Travis was angry, an emotion he didn't like to indulge, but Katie's return had upset Coralee and he resented what it was doing to his wife.
Coralee had a warm loving nature and he loved that about her, but she was taking Katie's situation to heart—she wanted, no thought she needed, to fix things for her sister. She couldn't bear to see Katie so unhappy even though she had brought it on herself, or so Travis thought.
Travis discouraged relations between his employees. Some of his best team riders were couples, but for the most part, it worked best when his crew didn't fraternize. He didn't really care what John Dutton's wranglers were doing but when Ryan had hooked up with his wife's sister, he had a feeling there was going to be trouble.
Ryan Bohen had worked for the Yellowstone for a long time. He was a good hand and would be a logical successor to Rip Wheeler if the ranch manager ever decided to retire. He'd grown up on a ranch but had no idea what it meant to work on a ranch like the Yellowstone. He'd been young and green when he was hired, but so had many of the other hands. To work for the Yellowstone you had to learn how to work there, and Ryan had worked for them long enough to be practically indispensable.
He had to give Coralee credit; she was angry at the way her sister expected to impose herself on the crew without considering the effect it would have on Ryan. She wanted to speak to John about it, but Travis told her to hold back. John was wise and would make no rash decision no matter how hard Katie begged. Ryan was valuable and he would not dismiss the possible consequences of bringing his niece into the crew.
Coralee was supposed to be packing, but she was spending more time pacing around the room. She was sorry about what happened to Katie and surprised at how things had turned out with Bob. She thought the marriage was rushed but she and Travis had married impulsively, and it had turned out well. For now they'd decided to celebrate both anniversaries until they made up their minds as to which they would stick with.
She was disappointed with Bob, but that's how it could go with cowboys, still she wondered why they had married in the first place. There were no obvious advantages to it, unless Katie had developed a case of jealousy over her younger sister being married before her. That didn't seem likely, her sister had enjoyed being single, why change things when she and Bob could have just traveled together?
Katie was having a hard time convincing her uncle that she would be a good addition to the bunkhouse. He disagreed; he was not about to risk losing a valued hand because of his niece's impulsive behavior. If Katie had not been serious about Ryan she should not have stayed with him, nor leave him so abruptly. She had upset Ryan when she disappeared without a trace and let no one know where she was going.
"Please, Uncle John, please let me work here, you won't be sorry. You know I'll work hard, I won't disappoint you." Katie was begging which she felt she should not need to do.
Rip chose this moment to walk into her uncle's office. "I'm sorry Katie," he said, "I won't take a chance on you affecting Ryan's work. There's a reason why we discourage relationships between the ranch hands it can become too much of a distraction. We've seen it happen before, I don't even like having female wranglers."
He looked at his employer, then looked at Katie. "I can ask Ryan how he feels about it, but if he says no that's the end of it and I personally wouldn't blame him. That's the best that I can do."
"Why don't you go home?" John Dutton asked his niece, "You need to regroup, catch your breath. You made a mistake, you're not the first one to have made a bad marriage in haste."
"You've got to be kidding, Uncle John," she replied, "Do you think I want to face my mom and admit what a mess I've made of my life? I'd never hear the end of it."
"You can't hide here forever, Katie, you have to face reality eventually. I'll let you stay here for a while, but you're going to have to find a job. I think you should go home, it's where you belong. Yellowstone belongs to all of us, but you need to earn the right to call it home."
When Travis came into the room he saw Coralee sitting on the bed holding one of his shirts and staring off into space. She looked non-plussed, flustered, and utterly lost. He took the shirt out of her hand and taking her by the waist lowered her onto his lap.
He waited a moment, then asked, "Hey, what's wrong, you've barely packed."
She looked down, seeing that he was right. For her packing wasn't that hard, it was the unpacking that caused the trouble. She was trying to concentrate but it just wasn't happening, Katie kept intruding into her thoughts.
"You can't let Katie's situation become your concern," he said as if reading her mind, "She created a mess, it's hers to clean up, not yours."
She learned against his shoulder, Travis was her rock. "I know, but I feel bad for her. When we were on the road together, things were going well. It all seemed to fall apart for her after you and I got married. Sometimes I feel guilty, you know, like if I was there to look after her, none of this would have happened."
Travis sighed. Katie had done a good job of guilting her younger sister. By some trick Coralee had wound up the more responsible one and looked after her sister. Now it fell to him to convince her that she was not responsible for what Katie did, and never had been.
"I know you feel bad, I know how much you and Katie love each other, but it's time to let go. You aren't responsible for her bad choices, she's older, it was up to her to look after you, not the other way around. You've always been the sweeter sister, you know, you're kinder and more considerate, that's just the way you are. You have to let Katie make her mistakes, that's the only way she'll learn. Now, let me help you a little with the packing and then we can go down to dinner."
Beth was not pleased to see another Dutton sister at the table, but one look from her father warned her to keep her thoughts to herself. It was just her luck, Coralee was leaving, but Katie had seemingly come to take her place. She was tired of the other Duttons.
Coralee had finished the packing with only a little help from Travis, so she treated herself to a double bourbon. After dinner she sat in front fire with Travis, Rip, and her uncle. She didn't know where Katie was but remembered Travis's words that her sister was no longer her problem. Letting go was helping and knowing she had the support of her husband made it all right.
The puppy snoozed in front of the fire, ignoring the humans. Her baby tummy was full of the scraps that Gator had fed her, and it had made her sleepy. Her new home suited her well and if she wasn't already spoiled, she was on the way.
Rip hated dogs but Coralee had caught him sneaking her a treat or two. A puppy sometimes had a way of drawing people together and she was receiving attention from just about everyone but Beth.
When no one was looking, Katie put on a warm jacket and wandered down to the corrals. She didn't dare go inside but sat on the fence and stared at the bunkhouse, trying to will Ryan to come out. She wanted to see him, talk to him, try to explain why she had done what she'd done, but had the wisdom to stay away for now.
Uncle John and Rip had made it plain that there would be no job for her on the ranch, and she had no one but herself to blame. Uncle John was still urging her to go back home, but she was not ready to face her parents, if she ever would be. Uncle John and Rip had offered to try to find her a place on another ranch. She knew how to work, she had the strong work ethic that all of her brothers and sisters had. It was just a matter of time before someone would want to hire her, but it would be the wrong someone.
Laramie and Walker came out to get away from the commotion going on inside the bunkhouse. It was one of those nights when the gambling was getting rowdy, and noisier than usual. They stopped and kissed, they had grown close over the past months and wondered if it was time to make their union official. Walker's parole was coming to an end, and they could leave soon if they wanted—but the Yellowstone was feeling like a place they could call home.
"Hey, what are you doing there?" Walker saw her first and he and Laramie walked hand in hand to the fence. "We thought you got married to a cowboy you knew."
"I was, but I'm not married anymore. I've got to fill out the paperwork and take it to a lawyer so I can get it annulled. I made a big mistake." Katie lowered her eyes, when she said it out loud it sounded worse.
"Hell, everyone makes mistakes," said Walker, "so why should you be different? I don't think he's ready to see you, if that's why you're here. Do you want me to tell him we saw you?"
"I don't know, maybe yes, maybe no, I don't know. I hope that I can talk to him someday and tell him what happened, guess I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't want to talk to me now." Katie heaved a sigh, she felt tears coming but she didn't want to cry, not now. She'd cry when she got back in her room.
"He got real upset when you disappeared, that's all I can really tell you." Walker put his arm around her shoulders, "You gotta leave him alone for right now, let later take care of itself."
She nodded and got off the fence, "Thanks, Walker, I appreciate that." She turned and headed back to the house.
Coralee was on edge, something wasn't right with her sister, she could feel it but she didn't know what. Rip had told her that John wasn't going to hire Katie because he didn't want more trouble in the bunkhouse. Ryan had told his boss that he didn't want Katie there, the memories were too painful, and he didn't want the distraction. He had a job to do, and he didn't want to have to deal with seeing Katie and the painful memories it would bring up.
Coralee respected her sister's privacy, but something was not right, she could feel it. She did something out of character for her, she went to her sister's room and started searching through her things. She knew exactly what she did not hope to find and wanted reassurance that she was wrong.
There, incased in two socks, was a "22" pistol. It was small, but deadly, you could use it to defend yourself, or…
No, she thought, and she ran to find Travis, not bothering to disguise the fact that she'd been rifling through Katie's things. She thought only about the pistol, and Katie's frustration and depression.
He and Rip were talking in the hallway when they saw Coralee running towards them, holding something in her hand.
"Baby, what's wrong?" asked Travis and she said nothing but showed him the gun.
"What the hell?" said Rip, "Where did you get this?"
"I-I found it in Katies things. She's never owned a pistol in her life. If this was a hunting rifle it would be different, but it's not. Dad once suggested that we carry but we said no. She's so depressed and discouraged, the breakup of her marriage and I'm sure she's been told that Ryan wants nothing to do with her. I'm scared, I'm scared she's going to try to hurt herself and succeed."
Rip and Travis looked at each other, "The bunkhouse," they said in unison. Travis slid the twenty-two into his waistband and told her, "Stay here, Coralee, I know you want to help but I need for you to stay here. Will you do that for me?"
She nodded her head, tears flooding her eyes. She watched Travis and Rip run down the stairs and out the front door towards the bunkhouse. She stood in the doorway and watched, hoping that everything would be okay, and this was just an enormous misunderstanding.