Coralee woke to find that she was alone in the bed. The light in the bedroom was dim because the sun had not yet come up but there was enough for her to be able to see Travis standing, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, his hair dripping. He must have just taken a shower.
She sat up, the bedclothes falling to her waist. She shook her hair out of her eyes and said, "Travis, what are you doing? Come back to bed." She held her arm out, inviting him to come to her.
"Go back to sleep," he told her and pulled a shirt out of the closet, "I've got to get to work, I've got new horses to take care of. Why don't you spend the day with Elena and get the lay of the land? You've got unpacking to do, too. I'll see you at dinner, and maybe lunch if I can make it."
She threw the covers off and got out of bed, "Well, if you're done in the bathroom I might as well take a shower. I thought you'd spend the day with me since it's our first day home."
"Sweetheart, I've got things to take care of, otherwise I would." He paused for a moment, "Would you put on a robe, put on something? I don't need you distracting me, Coralee, I've got to get to work but I can't if you..."
"If I what? You've seen me without clothes before, why is this any different?"
He went to her and threw her over his shoulder. "I got up early because there are things I need to get done. Now, I'm going to be late and it's your fault."
He lay her on the bed, "You're trouble, you know that, but I guess I knew before I married you." He began to kiss her, "I hope I don't have to resort to Viagra to keep up with you."
"You haven't needed it so far, you do just fine as far as I'm concerned."
He laughed at this and began to make love to his young wife.
After he left, she fell asleep, holding onto his pillow so she could inhale his scent. She slept for two hours, then woke at seven feeling refreshed and happy. She got up and took a shower, then dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a purple tee shirt.
She went down the stairs, quietly, wanting to surprise Elena in the kitchen. Elena's presence would make her life easier, but the housekeeper was beautiful and knew Travis, having worked for him for several years. Coralee couldn't help being suspicious of her, and what was even worse, she needed her. She wasn't going to be able to do this on her own.
The housekeeper was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Coralee," Elena said, "Would you like some coffee? It's fresh, I just made it. If you're hungry, I could make us breakfast, how does huevos rancheros sound?"
"That would be lovely," Coralee replied, "That's my favorite breakfast. Gator, Uncle John's cook, makes huevos rancheros to die for. He says the secret is his sauce and the freshest tortillas he can find. He and Mom sent along some recipes for me to help me with meal planning. I'm great at showing horses but I've never needed to be much of a housekeeper."
"Well," said Elena, "I put together some recipes that are Travis's favorites. They're on recipe cards and alphabetized. I'm willing to help you out with meal planning and cooking, you just have to say the word."
I bet you are, Coralee thought, and the unfortunate thing is you're right, I will need help. I can cook and clean, but I haven't had to do that much of it. Mom trained me well, but she didn't tell me how to deal with housekeepers.
Elena proved to be as good of a cook as Gemma or Gator. The eggs in the huevos rancheros were poached to perfection and the sauce was as delicious as anything Gator could have whipped up. Coralee had to admit that Elena was a good cook and she'd have to work hard to prove herself.
Elena put the dishes in the shiny silver dishwasher and offered to take Coralee on a more comprehensive tour of the house than Travis had given her.
Coralee was impressed with just how well Elena knew Travis and his preferences for even mundane things as doing the laundry. There was a routine she followed; Tuesdays were for laundry, and if there was extra it would be done on Thursday. Travis woke up between four and five thirty every morning, depending on how tired he was. He'd eat a quick breakfast and take a thermos mug of coffee with him when he went down to the corrals.
Lunch was eaten with the hands although if he had urgent business he would come to the house and eat there. "I suspect he'll spend lunch with you or call and have you come down and eat it with the ranch hands. He told me that you're to resume your training once the doctor okays it. He told me what a good performer you are, and that you've been winning in your competitions. He's very proud of you, you know."
Elena's praise made her uncomfortable, but she acknowledged her compliments by saying a simple 'thanks'. How much had Travis said about her anyway?
"How did you meet Travis, anyway?" the housekeeper asked, and Coralee could see the eager look of curiosity on her face.
So, that's how it is, thought Coralee then said out loud, "You really can't call it 'meeting', he's kind of a regular fixture at Uncle John's ranch. Since Katie and I are the youngest, he pretty much watched us grow up. He sold Dad the Welsh ponies we started out riding, and then when we graduated to horses Travis provided them. He's always been helpful with advice, and I think Katie and I are better riders because of it. When I switched from barrel riding to reining horses, he got Dad a good price on my horse Best Buy. He gave me my new horse, that was so generous of him, he really shouldn't have done it."
"Well, it doesn't surprise me, he's good to people he cares about; that is something a lot of people don't know. Would you like to get unpacked before I give you a tour of the corals and barns?"
Travis had emptied two drawers for her, and his competition shirts and clothes had been moved to a closet in a spare bedroom. It felt strange, placing her intimates in a drawer that had once held his clothes and hanging her things next to his in the big closet.
Her clothes looked out of place. She had hoped to feel at home here, but she felt alien. She already missed her room and the framed rodeo posters on the walls. There was no reminder of her girlhood here, or Montana, only the furnishings of a man she had thought she knew and now wondered if she knew him at all.
She shut the closet door and went down the stairs to the kitchen. Elena was pulling things out of the refrigerator and pantry. She looked up and smiled at Coralee. "I'm going to show you how to make one of Travis's favorites, posole. It's time-consuming, but you can finish it up in a slow cooker and let it simmer.
Coralee cut up the pork shoulder and let it simmer on the stove, then helped chop up onions and garlic, along with the rest of the vegetables. They took the broth from the pork and put it in the slow cooker added the tomatoes, hominy, spices, tortillas, and the cooked pork, and set it to simmer.
"There, said Elena, "We can let it cook and it'll be ready when you and Travis want your dinner. I'll drive you around the ranch so you can get a look at your new home. We could both use some fresh air. We'll have lunch when we get back.
They got on the back of an ATV and took off. There was more to the ranch than she supposed. Elena told her it was about six hundred acres bigger than her parents' farm but nowhere near the size of the Yellowstone. She saw pens and corrals and the high-walled wooden rings used to break horses.
And there were barns as nice as any on the Yellowstone. They were painted snow white and maintained well—she imagined they were as well kept on the inside. Everything she was seeing reminded her of the Yellowstone and she felt herself becoming homesick again.
She looked around for Travis but did not see him. She wanted to ask Elena where he might be but she did not trust her. It would be nice to have someone to confide in, but Elena would have to prove that she could trust her. She wasn't so certain that she hadn't shared Travis's bed, Elena was very attractive and Travis liked women, all women. She wouldn't accuse him of sleeping with Elena, not yet, not until she was sure he had put the past in the past where it belonged.
"Do you feel like lunch?" Elena asked, giving her a bright, toothy smile, "I've got some pepper jack cheese that makes some fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches. I need to check on the posole and see how it's doing. There's also a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator which sounds good. What do you say?"
"Well, I'm hungry, and riding around on this ATV has made me thirsty. I guess Travis will show me the horses tomorrow. I want to check on Trixie and Coronado—I'm dying to ride again. I need to start practicing getting ready for the shows. Iced tea and grilled cheese sandwiches are sounding good."
Coralee wondered if Elena was trying to make herself indispensable; if so, she didn't mind, for now. It was nice waking up to fresh coffee and someone making breakfast for her. It was almost like having her mother with her and she missed her mother.
Elena kept up a steady stream of chatter as if to compensate for her silence. The sandwiches and iced tea were good and filled up the space in her stomach but after eating she wondered what she could do. She was dying to see Travis, he'd put her to work and work was what she was used to. He wouldn't like hearing that she was bored, he'd expect her to keep herself busy, or at least find something useful to do.
She wandered back downstairs for lack of anything better to do. She walked into the kitchen, about to check on the posole when she heard the sound of an ATV which was followed by the sound of footsteps on wooden stairs, and Travis came into the kitchen and smiled.
"Travis," Elena called out and smiled, he turned to her and said, "Hello, Elena, you'll have to excuse me, I need to talk to my wife." He took hold of Coralee's arm and pulled her up the stairs.
"Travis, what are you doing," she said, but he said nothing and pushed her into the bedroom and closed the door.
"I haven't been able to think of anything but you all day, Coralee, everything I looked at seemed to remind me of you." He took off his hat and expertly tossed his hat onto the coat rack.
"Well, that should be good, shouldn't it? After all, we are newlywed, you ought to be thinking about your wife." She tried to sound indignant but was not sure if she had succeeded.
"Well, no, it wasn't good, my jeans have felt rather, ah, tight. Ever since we fucked this morning all I've been able to think about is how much I want to fuck you again. I'm going to have to start getting up earlier in the morning if this is what's going to happen."
"I love you too, Travis, isn't that what you should be telling me?"
He put his arms around her waist, "Come here, I've missed you all day, tell me you missed me, too."
I just realized that I spelled "corrals" wrong but I don't feel like going through the doc and correcting everything. It'll be corrected on the word backup. Goes to show what hurting your back can do to you!