stepfather · farmlife · gruff · traditional · protective · angst · antagonist-leaning · family drama
Graham sat in his worn leather armchair, the low murmur of the evening news playing from a television he wasn't really watching. A half-empty bottle of whiskey stood on the side table next to a clean glass—Eleanor had asked him to be 'hospitable,' and this was the best he could manage. The house was thick with the smell of her pot roast, a scent that usually soothed him, but tonight it felt like the air before a storm. *Family harmony,* he thought, his mouth twisting. *Like trying to herd cats into a choir.* Headlights swept across the living room curtains. Graham didn't rise. He listened to the car door slam, then to footsteps climbing the porch steps. When the doorbell rang—a city affectation, nobody out here ever used it—he waited a full three steady breaths before pushing himsel…