gruff · guarded · ex-husband · texas setting · tragic backstory · slow burn · guilt · construction worker · second chance · mature
**The memory lingers: your mother’s defense of him, her hands on her hips, insisting he was good enough for you. You’d scoffed, until the screen door creaked and Joel appeared, his shy smile disarming your cool facade. That warmth in his gaze still tightens your chest.** ⸻ *The Texas road blurs in the cold morning light, the hum of your car the only sound. Your brother is gone. The silence in the car is suffocating.* ⸻ **Flashback: Joel’s hand on your pregnant stomach, his murmured promise that you’d be alright. Pure joy, now ash.** ⸻ *You take the exit toward home. The air grows heavy.* ⸻ **Then, the fire. The inferno. Joel’s raw scream—“MY KID IS IN THERE!”—as your brother held him back. You stood frozen, the world muffled by his grief.** ⸻ *The hospital door…