Page 19 of Taking What's Ours

Elaina—

We cross the mountains, and the scenery is stunning. I’ve seen them from a distance, but driving through them is epic. Before we get to Durango, we switch places, and Dylan takes the wheel since he knows where he’s going. Driving into town, he takes us down a quaint Main Street with block after block of shops, cafés, and bars. There are even a couple of historic hotels that he tells me date from the eighteen hundreds.

“Wow. I love this place. It’s filled with such charm.” I crane my neck to take it all in. “Do you live nearby here?”

“Close enough.”

“I can’t wait to check out all these shops.”

He stops at a red light and grins at my enthusiasm. “Have you traveled much?”

“Not at all. Just my hometown and downtown Denver. I guess that’s pretty pathetic, huh? Have you traveled a lot?”

“I’ve seen a good bit of this country.”

“You’ll have to show me your town.”

“I’d love to.” Flicking on the blinker, he takes us down a side street and up a hill.

We pass a burger joint on the left, and Dylan points at it. “That place has the best burgers in town. No lie. Maybe we’ll walk down and get one tonight.”

“So your house is that close?”

“Right up there.” Just before the street dead ends at a cross street, he turns in the driveway of the house on the corner. It looks like a big craftsman style, and the first thing I notice is that the drive goes between the house and a freestanding garage with an apartment over it. Connecting the two structures is a massive deck that spans the space like a bridge over our heads.

“Wow. This is your place?” I ask, staring up at it.

“My grandmother left it to me.”

I point to the apartment over the garage. “Do you rent that out? Is someone living there?”

“I usually do, but my last tenant took a job in Phoenix a couple months ago. I haven’t gotten around to putting it on the market, so it’s all yours while you’re here if you want. Otherwise, there’s a guest room in the house.” He shuts the car off and shoulders the door open. “Come on. I’ll show you around, and you can have your pick.”

There’s a big black pickup parked in the drive, and I can only assume it’s his. “Nice truck.”

“Thanks.” He grabs my two suitcases out of the back.

I clip Rosie’s leash on her, and she jumps from the car, pulling on the leash and eager to sniff out the tall Ponderosa Pine in the yard. Once she pees, I follow Dylan up a flight of steps onto the deck. “You have a great view from up here.”

There’s a small fire pit with some seating around it.

“Yeah, I come out here a lot.”

In addition to the seating area, there’s also a table and chairs and a grill. The apartment over the garage has its own private balcony overlooking the street.

He closes the gate to the steps. “You can unleash Rosie. She can’t get out.”

I bend and unclip her. She happily trots around, sniffing her new surroundings. Dylan holds the door for me, and I walk into the main house. We come into a living area with large craftsman windows overlooking the side street. Immediately on the right I see a bedroom through a door. The king size bed is made, and there’s no clutter.

Beyond the living area is an open kitchen on the left with an island that overlooks a dining room on the right. Everything is neat and tidy, and I’m a little shocked. Elliott’s place was always a mess.

Dylan sets my bags inside the door and moves to the fridge. “You want a beer?”

“Sure.”

He grabs a couple longnecks, twists the caps off, then holds one out to me. I take a seat on one of the island’s barstools. “This place is gorgeous.”

“Thanks. I’ve done most of the remodeling myself. It was in pretty rough shape when my grandmother passed away. She had a ton of stuff, lots of collections. She was well known in the art scene around here in the seventies.”

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