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Mac came up behind her and set a cold bottle of water beside her hand. “Drink.”

She picked it up automatically and took several swallows, noticing he’d added electrolytes. His face was streaked with dust, his T-shirt darker with sweat between his shoulder blades, but he looked steady. Tired, certainly. Not overheated. Not sick⁠—

“Oh my God.” She nearly dropped her water bottle.

Mac glanced down at himself. “What? Do I have a spider on me?” He started patting his chest. “Good thing Charlie’s not here.”

Jodie surprised herself with a laugh. “No, no spider. And Charlie would not appreciate you making fun of her arachnophobia. Or even knowing about it, honestly.”

“Then what is it, Jodie?”

“It’s just… I didn’t worry about you today.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “Not once?”

“Not once.” The realization made her stomach twist. “I didn’t check whether you were drinking enough water. I didn’t ask if you needed to get out of the heat. I didn’t even notice when you took breaks. Did you take breaks?”

“Yes, of course I did, Jodie.”

“Oh my God.” She put the water bottle down. “After everything we talked about last night, I completely ignored you.”

Mac chuckled. “You didn’t ignore me.”

“Yes, I did! I didn’t check on you at all. I totally neglected you.”

“No.” Mac stepped closer. “You didn’t.”

She looked up at him.

“I took breaks. I stayed in the shade when I could, and when I got too hot, I stopped and cooled down. I drank water, with electrolytes.” His voice softened. “I’m fine, baby.”

The strange part was that Jodie believed him.

She didn’t need to touch his forehead, grill him on how much water he’d had, or mentally replay the day looking for something she might have missed.

“I knew you’d take care of yourself,” she said, her voice filled with wonder. All day, while she’d been watching Jet and Bramble and Frost and Rosie, Mac had simply existed somewhere in the background of her mind, cataloged as safe.

She loved him, and she hadn’t spent the day afraid for him. Because she didn’t need to be.

Jodie stood there for a second, letting that thought settle.

“Jodie?”

“I knew you’d be okay without me fussing over you. That feels really weird.”

He eyed her uncertainly. “Bad weird?”

She shook her head. “No. Really good weird.”

Mac reached for her hand. “Good. Because right now, you’re the one who needs looking after.”

Her eyes filled before she could stop them.

Oh, hell.

She let go of his hand. “Sorry. I need to wash my face.” Jodie grabbed a washcloth from their things and carried it to the water jug beside the tent, aware that Mac was silently following her. She wet it, wrung it out, and pressed the cool cloth over her eyes and cheeks. When she pulled it away, the light-blue cloth was brown with dust.

For no reason she could explain, she saw Jet. Black coat turned dull beneath the dirt. Head high. Fighting to circle back toward his mares and his foal.