Is this normal behavior for a teenage girl?
A couple of years back my brother started dating his old high school crush. She has a ten year old son and a seventeen year old daughter. As far as I'm concerned they're my niece and nephew. If I'm doing work for my brother and his girlfriend at their house I'll talk to the son a little when he gets home from school, we play chess at my parents' house, it's basically like those kids were born into the family.
The daughter is, for the most part, an average teenager. Since I'm less than five years younger than her mother (she's 36, I'm 32) as far as she's concerned I'm just some old guy. Typical teenage stuff.
But lately she seems to be getting a little more "touchy-feely." I was cutting brush for her mother yesterday and one of her goats got tangled up. Since her mother was still at work I helped the daughter with the goat. I was holding the goat down and she put her hand on mine. She didn't move mine and she didn't press down to show me how much pressure to use so she wasn't correcting me.
Then later I needed a paper towel to wipe some spilled bar oil off of the chainsaw. I knocked on the door, asked her for one, and she came back a few seconds later. All she needed to do was hold it by one end so I could grab the other but she folded it up and when handing it to me put her hand in mine.
Is this a possible teenage crush? If it is should I nip it in the bud or let it run its course?
Could it just be a sign that she's accepting me as family? She's pretty affectionate with her brother and I've seen her walk with her arm around her blood uncle.
Normally I would think I'm just reading too much into it but this is a complete 180. She went from acting like she was disgusted just being in the same room with me to seemingly going out of her way to touch my hand between Easter and yesterday.