Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

The Load Out

It was happening, the load out, the preparations for the trip were beginning. The Yellowstone riders were arriving, some from as far away as Montana, but most came from Texas; Travis knew the local talent and hired the best.

The hands were putting the Yellowstone horses through their paces in preparation for the shows. Coralee loved to watch them, she was not of their caliber, not yet, but she'd been working with Sadie and Hickory daily and could feel that she'd improved.

Lucy arrived at the ranch and Coralee was grateful to have her friend back. Lucy was coach, confidante, and trainer all rolled up into one. Lucy would make a good trainer if she chose, she had a way with both people and horses. Her first love, though, was competing and she was one of the best riders on the Yellowstone team.

Over time Coralee had become more secure as she trained with Travis. He tended to yell but his bark was worse than his bite, as her mother would say. She no longer felt so intimidated, she appreciated the fact that he was sharing his knowledge with her. It was easier to take direction from Lucy who didn't yell, but she was learning a lot from both her teachers, and she knew that she was learning from the best.

She liked to watch the hands load the horses, but she had mixed feelings when she saw Trixie being led into the truck. She had never quite known what to do with the little palomino, but she hadn't considered selling her. Travis assured her it was the right decision, though, and it would be nice to have the extra money. She had her separate bank account and control of her own money; if she wanted to buy another horse, she could.

Since she had the implant removed there had been a subtle change in her relationship with Travis. She could tell he was waiting to hear that she was expecting. At first, it had bothered her, but now she found herself anticipating being able to give him the news he wanted so badly. It surprised her that she was disappointed to learn she wasn't pregnant after the first month. Something was changing, maybe motherhood was not so intimidating after all.

The next morning Travis saw her standing around the corrals and told her to get Hickory saddled, Lucy was waiting. After that, he disappeared. These days it seemed she only saw him at meals and bedtime. Sometimes she felt frustrated, but he was in business mode, and she understood. Sometimes he would take her with him on his rounds or get in the corral and work cows with her. He was talking about putting her on a Yellowstone horse, but what she wanted was to compete independently. Maybe someday, but not now.

The sun was starting to go down, but she didn't notice. When she was training on Sadie or practicing reining on Hickory she lost all sense of time. She had to be reminded to get off her horse, put it in a stall and come and eat dinner.

Like now. Travis was waiting at the side of the corral and signaled her to come over to him. She rode up, wondering what was going on, then looked at the sky and realized it must be getting late.

"Didn't you hear me? I've been trying to get your attention. Put your horse away, then we're going up to the house. Elena called; she has dinner ready. Aren't you hungry?" He looked at her like it was a rhetorical question, not one that needed an answer.

"All right, give me a few minutes, okay? I'll tell Lucy we're going back to the house, and yes, I'm hungry, I'm always hungry." She got off Hickory and was heading to the barn when Lucy rode up.

"I'll take him, Coralee," she said, "Dinner is ready in the bunkhouse, I'll put our horses away. See you tomorrow."

She and Travis motored up to the house on the ATV. These days she was always hungry, but she'd been that way for years. Like she had the month before she had started to count days, figuring out the last time she'd had her cycle. She was regular as clockwork; it was too soon to know if she was late or not.