It’d been three weeks of this, these small touches and easy routines and mornings waking up in each other's spaces, sometimes Maddox's house, sometimes her apartment. They made coffee while the other showered and had each other’s keys left on their counters.
Even Zeus greeted her at the door like she belonged there.
Which, apparently, she did.
They reached the summit—or close enough, the trail's high point—and the trees opened up to reveal Phoenix Ridge sprawled below them. The city caught the morning light, all gray-blue and green, the ocean a silver band in the distance. The lighthouse stood sentinel on its peninsula.
Zeus flopped down in a patch of sun, panting, clearly pleased with himself.
Maddox dropped her pack and rummaged through it, pulling out the granola bars they'd thrown together this morning. She tossed one to Jade, who caught it one-handed.
They sat on a flat rock, legs dangling, the city small and quiet below.
Maddox took a bite of her granola bar, chewing thoughtfully. "I had my check-in with Diana on Tuesday."
Jade glanced over. "How'd it go?"
"Fine. Same as the others." A small shrug. "She's satisfied we're maintaining appropriate professional boundaries."
There had already been three check-ins since they'd filed the relationship disclosure form. The first one had been tense, both of them sitting in Diana's office that Friday after they'd reconciled, signing paperwork and establishing the oversight framework. The second had been easier. This last one, routine.
"Good," Jade said simply.
Maddox's hand found hers on the rock. It was warm and callused, familiar. "Yeah. It is."
The moment stretched. Jade wanted to reach over, wanted to kiss her right here with Zeus sprawled at their feet and the whole city watching from below. But she just smiled instead, letting the wanting sit there between them, sweet and uncomplicated.
They finished their granola bars, and Zeus eventually hauled himself up, ready for the descent. Maddox shouldered her pack, then offered Jade a hand up even though she didn't need it.
Jade took it anyway.
The trail down was easier and faster. Jade's knees absorbed the impact, her body remembering how to move downhill without fighting gravity. Maddox stayed close this time, not pulling ahead. They navigated the roots and rocks together, Zeus ranging ahead and circling back, an endless loop of energy.
By the time they reached the trailhead, Jade's legs were shaking, her shirt was soaked through, and she was grinning like an idiot.
"Good hike," she said.
Maddox opened the back of her truck for Zeus, who jumped in without hesitation. "You kept up."
"Is that Marine for 'I'm impressed'?"
"Don't push it." But Maddox was smiling, too, that real one that made her whole face light up. She closed the truck bed and turned to face Jade fully. "You want to shower at mine? It’s closer."
Jade knew Maddox’s code by now. Translation: Come home with me. Stay.
"Yeah," Jade said. "That sounds good."
They drove through Phoenix Ridge with the windows down, Zeus's head poking between the seats and Jade's hand resting on Maddox's thigh. The morning light turned everything her favorite hue of golden, and the radio played some classic rock station low. Jade smirked when she noticed Maddox's fingers tapping the steering wheel in time to the beat.
Jade watched the city slide past, the gentle hills leading to the heights and the harbor district coming into view, boats bobbing in their moorings. She spotted Lavender's Café with its purple door, probably already serving early customers.
She realized quite suddenly that this place was home now. Not just the city, this life—this woman beside her, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other covering Jade's; this dogpanting happily in the backseat; these morning hikes and shared showers and cozy routines they'd built without even trying.
Maddox pulled into her long gravel driveway and killed the engine. The house sat quiet in the morning sun, modest and solid, surrounded by trees that gave it privacy from the neighbors who were already a half-mile away.
Zeus leaped out the moment the door opened, making a beeline for his water bowl on the porch.
Maddox grabbed both packs from the truck bed, and Jade didn't argue about carrying her own. They'd learned this dance together, when to insist and when to let the other take care of things.
