My gaze drops to the little girl without me meaning it to, like something inside me is pulling it there.
She’s watching me now.
Not scared.
Not confused.
Just… looking.
Like she’s trying to figure me out the same way I’m trying to make sense of everything that just shifted under my feet.
She's Five years old.
The thought hits hard and fast, even though nobody’s said it out loud.
Five years I didn’t know.
Five years she existed somewhere out there while I was riding bulls and chasing the next high and telling myself I wasn’t built for anything that lasted.
My chest tightens, and I can’t look away from her. There’s something in the way she watches everything before she speaks that feels familiar.
A flicker of that memory tries to come back again, stronger this time, pieces starting to line up whether I’m ready for them or not.
I drag a hand over the back of my neck, my breath coming slower, heavier.
“That’s not…” I start, but the words don’t come together.
Because I don’t have anything to finish that with.
Not yet.
The woman doesn’t push. She just stands there, holding the girl’s hand, waiting.
Waiting for me to catch up to something she’s been carrying alone for a long time.
I look back down at the kid again.
Really look this time.
And something deep in my chest shifts, something bigger than anything I’ve felt before.
My world tilts on its axis, quiet and undeniable, as the truth sinks in piece by piece. The recognition of her mother is coming back.
And I can’t stop staring at either one of them.
Chapter two
This Was a Mistake
Riley
Ishouldn’t have come, the thought hits hard and immediate, settling deep in my chest as the silence stretches out across the ranch in a way that feels too loud and too exposed.
There’s nowhere to hide out here, no walls, no quick exit that doesn’t feel like running, and I don’t run when it matters.
Hadley’s small hand is still wrapped in mine, her fingers warm and trusting as she stands close at my side, completely unaware of the way my world is teetering on the edge of something I can’t control anymore.
I told myself I was ready for this, that I’d say it, get it over with, and walk away knowing I did the right thing. But standing herewith him looking at her like that, like the ground just shifted under his feet.
