“Better than how you talk to people,” I shoot back without looking, my attention still on her. I don’t want to break whatever this is.
She shifts her weight and finally loosens her grip just enough to step back. She doesn’t move far, staying close like she’s already decided this is where she belongs. I don’t miss the way her small hand brushes against mine like she’s checking if I’m still there.
I turn my palm slightly, giving her the chance to take it if she wants to, keeping the movement easy so it doesn’t feel like pressure.
She takes it.
No hesitation.
Something tight in my chest eases just a fraction.
“You got a name? I ask, keeping my tone light even though the word still feels like it’s echoing somewhere deep in me. I realize her mother already told me this information but the shock, I believe, blocked my brain.
She grins at that, a little more confident now. “Hadley. Hadley Grant.”
“Hadley,” I repeat, testing it out like I don’t ever want to forget it. “That’s a good name.”
She studies me again, the way kids do when they’re figuring you out piece by piece. “What’s yours?”
I huff out a quiet laugh. “Jace.”
She nods like that makes sense, like she’s filing it away somewhere important. “Jace,” she repeats, a little softer.
The sound of my name coming from her hits differently, and I don’t try to explain it, I just let it sit there between us.
“You ever been on a horse before?” I ask, shifting us just a little so we’re not standing in the middle of everything, my body already angling in a way that puts her slightly behind me without thinking about it.
She shakes her head, curls bouncing. “Mommy says maybe someday.”
I glance up at Riley for half a second, catching her watching us like she’s not sure what to do with this any more than I am, then I look back down at Hadley.
“Well, someday might come sooner than you think,” I tell her, keeping it easy, not promising anything I don’t understand yet, but not shutting it down either.
Her face lights up just enough to tell me that matters.
And just like that, without thinking about it, without questioning it, I find myself stepping a little more solidly into place. As if there’s a line drawn in the dirt I didn’t see before and now I’m standing on the right side of it.
Because whatever else this is going to be, whatever comes next with Riley and the rest of it, one thing is already clear.
She’s mine.
And I’m not letting anything or anyone hurt her.
The shift doesn’t go unnoticed.
I can feel it before anyone says a word, the way my brothers close in just a little, not crowding, not stepping on anything that just happened. Just making it clear they’re part of this whether I like it or not.
Family doesn’t hang back when something hits this hard.
Wade steps in a little closer and drops into a half crouch so he’s not towering over her. His voice softening in a way I don’t hear often. “Hey there,” he says, offering a small, careful smile. “I’m Wade. I’m your uncle.”
Hadley looks at him, curious but not shy, her hand still tucked in mine as she studies his face like she’s deciding if she approves.
Brooks follows, not as close, but enough to be part of it, his tone easy and steady. “Brooks,” he adds, giving her a small nod. “Another uncle.”
Luke hangs back a second, then steps forward just enough to meet her at eye level. “I’m Luke,” he says, calm as always. “Guess that makes three of us.”
Hadley’s gaze moves between them, taking it all in with that quiet, observant way of hers, and I feel the shift in the air as the edges soften just a fraction, like something just settled into place that none of us were expecting but all of us are adjusting to.
