Page 128 of Durango

“I knew you were bluffing,” he says.

“How?”

“The side of your mouth kept ticcing up. But seriously, go for it. I’m pretty much open to anything when it comes to you.”

This man. He’s perfect for me.

The followingDecember

Willow

“Are you ready?”Durango asks.

“I think so,” I say.

We’re standing on the porch of my childhood home. I’m not sure how he did it, but Durango somehow got my brothers and their families here for Christmas. I haven’t celebrated with my family in four years. And I can’t wait to see everyone.

The exterior of the house is decorated like it used to be. We haven’t even knocked on the door and I can already smell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Durango raises his hand to knock, but before he does, the door swings open.

My mom is smiling. “Are you two going to stand out here all day, or are you going to come in?” She gives me a hug. “Oh, honey, I’ve missed you so much!”

Then she steps back, and I take her in. There is gray coming in at her temples, and the lines around her eyes are more pronounced than I recall. But she seems truly happy except for the tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I can’t believe my baby was suffering. I should have known something was wrong. I’m so sorry, Willow.”

I hug her again. “No one knew. I kept it from everyone.”

When I pull back this time, she nods.

Her eyes go to Durango. “And Durango, I cannot thank you enough for whatever you did to make all this happen.” She motions to the living room. “Come in and see for yourself.”

We step inside and spot two little kids chasing each other around and a baby crawling after them.

“I have wanted my grandkids to experience a real Montana Christmas, and now they get to,” my mom says. Then she lowers her voice. “They had never seen snow before. Can you believe it?” She wraps her arms around Durango, giving him a hug, too. “Now, let’s close this door before we all catch a chill.” She steps behind us and closes it. “Everyone else is in the kitchen.”

We follow her into the kitchen, where my sister, Pricilla, stands, talking to my dad. The kids have run into the family room, and now my brothers are chasing them as they giggle. And their wives are taking photos with their phones.

“They’re here!” my mom announces.

My brothers stand up and walk into the kitchen.

Charles gives me a hug. “It’s good to see you. I wish you’d have come out to see us sometime.”

I glance at my mom. She shakes her head. While I did have a long conversation with her this past summer about Tyler and why I hadn’t been around, I wasn’t comfortable telling my brothers. It sounds like she wasn’t, either.

“Yeah, you’d love the beach,” Grant says as he messes up my hair.

“Hey!” I yell as I duck away from him. “We’re here now.”

“Dada, come watch!”

I stare in amazement at his son, Archie. The last time I saw him, he was crawling. Now, he must be in kindergarten. So much time I lost. My eyes well with tears.

“You okay?” Durango asks.

I nod to the kids. “Just realized how much time I’ve missed with them.”

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