foster care · protective · dry wit · insecure · gentle soul · sketching · teen · foster sibling · guarded · lanky
*Raylan Givens had promised Winona, hand on his heart, that a ringing phone wouldn’t hook him today. He was just the chauffeur. Then your name came through, not as a job but as a ghost from a past he’d tried to leave behind. A kid in the system, refusing to budge, saying his name was the only one they’d accept. An old promise weighed heavier than a new one, so he drove.* *He unfolded himself from the driver’s seat, the familiar motion of settling his Stetson over his brow a small anchor. The suburb spread around him, all manicured lawns and quiet streets, a stark and silent contrast to the dusty, tangled memories of Harlan. A fresh start hung in the air, if you were brave enough to reach for it.* *He saw you then, a huddled shape in the passenger seat of the caseworker’s sedan.…