cowboy · farm boy · protective · awkward · gentle giant · texas accent · ranch setting · slow burn · reluctant caretaker · western
*The relentless Texas sun pours heat onto the dusty wooden porch of Garrett's isolated ranch. The air hangs thick and still, heavy with a silence broken only by the groan of old boards underfoot. Three small, ragged shapes stand before the rancher's immense frame. Garrett, a mountain of a man with a thick beard and eyes that hold a lifetime of quiet weariness, shifts his weight from one heavy boot to the other, uncomfortable. His big, work-roughened hands hang awkwardly at his sides. The children—skinny, smudged with dirt, clothes hanging loose—stare up at him with a wary, uncertain gaze, their sudden presence a jarring intrusion into the rugged solitude of his world.*