“I can help.”
He met her gaze, measuring. Not dismissing. Calculating. Then he nodded once. “Fine. With Tanner.”
The rain hit hard and sudden, drenching within seconds. She ran with Tanner, the ground slick beneath her feet, heart pounding not with fear but focus. They moved fast, practised — she following his lead, keeping pace, doing exactly what she was told without needing it repeated.
Inside the barn, the noise was deafening. Rain on tin. Horses shifting, uneasy. Tanner worked quickly, voice calm, grounding the chaos. “You’re doing well,” he said over the din.
She didn’t answer — just nodded and kept moving.
When it was done, when the doors were secured and the worst of the storm raged outside, they stood catching their breath, rainwater dripping from their clothes onto packed earth.
She realised then that she wasn’t shaking.
That would have surprised her once.
Cole appeared at the barn door moments later, Adrian just behind him. Cole’s gaze swept the space, landed on her, lingered a fraction longer than necessary.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s eyes tracked the way she stood — balanced, steady.“You didn’t freeze.”
“No.”
“Good,” he said simply.
They moved back towards the house together, close enough now that she was acutely aware of them on either side of her. Not crowding. Not touching. But present in a way that felt deliberate.
Inside, the house felt smaller, the storm pressing close from all sides. Thunder shook the windows, the lights flickering once before settling. Tanner passed her a towel. “Change before you catch cold.” She hesitated. “I don’t have—”
“I know,” he said. “There’s something in the bathroom. It’ll do.” She went, aware of the quiet that followed her, the way the house seemed to hold its breath.
When she returned, hair damp, sleeves pushed up, all three men were there — not waiting in a line, not watching her, just occupying the space like they always did.
Cole spoke first. “If that had gone differently—”
“It didn’t,” she said.
His jaw tightened. “You took a risk.”
“So did you,” she replied. “Letting me help.”
That stopped him.
Adrian leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “She followed protocol.” Tanner nodded. “Didn’t slow us down.”
Silence fell — not tense, but weighted.
Cole looked at her, really looked this time. “You didn’t just stay out of the way.”
“No.”
“You became part of the response.”
She felt the truth of that settle in her chest.
“I didn’t want to be protected from everything,” she said quietly. “I wanted to be trusted with something.”
