"Jamie, what's wrong?" she asked. It wasn't that she lacked tact, but when it came to family the Dutton's had few boundaries. Maybe it was because they had been around each other so much, or maybe Jamie wore his heart on his sleeve. Whatever it was, she wanted to get it out of him, talking would make him feel better even though he didn't like to talk.
"Yes, I have a child, a son who's named after me. The mother and I didn't marry because of well, things. It's been hard but he's one of the few joys in my life." Jamie didn't look at her as he spoke, he kept his eyes on the road, which was fine. If Jamie wanted, needed, to talk he knew he could talk to her.
"Is something going on with the ranch?" She didn't know why she asked that, but from Jamie's reticence she got the sense that something was not quite right. She never kept track of local news, local politics, she was too busy with her horses. That was something that didn't serve her well, but it kept her sane.
"Well, you can't tell anyone I said this but things are rough right now. There are some land developers who are trying to carve up the valley. Remember when Dad fought off Dan Jenkins and his attempt to build condos almost at the edge of the ranch?"
"Yes, sort of. I remember Dad advising Uncle John not to proceed against it without obtaining the best legal council he could find. You helped with that, didn't you?" She looked at him, wondering what this was leading to.
"Yes, only this is worse, the fate of the ranch is up in the air unless he's willing to make some compromises." And he probably won't, Jamie thought, this land has too strong a hold on him.
"You mean he could lose the ranch? That's not possible, is it?"
"It is. I see it one way, Beth sees it another," he started but she interrupted.
"Of course Beth wouldn't agree with you, especially if you're right. I don't know anything about this, but now I wish I did. You're a lawyer, Beth's specialty is finance, but I'm only a farmer, and I live in Texas now. Dad has some interest, albeit small, in the ranch, does he know what's going on?"
"Yes, he does. He knows what's at stake. Sometimes I think it would have been better if your father inherited the ranch, he might make better business decisions." Jamie sighed, "Uncle Ben will step in only if Dad asks him to and we both know he won't." But I wish he would, we need all the help we can get right now, Jamie thought.
"I need to know more about this, Jamie, even if I can't be part of it. Uncle John owns the land, but it's the family's heritage. I'd hate to see us lose it."
"Me too, but giving something up will sometimes bring something better, didn't your Mom say that?"
"No, it was Dad," she answered, "And I don't remember where he got it from, I'd just hate to see our heritage lost."
"By the way, I heard what happened to you I'm sorry," said Jamie, "you had a miscarriage but I hope you try again. It would be nice to have another baby in the family."
"How's Monica doing? That must have been awful, losing a baby when she was eight months along. I'm so sorry they couldn't save it."
"She's struggling, but she was happy to hear you were coming. The two of you can commiserate and support each other. She and Kayce got their own place, I think it's helped."
"Yes, I'm sure it did." Monica had never been happy living in "the lodge". It shouldn't have been that way, but Monica had her reasons. She didn't always agree with her, but she liked her. There was something honest about Monica, you always knew what she thought. Beth, on the other hand, was a snake waiting to strike when you least expected it.
"I'm not going to drop you at the door," Jamie told her as they went up the driveway, "I'd carry your bags, but Beth is gunning for me, and I won't give her the pleasure. She's made me persona non grata in my own home. I've got my own place now."
"Probably the best move you've ever made. I don't trust Beth, I guess you don't either."
He pulled up in front of the parking spots. "Take care of yourself and watch your back. Don't be afraid to call me if you need help. By the way, you're look at the Attorney General of Montana now."
"Congratulations," she told him, "What's next, governor? You'd make a good one, Jamie. See you later." She hugged him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
She hesitated, then walked in the door knowing it would annoy Beth. Thankfully, the first person she ran into was Rip who took her bags and walked her upstairs.
"What's the matter, why didn't he carry your stuff for you?" he asked, clearly not happy to see her struggling with her luggage.
"Guess, Rip," she told him, "It's good to see you, too, I've missed everyone."
Rip smiled, he knew the situation between the girls, "I know someone you probably didn't miss."
"Guilty," she said, "but I'm glad to be here. Yellowstone will always be my home away from home. Sometimes I think I like being here better than being with my parents, more privacy anyway."
"Speaking of home, how's Texas? How long do you think you're going to last there?"
She sighed, "You know, Montana has nothing on Texas when it comes to weather. I'll take a blizzard over a tornado any day. Travis hates snow, he'll never move to Montana, so that leaves me little choice if I want to stay married. It's so different, I didn't know what I was getting into, but he doesn't try to whitewash it. Texas is what it is, I'm going to try to make it home, no matter how hard it proves to be."
"Remember," said Rip, "It's the choice you made. Travis will take good care of you; you married a good man."
"I know, and you know what, knowing how happy he was when he found out I was pregnant makes losing this baby even harder. The only good thing to come out of this is knowing that we can try again."
"I believe you've grown up, Coralee, you don't sound like the little girl I knew. I think I like the new you better." He smiled at her, "I'll put your bags in your room, you should go see your uncle."
"I'm so sorry, honey," John Dutton told her as he gave her a bear hug, "This must be hard for you, but things will get better. You stay here for as long as you need to. There are cattle that need herding and horses that need training, you keep yourself busy and you'll find yourself getting better in no time."
Uncle John believed that there was almost nothing that hard work couldn't cure. Well, she thought, he was only partially right but he wasn't totally wrong. There was always something that needed doing on the ranch. She didn't break colts, but she was learning to train them. She'd made a call to Jake and told him she'd like to learn to train, and she couldn't think of a better person to learn from than him.
She knew the little bit of flattery would help. Travis wanted her to do more than just compete, and here was an opportunity too good to pass up. Jake had been reluctant at first, but he agreed that Coralee should expand her knowledge. When Travis had suggested that she talk to him she wasn't sure of his response, but Jake had seemed to warm to the idea.
What Uncle John didn't know was that she blamed herself for her miscarriage and that made it worse. If she had listened to Travis, if she had just gone and found someone and told them what was going on…if if if. Travis had told her to stop blaming herself, blame the thief, he told her, if he hadn't been stealing our horse you wouldn't have gone after him.
She remembered what the doctor had told her, you're young and healthy. There's no reason why you can't get pregnant right away, just be patient and it will happen. He had smiled and walked away; he had seen this scenario before.
Uncle John poured her a stiff drink and they went outside and sat on the great porch. It was summer and would stay light for a long time, but here in the mountains twilight came more quickly.
She recognized the car coming up the driveway, Beth's black Bentley that she had recently leased. What use was a car like a Bentley, she wondered, wasn't the Mercedes she had been driving pretentious enough? She'd rather be driving a Jeep or maybe a "Jimmie", they were good in the mountains, and they were good in the snow. When they got back to Texas, Travis promised, they'd find a truck for her. No fucking Bentleys for her.
Beth got out of her car and walked to the house. The displeasure was plain on her face when she set her eyes on Coralee who glared back. Beth started to say something, but shut her mouth.
"Hello, Daddy," she said and kissed John on the cheek, "I see we have company—again."
"Yes, Beth, she's going to be staying here for a while. Travis will be coming to pick her up, then they'll head back to Texas. I don't want any fights, no physical altercations, that goes for you too, Coralee. You're not kids, I expect you to act like adults. If you can't talk to each other without getting into an argument, then don't talk."
"Fine, Daddy," said Beth.
"Fine, Uncle John," echoed Coralee in Beth's exact tone of voice.
"You two," said John and got up in disgust, "I mean it." He walked into the lodge. Beth said nothing but followed him, leaving Coralee in peace.
She loved Montana in a way she would never love Texas. It was starting to cool, and a little breeze came up, which meant the sun was starting to go down. She felt at peace here as she sat and watched the changes in the sky.
She saw Kayce's truck pull up and watched as he, Monica, and Tate emerged. Good, she thought, more allies and raised her hand to greet them. Kaye and Tate went in the house, but Monica sat next to her and took her hand.
Monica was silent for a moment, then asked, "How are you doing?"
"Probably better than you, I've got a lot of regrets, but the doctor gave us the go ahead to try again. That helps, you know?"
"Kayce and I are going to try again as soon as the doctor says it's okay. It'll be nice to have a kid at home if Tate goes off to college."
"I know Travis would like about five or six," she laughed, "but no way. Two's best but I'd be okay with three. I don't know how Mom coped with six pregnancies, let alone six kids."
"Your mom always seemed on top of things; nothing rattled her. You're so lucky she could afford to stay home to raise you."
"You know, Monica, I had friends whose moms worked, and it all seemed perfectly normal. Mom was a domestic goddess, though, she could have worked but she liked being at home. I was sort of aware about how well off we were, but I never looked at it that way. All I know is that she was amazing when it came to cooking, keeping house, and raising kids. She still amazes me."
Soon she and Monica heard Gator ring the triangle and with a sigh she got up and went inside to sit down to dinner. He had made a feast of duck and quail, new vegetables from the garden, and a salad that a Michelin restaurant would envy. For dessert there was his famous homemade apple pie, the secret which he claimed was to make the crust with bear lard. Whether that was true or not, no one knew, but his pies tasted like heaven.
Dinner seemed subdued for a Dutton meal, even Beth was more quiet than usual, refusing to pick a fight with Coralee. Had Rip said something to her? Maybe, with Beth you could never tell.
No one mentioned Jamie, no one mentioned miscarriages. John Dutton didn't like strife at the dinner table, so that meant no talking business, or politics, or anything that would lead to an argument. With Beth you never knew what might happen. You might get a mixture of both, or she might aim her barbs at Coralee, who offended her by merely being there.
What should have been a calm atmosphere wasn't, the tension was there simmering below the surface. It was almost a relief when the phone rang; Coralee jumped up to answer it, hoping it might be Travis. Beth looked annoyed.
He couldn't have picked a better time to call, though it violated the no disturbance at dinner rule. The atmosphere in the dining room was so strained that it was like a badly written farce. It was a relief to hear his voice, to speak to him, even though they'd only been separated for twenty-four hours.
He asked to speak to John Dutton, and she stood just outside the dining room to tell him. He took the phone from her hand and said, "Thanks honey," he said and went into the living room to talk. No phone conversations were allowed during dinner at the dining room table.
John came back in, sat down and resumed his dinner.
"What was that about, Daddy?" asked Beth, but he shrugged his broad shoulders.
"He was just updating me on the horse shows, Beth, evidently the Yellowstone horses are doing very well. He's picking Coralee up in three weeks…"
"What?" Coralee didn't care if she was being rude, "I was only supposed to be here two weeks, then he was going to pick me up. You mean I'll have to stay here longer than that? Why didn't he tell me?"
"I'm sure it slipped his mind, honey, He's got a lot to think about with the shows and the sales." He pointed to the food on her plate that she had barely touched, "eat your dinner before it gets cold."
Slipped his mind, ha! Coralee thought, Travis, you're a coward, you were afraid to tell me yourself. She wanted to get up and go somewhere and scream, instead she started eating, feeling resentful, feeling like her husband dismissed her as an afterthought. He hadn't even asked if she minded.
You know how sometimes you're not sure you can get something right now matter how many times you re-write it? That's the way this chapter has been for me.
BTW, my father would always talk about how bear lard was the best for making pie crust? I don't know where he got that, but he said it more than once.
"Jimmie" is a nickname for GMC in case you wondered. When I got my Jeep he told me I should have gotten a "Jimmie".