She and Travis were wandering around the grounds at the dispersal sale, looking at horses, when she spotted the grey roan filly.
"Travis, look, isn't she pretty," she tried to drag him to the filly's stall.
"We're not looking for pretty, Coralee, we're looking for reining horses," Travis sounded exasperated with her but let her lead him over to see what she was talking about.
She was a two-year-old, maybe a little older, but not much. She had a pretty head with the little "fox ears" of a quarter horse. She'd be white in ten years but had nice conformation and would continue to be a good-looking horse.
A groom came and put some mash in her bowl. "Do you know anything about this filly?" Travis asked.
"Oh, you mean Sadie? She's broke but she's temperamental. She'll be great for the rider who can handle her. Her dam's been turning out nice cutting horses, so there's no reason to think she won't be, too."
The horse dipped her muzzle into her water bucket and took a drink, then put her dripping muzzle on the groom's shoulder.
"Very funny, Sadie," he growled, "You think you're cute, don't you." He scratched the horse's ears.
"Come on, Coralee," Travis told her, "I know you like this filly but she's not like what we're looking for. You need a reining horse, not a half-trained filly."
They found what Travis was looking for, a nice-looking brown stallion with a white blaze and stockings. She wanted to get on him and try him out but there was no time, they had to get on the road. The next show was in Tulsa, which was a relatively short drive, four hours if the traffic was light. The show was not until the next day, which meant they could spend the evening relaxing.
They were ready to go, just waiting on Matt who'd ducked into a nearby liquor store. Travis turned to her, saying, "Would you check the horses one last time? I want to make sure they're ready to go.
"Okay," she said, wondering why he was asking, but never mind, she thought. She went into the trailer, making sure horses were tied, and stall mats were secured.
She was almost done when she heard a whinny in the last stall—one more than she thought they'd used. She looked, then looked again.
She was there, tied up, waiting with the others for the trailer to start moving. The little grey roan with the pretty head and ears.
"Travis," she closed the trailer and then ran and jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist. "You bought her for me, you bought her! Oh, thank you thank you thank you."
"My over excited little wife," he told her, "You're welcome, but now I expect you to learn cutting. You can learn a little at a time while we're on the road, but when we get home to Texas, the real work starts. I'm going to bust your ass, but you'll learn cutting and I think you'll be good. You and that filly can learn together."
Although he didn't say anything to her, Travis suspected the filly had been a mistake. It had soon become evident that the reason the filly was half trained was that she resisted being trained. She was a cutting horse, that was obvious, but as to whether or not she was a show horse remained to be seen.
When she decided she was tired of working, she would roll over and all that could be done was to take her back to her stall. On one hand, she was easy to handle, on the other, you didn't know what she would do next. The potential was there, but was a willingness to learn lacking?
She also was protective of Coralee. If Coralee was in the stall grooming her, god help the man who got close. The filly would bare her teeth and pin back her ears if anyone drew too close. She hadn't bitten, yet, but Travis didn't trust her. Coralee believed it was everyone's fault but the filly's and insisted she would come around given time.
The reining horse he had bought for her was working out fine. He was a hand taller than Coronado and had a long mane and tail which Coralee kept brushed and free of tangles. He was easy to saddle and all business when it came time to work. Coralee was using her old routine, but he could see her trying out new ideas, sometimes just randomly spinning and backing up, like she was working it out in her head and the ring.
The filly had brought something unwanted into their lives, they were now arguing over her. Travis was ready to sell her, Coralee wanted to wait and see if the obstinate behavior could be trained out of her.
"I get tired of working too, Travis, but rolling wouldn't solve the problem for me. She must have been doing this before and that's why they sold her, they just gave up. I don't want to give up on her." This was a continuation of an ongoing argument they were having.
"I bought her for a cutter, Coralee, but it looks like the only thing she might be good for is a broodmare and I'd want to let her mature a little before I'd breed her. I thought she would be worth the money I paid for her, I got her because you liked her."
"I didn't make you do that. When it comes to horses, I always defer to you, you know that. Do you regret doing something nice for me?" She looked at him, her jaw set.
She had a point, he had done exactly that, only he hadn't known what he was getting into. "Well, let's see what happens when we put her on real cows when we get to Texas. I want to find out what she does when she has to work. I hope she doesn't decide to roll when she's working cows in the pasture."
Coralee let it rest, she knew that if Travis decided to sell her there wasn't much she could do. He hadn't bought the filly for a saddle horse; she was too valuable for that.
Despite her obstinate behavior, Coralee worked the filly every day. When she felt like working, she did just fine, the problem was that she was unpredictable. Some days she was good and behaved herself, but you could never tell when the acting up might begin.
"Would you like to go to Montana for a while?" Travis lay in bed, his arms crossed behind his head. He and Coralee had called an unspoken truce and talked about anything but the filly. "I thought we might let Jake have a go at her."
Jake was John Dutton's horse trainer, though sometimes he would freelance and work for other people. He had forgotten more about horses than most people knew. He'd work for Travis on occasion, and when he visited the Texas ranch, he was always welcomed by everyone.
Coralee unbuttoned her blouse and unzipped the light blue jeans she was wearing. "I'd love to go to Montana, even if we can only stay for a few days." She finished removing her clothes and got into bed. "I thought we needed to get back to the ranch."
He put his arm around her, "I know you're homesick though you're trying not to be. I can fit in a short visit before we go back to Texas. I want Jake to take a look at your filly and tell me what he thinks."
That was a concession that Coralee was willing to take. She wanted to keep her, she liked the filly, even liked her bullheadedness. She just wanted her to be good and stop her tricks. She liked riding her and she wanted Travis to keep her. Jake was one of the best when it came to training horses, maybe he could bring her around.
"I love you, Travis, you're so good to me and I don't always deserve it." She snuggled up next to him.
"You deserve it, don't let anyone tell you any different. Marrying you was the best thing I've ever done. The first time I saw you I wondered what you'd be like when you grew up. I'm lucky I was the one who snatched you up, I didn't think I stood a chance."
"I never knew you felt that way until the night of my sixteenth birthday, and even then, I figured you wouldn't be interested. It's funny Travis, how we found each other. It never should have happened, but I can't imagine being with anyone else."
"Neither can I," he replied.
The return to Yellowstone didn't happen right away. They had one more stop to make in Wichita. Travis had intended to visit Carol Rose's ranch to pick up some horses if he could, but the filly had thrown everything off schedule, so he headed straight to Wichita, and the show, partly to put the new stallion through his paces.
He rode him himself, doing what he didn't like to do, he improvised the show, using an old routine. The stallion responded nicely, responding to subtle signals that many could not see—to an untrained eye it looked effortless. He didn't do it to win, although winning was always first and foremost on his mind, he wanted to see how the stallion responded in the arena and he responded well.
He sent some of his people home if they wanted, but when news reached them that he was heading to Yellowstone most chose to stay. It was a popular destination, the scenery was beautiful and when Travis showed up with his crew it took on the atmosphere of a party.
Gemma Dutton was waiting with John to greet her daughter. She'd been anxious about Coralee's welfare; the wedding had been unplanned and had happened far too soon. She wasn't sure she trusted Travis Wheatley with her youngest daughter but when she stepped off the truck, Gemma had seen the protective arm he had placed around her daughter's shoulders. He had pointed to John and Gemma and Coralee had seen them and had run to her mother, hugging her, then had embraced her Uncle John.
They only had a few days before the return to Texas, but it was enough for Jake to take a look at the filly and give his verdict.
He'd been riding her in the big corral, and only once had she tried to pull her trick and roll. "You've got a nice one here, Travis," Jake told him, "She's got a good pedigree, nice conformation, and when she feels like it, she's willing to work. Why don't you leave her here with me and I'll see what I can do. She's almost ready to be put on a cow. We're going to be driving some cattle down to the lower pasture, so I'd like to try her out then. I think you have the makings of a nice horse here, just give me a chance to get it out of her."
Coralee gave a sigh of relief, her horse could be saved after all. If Travis had decided she had to go, there would not have been much she could do about it. She had her riding horse, she liked the little palomino but she wasn't much good for anything else. Travis had purchased Sadie for her on a whim, which was unlike him, but he'd expected her to be useful, not a pet. Now at least she might redeem herself if Jake could make a cutter out of her.
"When do we have to leave?" Coralee asked Travis. She had just gotten into bed, and she was wearing nothing, a signal that she wanted to make love.
"Umm, the day after tomorrow, that's all the time I can give you, sweetheart. We maybe shouldn't have done this, but I think even a few days with your family did you good. I was thinking about asking your sister Katie to come with us to Texas."
"Really? Can Katie come with us? It would be nice to have her with me for a while."
"Well," he said, teasing, "If you can drag her away from Ryan. I understand she's been staying with him and working on the ranch—the only reason she's been allowed to stay. She's good in the ring and the two of you could work on your reining—you need to get used to your new horse."
He didn't need to say that Sadie was on probation until Jake could figure out if her obstinate ways could be trained out of her. Katie was a compromise, but one she was glad to make. She wanted to keep Sadie, but if Travis said she had to go she had to go. He had made it clear that when it came to horses he had the last word—always.