Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Rituals

This was the favorite part of her day. Not when she crawled into bed at night and snuggled up next to her husband. That was second.

It was when she put her baby girl into the lavender scented bubbles and watched as she splashed the water in the bath tub. Lucy loved the bubbles in the bath water. Coralee would take a handful of the foam and blow it gently at her daughter, making her laugh and laugh. It was a part of the bath time ritual. Then she would take her out of the tub and wrap her in a fluffy towel and dry her off. She'd dress her in a night gown then give her a bottle to suck on while she read her a story.

She missed having Travis with her at these night time rituals. He was on the road and doing well, but she wanted him here with her and the baby. Lucy loved her daddy and was too little to notice when he was gone, but Coralee realized that they needed to be together. In a few years Lucy would be going to school and could not be taken on the road with them, unless she chose to home school her, and was not sure that was what she wanted to do.

She poured herself a Jack Daniels and went to sit on the porch and watch the stars come out. She could hear crickets and locusts and found it soothing. Nothing could bother her on such a peaceful night, except for missing her husband.

She sat in a chair and watched as the sky grew darker. The stars were coming out like little pinpricks of light, and she saw a meteor pass overhead.

The house seemed lonely without Travis. She missed watching him play with the baby, carrying her balanced on his hip, talking to her. Shelly would follow behind, wanting Travis's attention, too. He would help her feed the baby, then help bathe her.

Travis's personality seemed to permeate the house, and his absence was apparent when he was gone. She had not thought to be so lonely without him, but she was. He would be back in a couple of days, and she couldn't wait. She was too lonely without him.

The sound of a ringing phone broke her train of thought and she got up to answer it, thinking it might be him.

She picked up the receiver and said "hello" in a tenuous voice.

"Coralee, is that you?" she could her Katie's voice on the other end of the line, "Are you sitting down? I have something to tell you."

She and Ryan must have tied the knot, she thought. She looked at her watch and realized that it was only eight o'clock in Montana. Why was Katie calling?

"Coralee, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Jamie's dead," said her sister, "He rolled his SUV and died at the scene. Coralee? Coralee, are you there?" she said when her sister didn't respond.

Coralee found her voice, "What are you saying? Jamie's dead? He couldn't be. He could have rolled his SUV but that thing was like a tank. Are you sure? Is he really dead?"

Jamie couldn't be dead, could he? The danger of driving an SUV was that it might roll over, but Jamie was not a careless driver. He had driven that road thousands of times, he knew it like the back of his hand. The only way that could have happened was if he was going too fast and Jamie knew better, he knew better.

Katie was puzzled by her sister's reaction. Anyone could get in a fatal car wreck, it was just something that happened.

"Well, I called you to let you know what happened. I thought I was the best choice. I'll let you know when they plan to have the funeral, when is Travis going to be back?"

"In a few days," Coralee replied, "I don't want to go to the funeral without him. I'll call him tomorrow and tell him what happened. Just let me know so we can make arrangements. if we have to, we'll fly, that would be easier anyway."