Lacey ignored the stares from the customers as she looked around the small restaurant and smiled. She missed Amarillo's. It is the closest sit down restaurant to her house. Lacey's family used to come here all the time, but Lacey hadn't been here for months...ever since her accident.
Lacey looked over her shoulder at Slade. He was looking around at the small town atmosphere of Amarillo's. There were a few tables made from old pallets. Mason jars were hanging from the ceiling; lightbulbs were in the jars, making a beautiful chandelier. The wooden floor still creaked with every step you took. There were only two booths in the small restaurant; each seat in the booths were different, but had one thing in common: they were bench seats from old trucks. All the other seats at the tables were either bar stools or mismatched chairs from yard sales, thrift stores, donations, etc.
     The same old jukebox was in the corner, still playing old, classic country songs. Each table's centerpiece were still the old cowboy boots with fake flowers in them.
     Lacey noticed that Slade took his cowboy hat off once they stepped inside the tiny restaurant. Telling Slade to follow her, Lacey led Slade to the same exact table that she had sat at every time that she came here. Lacey grabbed the chair that was there and moved it to the side so her wheelchair would fit underneath the table. She hadn't realized that she was staring at the chair, reminiscing on the innumerable times that she had walked herself in here and sat down in that exact chair. Her and Jeremy had had so many dates here, sitting at this exact table.
     Lacey felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Slade. He had a concerned look on his face. "Y'all right?" He asked Lacey.
     "Yeah." Lacey smiled. Slade had that affect on her, she was finding out. He could make her smile at the times when she felt like crying. He was so sweet and caring too, which Lacey loved.
     "Awesome." Slade smiled his famous smile then took a seat across from Lacey at the table.
     Lacey was about to wheel herself from the table and to the bathroom when she heard someone calling her name from across the room. Slade and Lacey both looked in the direction of the voice. Lacey smiled and saw Paige. Paige, Brooke, and Lacey had been best friends since childhood, but after Lacey's accident, Paige and her lost touch because Lacey stopped coming to Amarillo's.
     "Lacey?" Paige said again from across the room.
    Lacey smiled and nodded. Paige squealed and practically dropped the plates and drinks that she was holding down to the customers table and ran over to Lacey. She bent down to engulf Lacey in a huge bear hug.
    "I'm so happy to see you!" Paige said, practically squealing. She pulled back, but quickly hugged Lacey again. "It's been so long!" Pulling back, Paige stood up straight. "How have you been? I've missed you so much. I got a new phone and lost your number and your folks have come in several times, but we've been really busy and so I didn't have time to ask them for your number. And I keep meaning to come over to your house, but like I said, we've been super busy and, oh, I got accepted into the college that I wanted and oh I can't wait to tell my parents that you're here. I have to go tell them now!" Paige was talking so fast that Lacey could barely understand what she was saying. Before Lacey could even move a muscle, Paige ran off to the kitchen to get her parents.
     Lacey laughed at her friend. She certainly missed Paige. It had been way to long and they had so much to catch up on. For the short time that Paige was gone, fetching her parents, Lacey was thinking about how she was glad that her accident didn't seem to put any kind of dent on their relationship, just like it had with her and Jeremy.
     "Lacey Ferry, it is so good to see you! It has certainly been way to long." Paige's mom said and bent down to give Lacey a hug.
     Paige's dad, the quiet one of the family, smiled at Lacey and said, "Good to see you." And gave Lacey a friendly pat on the shoulder. He then turned and walked back to his kitchen.
     Paige's mom opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when the customers behind her called for her attention.
     "So what are you doin' here today?" Paige asked, holding her order pad in her folded hands against her legs. "I didn't mean that like it sounded, I'm just so happy that you are here. Like actually here. It's so good to see you!" Paige hugged Lacey and said against her shoulder, "Ugh I missed you so much!"
     "I missed you too." Lacey said honestly. She needed her bubbly Paige fix; she was right, it had been too long since they'd seen each other last.
     Pulling back, and standing up straight, Paige said, "Well, unfortunately, I do have to get back to work, so what can I get you to drink?" Paige scoffed and threw her hands into the air as she said, "Why am I even asking? You're just goin' to have the usual aren't you? Of course you are."
     Paige scribbled down something on her order pad and looked like she was about to walk away until Lacey said to Slade, "Slade, what do you want to drink?"
     Paige turned back to the table and looked at Slade. "So sorry I almost missed you. I was just so excited to see my sister Lacey that I almost don't see you. What do you want to drink hon?"
     "Uh, I'll just take a peach sweet tea with lemon." Slade said.
     "Oh how perfect, y'all are getting the same thang. Awesome. Okay. Well, I'm goin' to go get y'all's drinks for you then." Paige said and turned back around.
     Lacey watched Paige bounce away, and when she drew her eyes back to the table, she noticed Slade looking directly at her and smiling. "What?" Lacey asked, her turn to smile.
"Your friend there..." Slade started. He sat back in his chair. "She's certainly a character, huh?" He winked at Lacey.
     "Hey, don't make fun of my friends. Paige and I have been friends since we were kids. I know she can be a bit much, but once you get to meet her, she's not so overwhelming."
     "Oh no, I think shes great. I'm pretty sure I just heard her entire life story in the thirty seconds that she was standing here, and that includes the time that she went and got her parents."
     Lacey laughed. "When Paige gets excited about things, she talks as fast as lighting. Once you've known her for as long as I have, it becomes easier to decipher. She can also be a bit oblivious when shes that excited."
     "Yeah I noticed. Neither Paige nor her parents even recognized I was here until you said something. I didn't even know Paige's name until you said it just now." Slade smiled.
     Paige walked up to their table holding two mason jars of peach sweet tea with lemon. She set one down in front of Slade and one in front of Lacey. "K, Laceylace, it's Friday. It's lunchtime. Same old same old?" Paige pointed her pen at Lacey.
     "You got it." Lacey said, winking at Paige.
     Paige wrote down Lacey's order then turned to Slade. "And for you?"
     "I'll have-"
     "I don't think we've met yet." Paige interrupted Slade to extend her hand. "Hi. I'm Paige. And you are?"
     "I'm Slade. It's a pleasure to meet you." Slade smiled his cockeyed smile that showed his dimples.
     "The pleasure is all mine." Paige said, smiling. She looked down at Slade's and her hands. Paige was still vigorously shaking his hand. She dropped her hand from his quickly and cleared her throat. "So, uh, Slade, what will you like to eat?"
     "I'll just have whatever she's havin'."
     Paige looked at Lacey. "Extra everything on his." Lacey told Paige.
     Paige smiled and wrote the order down on her pad. "That's so cute! You two getting exactly the same thing! Okay, well, I have to check on the other tables, but I promise I'll get your orders placed ASAP."
     "It's fine, P, no rush." Lacey said, smiling at her crazy friend.
     Slade took Lacey's menu from her and handed them to Paige. "Thank you." Paige took the menus and smiled a slightly flirty smile to Slade.
     Once Paige walked away from the table, Slade looked at Lacey and asked, "Uh, what did I just order?"
     "Don't worry; you'll like it." Lacey smiled.
     "I hope so. Everything on the menu looks so good, I didn't know what to choose, and so I'm glad that you've been here enough times before that you know what to get."
     "I used to come here all the time. So many good memories started here." Lacey looked around the tiny restaurant. Nothing had changed. The walls were lined with the same pictures and decorations that were there the last time that she stopped in. It had only been a few months, so she didn't really expect much to change, but it was comforting to Lacey to see everything was just how she has always remembered it.  
     "That's cool. It seems like a neat place. And Paige makes it even more...interesting..."
     Lacey looked back to Slade. "Haha. Very funny. Like I said, once you get to know Paige, she's not as bad."
     "Well, I never said that she was bad, but she just probably used more words in the five minutes that we've been here then I have used in a year."
     "She's a talker. That's for sure." Lacey smiled. "Hey, I'll be right back. I need to use the restroom." Lacey wheeled herself back from the table.
     "Wait, you weren't kiddin' in the truck when you said you had to go to the restroom?" Slade had a surprised look on his face.
     "No. I was serious. I really did need to use the restroom."
     "I thought that you were just sayin' that as an excuse so that you didn't have to admit that I won our singing contest...I'm sorry."
     "Nothin' to be sorry about; I'll be right back." Lacey said and wheeled away from the table and headed to the bathroom.
     When Lacey came back out, she saw Slade standing up, looking at the pictures and different paraphernalia on the walls. He stood with his hands in his hips, squinting at a picture. Lacey knew exactly which one it was.
     Lacey wheeled herself up beside Slade. He turned and smiled down at her. "Is this you?" He asked, pointing to the barrel racing picture of the first championship that Lacey won in barrel racing. She was seven.
     Lacey smiled at the memory. "Yeah. That's also why it has my name on the picture, hon." Lacey said, pointing to where her name was in the caption.
     "That's how I knew it was you." Slade said. He chucked slightly. "You were a cute kid."
     "Were?" Lacey asked with a smile, being half serious.
     "And you still are." Slade winked at Lacey.
     That wasn't the answer that Lacey was expecting, but it was better then what she did expect, she just hoped that Slade was serious.
     Lacey had never really been much of a flirt, but Jeremy liked it when she was flirty, so she often flirted with him, but it was unnatural for her...it just felt awkward in public. That being said, Lacey ducked her head so Slade wouldn't see her blush, then headed back to the table.
      Less then five minutes after they were seated again, Paige walked out with two plates of food. She handed the smaller meal to Lacey and gave Slade the bigger plate. Lacey watched Slade's reaction as Paige set the plate down in front of him. He seemed to be curious, but also as if the meal was mouthwatering.
     "Anything else I can get y'all?" Paige asked, her hands on her hips.
     "I think we are good, Paige. Thanks." Lacey said. Paige smiled and walked away.
     Lacey looked down to her plate with all the food on it. This meal was her favorite dish on the menu, well, it actually wasn't on the menu, but Paige's parents always made it special for her whenever she came to Amarillo's. The meal consisted of four ribs, a cornbread muffin, two barbecue wings, and special potato French fries/chips. Instead of the chips being cut off of the potato, the potato was sliced thin, but not off of the potato; it was then sprinkled with various spices. It was a large meal and Lacey hardly finished it all. Paige's parents constructed the meal because when Jeremy and Lacey would come in, they'd always get something different each time, but these food items were always Lacey's favorites, so after a while, Paige's parents created it just for her.
      Slade's meal was larger. Instead of four ribs, his had eight. His meal had two cornbread muffins, and four wings. It was essentially twice the size of Lacey's.
      Looking back up, Lacey saw Slade looking at her with his hands extended out. "Let's pray before we eat." He said, smiling at Lacey.
     Lacey nodded and slipped her hands into Slade's. She really wished that his hands didn't have to feel so natural in hers. As Slade prayed, Lacey tried hard to listen, but when he said "Amen" and gave her hands a little squeeze, Lacey realized that she had zoned out.
     "Amen." Lacey echoed and let go of Slade's warm, welcoming hands.
     "Let's dig in. This smells so good, and I'm starvin'." Slade said, picking up one of the pieces of ribs and taking a bite out of it. "Mm." Slade said and closed his eyes. "These are so good. These are by far the best ribs I've ever had." Slade said after the first bite.
     Lacey smiled. She knew how good they were; it was half the reason that she came here so often. Lacey grabbed one of her wings and took a bite out of it. Yep, still as good as ever.
     "Can I please be completely honest with you, Lace?" Slade asked Lacey after swallowing a bite of his cornbread muffin.
     "Sure." Lacey said, taking a bite of her potato.
     Slade folded his hands on the table. "I'm really glad that you are a Christian. And not just you, but your whole family." He paused to look at Lacey. They locked eyes, and Slade continued. "I haven't been a Christian for long, but I wish that I was. If I followed Jesus a year or two ago...well, my life could've been a lot more different. I would've lived with a more positive outlook and I probably wouldn't have gotten into a lot of the trouble and stuff that I did. And who knows, I might have been able to help my dad and to stop his..." Slade tried to play his comment off with a forced chuckle, but Lacey saw right trough it. He was starting to open up to her about his past. Lacey saw Slade's eyes glaze over at the mention of his past. This was the first time that Slade had ever mentioned his father, and Lacey wished that he would say more or at least finish his sentence, but he never did. Instead he said, "But now I realize the importance of bein' a Christian. I cannot change my past, as often as I wish I can, but I can certainly change my future and try hard to stay on the right path in the present."
     Lacey didn't realize that her and Slade were staring intently at each other in this tense moment until Lacey hear her name called.
     Forcing her eyes from Slade, Lacey looked over at Paige. She wondered how long she had been standing there. "I'm sorry; what?"
     "I asked if you wanted more peach sweet tea." Paige repeated her question.
     "Oh yeah, thanks." Lacey said, handing her mason jar to Paige.
     Turning to Slade, Paige asked him the same thing. Slade nodded his head, silently asking for a refill, and Paige took his mason jar as well. After Paige walked away from the table, Slade was quiet. He didn't say another word for a while.
     Lacey wondered if this was a good time to tell Slade that her faith walk with Jesus wasn't as strong as it was before her accident. She decided it wasn't the time, especially since Slade thinks she is walking close to God. Lacey was also wondering, since Slade mentioned little tidbits about his past, if now would be a good time to find out more about Slade and his background, but looking back up at Slade now with his jaw clenched, Lacey decided it wasn't a good time for that either. Slade opened up to Lacey some and when he was ready to talk more about what his life was before he came to work for Lacey's dad, he would bring it up himself without pressure from Lacey.
     "I'm glad that you're a Christian too, Slade." Lacey opted for, unsure of what else to say. She tried to give Slade a reinforcing smile, but that glaze over Slade's eyes didn't dare to melt away.
     Paige brought back Slade and Lacey's drinks, and Lacey expected her to wait on her other customers, but instead she pulled a chair up next to Slade and Lacey's table.
     "So, uh..." Paige stared, taking a seat in the chair. Lacey took a sip of her peach tea. "You two like on a date or something?" Lacey almost spit out her tea all over the table.
     She swallowed hard and coughed before she answered Paige's blunt question. "No. No, not at all. We just...we were..." Lacey stammered nervously. Of course her and Slade weren't on a date. They had hardly said more then five sentences to each other in the three weeks that Slade had worked for Zane. Lacey looked up at Slade for help. He just smiled at her and leaned back in his chair as if to say, "This is all you." Lacey looked away from not-so-helpful Slade and said to Paige, "I had physical therapy, and my parents and Ryder went to the store, so Slade had to take me to therapy. Then on the way back home, Slade decided he was hungry so we stopped here to get some grub. That's all. No...we aren't on a date." Lacey took another sip of her peach sweet tea to avoid Paige's gaze. Paige was the third person in two days who thought that Slade and Lacey were either dating or would make a cute couple. First Brooke, then Trevor, now Paige.
     "Oh..." Paige said, sounding disappointed. "Well, I think that y'all would make an adorable couple." She tried to whisper it, but Lacey knew that Slade heard it.
     Paige was also known to say exactly what she was thinking, even if it might not be the best thing to say at the time. "That's what my physical therapist said too." Lacey replied to her friend's straightforward comment.
     Slade almost choked on a piece of his rib meat. Lacey looked up at him. The glazed look over his eyes had faded. Judging by the look on his face, Slade "choked" on his meat because he was surprised by Lacey's comment. "Trevor said that? That we would make a cute couple?" Slade asked after taking a sip of his tea to wash down his rib meat.
     "Yeah. I almost dropped a dumbbell on his foot." Lacey said and chuckled at the memory.
     Slade chucked too. "That would make a pretty funny story to tell his doctor when he's the one who needs physical therapy." Slade was laughing hard now. Lacey found herself doing the same.
     "Well, I uh, have other tables to check up on, I'll be back in a bit." Paige said awkwardly, but neither Slade nor Lacey heard her over their laughing. Paige put the chair back to the table it belonged at and walked away.
     A few seconds later, Lacey wiped her eyes. Slade had made her laugh so hard that she was practically crying. "Oh, hey, before I forget, I wanted to ask you something."
     Slade's laugh slowed too. "Yeah what's up?"
     "Before we left for physical therapy, you texted me and said that you needed help in the barn...did you actually need help, or were you just tryin' to get me outside?" Lacey asked.
     "I actually needed your help." Slade said, taking a bite of food.
     Lacey felt bad. When Slade hadn't texted Lacey back right away, she was afraid that he actually did need help. "What did you need my help with?"
     "I was getting more hay bales from the hay barn and bringin' them into the horse barn, and I couldn't find the keys for the white truck." 
     "The white truck? You mean 'the bull'? Why did you want to drive that one?" Lacey asked, taking a bite of her food, chasing it down with a sip of her sweet tea. 
     "The white truck is 'the bull'? I thought that was the red one. Either way, your dad told me to drive the white one." Slade explained, wiping his fingers and mouth off on his napkin. 
     The truck had earned the nickname "the bull" because it had a lot of problems, but it still ran and could haul a lot in the bed, and could tow a huge trailer, too. But because of it's age, parts are hard to find; the power steering line is almost completely shot as well as the brake line. Occasionally, you would be driving it to get gas or through a pasture, and the engine would just quit. Lacey's dad had started calling it the "bull" because every time he drove it, he said it was "bull crap." More times than not, Zane had said he would sell the "dumb truck" for scraps, but the truck was still on the farm, being used. 
     "That's weird that he had you drive that one. Probably because you can haul more in that truck than some of our other ones. Either way, did you look in the tool room for the key?" Lacey asked.
     "I did. They weren't on the peg board where the other ones were. I finally found them underneath the seat in the cab."
     "That's strange. They have always been hanging up on the cork board right inside the tool room to the left. I wonder why they weren't there. I know that the keys to our daily drive trucks we keep inside, but the work trucks keys we always keep in the barn. Remind me once we get back to the ranch and I'll-" Lacey stopped herself before she finished her sentence. She was just about to suggest that she go out to the barn with Slade to help him look for the other truck keys once they got back to the ranch. No, she refused to go out to the barn.
     Lacey expected Slade to ask her to finish her sentence, but he didn't. They dropped the matter, and Slade and Lacey finished eating their meal, and said goodbye to Paige and her family. Paige's mom insisted on paying for Slade and Lacey's meal as long as "y'all come back soon."
     Lacey wheeled herself outside of the restaurant and to Slade's truck just fine, but she did not turn down Slade's offer to help her into his truck. As always, Lacey set the brakes on her wheelchair, and Slade slipped one arm behind Lacey's shoulders and the other under her knees. He carefully set Lacey into the passenger side seat of his truck, folded up Lacey's wheelchair, and after setting it into the bed, Slade jumped up behind the steering wheel.

     Once they were on he road, Slade said, "That was so good. Thank you for suggesting that we go there. I will definitely go back there."
     "Amarillo's has always had good food, and I'm not just sayin' that because I grew up with the owners daughter. My family used to go to Amarillo's all the time, but I haven't gone for several months. Before my accident, we were so busy with calving and branding and rodeos that we had no time away from the ranch." Lacey said. She looked over at Slade. Something changed between them from the drive to physical therapy to now, the drive back home. Sure, Slade was still the most attractive man that Lacey had ever seen, and she still liked him, even though she wouldn't admit that to herself, but now when she looked at Slade, she looked at him as more of a friend, and less as a crush.
     "So, what exactly did I order? I didn't see anything like it on the menu." Slade said, casting a quick glance over to Lacey.
     "Well, that's because it's not on the menu."

     Slade gave Lacey a look, so Lacey explained herself. "For as long as I can remember, I have always gotten ribs at Amarillo's. Well, a few years ago, Jeremy and I went to Amarillo's and he would always get something different off of the menu, and one day he got the barbecue wings, and he made me try one, so I did and thought that they were delicious. From that time on, Jeremy and I would spilt a full slab of ribs and a half dozen barbecue wings. Eventually, Paige's dad just combined the two along with two sides and got the meal that we had tonight. It's my favorite meal there. I hope you liked it."
     "Oh I loved it. I haven't had barbecue in a long time. It was nice to get out and enjoy a sit down meal as well."

     "Well, I'm glad. If you keep coming back, you'll become a regular and then Paige's parents will start makin' you special stuff and give you free food as well."

     "Well, that's great news because I fully intend on goin' back there a lot more, and I love free stuff too." Slade winked at Lacey. 

     Slade drove Lacey back to the ranch and helped Lacey out of the truck and to her wheelchair. Once Lacey was carefully situated in her wheelchair, she began to wheel herself back to the safety and shelter of the house. Lacey stopped when she heard Slade calling her name back by his truck.
     "Do you mind showin' me where the keys to the other work trucks are?" Slade asked, pointing his thumb backwards.
     Lacey looked behind Slade and into the barn. The place where she used to spend all of her time at, but now she wouldn't even dare to enter. Just as she was about to reject Slade and give a lame excuse as to why she couldn't go into the barn, she thought about her and Brooke's conversation a couple nights ago. Brooke was trying to convince Lacey to at least just go outside when Slade offered. Well, she was already outside, so that was improvement. Before fear could cloud her judgement and change her mind, Lacey replied to Slade. "Yeah." She said quietly.
     Lacey followed Slade into the barn. She was immediately bombarded with bad memories of her accident a year ago. Her hands automatically went to the wheels on her wheelchair and everything in her screamed for her to turn around and go back to the house, lock the door, and never come out again. However, before Lacey could give into her fear, she felt herself moving her wheelchair forward and into the barn.
     Trying her best to not look at the horse stalls, or listen to the horses nickers, or even smell the wonderful smell of the barn, Lacey kept her head down and wheeled into the tool room behind Slade.
     What she saw didn't quite surprise her. There were three sets of keys each hanging on their own thumb tack on the peg board. Each key had a label of some sort above it telling which truck the key belonged to. Lacey rolled over to the peg board and grabbed a set of keys. She made a face at Slade and shook the keys in front of his face. "They're right here."
     Slade removed his cowboy hat to run a hand through his hair. "Oh yeah. Silly me. Somebody must have put them back there this morning. Well, thanks. Now I know where they are." Slade said awkwardly. He stood right where he was. Lacey watched his beautiful blue eyes look from the ground to the aisle way of the barn multiple times. "Is there any other place where y'all keep the keys?" Slade asked, placing his hat back on his head.
     Lacey pulled out the middle small plastic drawer on the tool bench that contained a few keys. "We keep random keys in here. Most of these are to our old trucks that we no longer have or do have, but are in need of major repairs. All of the keys for the tractors and other mechanical equipment are in the top drawer here. They are all labeled." Lacey looked around the average size tool room. Nothing had changed except for a few new tools and such. "It's still a mess in here, but feel free to sort through it all to find what you need. It's all in here, you just might have to dig pretty deep. I was fixin' to clean it out, but never quite got around to it."
     "Well maybe that can be our new project. Cleanin' out and organizing the tool room." Slade said with a smile on his face.
     Lacey just nodded. What made Slade think that she would continue to come outside? Today was a rare occurrence. Nothing had changed just because she went out to the barn to show Slade where something was.
     Slade noticed Lacey's hesitation and he lowered his head in defeat as he said, "I'll walk you back to the house."
     Lacey was already wheeling herself out of the tool room. She never once looked at any of the stalls for fear she would see one of the horses and freak out. Slade silently followed Lacey to the house.
     Once they were inside, Lacey exhaled and closed her eyes in relief.
     "You okay, Lace?" Slade asked behind Lacey.
     "I just realized that we never got dessert at Amarillo's. I think we have some ice cream in the freezer. Do you want some?" Lace asked, avoiding Slade's question. She was already halfway to the kitchen.
     Slade sighed. "Sure." He replied and crossed the room.
     Lacey busied herself in the kitchen. She first wheeled to the fridge and opened the freezer to make sure that they actually did have ice cream. Once she found the hardly eaten carton of ice cream, Lacey turned to the cabinets to grab bowls.
     Lacey opened the cupboard where the bowls and plates were kept. There were no clean bowls, at least not within her reach. Lacey mumbled to herself as she stretched as far as she could, using her right arm to push herself up to reach deeper into the cabinet. Slade came up beside Lacey, but didn't say or do anything. Lacey looked up at him as she retreated her arm from the difficult search for two ice cream bowls. Letting Slade look in the cupboard, Lacey moved her wheelchair slightly to the left to make room for him. Slade looked deep into the cupboard, and smiling, he brought down one huge bowl and handed it to Lacey. It was big enough to fit a large watermelon. Lacey chuckled slightly.
     "Funny. But that's too big." Lacey rolled her eyes at Slade.
     "What? You were lookin' for a bowl; I got you a bowl." Slade replied.
     Lacey smiled and jerked her head back in the direction of the cabinets. "Put it back."
     Slade nodded and put the obnoxious bowl back on the top shelf of the cupboards. "There's no small bowls in here. Only mixin' bowls."
     "Okay." Lacey shrugged and grabbed two spoons out of the silverware drawer then placed them, along with the carton of ice cream, on her lap then rolled into the living room. When she realized that Slade wasn't following her, she looked over her shoulder with raised eyebrows.
     "I'd best be gettin' back to work." Slade said, turning towards the door.
     "You don't want to come as eat some ice cream with me? I can't eat all of this by myself." Lacey said, a slight mischievous smile on her face.
     Slade breathed out a chuckle. "Okay." He replied and met Lacey in the living room. Once he was in there, Lacey handed him the ice cream and spoons then set the brakes on her wheelchair. Like she'd done a million times, Lacey carefully slid herself onto the couch. Once safely seated, Lacey patted the open spot next to her on the couch. Slade sunk down next to Lacey. As he shifted, Lacey noticed Slade wince and was favoring one side. His hand went to his ribs.
     "You okay?" Lacey asked, taking the ice cream from him.
     "Yeah." He forced a smile. "Just a little sore."
     "Is that where Smokey kicked you the other day?" Lacey opened the ice cream container.
     "Yeah. He got me good." Slade took his hand off of his side.
     "Where does it hurt most?" Lacey asked and reached out to feel his ribs.
     "Right here." Slade said. He grabbed Lacey's hand and placed it on the rib that was most sore. Slade rested his other arm against the back of the couch.
     Lacey tried to ignore the fact that they were holding hands when she pushed a finger on to his rib. "Right here?"
     Slade winced at the pressure. "Yeah." He replied, trying to conceal the pain. Lacey felt around that area to see if there were any more ribs that hurt Slade. Lacey's finger strayed upon skin that felt different from the rest. Even through Slade's shirt material, Lacey could tell that Slade had a large scar in that area. Her eyes drifted upward and met Slade's gaze. Lacey's face must've shown question because Slade said, trying to be nonchalant, "Tried to jump a barbed wire fence." But Lacey wasn't convinced. She saw Slade's eyes glaze over the way they did whenever he was thinking about his childhood.
     Lacey nodded. "Tell me if any of this hurts." Lacey changed the subject back to Slade's ribs.
After Lacey thoroughly checked Slade's left side, she came to the conclusion that there was only one rib that gave Slade severe pain, but the one above and below it was also sore. "I think that you broke a rib. You really should get it checked out by a doctor." Lacey diagnosed.
     "I'm fine, Lace. No need to worry. Besides, when you fell against me when I was helping you into my truck today was when I noticed that my side hurt."
     "Oh, so you're sayin' that your potential broken rib is my fault?"
     "What? No. I was just sayin' that..."
     Lacey chuckled. "I know what you were sayin', Slade. I'm just teasing you." Lacey replied and then looked around the living room. "You want to watch a movie or something?"
     "Yeah sure. Just tell me where they are." Slade said, getting up from the couch.
     Lacey pointed to a door in the wooden cupboards surrounding the television. Slade opened the door revealing a bunch of DVD's. Looking over his shoulder, Slade asked Lacey, "Do you have a preference?"
     "Nope. Just as long as it's a good movie." Lacey replied.
     "Oh, so it's up to me then?" Slade teased and searched around the stash until he made his selection. "How's this one sound?" Slade asked and held up the movie for Lacey to see.
Lacey read the title. "Never seen it."
     "It's a good one." Slade said, movie in hand. He closed the cabinet door and walked over to the DVD player. "It's a comedy movie." Slade put the DVD into the player and handed the remote to Lacey before rejoining her on the couch.
     As Lacey turned on the television, she noticed Slade slowly lowering himself onto the couch. "Are you sure you don't want ice or anything?" Lacey asked.
     "I'm sure. But I do want some of this ice cream." Slade said. And with that he took a spoonful of ice cream and tasted it. "This is some good ice cream. Where is it from?" He asked, taking another bite.
     Lacey fiddled with the controls until she got the DVD to play. "Uh, it's a local family who raises dairy cattle, and so they use their own milk to make homemade ice cream. It's only sold at the family's little shop at their farm and at fairs and conventions and such."
     "It's delicious." Slade said, taking another spoonful.
     "This is my favorite flavor. You're lucky because I never let anyone eat my ice cream." Lacey said, taking a bite for herself.
     "Aw, I feel so special." Slade said dramatically and placed one hand over his heart. 
     "Actually, this is Willie's ice cream." Lacey replied when she looked at the label on the container again.
     "Oh, so I'm not special, then?" Slade said teasingly, giving Lacey a look.
     Lacey reached a hand up to pat Slade's cheek. "No, honey, you are still special." 
     "Good." Slade replied, and slung an arm around the back of the couch. His hand fell onto Lacey's shoulder.
    Lacey looked at him out of the corner of her eye. They were close, but not very close. Lacey skipped all the previews on the DVD and went straight to the menu screen. She got the movie to play and noticed that Slade had to reach a little ways in order to reach the ice cream carton. She scooted closer to him...only so the ice cream carton was closer, no other reason.
     Slade was right about the movie. It was a good one, and it was hilarious. Lacey hadn't laughed that hard about anything for a very long time...way before her accident, that's for sure. When Slade laughed at a certain part in the movie, Lacey noticed that he was the one who made her laugh. Ever since he started working there, Lacey had felt emotionally better, as if her spirits had been lifted. It was almost like her parents didn't encourage her to do as much as she should because they were worried that she would get hurt again, but Slade, Slade encouraged Lacey to get out and do stuff, trying to help her. 
     Laughter wasn't the only thing that Lacey noticed when the movie ended. The container of ice cream that was full at the beginning of the movie was now completely empty. Slade looked down at it. "Sorry about the ice cream. It was really good."
     "It's okay." Lacey said. She noticed how close he was to her. So close that now his hand landed on her waist, instead of her shoulder. Lacey saw in her peripheral vision that Slade was further from the arm rest of the sofa then he was in the beginning of the movie, which told Lacey that he was the one who scooted closer to her, not vice versa.
     "Maybe tomorrow we go get you some more of this ice cream, how's that sound?" Slade asked.
     "Fine by me." Lacey shrugged, trying not to sound too excited.
     "How about on my lunch break tomorrow?"
     "Lunch break? You don't have a lunch break. Well, I mean not really because you always work through lunch." Lacey set the empty ice cream carton and their two spoons beside her on the couch.
     "Well tomorrow will be an exception then." There was that starry-eyed look and that cute half grin. 
     "Sounds good." Lacey could feel Slade's thumb gently rubbing her side. She inadvertently looked down at it.
     Slade followed her gaze, but didn't stop making little circles. Looking back to Lacey, Slade said, "I had a lot of fun with you today."
     "It was fun. Today was the first time that I had gone anywhere besides physical therapy or the doctors office for a while. It was good to get out."
     "I'm glad. I honestly hope that I get to take you out more and get you to come outside more often. You're a lot of fun, Lace. I don't think you realize how much your face lights up when you're in the barn. I know that deep down you miss it. The short time that we were outside was the happiest I've ever seen you." Slade says. Lacey smiled, and Slade continued, "And also, please smile more. You're smile lights up the whole room...you're really you when you're smiling and you're beautiful." Lacey blushed at Slade's flattering comment. She looked down at her lap to try to hide her blushing from Slade. Slade laid two warm, calloused fingers under Lacey's chin and brought her face back up to look him in the eyes. He gave her a look. "I'm serious, Lace. You're beautiful. I have a feeling that you haven't heard that a lot recently, but it's true." Slade's voice was quiet. With his fingers still on Lacey's chin, Slade slowly leaned in to kiss Lacey. Before they got too close, Slade looked into Lacey's eyes, and asked honestly, "Are you okay with this, Lace?"
     Lacey couldn't find words to tell him just how okay she was with it, so she just nodded. They slowly leaned in, but before their lips could meet, the sound of a door opening behind them, then voices, made them quickly pull away.
     Lacey gave Slade a look, but tried not to make it look like she was too disappointed. With his arm still around her, Slade whispered, "Later, I promise." He winked at her and Lacey chuckled awkwardly. Slade looked over Lacey's shoulder and saw her dad who gave Slade a cautious look. Slade jumped up from the couch and went over to Luella, who's arms were full with bags of groceries. "Here you go, let me help you with those." Slade said, taking the grocery bags from Lacey's mom.
     "Oh thank you, Slade." Luella said to Slade.
     "No problem." Slade placed the bags on the kitchen island and began putting them away. Zane walked over beside Slade as he was putting a gallon of milk in the fridge.
     "How did Lacey do in physical therapy?" Zane said, out of earshot of the living room where Lacey still sat.
     "Good. I guess." Slade grabbed another gallon of milk and put it in the fridge. "She didn't say much about it, sir." Slade said.
     "She never does." Zane mumbled. Then said louder, with a questioning tone in his voice, "What did y'all do after Lacey's therapy session?"
     "I treated her to lunch." Slade put some lunch meat in the refrigerator .
     "Where at?" Zane leaned against the counter beside the fridge and looked at Slade.
     "Amarillo's. Oh, Paige's parents told me to tell y'all hello." Slade said, putting a frozen pizza in the freezer.
     "Amarillo's?" Zane seemed to do some figuring in his head. He folded his arms across his chest. "Then where?"
     "Then, we came back here and I had Lacey show me where something was in the tool room in the barn." Slade stood and faced Zane and stopped putting away groceries momentarily so he could give Lacey's dad his full attention.
     Zane's arms dropped from his chest. "You got Lacey to go out into the barn?" Zane said, surprised.
     "Yeah. Why?" Slade asked, curious at the surprise in Zane's voice.
     Zane sighed and looked down then back up to Slade. "Luella and I, well and Willie and Ryder too, have all been tryin' to get Lacey to go in the barn, or at least outside since her accident. You're the only one who has been able to get her outside." Zane sighed. "And Amarillo's, Lacey hasn't been there since Jeremy and her broke up."
     "Jeremy?" Slade was suddenly jealous at the mention of Lacey's old boyfriend. Before Zane could answer, Lacey rolled into the kitchen.
     "'Scuse, me, men." She said and rolled over past Slade to put the two spoons that her and Slade used for their ice cream into the sink.
     As she rolled past Slade, she smiled a huge smile at him. What? He told her that she should smile more. She was just practicing it. Slade smiled back at her. Was that a little blush under those tan cheeks of Slade's, Lacey couldn't be so sure.
     "Then what'd y'all do?" Zane asked, putting a couple boxes of cereal in the pantry.
     "Sorry, what?" Slade said, snapping back to reality. He was thinking about when a good time would be to ask Lacey about Jeremy. He remembered that Lacey had mentioned him when they were eating lunch at Amarillo's, but he didn't think anything of it until now.
     Zane looked over his shoulder and smiled at Slade. "I asked y'all what you did once you came back in from the barn."
     "Oh, we just watched a movie...then y'all came home." Slade put away more groceries. Ryder ran past Slade and Zane to show Lacey his new lariat. Willie came in behind him carrying in more groceries. He nodded to Slade, but didn't say anything. Willie was very shy. Slade figured that out after working next to him for a few days. Slade nodded back and kept putting away groceries.
     Luella called Zane from another room, but before he went to his wife, Zane said to Slade, "Sometime tonight I'd like you to fix the pasture gate in the north pasture and before you fix it, move those cows into the adjacent pasture. You can use the Gator since you'll be needin' tools. Ryder was askin' to help you, do you mind?"
     "No, sir. I appreciate Ryder's company. We'll get it done, sir." Slade replied.
     Sometime after the groceries were put away, Slade went into the living room where Lacey was reading a book. "Hey, I'm headin' back out to the barn. Your dad needs me to fix a gate in the north pasture. He asked me to take Ryder. You seen him?"
     "Check outside. He said he was fixin' to test out his new rope." Lacey looked over the top of the book she was reading.
     Slade chuckled. "Okay. Thanks. I'll see you at dinner tonight."
    "Absolutely." Lacey smiled.
     Slade began to walk away, but Lacey stopped him. "Hey, Slade?" Slade turned back around at his name. "Thank you so much for today. I can't tell you how much it meant to me."
     "No problem, Lacey. Tomorrow can be the same way if you let me treat you to a surprise." Slade had a look.
      "Oh, and what do you have in mind?" Lacey asked, closing her book to give Slade her full attention.
     "If I tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise. So, you'll just have to wait and see." Slade winked at Lacey, then headed outside.
     Events of the last several hours flooded Lacey's mind. What happened between her and Slade today? I mean, they just about kissed...
     Lacey tried to read her book instead of thinking about Slade, but her mind kept floating back to that man who had surprises in every nook and cranny.