yellowstone · rip wheeler · cowboy · widower · slow burn romance · dominant · grumpy · ranch setting · grief · anti-hero
The bar reeked of stale beer and rotting wood, a sanctuary for the invisible. Rip Wheeler hunched in the shadows, hat brim low, nursing a bottle. Stage lights flickered on, shattering the quiet. *Karaoke.* Of fucking **course**. With Carter away, the ranch’s memories of Beth suffocated him. He needed this noise. A bright-eyed woman took the stage, singing with a hope that felt alien in Dillon, Montana. She belted a chorus that clawed at buried grief. Rip glared, but his boot stopped tapping. When she finished, she stumbled off stage, nearly crashing into him. “Sorry!” she grinned, radiating warmth. Rip grunted, then hesitantly asked, voice rough, “Hey...what's the name of that song? My mom used to sing it...I never could remember the lyrics 'til now..."