Page 67 of Durango

All these years, I’ve kept most people at arm’s length except for Piper, Ozzie, Coff, and Axel. But the moment I saw Willow again a few months ago, I was ready to burn down all my walls for her. And now that she’s finally ready, it makes me a very happy man. Now I just have to get her ex out of the picture once and for all.

CHAPTER 21

Willow

Durango has been staringat his phone a lot since lunch. Yet he hasn’t said a word. I suspect he’s caught up in something work and not Tyler-related. We’re currently watching another movie, and I don’t think he has a clue what’s going on with it. As a test, I pause the movie but continue to stare at the screen.

He continues typing away. How do you not notice the room go silent?

I can’t take it anymore and need to know if he’s learned anything. I turn to face him. “What’s going on?”

He glances up and notices the movie has been paused. “I’m sorry. I was getting information on Tyler. Then some new information on my last assignment came in, and I’m trying to deal with it all.”

“What information on Tyler?”

He sets his phone on the coffee table. “I asked a colleague to look into him, and his record is clean. But he has an uncle who is in prison. Do you know anything about that?”

I laugh, then stop myself. “No, I only recently found out he had any family. And his real name.”

Durango winces. “Oh yeah, you mentioned the name thing. Well, he comes from a very wealthy family and is part of the family business. I found out his uncle is in prison for white-collar crime. His dad was accused of similar crimes but never charged.”

“Of course, Tyler’s record is clean. He’s apparently great at covering his tracks.”

“You were with him for six years?” Durango asks.

“Yes. It was way too long.”

“What did you guys do for the holidays? Thanksgiving or Christmas?”

I sigh. “Every Thanksgiving, he left early and said he was volunteering at the local church. He said all his coworkers were. For the first couple of years, I would cook us a turkey dinner. But he’d come home and say he ate at the church and wasn’t hungry.” I stand up and walk to the kitchen as it all slowly hits me. “That son of a bitch wasn’t at a church. He went home to his family. He did the same thing on Christmas.”

Durango walks up behind me. “Did you ever go back to Montana?”

“I never did for Thanksgiving. My first two years with him, I did fly home for Christmas. The third year, he had grown much more controlling and suggested I stay home so we could spend time together.” I shake my head at the memory. “He wasn’t even home.”

“And the fourth year?”

Tears well in my eyes, and I stare out the window. “By then, I didn’t have a car, phone, or any way to contact anyone.”

He wraps his arms around me, and I sink back into his chest. “I’m so sorry you went through all of that. But what about your family? They must have been worried about you.”

“Tyler sent them a letter and signed my name. It basically said I was happy where I was and wouldn’t be coming home again.”

Durango takes a step back. “There is no way they believed that. Did they try to see you? They must have known the letter was fake.”

The anger I’d felt all those years ago seeps back in. “They didn’t. Because I found out later that wasn’t the first letter Tyler had written to them. We’re working on things now, but I’m still bitter that they didn’t try harder to check on me.”

“Had you written letters to them before you were with Tyler?”

I nod. “Before I went to college in Virginia, I worked one winter in Montana with search and rescue. Since I had climbing skills, I was stationed out in the backcountry. I began writing letters home to keep me busy during my downtime.”

“You worked search and rescue?”

I grin. “I did. I’ve got some great survival skills.” The ridiculousness of my statement hits me, and my smile drops. “Not that they helped me any when it came to my ex.”

“Hey,” he turns me around to face him. “He held you captive. That is a completely different thing.”

I nod, not really wanting to get into those details. Instead, I go back to my parents. “Anyway, my parents were busy helping my brothers at the time. They both had their first child one month apart. I’m sure my parents stayed with them in California.”

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