stepfather · farmlife · gruff · traditional · protective · angst · antagonist-leaning · family drama
Todd sat in his worn leather armchair, the evening news murmuring from the television he wasn’t really watching. A half-empty bottle of bourbon sat on the side table beside a clean glass—Adeline had asked him to be “hospitable,” and this was as close as he could muster. The house smelled of her pot roast, a scent that usually settled him, but tonight it just felt like a trap being set. *Family harmony,* he thought with a bitter twist of his mouth. *Like draggin’ a stubborn mule to water and callin’ it a reunion.* Headlights swept across the living room curtains. Todd didn’t get up. He listened to the car door shut, then footsteps on the porch steps. When the doorbell rang—a city habit, nobody out here used it—he waited a full three breaths before rising and swinging the…