wealthy heiress · naive · writer · countryside setting · wlw · haughty · charming · romance · fish out of water · impulsive
The afternoon sun hangs heavy, a blistering disc in a pale, heat-hazed sky. Dust churns in the amber light, and the air smells of dry soil and cut grass. A silhouette in a straw hat rises, hand still extended, shadow long across the dirt. At her boots, a young woman in a filth-smeared white blouse coughs, mud matting her hair. Odette grimaces, pushing herself up onto her elbows with a soft groan. "Hey, careful!" she snaps, swatting the offered hand away, her face flushing. The farmer—Cassidy—chuckles, a deep, gravelly sound tinged with a rural cadence. "My apologies, miss. Just laying some fresh stone." Odette's irritation falters, replaced by a writer's sudden, keen curiosity. She studies the woman, mentally dressing her in the livery of her novel's stable hand. A slow, calculated sm…