She watched Katie leave then closed the door and locked it. She peeked out the window, and felt overwhelmed by the sight of the city, then closed the curtains to shut it out.
Alone at last! She loved her sister but sometimes togetherness was too much. She welcomed the opportunity to strip off her clothes and climb into bed. Her slumber was deep, dreamless, and restful. When she woke three hours later, she felt as refreshed as she might have after sleeping eight hours.
She rummaged through her suitcase to find her shampoo and conditioner. She pulled out her favorite blue plaid shirt and the new pair of jeans she had bought for the trip. Last of all she added the belt with the buckle she had won in her last competition.
The hot water felt good as it pelted down on her shoulders. It loosened up her muscles, relieving the tightness she felt from the long drive. It had been a week since she washed her hair, and she didn't know if she could get it to dry all the way but decided she didn't care. She loved the smell of her shampoo and conditioner and the way it made her hair feel.
She soaped down with the fragrant hotel body wash while the conditioner sat on her hair, then rinsed off the lather and hair product. She stepped out of the shower and dried off, wrapping her hair in the hotel towel that barely could contain her long locks.
She had just finished slathering herself with a rose-scented body lotion when the phone rang. It was Katie, wondering when she planned to meet her for lunch. Coralee looked at the clock, "I can be there by noon," she said, "I just got out of the shower. Where do you want to meet? Is the hotel coffee shop okay? Fine, I'll see you then."
She pulled on underwear and clothes, then attempted to untangle the blond hair that fell past her waist. "I'm going to cut this mop someday," she grumbled as her comb got tangled. Her hair looked spectacular when she performed in the ring, but it was getting too long to manage. She was a horsewoman, wasn't she? She wasn't just some blond with long hair. Travis might object but Travis could deal with it.
Her hair was as dry as she could make it, so she grabbed her denim jacket and hat and stepped into the hallway. She saw people dressed in Western clothes who were no doubt participating in the competition, and some who just liked to wear the clothes. "I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy," she sang to herself. It was from an old cowboy song, but a pair of young folksingers had borrowed it and turned it into something funny—something funny that she liked more than the original.
There was the inevitable chit-chat in the elevator about the upcoming competition. She kept her mouth shut, hoping to avoid saying anything about competing. How could she explain that some days, win or lose, all she wanted was to get through it? She loved competing but sometimes it felt like more trouble than it was worth, especially when you had only taken fourth in your last competition.
She was glad to step off the elevator and enter the relative quiet of the coffee shop. She looked around for Katie and saw her seated with two cowboys who looked like they were in town for the rodeo.
"Hey," Katie waved at her, "This is Bill and Bob, they're here for the rodeo." Leave it to Katie to pick up two hotties. Well, soon, maybe soon, her days of being part of the hot Dutton twins would be over. It would all depend on what fate had in store for her.
The cowboys were from Oklahoma and followed the rodeos. Bob had dark hair and eyes and competed in roping. He rode his dad's horse, the same that he'd ridden when he was competing. He had a close-trimmed beard that flattered the shape of his oval face.
Bill had blond hair, blue-grey eyes, and a friendly smile. Like his friend Bob, he wore a close-cropped beard but his event was cutting horses. He and his friend looked like the cowboys that she and Katie would pick up in their barrel racing days. That phase of her life was over, and she envied Katie and her carefree outlook on life.
She looked down and noticed that Bill wore a gold band on the third finger of his left hand. "Hey," she said, "Is that a wedding ring?"
"Yeah, I married my childhood sweetheart three years ago. We have a two-year-old and another on the way." He smiled and she noticed that he seemed happy talking about his marriage.
"Do you like being married?" she asked, curious to hear his response.
"There's nothing better than being married to your best friend," he told her, "I'd do it all over again."
She smiled, "I thought all cowboys liked being bachelors, you know, a girl in every city. I know someone who's like that, he's a horse trader. He likes to joke that he gets an email every time a woman gets taken out of circulation."
"You must be talking about Travis Wheatley. I hear his bachelor days are about to come to an end. He's going to marry the daughter of..."
"I'm not engaged to him, not yet." She put her hand over her mouth, Katie was looking at her, she had no idea anyone knew, she had thought she and Travis were keeping this to themselves. "I thought no one knew," she said and hated the look of pity he gave her.
"Well, a lot of women will be jealous when they find out, especially when they get a look at you." If Bill was saying this to make her feel better, it wasn't helping.
She shrugged her shoulders, trying to feign indifference. "Where's the waitress?' she asked, desperate to change the subject, "I need something to eat, I'm starving."
They ordered the biggest, juiciest bacon burgers Coralee had ever seen. The burgers came with steak fries, and they ordered the biggest cokes on the menu, refillable if they wished. For a while there was no talking, instead, they concentrated on eating and left behind four empty plates on the tables.
Katie pushed her chair back, "Let's go check out the casinos, I want to see how different they are from the casinos on the reservation. I feel like playing some blackjack, I'm feeling lucky."
The casinos were different, huge, and full of life and noise, but the games were the same. The boys headed to the craps table and then went to play Texas hold'em while the girls played blackjack and then roulette. They had been taught roulette by a patron of a casino, the secret being never to play numbers but always play "red or black" or "odds or evens". The same player had taught them how to count cards in blackjack and if they were careful, they didn't get caught.
Coralee looked longingly at the bar, but she never drank before a competition. In the meantime, the boys were fun, and they had a good time. Katie paired up with Bob leaving her with the company of Bill. She didn't mind, he didn't make a pass at her like his friend was doing with her sister. It was okay, though, they were here to have fun and the girls were seldom without the company of one attractive man or another.
By four o'clock Coralee tapped her sister on the shoulder, "Come on, sis, we've got to go back and get ready, then get to the arena."
Katie sighed gustily, "I know, I know. Sorry guys, duty calls. Can we maybe get together after the competition is over? Las Vegas is open all night."
The girls jumped in a cab and went back to the hotel. It almost took more time to get themselves ready than it did to ready their horses. Katie braided Coralee's long hair and then tied it up in a ribbon. The girls paid extra attention to their makeup and then changed into the clothes they would wear.
Satin shirts, velvet vests, and black jeans with belts that bore competition buckles, that was the uniform of the women who competed in Western horse shows. Coralee wore dark pink, Katie wore dark blue, and both girls donned black Stetsons tilted at a jaunty angle.
They scrutinized each other in the mirror. "Well," said Katie, "If we don't win a trophy in the shows we should at least get a ribbon for being the best-looking and best-dressed."
"I'll take a prize in addition to that; I've got to place well to make up for that fourth place. I want a blue ribbon and a nice check for prize money. Now, let's get going and get the horses ready. We probably won't get to warm up, but it won't hurt to ask."
They loved the availability of cabs in Las Vegas. They had grown up in the country where if you didn't have some sort of vehicle, you had better know someone you could ask. Neither of them liked the city but the fun and conveniences were something they could get used to.
Now that she was riding Coronado, Best Boy chose to ignore her. She could read the look that said "Traitor" in his dark brown eyes. Coronado was the better horse, but Best Boy had been as much a companion and pet as a show horse.
They used their best saddles and bridles, highly decorated, to draw attention to rider and horse. They groomed their horses until their coats gleamed. The competition was about more than horsemanship, it was also about presentation. Though Coralee wished her mount was more friendly, she knew she had the right horse for the job.
It seemed like she had to wait forever, Katie was lucky, and her division would happen before hers but at last, she heard her name called. She swung up into the saddle, "Okay, kid," she told her horse, "Let's show 'em what we can do."
She didn't know where it came from, but there was electricity in the air. This show wasn't like the one in Cheyenne, tonight she was a Valkyrie riding her steed. There was no awkwardness, she and Coronado were in sync with each other. Something seemed to be guiding her in the arena and as she put him through his paces she and Coronado seemed to be flying, that was the only way she could describe it.
When she finished the applause from the crowd was deafening. "We won," she told her horse, "We won. Look, they're giving us a standing ovation," Her win was not yet official, but she knew that she had made up for her dismal showing in Cheyenne.
The gate to the ring was opened, and they trotted through, Coronado's ear cocked at a jaunty angle. She swung off his back and someone took his reins and put an arm around her shoulder.
"That was breathtaking, sweetheart, I knew what you'd be capable of if you only had the right horse." Travis was looking at her, not just a fond look, but a look of love in his eyes and she burst into tears.
"They're gonna call your name and announce your win," he told her, "It's okay to be a little teary, the crowd will like that. I'll be here waiting for you. You'll need to call your mom and dad and tell them what happened, they'll want to know. We'll go for a celebratory dinner after that, if you're really good, I'll buy you a bottle of champagne."
As Travis predicted and as she knew for herself, she took first place. She rode into the ring, smiling through the tears that wouldn't stop, and accepted her prize. This was the first money she'd ever won, and she felt a sense of satisfaction when she read the dollar amount. Then it was time to ride out of the ring and let Travis take hold of the reins and lead her horse to his stall.
"Am I dressed okay?" she asked him and he nodded.
"You look just fine," he told her, "Vegas can be formal but with all the out-of-towners it can be casual, too. The restaurant I'm taking you to is frequented by horsemen when they're in town. Be prepared to be congratulated by people you don't know and probably never will. You're a pretty girl who just took her first prize in a horse show, people are going to notice you."
It was like Travis said, she was embarrassed by the attention she received but she responded graciously and found herself enjoying it a little. Travis bought a decent bottle of champagne then ordered the filet mignon and she had one of the best dinners of her life.
"You need anything from your room?" he asked her, and she shook her head.
"Naw, I have stuff I carry in my purse. I can change clothes tomorrow. Katie might have company, I'm not sure but I'd hate to disturb her.
Travis hailed a cab, "Good. I'm staying at The Nugget, you'll like it. Let's leave Katie alone and get into a little mischief ourselves." He got into the cab that pulled up and held out his hand, "Are you coming?"