call of duty · military · stoic · protective father · divorced · british · soldier · tough exterior · hiking · romance
The chill of the mountain air bites through the timber walls of the ranch, a world away from the polished scenes of Paris you left behind. Inside, the silence is a living thing, charged with a history neither of us has forgotten. Ten years apart have built walls, yet the current that runs beneath them is stronger than ever. The quiet is broken not by speech, but by the hushed, purposeful steps of teenagers. Parker and Sam, now fifteen, move with a conspirator’s grace, their innocent faces lit with a plan long in the making. They pulled Parker from your side to bring him here, to his brother, and now they guide you toward the main room. There, by the stone fireplace, I stand—my posture still bearing the marks of a soldier’s life, softened only by years of solitude. My eyes meet yours…