the card into a bag for Gloria. She ducked under the counter and motioned Gloria out in front of her. "I could take you there."

Gloria tilted her chin.

"You hike, right? When I'm off, we could take the trail in that picture. That granite pa.s.s is on the way to Fish Creek. I hear there's a killer set of hot springs down there. We should go."

Gloria wondered if that's where the women in the picture were headed, if they were going to a romantic natural hot spring. "It sounds lovely," she answered as they settled in at the counter in the cafe.

"It's on my list of spots I have to get to this summer. It'd be awesome if I had someone to go with." she beamed.

"Is this a second summer for you?" Gloria asked, scanning the simple menu.

"Yeah, it's a pretty sweet setup. I get food and board and a chance to hike on my days off. All of my friends are totally jealous of my summer job."

"You're in college during the winter months?" Gloria asked. Please, please, she thought, let her be working on her master's degree.

"I'm second year at UC Santa Cruz," Ocean said, quickly adding, "I took a few years off after high school. I wanted to do some backpacking in Europe, which my parents totally didn't get, so I worked for two years to have a few months of travel."

"What are you studying?"

Ocean shrugged. "I'm undecided right now. Taking cla.s.ses keeps my parents quiet, and then I get to play all summer."

Ocean happily described the various kinds of play she enjoyed, requiring very little partic.i.p.ation on Gloria's part to keep the conversation going. Had she ever been this young and self-absorbed? She tried to picture a whole day hiking with this woman. Would she ever run out of things to say? Gloria wondered if she was remotely curious about her job or the things that she enjoyed. As they paid the check, Gloria realized she'd be just as content to return to her camper and lose herself in a romance novel, a pastime that she loved and would have enjoyed chatting about, had she been asked. However she found that she couldn't say no when Ocean excitedly suggested that Gloria come to her cabin to see the picture of the bear she'd told her about.

"That's the Dumpster they get into some nights when the kitchen crew forgets to lock the bar across the top."

Gloria resisted the temptation to check the Dumpster to make sure that it was secure. Inside Ocean's room, she chuckled politely at the snapshot. When Ocean offered her a beer Gloria looked for a way to cut out but didn't, not wanting to be impolite. As she sipped, she thought about why being in Ocean's company wasn't taking away her disquiet. She concentrated on not gulping her beer, so she wouldn't seem rude. When she finally finished it, she declined a second and stood to leave but didn't move fast enough to escape Ocean's moving in for a kiss. Out of instinct, she kissed Ocean back, but she found herself unable to move her hands past her shoulders. Ocean's hands traveled freely over Gloria's back, even tucking under her shirt to make contact with her skin. Gloria searched for a reason her kiss and touch did nothing to excite her. It wasn't that her feelings were hurt over Ocean's lack of interest in her career or hobbies. She'd fallen into bed with people she'd exchanged fewer words with, yet the entire time Ocean kissed her, her mind continued to search for a polite way to disengage.

Was she missing Meg? The thought was so foreign to her that she stepped back.

"Sorry," Ocean said, though she smiled. "Too forward?"

Gloria sighed apologetically. "No. It's not that."

"What, then?" Ocean asked, stepping close again and slipping a hand around Gloria's waist.

"I..."

Ocean's thumb traced a path down Gloria's jaw and hovered in front of her lips.

"Did you hear something?" Gloria asked, wondering if the banging she thought she'd heard was only wishful thinking.

Ocean tipped her head to the side, listening. Her eyes opened wide. "The bear!"

They rushed out of the room to see a large brown bear pacing by the Dumpster behind the cabin. It stood on its hind legs bawling at the metal container.

"What's it doing?" Ocean asked.

Gloria clapped her hands together and hollered for the bear to get moving. Instead of fleeing, the bear turned to face Gloria. Gloria knew the stance and looked for the cubs mama was protecting. A moment later, two small faces emerged from inside the bin. Their paws sc.r.a.ped at the walls as they attempted to gain enough purchase to get out, but they both failed and fell back into the Dumpster, prompting mama to turn again.

"We're going to need a truck," Gloria said, relieved to have a legitimate escape. "And a ladder."

Chapter Nine.

On Friday, the entire crew gathered in the meadow next to the Lodge for the demonstration on how to recondition bears. Kristine's attention was supposed to be on Gloria, but every time Gloria made eye contact with her, she felt awkward. They hadn't spoken since she'd turned Gloria down, but Kristine knew that she'd have to stop by the camper eventually to retrieve her coat. As Gloria glanced in the direction of the pack crew again, Kristine elbowed her brother who was gossiping with Dozer.

"Would you quit and at least pretend to listen?" Kristine hissed.

"Dozer says that hottie bear lady made the moves on Ocean last night."

Kristine scowled at her brother, trying to shut him up.

"Good for her."

"Aren't you mad about it?" he asked.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because you've got the hots for the bear expert."

"How about you stick to who you've got the hots for. Talked to Takeisha yet?" she asked pointedly.

Gabe's shoulders sank. "Dozer said she's all over Brian. Bear lady's looking your way again, though."

Kristine frowned as she felt stern eyes on her. She didn't feel it fair for Gloria to be the one disappointed. She was the one disappointed. She shouldn't be, she knew. It's not like she expected Gloria to pine away after her all summer after she turned her down, and Ocean was an attractive and fun woman. Still, Ocean just seemed so young. Fun to chat with, sure, but she found it difficult to imagine spending more time with her than it took to ring up an ice cream.

Kristine saw Gloria set her shoulders just as she had during her presentation in the diner. Back to business. "Bears are very intelligent," she said, emphasizing the very, "and persistent. This area has had a jump in reports of human/bear encounters, as ill.u.s.trated by last night's visit from a mama and her two cubs. We want to shut that down before the little ones learn to a.s.sociate humans with food. I'll walk you through some of the scare tactics, and we'll wrap up by practicing with the rubber bullets I brought. You can practice with a rifle or a handgun, whichever is more comfortable for you."

While Gloria talked, Kristine watched Ocean. She was full of smiles, but wasn't she always? She tried to discern whether Ocean was watching Gloria any more intently than any of the other employees were. "How do you know they hooked up?" she whispered to Gabe.

"They went up to the corrals last night to borrow a truck. Dozer drove down and helped Gloria drop a ladder into the Dumpster, so the cubs who'd got stuck could get out. He said Ocean made a big deal about how good it was that Gloria'd been right there when it happened, and when he left, he said they were going back into her room."

Suddenly, Gabe's eyes grew wide, and he stood stock straight, looking away from Kristine. She found Gloria's eyes on her yet again.

"I realize you all feel you have experience with bears, but believe me, you have a problem in this valley. It may not seem like that big a deal to you, but a fed bear is a dead bear. If they get food-conditioned, they are destroyed. You might not care about that. I do."

Kristine blushed deeply, regretting her juvenile susceptibility to the barn gossip.

"Busted," Gabe whispered.

Kristine elbowed her brother and tried to concentrate on Gloria's talk.

"I've covered these bales of hay with newspaper," Gloria explained. "Remember that we're shooting to scare, not harm, these animals. We're using bullets that are widely used for riot control. Your store manager will have a gun and ammunition here, and folks who run overnight trips will be equipped as well. Let's start with a backcountry scenario. Sandy? Dozer? A bear is in your kitchen. What's your plan of action?"

"Throw on some jeans and boots, I figure. Them backcountry bears come snooping around our camps when we're still in bed. Should I practice that?" Dozer said.

"That's not necessary." Gloria deflected Dozer's flirtation with ease.

"We prop plates on our tarps, so the clatter of those usually startles the bears off a bit," Sandy said, more helpfully. Her eyes held a warning that Dozer either didn't see or ignored. She ticked off some of Gloria's methods she might try before the rubber bullets. "And if all that fails, we reach for the gun."

"Only if you've got light to see. We're talking dusk and dawn. You don't want to risk missing your target and hitting someone in your group."