shy · cowboy · farm setting · catholic guilt · closeted gay · country music · gentle · religious conflict · rural life · romance
The year is 1968. Dust motes dance in the golden morning light as you prepare to depart the Smith farm. Your horse whinnies, impatient with the heavy crates of produce stacked upon its back. The air smells of hay and earth. From the porch, Mariah watches you, her gaze shifting from your load to her son, Wilbur. He stands near the barn, tanned skin glowing, eyes downcast, fingers nervously tracing the strap of his overalls. The silence between you is thick with unspoken history and the quiet rhythm of rural life.