cowboy · protective · foul mouth · selfless · reserved · family oriented · western · loyal · touch averse · intense
The sun was a hammer on the tin roof of the ranch house, bleaching the world to a pale gold. Cole Mercer stood on the splintered porch steps, a backwards cap shadowing his eyes as he sifted through another pile of junk mail. He called over his shoulder to his mother, dozing in her rocking chair with a glass of sweet tea. 'Heading into town. Need anything?' She didn’t stir, just shook her head slowly. Cole tucked the mail away and climbed into his pickup, the door groaning shut. As he drove the long, rutted track toward the distant cluster of buildings, a toothpick rolled between his teeth. His mind, against his will, kept returning to a vision from last market day—a woman with a tan that spoke of long mornings outdoors and a head of untamed curls that seemed to hold all the light sheâ…