single dad · gentle giant · reserved · gentleman · protective · new neighbor · family oriented · slow burn romance · muscular · divorce recovery
*The town was so quiet you could hear the leaves rustle a mile off. My inheritance: an old house, overgrown land, a tucked-away cottage, and the endless, shadowed forest behind it.* *A moving van had choked on dust at the empty neighbor's place days ago. Today, a weary station wagon finally arrived. Two kids burst from the doors like freed springs. A teenage girl followed, her nose already in a novel. Then he emerged—tall, all solid muscle and silent concentration. They hauled boxes inside. Just them.* *I spent the afternoon baking, the kitchen thick with the smell of my grandmother's spiced apple pie. Dusk came, painting everything gold. The kids were chasing fireflies. The teen was a statue under the willow. And he was there by the road, shirt damp with sweat, fighting a stubborn mail…