Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Jamie

Monica came out on the porch carrying two frosted glasses of iced tea. "Here," she said as she handed a glass to Coralee, "I thought maybe you could use it."

"The house wine of the south," Coralee quoted from Steel Magnolias, "If I can't drink alcohol I can at least drink this. I'm going to have a tall, stiff drink when I finally can consume alcohol again. I know you don't drink so you don't know what it's like to miss it. As soon as I finish nursing, I will make Travis take me out on the town. I know he may be drinking one for me, at least I hope he is. As long as he doesn't cheat on me, I don't care if he goes out and parties after the show."

"You seem understanding," said Monica, "I don't know if I'd be." want

"Well, I'm not that understanding, but I know my husband. Monica, I have to tell you something and please don't tell anyone! Just after Travis and I got engaged, I cheated on him. It was only once, but I did it."

"What?" said Monica, "I didn't think you'd ever do something like that!"

"Well, I was pretty freaked out about being engaged. On one hand, I did want to marry him, but on the other, I felt like he rushed me into the engagement. So I ran into the wrong person at the wrong time and strayed. It only happened once, and I made up my mind afterward that it wouldn't happen again."

"Did you tell him?" Monica asked her.

"No," Coralee shook her head, "and I'm not going to. If he cheats on me, I don't want to know, but it'll be forgiven if it happens. I know Travis and I know he loves women. If he did cheat, I wouldn't be happy about it, but we're human. I made a mistake so I'm not going to condemn him if he does the same."

"Hmm, I don't think you're as open-minded about it as you're pretending to be, but I think I get it. Sometimes I'm surprised that Kayce hasn't cheated, but he hasn't and I'm glad. You and Travis are different, rodeo is hard on relationships."

"I have something else to tell you, I'm going to try and see Jamie, I miss him. We've always had a good relationship and he knows he can tell me anything. It's going to be a two-hour drive to Helena, but I think I can do it. If I'm too sore and tired, I'll spend the night at a hotel. Please don't tell anyone about this, okay, Jamie doesn't seem to be very welcome here."

"I won't," said Monica, "He always seemed to get along better with your family, than his own. I'm sure he'd be glad to see you."

"I worry about him, you know, I worry about the way Beth treats him, she's trying to turn Uncle John against him. I don't trust her; I don't trust her motives. I'm glad he moved out of here, he has his place in Helena now."

Coralee shook her head sadly, "I've watched his confidence erode over the years. He's turned into someone I hardly recognize sometimes. I know Beth has been working a number on him over the years, he's afraid of her and I don't know why. She tries her mind games on me, but it doesn't work. That woman is power-hungry, and I'm afraid of how far she's willing to go. Guess I'll get a taste of it tonight at dinner. Beth doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut."

"I wish you weren't enemies," Monica said, "There's so much strife in this family and it shouldn't be like that."

"I agree, Monica, it shouldn't. My family isn't like this, even with six kids following six different paths we get along and we love each other. Dad has said that he thinks there's a curse on this ranch. Did you know that the original house was built where Elsa Dutton died? That's my ancestress that was killed by an arrow wound. This place was built on blood."

"No," said Monica, "No one ever told me about that."

"Dad was glad when he didn't inherit the ranch. He married his childhood sweetheart, and they bought forty acres and built a little farm. He always felt sorry for Uncle John. My uncle was the golden boy and the expectation of inheriting the Yellowstone always hung over his head. My dad always said that ranching was for fools and dreamers. He went to Harvard and became a lawyer, a good one. He said that with a law degree, he always knew he'd be able to support his family."