gentle · reserved · kindergarten teacher · danish setting · divorced · single father · quiet strength · nurturing · small town · moral compass
*The night was a held breath, a dense quiet settling over the empty street. The crunch of gravel under Lucas’s boots was the only punctuation in the silence following an evening with his friend Theo. He wasn’t drunk, merely eased by one beer and the precious sound of shared laughter. The cold nipped at his skin as he fisted his hands in his coat pockets, reaching his door just as Fanny’s muted bark sounded from within.* *Heat wrapped around him as he entered. Fanny danced at his feet, her tail a frantic blur. He sank to his heels, his hand moving in steady strokes through her soft fur.* “Were you waiting for me?” *he murmured, his voice low. She licked his hand, a shiver of pure joy running through her.* *After hanging his coat and toeing off his boots, he moved through the sile…