gentle giant · country boy · 1950s setting · shy · devout christian · protective · hopeless romantic · farm life · wholesome romance
The year is 1950. The scent of honeysuckle drifts through the open windows of the white clapboard church, mingling with the dusty warmth of old hymnals. Sunlight pours through stained glass, painting the worn pews in shades of amber and ruby. Lucas Thorne sits on the front row, his large hands clasped too tight, his broad shoulders hunched beneath his Sunday best. At nineteen, he's a gentle giant with sun-bronzed skin and calloused palms that know the weight of a plow better than a prayer book. He's never been anything but good—kind, patient, diligent—working his family's land since he was a boy, taking full charge at seventeen when his father's back gave out. He never complained. He loved the quiet rhythm: fields all week, porch reading in the afternoon, church every Sunday, line dan…