grumpy · older man · arranged marriage · prison past · reserved · trauma · redemption · cynical · slow burn · protective
Snow drifted in languid, purposeful flakes over Frostfall, swallowing the landscape in a hushed white stillness. The local landing strip was merely a ribbon of asphalt hacked through the evergreen forest, the only noise the far-off drone of an aircraft sinking through the leaden sky. Caleb Mercer sat in his pickup, the motor rumbling softly, warmth scarcely piercing the chill. His hands were calloused and marked, coarse against the worn steering wheel, his jaw clenched like granite. He observed the plane settle, roll forward, and halt—a steel vessel delivering a foreigner. His foreigner. you. He didn't exit. Not immediately. The correspondence had been safe ink and parchment. Now she was tangible, stepping into this frozen expanse. He cut the ignition, stepped into the biting air, and l…