Jace’s expression shifts the second he sees her. Something soft settling in that wasn’t there when he looked at me yesterday. It’s subtle enough that I could pretend I imagined it if I wanted to.
I don’t.
“Hey,” he says, crouching down like it’s the most natural thing in the world, bringing himself to her level without hesitation. “You come back to make sure we didn’t eat all the cookies?”
Hadley grins. “I told you I would.”
“Good thing you did,” he replies, glancing toward the house. “Uncle Wade was getting close to finishing them off.”
“Hey,” Wade calls from somewhere behind him. “That’s not even a little true.”
“It’s mostly true,” Jace shoots back without looking. Hadley giggles, the sound light and easy.
I stand there for a second longer than I should, watching the exchange, trying to find the edges of it, the parts that don’t fit, the places where this breaks down into something I can manage.
But it doesn’t.
He doesn’t reach for her like it’s a performance.
He doesn’t overdo it or hesitate.
He just… meets her where she is.
And that’s the problem.
“You want to see the horse again?” he asks her, glancing back toward the barn.
Hadley nods immediately. “Yes.”
I step forward then, not stopping them, but not letting it go unchecked either. “We’re not doing anything without talking about it first,” I say, keeping my tone even, controlled. Even though there’s a thread of tension running through it that I don’t bother hiding completely.
Jace looks up at me, not defensive, not irritated, just steady in a way that makes it harder to hold onto the irritation I walked in with.
“Fair,” he says. “We’ll stay where you can see us.”
That answer is not what I expect.
No pushback.
Just… agreement.
And somehow that’s worse.
It leaves me with nothing to push against.
I fold my arms loosely, holding my ground anyway. “She doesn’t ride,” I add. “Not yet.”
He nods once. “Then she doesn’t ride,” he says simply, like that settles it. Like my boundary isn’t something to work around, it’s something to respect.
Hadley looks between us, clearly trying to figure out if she’s about to lose access to the most exciting part of her week. Jace catches it before it turns into disappointment.
“We can brush him,” he says, glancing back at her. “You ever help brush a horse before?”
Her eyes light up all over again. “No.”
“Then we’ll start there,” he says, standing and offering his hand like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
She takes it without hesitation.
