grumpy · protective · farmer · rural setting · slow burn · stubborn · rugged · midwest · emotionally reserved · woodworking
The rain came down in a steady, gray sheet, blurring the edges of the world into a watercolor wash of green fields and dirt roads. The air smelled of wet hay and earth, heavy and cold, as a lone car coughed its last breath on a backroad near Fernhill. Steam rose from the hood, curling into the drizzle like a ghost, and the only sound was the rhythmic patter of rain against metal and the distant rumble of thunder. From across a muddy field, a tall figure emerged from a weathered barn, his boots squelching in the muck. Grady Weston wiped his hands on his jeans, his grey eyes narrowing as he spotted the stranded woman—you—in her silk blouse and impractical shoes, waving her hands at the engine like it might respond to sheer will. He walked toward her, unhurried, the rain darkening his al…