The branding was finished, and the heifers, cows, steers, and bulls were separated and moved to fall pastures. The work was not finished, but on a ranch work was never finished, they were just having a breather for right now. It was allowed to feel a moment of accomplishment.
Travis knew he should be heading back to Texas. Matt had taken one of the trucks and returned with the horses and some of the crew, but Travis could not bring himself to leave because of Coralee.
She was sleeping well, and had ceased having nightmares; she slept through the night without waking. She was no longer tightly wound, but relaxed, healthy, and at peace and Travis hated to disturb that. They'd visited her parents once or twice, but she preferred to remain on the Yellowstone so that was where they stayed.
"If my parents want to see me, let them come here." Yellowstone was a refuge she seemed reluctant to leave. She would wake up in the morning, saddle her horse, and ride to the hot springs and soak. When she was ready, she would dress and ride back to the house, eat breakfast, and take a shower. Travis started going with her, it was quiet and peaceful at the springs, only the sound of the water and the birds disturbed the silence.
"Travis, I want to stay here until the first snowfall, do you mind?" she asked, knowing that his answer would be "no". The Yellowstone had healed her, had made her well, and it was getting harder and harder to convince herself that it was time to leave.
"We can't, baby, I'll give you another week, but then we're gone. There's shows and sales that we've got to hit, I don't want to find myself driving in the snow, you know I hate it."
She knew. Travis was a Texas boy and he despised the Montana winter. The weather in Texas could be unpredictable, an occasional snow, torrential rains, winds, and the dreaded tornados, but it could also be balmy and mild. She had things to do there, get the greenhouse built, get the solar panels up so they could go off-grid, and she wanted to increase the number of chickens so she'd have more eggs and birds to sell. They'd been training the puppy, but she needed to take her to a professional trainer, German shepherds needed mental stimulation. They were smart dogs and could get in trouble if they got too bored.
"A week then," she agreed, "Thank you for bringing me here, it was what I needed. The bad memories are still there but I'm at peace with them. I don't think I could have come so far if I'd been on the road with you. Being around my family has helped make me better."
Travis took her in his arms and kissed her. "It broke my heart to see you so sad. I felt helpless and I didn't know what to do. Seeing you now, I know I made the right decision. I know you need time to get used to Texas, and you will. It's important that we leave soon, there are fall fairs going on in a lot of the country and they all have horse shows and sales. I know we rushed into marriage, but I believe in us, and I love you."
"Me too," she answered, "I'm never happier than when I'm with you. I know it's going to take years for Mom to realize you're the right person for me, thank god Dad's come around."
It wouldn't take much to load up the truck and leave, so the crew spent the last week enjoying what the ranch had to offer. Life on the road suited them, it was their livelihood. Competing never got stale, they loved showing off for the crowd, cowboying was either in your blood or not.
Autumn was coming, and Coralee could smell it in the air. The leaves at the tops of the trees started turning and Travis was eager to get back on the road. She wanted to stay but she was wise enough to not try to convince him.
She hated taking the puppy away from Tate, he'd grown fond of her, but they were taking her with them. There were kennels and breeders around, German shepherds made good ranch dogs. Maybe they weren't good for hunting dogs, but even Shelly, puppy though she was, would alert them to strangers in her high-pitched puppy barks.
She had an idea. "Hey, Kayce," she said as he headed to his trailer to get his horse, he was working at the ranch today, "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, what do you want?" He asked. Kayce was too good-looking. Her family didn't believe in cousins marrying, but when she was young, she had a brief fantasy or two about marrying him and living happily ever after on a ranch of their own. When she brought friends to the ranch they would sigh over her cousin's good looks, telling her how lucky she was.
She thought Travis was attractive, but he did not have the heartbreaker looks of her cousin. Kayce and Monica made a handsome couple, and Tate had inherited their looks.
"Well," she told him, "I've seen how Tate has fallen in love with Shelly and vice versa. She's going with us when we leave, but I wondered if it was all right with you if I got him a shepherd puppy. I know you have an older dog, but dogs and puppies tend to take to each other." She saw the skeptical look on Kayce's face, but she pressed forward. "Face it, Tate fell in love with Shelly and he's good with her. I'd like to get a puppy for him, I really want to do this."
"Well, what does Travis say?" he asked.
"I'm not spending Travis's money, I'm spending mine. There are some puppies left in the litter Shelly came from, I'd like to let Tate pick one for himself. I haven't done much for Tate and I know he'd love this. Say yes, please?"
"Well, let me ask my wife, it's going to be up to her. You don't need to do this, you know?"
"I want to," she answered, "I'll ask Travis if he can take us to the breeder and Tate can pick out a puppy if it's okay with his mom.
"If it's okay," laughed Kayce.
It took a little convincing to persuade Travis. "You don't have that much money; you missed a lot of shows."
"But it's my money," she replied, "And we're going back on the road, so the chances are that I'll win some. I've been working hard; I haven't been idle. I really want to do this, Travis, I've seen their dog, he's older and if something happens to him Tate will have the puppy."
"Didn't take you for such a softie, though I should have. I can tell you're determined to do this. It's my understanding that we have to wait for Monica to give the go ahead, but I'll call the breeder and ask him to reserve a puppy for us."
Monica was a soft touch too, Kayce knew that asking her was just a formality. They all piled in his truck, including Shelly and they drove to the breeder's so Tate could get his puppy.
There was only one left, but it was good enough for Tate. Soon both puppies were playing with each other while Coralee wrote the check.
"We're going to have a mess in the car," murmured Monica, but even she was petting the new puppy, asking Tate if he had a name for it yet.
"I'll as Moe, he gave Dad the name Shumka, and that was a good name." Tate had a big smile on his face and Coralee felt happy for him. She was going to miss birthdays and Christmases, which was hard to deal with—Christmas away from her family. Travis promised that she wouldn't miss too many, he knew how close the Duttons were, even when there was strife between siblings, family was important.
Monica insisted that they stay for dinner. Kayce grilled hamburgers and Monica fixed corn on the cob, French fries, and a big green salad. They sat around a picnic table and watched as the puppies teased Shumka into playing with them. The poor dog got no peace but he warmed to the babies and eventually gave as good as he got.
As Travis and Coralee drove home, Shelly lay on the floor of the truck, her head and front paw resting on Coralee's boot. When they got home, Coralee scooped her up carried her upstairs, and put her in her crate. The puppy hardly even seemed to notice that she'd been moved.
"Well, let's take advantage of the peace and quiet," said Travis as he removed his clothes. Shelly tended to wake up early and would start crying, wanting to be let out of the crate so she could go outdoors and pee.
"I second that," Coralee removed her clothes and cuddled up next to her husband. "How do you think she's going to be on the trip back to Texas?"
"Right now I don't care," Travis replied, "I want to make love to my wife."
Coralee woke first put on a robe and got the puppy out of the crate so her fussing wouldn't wake Travis. They went downstairs and out the door into the chill morning air. Coralee's feet were cold, but she didn't mind, Shelly took care of her business within a few minutes and then was eager to come indoors to eat. That had been the routine they'd established.
"Come on," she said to the puppy, but when she opened the door, she saw Katie. She was huddled in her coat, sitting on the bench where John Dutton liked to sit, her suitcases at her feet.
"Katie! What are you doing here?" She sat next to her sister and took her hands; she could feel that her sister's hands were cold and began to rub them, trying to get them warm. "How long have you been here."
Katie coughed and Coralee worried that she might have caught a chill sitting in the cold air. She called to the puppy, then turned to her sister and said, "Come on, let's get you inside, if Gator isn't up yet I'll make us some coffee."
Katie allowed her to steer her into the house, the puppy following behind. She put her bags down on the living room floor and Coralee wrapped her in a warm afghan.
"I'll be right back, Katie, I need to check on Gator," then disappeared into Gator's realm, the kitchen.
Fortunately, he was up, sipping on a mug of coffee. She took two mugs, and he filled them, then told her that he'd be cooking soon, just give him a few minutes to wake up.
Coralee took a mug of Gator's hot brew for herself then walked into the living room and handed the other to Katie. "Okay," she told her, "Do you want to tell me what's going on? Where's Bob?"
"Don't say that name, I'm getting an annulment. That marriage was a big mistake, I don't know what got into me," Katie slurped her coffee, "I'm so cold," she said.
Coralee got up and lit the fire. All she had to do was throw on a little kindling and tinder and wait for it to light from the coals that remained from the night before. When it caught, she added a couple of pieces of wood, and soon the fire was burning merrily.
"Well, I remember that you and Ryan were fighting, and then you broke up. You were vulnerable when you ran into Bob. I must admit I was shocked when you told me you'd married him, I didn't think it was such a good idea but you're a big girl. You seemed happy, what happened?"
"I married a man who didn't know what faithful meant. The first time he cheated on me I ignored it, hoping he'd realized he'd made a mistake, and it wouldn't happen again, but it did. I finally had enough and told him I was leaving, but he beat me to it. One morning I woke up and found he was gone, he even took my saddle. Fortunately, I was smart enough to hide my money so he didn't get that.
"I caught a bus to Bozeman and tried to find someone who would drive me there. I got lucky and met someone at a bar who agreed to drive me there. He dropped me off at the entrance road and I walked from there. I sat on the porch all night waiting for someone to open the door and let me in."
"So," asked Coralee, "What are you going to do? We can give you a ride to Mom and Dad's…"
"No way! I'd have to listen to Mom tell me what a mistake I'd made, and then they'd insist that I should stay with them. Uh-uh, I'm staying here, I'm going to ask Uncle John for a job."
"No, you can't stay here, would you do that to Ryan? He looked all over trying to find you, and then we heard that you'd gotten married. He took that hard, you know? For once in your life would you think about someone other than yourself?"
Katie was never more indignant than when she was in the wrong. "This is my home too, Coralee, Yellowstone has always been our home. I have a right,,,"
"Not this time you don't. You and Ryan need to talk before you even consider this. Maybe he'll forgive you, but I wouldn't." Coralee got up and called the puppy, then disappeared into the kitchen so she wouldn't have to talk to her sister. Katie had gone too far.