Take Only Pictures Read Online Free Page B

mean that she slept with women.
    Occasionally, she ran into the gruff one-of-the-guys dyke rangers. Friendly enough, but never a romantic interest for Gloria.
    Professionally, they’d all be helpful, but socially, she’d be on her own. Mitchell would be sure to offer his assistance with her acclimation to the area. She frowned. Why wasn’t it ever a charismatic and friendly woman making the offer?
    Gloria moved to the display of mounted enlargements on the wall of the store. The individually crafted and packaged cards had a different feel from the postcards she had selected. The commercial version of the Devils Postpile picture, for example, was obviously taken directly at the site and captured the fascinating detail of the geographic formation. The local photographer had taken the picture from across the San Joaquin from atop a mule whose ears framed the tiny, but clear, national monument. She liked the sense of familiarity that the artist had captured. This photo wasn’t for the hit-and-run tourist. It was for the nature enthusiast who cherished the wilderness like she did, who saw, she laughed at herself for thinking the cliché, the whole picture. She scanned more of the cards by the same artist.
    A smile touched her lips as she selected another from the rack. Two border collies lay on a bedroll. One’s muzzle was snugly tucked under its tail; the other had its head tipped lazily back. It stared familiarly at the photographer. She wondered if the dogs belonged to the photographer or if the photographer had been on one of the outfit’s many overnight trips and had caught the image of the employee’s pets. Her mother would love it.
    She added the card to her stack, already seeing it in the photo album back in Eureka. Whenever she began a new job, she made sure to find a store that had postcards of the local scenery. She’d buy several and send them home. Her father had recently told her the tradition meant more and more these days. It used to be that she’d send images to help her mother picture their next vacation destination, plan out the hot spots she’d like to visit. As her mother’s leukemia had worsened, the postcards began to take the place of those trips. She surveyed the cards in her hands. Would her mother be up to the hike down to Rainbow Falls? Maybe. But Pond Lily was out. Having surveyed the map of the valley, she knew her mother would never see it firsthand. It’ll still bolster her spirits, though, Gloria thought, and she’d send off this one of the pups as soon as possible. She turned the card over and read the stamp. The artist’s logo was a sketch portrait of a mule and read Suzy-Q Cards. Gloria heard “cue-card” and wondered if the artist intended the wordplay. She added the card to her stack and went to the register.
    “These always fly off the shelf,” she said, ringing up the purchase. “She’s one of our own.”
    “Suzy?” Gloria guessed.
    “No, Teeny. Used to work out at the corral and always had her camera with her.”
    “She’s good.”
    “That’s what I’ve heard,” the clerk said with a wink.
    Gloria blinked in surprise at the double entendre. She wasn’t surprised by the clerk’s message—she’d definitely pinged Gloria’s gaydar—it was more that they’d only exchanged a few sentences.
    The clerk, not seeming to have noticed Gloria’s surprise, continued. “And she’s back this summer.”
    “Tell her I love her work.”
    “Oh, she’ll be at the meeting. You’re the bear expert, right?”
    “Guess the uniform gives me away,” Gloria answered. Thanks to her mother, her Fish and Wildlife uniform was crisply pressed. Since she anticipated a tough sell to a room of seasoned cowboys, she’d worn the optional tie with her tan shirt. The forest green jacket, DFW logo on the shoulders, matched her slacks.
    “I’m glad you’re here,” the young woman continued, “because last year, the bear here was just out of control. He was going through the