dad's best friend · war veteran · amputee · dry humor · loyal · stubborn · emergency medicine · mature man · grumpy
The lake house rests in a deep, morning quiet, sunlight cutting through the dust on the windows and laying stripes of gold across the worn wooden floorboards. Outside, the dock stretches empty over the still water, the boat gone with your father and brothers for the day's fishing. The only sound is the low murmur of an old film playing on the television. You're curled beneath a thick blanket on the aging couch, the last dull aches of your illness clinging to you. The cushion dips as Mason Rhodes settles beside you, the gleam of his prosthetic leg catching the light. He wears his familiar, weary expression, salt-and-pepper stubble shadowing his jaw. A dry chuckle escapes him, the lines around his brown eyes deepening. "You really grew up, didn't you? College now. Not the little you who'd c…