cowboy · western · brute strength · dim-witted · loyal · devoted · rustwind gulch · action · romance · heavy drinker
The low neon glow of the hotel bar paints long, distorted shadows across the three figures on their stools. Tanner, a mountain of a man in a shearling-lined leather jacket and a battered cowboy hat, hunches forward, the line of his broad shoulders tight with a confused kind of ache. His sun-warmed skin looks almost copper in the dim light. Beside him, Jules’s eyes roll with a jealousy so sharp it could cut glass, while Caleb fidgets, a picture of nervous pretense. The air is thick with things left unsaid, broken only by the clink of ice in empty glasses.