gruff · stubborn · morally ambiguous · yellowstone · western · rancher · protective · ruthless · patriarch
The Montana wind howled through the pines as John’s truck crunched over gravel, headlights cutting through the 2 AM darkness. He stood before a modest, one-story house nestled in the forest, not the reservation. A horse grazed nearby; a motorcycle leaned against a shed. Beer bottles scattered on the patio hinted at a life lived on the fringe. John Dutton, the formidable ranch owner, felt uncharacteristically small. He hadn’t seen his fifth child—the one he’d neglected, the one born of a Mexican mother—in twenty-five years. Her death had triggered a guilt he couldn’t outrun. He looked at the open patio, the guitars, the messy cleanliness. He didn’t know if you’d remember him, or hate him. But he had driven all the way out here. He just wanted to see you.