Take Only Pictures (31 page)

“I’m so sorry,” Kristine said. “I just wrapped up a job in the High Sierras where the cell reception is poor, so it’s the business number you have. They’ve all cleared out for the season now.”

His hands flew through piles of papers, finally landing on what she gathered was her application. He scanned through it, his expression changing in front of her from harried to surprised to excited. “Not a problem now as long as you’re still interested in working for us.”

“Of course.”

“Can you meet with some people today?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, stunned and a little confused about the rush.

“And you could start right now.”

It was a statement, not a question, which confused her. “I, uh…yes I could,” she said, taken aback.

“Let me grab our department chair.”

Even more confused, Kristine simply nodded.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He looked at her again as if committing what she looked like to memory. After he left, she self-consciously checked what she was wearing. Her outfit was more appropriate for a barn than an art department, but at least her jeans were on the newer side and her shirt and boots both clean. She sat, wondering what was happening with the department chair. She hadn’t had time to create an answer when he was back with an older woman on his heels.

“Miss Owens?” the woman said.

Kristine nodded. The woman’s suit jacket was the only part of her that implied management. Her jeans and loose blouse suggested she felt more at home in a studio. She’d swept her long gray hair back in a messy bun held by what might have been a red chopstick.

“I’m Natalie Stettner, Department Chair. We’ve been trying to track you down for days.” The radiant smile and extra squeeze of Kristine’s hands when they shook conveyed just how excited she was.

“Yes. I’m so sorry about the defunct number I had on file. I promise you can reach me easily now.”

“Let’s talk in my office. Aaron, you’ll put together a packet for me?”

“Already working on it,” he said.

Though confused by their exchange, Kristine followed the chair down the hall to her office, which confirmed her guess that Natalie was herself an artist. Oil paintings, sketches and watercolors covered the walls. Her desk was piled high with papers, and the floor had various stacks of books. “I really should use the chair’s office back in the department, but it still doesn’t feel right to me. I’m a little new at this—my first semester as chair,” Natalie explained. “An associate professor became ill and is facing complications we knew would keep her from returning next semester. But her health has declined rapidly, so we’re having to cover her classes for the rest of this semester as well. We need a substitute immediately. Aaron’s been striking out all week, and then he calls with this news that the perfect replacement is standing in the office.”

Kristine blinked. “Perfect replacement?”

“You do have your MFA?” Natalie said, flipping through Kristine’s application.

Kristine nodded. Her afternoon was going nothing like she’d planned. She had hoped to get a feel for the department. When she’d opened her eyes at the falls and recognized the image of the woman washing her hair first, she felt the pull of the coast, of Gloria, and responded. She’d hoped, at best, for some positive feedback about her application for any part-time classes for spring semester, but had never dreamed of something being available right now.

“And you’ve taught before?”

“I taught a few undergrad classes while I finished my graduate degree. But since my internship photographing museum pieces ended, I’ve been working on my portfolio, thinking that I wanted to pursue a professional career.”

Natalie’s gaze shifted to the portfolio at Kristine’s side. “May I?”

Kristine nodded, handing over her work. She watched the woman’s facial expressions as she studied the pages, feeling hopeful as she inspected each photo closely rather than scanning them quickly. When she finished the portfolio, Natalie sat back in her chair. “It’s an impressive portfolio. I’m surprised you haven’t found anything in the professional realm.”

“Actually, I just did. I have an offer from a magazine down in San Diego, but this summer changed my priorities in a lot of ways. I had the opportunity to teach on a photography trip for a pack station in Mammoth.” She described her students, the terrain and the techniques they had covered during the five-day trip. “Until that trip, I hadn’t even considered teaching as an option, but I’m a social person, and when I really started to think about accepting the magazine’s offer, I realized it wouldn’t be as good a fit for me.”

“And Humboldt is a good fit?”

Kristine thought of the primary reason she was here, and when she thought of Gloria, she blushed, but she remembered Gloria saying she’d love to see the Northcoast through Kristine’s lens and quickly tapped back into her professional brain. “Look at this environment! Who wouldn’t want to be teaching photography here?”

“Indeed,” Natalie said, smiling. “I’ve seen enough to know that you can handle this job. The nature photography class will be a lot like what you described doing this summer. I see in your portfolio that you have the skills to teach our studio photography classes. The only question left is whether you want to take over as instructor of record on Monday. We’re three weeks into the semester, and I do want to warn you that these classes are off to a rocky start. They’ve missed multiple sessions while we’ve been struggling to find someone.”

Kristine could see the chair waiting for a response, but every cell in her body was busy going haywire, making speech impossible. What would Gloria say? She hadn’t even asked, but it was Friday. Clearly, this woman needed an answer before the weekend. The universe had opened a door, so she bravely took a step forward. “Yes, absolutely.”

“You seemed to hesitate. Are you committed to your professional offer in San Diego?”

Kristine rushed to assure her. “Oh, I’m thrilled. I’m just shocked is all. Your offer feels like an answer to a prayer.”

Natalie Stettner sank back in her chair, a look of relief relaxing her considerably. “Thank you for saving us,” she said. “Aaron was just starting to think I would have to take over the classes. What a disaster that would be, a sculptor trying to teach photography!”

“I’m sure you’d have been fine,” Kristine said, laughing. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity. I’m used to picking up all sorts of assignments on the fly, so I am confident that I can step in here to help the students through the rest of the semester.”

“Another quality I think makes you well suited for our department,” Stettner said, smiling. She glanced at the clock. “We have a lot to do to get you legal, but I’m worried folks are going to start to disappear. Let’s take a quick tour and get you acclimated to the facilities and see if Mark Briggs, the full-time professor is still hanging about.”

Even the quick tour impressed Kristine. She couldn’t wait to return to spend more time checking out the studio, traditional darkroom and computer lab where they did their digital work. For a smaller department, she was pleasantly surprised by the setup. Natalie introduced her to many faculty who taught art history, ceramics and drawing but was disappointed not to find Mark on campus.

With promises to introduce her on Monday, Natalie returned Kristine to the office. When he saw them, Aaron immediately jumped up from his desk with a stack of papers in his hands. Before he whisked her away, Natalie shook her hand. “I have to remind you that this is a temporary full-time assignment. I can’t guarantee what next semester looks like. We can rush the paperwork for this emergency hire, but for spring, I’ll have to go through the formal steps.”

“I understand completely,” Kristine said.

“Aaron will get you started on the paperwork and make sure you know where you need to be on Monday.”

“Thank you, again. I can’t tell you how excited I am.”

“Trust me,” she winked at Aaron who was waiting for her, “you’re not the only one!”

So began the whirlwind of tasks to complete. Aaron dragged her up and down campus, through human resources and security, the library for a temporary faculty card and finally back to her office where he weighed her down with the books, syllabi and a flash drive containing course materials and assignments for the classes she was taking over. Hours later, they returned to the department office. Natalie emerged from her official office.

“How did it go?” she asked.

Kristine took a deep breath. “I have a long weekend in front of me to prepare for Monday.”

“But you don’t look like you’re scared, that’s good.” She smiled at Aaron.

“Feel free to email either of us with questions over the weekend. It’s going to be a tough week, but I’m certain you’ll settle in quickly.” With a quick squeeze to Kristine’s shoulder, she slipped back into her office.

Kristine walked into the fog creeping in from the bay as she descended the hill and collapsed behind the wheel, closing her eyes to try to soak in the enormity of the day. A wave of anxiety passed through her when she thought about seeing Gloria. She glanced at her watch, gauging whether she’d be likely to find her at the brewery with her friends yet. Hoping she’d made the right decisions over the course of the day, she cranked her key, turning over the old engine. As it roared to life, so did her confidence. Her heart beating home, home, home, as she pulled onto the highway, closing the distance between herself and Gloria.

Chapter Forty

Gloria sat on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands, trying to find the strength to change and make it to the brewery. She checked her cell again even though she knew it was working and didn’t really figure she’d missed a call while she sat there feeling sorry for herself. She hadn’t been able to reach Kristine all day, which probably meant that she was still driving. She pictured Kristine excited about her new job, giddy with anticipation, and couldn’t help wonder about the other opportunities she might find. Should she have asked Kristine to give up the job? Adam and Jim had given her a hard time all day, telling her that she should have lobbied for her to choose love over her job, but Gloria understood her need to prove herself in her field. She couldn’t ask her to turn down a job when she, herself, wouldn’t have been able to.

She flopped back on the mattress, wishing she could just stay home, but she couldn’t stand up the guys. Not after she’d spent all of the lunch break defending Kristine’s decision, convincing them as she tried to convince herself that the long-distance relationship could work and was worth keeping. Doubt crept into her thoughts, though, when she wondered what would ever change. If it was true that she loved the Northcoast and Kristine loved her job, shouldn’t they just break up instead of drawing out the inevitable?

Maybe she shouldn’t go. Surely, they wouldn’t miss her one night. No. If she missed, they would know she was lying. She had to put her happy face on and get over there before they suspected.

She shucked off her uniform and grabbed an old pair of jeans and a tee from the closet, not caring what she looked like. For a moment, she hesitated, considered really dressing up and tempting the crowd, just to feel picked by someone. She discarded the idea immediately, knowing that she really wanted for Kristine to pick her and that it wasn’t productive or mature—satisfying, maybe—but definitely not fair to play that kind of game just because she was feeling melancholy. Instead, she pulled Kristine’s belt on, pressing her hand against the buckle, wishing that she was back in the cabin at the Aspens using it to pull Kristine toward her.

The band was already in full swing by the time she made it to the brewery, and she found the guys at their favorite spot on the second floor by the rail where they could watch the band and the crowd but not be pulled easily onto the small dance floor below.

“Told you she wasn’t bullshitting us earlier,” Jim said loud enough for Gloria to hear as she joined them.

“We wondered if you’d changed your mind. I thought you’d at least be to Fort Bragg by now.”

“No, I’m not chasing after her. She’s worth trusting.”

“Well, since you did make it, I’ll get the pitcher,” Adam said, heading off to the bar.

“There are really good opportunities down in San Diego,” Jim said. “I don’t see why you’re holding onto the headache of management when you could be doing something with wildlife. Working with people all day…” he shivered. “That alone would make me want to relocate. You could find something on the sly, surprise her. You don’t really think she’d say no if you showed up on her doorstep, do you?”

“You forget again, my friend, that I like my job, the power, the responsibility…”

“Still think you’re the biggest liar ever.” He smiled.

“Think what you want,” Gloria said, accepting Adam’s pitcher of Downtown Brown Adam. After pouring a round, she turned to watch the band. She hoped that Jim would get the message and let the topic of her extended long-distance relationship go. He didn’t.

“I can’t believe you changed out of your uniform into that,” he said. “Lots of women are into the uniform.”

She rolled her eyes but kept her chin inclined toward the music, really not in the mood to engage in his working the crowd.

“Unbelievable,” he said.

“What?” Gloria asked.

“Even looking like she does tonight, she still caught the eye of the hottest woman in the place.”

“Where?” Adam asked.

“There at the bar. She’s been staring at Gloria since she got here. Every time I look over…”

Adam interrupted, “…hoping she’ll be looking at you.”

Jim nodded. “Hoping to get her to look at the person who is actually available at this table, she’s got her eyes glued on Gloria. I think she’s your type, too. She’s got cowboy boots on.”

“Will you please shut your trap?” Gloria said, finally exasperated. “No more talk about long distance, about hooking up, about cute girls. I’m not in the mood, okay? I just want to have a good beer and listen to the music.”

The men eyed each other. Adam shrugged.

“Your loss,” Jim said. “I’m not telling you to cheat on Kristine. I just thought that a dance with a pretty lady might make you feel better.”