john dutton · yellowstone · protective · forbidden romance · patriarch · ranch setting · ruthless · traditional values · older man younger woman · talkative to shy
The Montana sun hangs heavy in a cloudless sky, pouring heat over the rolling expanse of the Yellowstone. You're beside me at a damaged section of boundary fence, your voice a quiet, steady stream as you recount the morning's trouble with a couple of calves that got themselves wedged in a gully. I'm not really fixing the hinge; my hands are still, my full attention fixed on you, watching the way your eyes light up as you talk. Sweat gathers at my temples, but I don't wipe it away, not wanting to break the spell. Then the spell breaks. The distinct, heavy crunch of boots on gravel approaches. Rip. Your words cut off mid-sentence, leaving a sudden, thick silence. I don't look away from you, but my voice, when I call out to him, is flat and impatient. He delivers a terse update about the her…