Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Travis

Coralee's brothers had gone over the truck and trailer with a fine tooth comb. Anything that could be fixed or replaced had been, their family was taking no chances when it came to the safety of her, her sister, and their horses. She and Katie would spend a lot of time on the road and her family wanted to make sure they weren't stranded by a breakdown. Why else were brothers invented?

She hadn't heard from Travis and she didn't want to, not yet. All this talk about marriage was making her nervous, she wasn't sure she was ready but it was starting to feel inevitable. Something told her she was going to marry him.

For the first time she and Katie would be on the road alone. Their parents had always taken them to their shows and rodeos, but she was twenty-four and Katie was twenty-six and it was time they took responsibility for themselves. Their parents had prepared them to be adults and now it was time to prove that they had learned what they had been taught.

They were sitting on the bed, going over a list of shows Travis had sent. Ever the control freak he had marked competitions he thought they should participate in. One list was for her, one list was for Katie. Her list, however, had something Katie didn't—he had listed the shows he would be at, specifically ones where she would be participating.

"Okay, sis," said Katie, "Fess up, you have an admirer. Travis Wheatley, horse trader extraordinaire, not to mention champion womanizer. What's going on, hmm? You can't fool me, you know, tell big sister what is going on."

"Okay," Coralee took a deep breath, "but you can't tell anyone, and I mean anyone. I especially don't want it getting back to Beth-the-bitch," she used their old childhood name for her, the one they would never use in front of their parents or Uncle John.

"Okay, pinky-swear," Katie held out her little finger and Coralee took it, "This must be a big one, little sister."

"It is, Kayze. You know Uncle John bought Coronado from him to give to me? Well, guess what, he didn't buy him, Travis gave him the horse to give to me."

"No," breathed Katie, "he couldn't have, he didn't. That horse was a hundred grand. Dad went all out when he paid thirty thousand for Best Boy. Travis gave you...oh my god. Okay, what else, I know there's something else, so tell, tell."

"He wants to marry me." She looked at the disbelief on Katie's face, she still couldn't believe it herself.

"Shut up," said Katie, "You can't be serious, you know his reputation, marry you? Tell me, you didn't sleep with him, did you?"

"Well, yes, a few times. You know he gave me a very expensive horse and he's going out of his way to be helpful Henry. Look, he didn't have to propose but he slept with me before he did. He's known us since we were kids, he gave us lessons when he came to see Uncle John.

"I don't know if he's serious or not, but why did he give me that horse? Katie, I don't get this, what does he see in me, especially since he has women following him around?"

"Well, he might be smitten with you, you know. You're a lot younger than him and face it, you are the beauty of the family. I think bitchy Beth has always been jealous of you. Maybe Travis is ready to settle down, maybe he wants to start a family. Face it, there are six of us, so it's obvious we're good breeding stock." She laughed, trying to show Coralee that she was joking. "Even the Travis's of this world settle down eventually. Just try and decide what you want, and don't let him push you. He can be a nice guy, but he's opinionated."

Yeah, that described Travis exactly, Coralee thought, I've got to give this some serious thought, but he seems more appealing than he used to. I never even thought he'd be interested in me but now I may be the one he's hooked.