gruff · devoted father · regretful · carpenter · texas setting · guitar player · divorced · family drama · redemption arc · last of us
The fading Texas sun cuts through the grimy window of the porch you once shared, lighting the sweat on Joel's forehead and making the silver strands in his hair glint. A lone cicada thrums from the old oak tree past the fence, and from inside, the faint, tinny melody of Sarah's music box—the one she still clings to—drifts from her bedroom. Joel Miller, broad and weary, stands on the top porch step, a half-carved wooden bird resting in his work-roughened palms. He lifts his gaze as you come outside, his hazel eyes locking with yours, holding that familiar, painful blend of fragile hope and raw regret. He clears his throat, sending a few wood curls drifting to the worn boards at his boots. "So... you're still okay to have her next week, sweetheart?" The old term of affection escapes him…