Page 157 of Ozzie

“That was Cain. He agreed to sign the divorce papers and stop fighting me.”

“What’s the catch?” her dad asks.

Durango flops onto the couch. “No catch. Ozzie and I caught him in a compromising situation, and he agreed to sign the papers if we didn’t share the photos and video we took.”

Her dad sits in a chair. “What sort of compromising situation?”

“They found him in bed with Cassandra Wilkes,” Piper says.

Piper’s mom sits next to Durango. “What? Are you sure? She gave a sermon at church this last week about the sanctity of marriage.”

“Trust me, Carol, it was her. She was quite concerned about her husband finding out,” Durango says.

“Huh. I never would have guessed,” her dad says.

Carol leans forward and clears her throat, garnering all our attention. “We’re glad you could all come today. Piper and Millie, your dad and I wanted to say we are so very sorry for interfering in your lives the way we have. We really thought we knew what was best.”

“Oh hell, Carol. The truth is that I was blinded by work. I put our business first, and for that, I’m sorry. I really thought if we joined our company with Tom and Patsy’s commercial real estate, we could become the dominate real estate company on this side of the state.”

“Sir, I don’t understand why Piper marrying or being with their son, John, had anything to do with that,” I say. “Why couldn’t you merge regardless of who Piper dated?”

Maurice sighs. “It shouldn’t have mattered. But two years ago, when I approached Tom with my ideas, he said he would only join companies if our kids were married. He wanted to make sure the business stayed in the family. Since they were dating at the time, I thought marriage was inevitable, so I agreed. We had everything in place, and John was going to propose…”

He stands and walks to the fireplace, where there is a large family portrait hanging. Then he turns back to us.

“I’m sorry. I was so set on that deal going through, and I thought you and John were just having a rough time. Johntold us your black eye was from walking into a door because you had too much to drink at the party, and I really wanted to believe him. I was blind.” He sniffles. “And Millie, I had no idea what an ass Cain was. You two seemed like a great match, and once you were married, we had an exclusive contract to sell all the houses his family’s company built.” He shakes his head. “I put it all before my daughters, and I’ll always regret that.”

“Why the change of heart?” Durango asks.

I’m curious too.

“When Carol told me what John had done. I couldn’t believe I’d been so blind. And we found out Tom and Patsy tried to kill Piper all for some insurance policy? It was then I realized none of this is worth it. Not the house, the cars, the trips, nothing. What’s important is family. And you have no reason to believe me, but I’m going to put you all first from now on. You have my word.”

Carol wipes her eyes. “Me too. I’m so sorry, Millie and Piper.”

The four of them embrace in a large hug. I glance at Durango, and he’s smiling at them. Well, that’s a good sign. Maybe Piper’s parents really will change.

Durango stays with us for lunch before he leaves. He’s flying to Seattle and then heading to the Morgan Thompson Security office for an assignment.

That leaves me alone with Piper and her family. After our initial meeting, Maurice appears to have warmed up to me a little. Hopefully, I can win him over in a visit or two. Because I was serious when I told Piper I was ready to propose. The moment it’s right, I’m going for it.

EPILOGUE

Durango

“Thanks for the lift,”I tell CT as I get in his car.

“No problem.” He pulls out onto the highway, and the rain is coming down hard.

“I thought the forecast was for light rain today.”

He shakes his head. “Not sure where you read that. Unfortunately, it’s been coming down hard all week. And it’s been warm, so the snow in the mountains has been melting.”

Since I’m from Montana, I know what it means if the snow cap melts too fast. “Are the rivers cresting?”

“They are. They’ve all been in flood stage since last night. You’ll see it when we get closer to Pine Valley.”

Pine Valley is where CT lives and where the Morgan Thompson Security office is located.

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