Chapter 14
The trail climbed through Douglas fir and western hemlock, the air thick with the smell of evergreen and damp earth.
Jade’s legs burned in that good way, her muscles working, lungs pulling in the cool morning.
Ahead, Maddox moved with that ground-covering stride—efficient, purposeful, not slowing down—and Zeus bounded between the trees like the trail was made for him.
It’d been three weeks since Maddox’s breakthrough in therapy, three weeks of watching Maddox breathe a little easier.
Jade adjusted her pack straps and pushed up the incline.
Thick roots crossed the trail like veins under the skin, slick with morning dew.
She planted her boots carefully and found her groove.
The forest sounds settled around them with birdsong high in the canopy, the rustle of something small moving through underbrush, and the steady percussion of their footsteps on packed earth.
Zeus circled back, his tongue lolling and eyes bright. He nudged Maddox's hand with his nose, then broke away again, chasing whatever scent pulled him off the path.
"He's showing off," Jade called ahead.
Maddox glanced back, and there it was—that small smile that still caught Jade off guard. Not the careful, controlled expression from those first therapy sessions together, something real. "He knows you're watching."
The trail leveled out briefly, and Jade closed the distance between them. Maddox slowed without being asked, matching her pace. They fell into step, shoulders nearly brushing.
"How are you feeling?" Jade asked.
Maddox paused, and Jade waited. That was new. A few months ago, Maddox would've deflected immediately.
"Good. Tired, but good tired."
"Carla working you hard?"
"EMDR's no joke." Maddox's jaw tightened slightly, then released. "We did another session on the warehouse call on Tuesday."
Jade nodded, but she didn't push. She trusted that Maddox would tell her more when she was ready.
They walked in comfortable silence for a while. That was new too. The silence didn't feel loaded anymore. There were no walls between them, just the easy quiet of two people who didn't need to fill every moment with words.
The trail steepened again, and Jade focused on the climb. Her calves protested, and she ignored them. Beside her, Maddox's breathing stayed steady and controlled. Even now, she moved like someone who could ruck twenty miles without breaking a sweat.
Zeus appeared on a boulder ahead, surveying his domain. He barked once playfully and launched himself down to greet them.
"Show-off," Maddox muttered, but her hand went automatically to his head, scratching behind his ears in his favorite spot. The gesture was loose, unguarded, different from the careful control Jade had watched her maintain those first few months.
Jade watched them together, the ease that existed between them now. Zeus leaned into Maddox's leg, tail wagging, and Maddox's whole posture softened. Then Zeus turned those intelligent eyes on Jade, prancing over with that bounce in his step that meant he'd decided she was worth greeting.
"Hey, buddy." Jade crouched, let him sniff her hands, then rubbed the thick fur at his neck. He licked her cheek—quick and affectionate—and she laughed. "Yeah, I missed you too."
When she looked up, Maddox was watching them, something warm and open in her expression.
"What?" Jade asked.
"Nothing." But Maddox's mouth quirked. "He just really likes you."
"The feeling's mutual."
They kept climbing. The forest thinned as they gained elevation, glimpses of sky appearing through the trees. Jade's shirt stuck to her back as the sweat cooled in the morning air. Her water bottle was half-empty already, and she realized that she should've brought more.
Maddox pulled ahead slightly, then stopped at a switchback, waiting. When Jade reached her, Maddox offered her water bottle without a word.
"Thanks." Jade drank, then passed it back, their fingers brushing briefly. But Maddox's touch lingered just a second longer than necessary.
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 dog panting 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.
Inside, the house smelled like brewed coffee from this morning and the faint cedar scent Maddox used in her laundry. It was familiar now and signaled to her brain, and heart, that she was home. Jade toed off her hiking boots by the door and peeled off her socks, stuffing them inside.
"Shower first?" Maddox asked, already moving toward the hallway.
"Please."
The bathroom was small but functional, and they'd figured out how to share the space. Maddox turned on the water, testing the temperature. Jade stripped off her hiking clothes and dropped them in the hamper that had somehow become half hers over the past few weeks.
Steam filled the room. Maddox stepped under the spray first, tilting her head back, and Jade followed. The water was hot enough to sting her skin, washing away sweat and trail dust. Maddox's hands found her waist, pulling her close under the stream.
They didn't rush. Jade closed her eyes as Maddox’s fingers threaded through her hair and she luxuriated in the mini scalp massage.
They traded the shampoo, and Jade ran her fingers through Maddox’s cropped hair that was starting to grow out a little, then returned the scalp massage, making sure to get that spot at the base of her neck where she knew Maddox held a lot of tension and scratching just the way she liked.
When Maddox rinsed her hair, Jade let the water beat down on her sore muscles, loosening them up.