"Honey, I'm home." A deep drawl called out into the house. With a smile on her face, Lacey rolled out of the kitchen to greet the only person with a voice like that. 

      "Hey, handsome. Welcome home." She greeted Slade. Her smile faded slightly when he walked towards her, sweaty and covered in mud. "No. You are not gettin' a hug from me lookin' like that." She chuckled, pointing a finger at Slade. When he walked a little closer to her, she added, "Slade, seriously, I already took a shower today." 

      "I don't get a hug or anything from you? I've missed my girlfriend so much, though." Slade teased.

       "No. I'm sorry. I've missed you too, but I ain't huggin' you or anything until you get cleaned up." Pinching her nose between two fingers, Lacey said, "And you smell horrible, too."

      Slade stopped creeping towards Lacey to tease, "If you no longer love the smell of cattle, then sweetheart, you've been out of ranching for far too long." 

      Lacey rolled towards the door, silently telling Slade to follow her. "No, you do not smell like cattle, because I love that smell. You, my dear, smell like sweat and cat pee. Now go take a shower." She opened the door for Slade, motioning for him to go outside and to his loft to take a shower. 

      Slade, however, made no motion to go outside. "Do I get a hug from you if I go take a shower?" 

      Lacey made a face and tilted her head side to side, playfully contemplating it. "Maybe."

      Bending down beside Lacey, Slade leaned in really close to her and whispered in her ear, "Please?" His breath tickled her neck as he softly placed a kiss right beneath her ear. 

      At that time, Lacey didn't care how bad he smelled, or that he was tracking mud, hair, and dirt in the house; she just wanted him close to her. Reaching a hand up to his cheek that was still inches from hers, Lacey said, "Okay, fine. You can give me a hug, but only after you take a shower."

      Lacey could feel Slade smile as he landed another kiss under her ear before pulling away to look her in the eyes. "Do I get to cuddle with you on the couch later, too?" Slade's dimples began peaking through on one of his cheeks when he asked. 

      "Don't push it, cowboy." Lacey winked. "Why are you so flirty today?" She asked him, not minding it one bit.

       "You know, I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that you bring that out of me, in a good way. And I really missed you when your dad and I was away at the auction." Bending down, Slade placed his hands on the arm rests on either side of Lacey. In a quiet voice, Slade smiled, "I'm so excited to snuggle with you later." 

       Letting out a chuckle, Lacey put her hands on Slade's well toned chest, pushing him away from her. "Go take a shower, stinky. I have to make supper." 

       "But I'm not hungry." Slade whined.

       "You just told me on the phone that you were starvin'. You're already stinky, if you don't eat, you're gonna be grouchy, and I know that you're sleepy, so there's another." 

      "I don't think that stinky is one of Snow White's dwarf's." Slade retreated. "But you make me really happy, but if you don't hang out with me later, then I'll be dopey, and have to call Doc. Boom, there's three more dwarfs." 

      Rolling her eyes, Lacey played, "Get out of here and go take a shower. Supper will be ready in an hour." Before Slade could protest, Lacey rolled herself away from the door, closing it behind her.

       "Was that Slade, honey?" Luella asked when Lacey got back into the kitchen. With a smile, Lacey nodded her head. 

      "He could have come in and helped us cook supper." Luella wiped a hand over her forehead in an attempt to get some of the hair off her face.

       With a chuckle, Lacey replied, "Trust me, you don't want him in here. He is covered head to toe in mud and sweat and all of that stuff. And he smells like a football locker room." Luella didn't reply. Instead, she just smiled at her daughter. "What?" Lacey asked her mom.

       "You used to love that smell. What's changed?" She opened the oven door to remove the foil off the pan of asparagus that was in the oven. 

       "Nothing has changed at all. I still love it as much as always. I just don't want that smell in my house, and I already took a shower today." Lacey explained, opening up the fridge to pull out the pitcher of sweet tea. 

       Lacey's mom just replied with a chuckle. Grabbing the plate of steaks, tongs, and some seasonings, Luella motioned for Lacey to follow her outside to the patio where their grill was. After grabbing two mason jars for the tea, Lacey followed her mom outside. 

      As the steaks were cooking, Lacey and her mom sat on the patio sipping their sweet tea and laughing at stupid things. In the distance, Lacey saw Slade walking out of the barn in a cut off t-shirt and worn Wrangler jeans with his cowboy boots. Once he was outside, Slade slipped on his Oakley sunglasses, shielding his eyes from the hot, bright sun.

      Once he got closer to the patio, Lacey could see his bright white teeth flashing in a smile as he made eye contact with her. "Hey there, beautiful." Slade greeted, bending down to place a kiss on Lacey's forehead, instantly making her blush. Grabbing her right hand in his left, Slade took a seat beside Lacey on the edge of the picnic table. 

       "Hey. I see you took a shower." Lacey could tell not because he had changed clothes and his hair was wet, but because he smelled amazing. She had asked him once what cologne he wears and he countered that it was just his shampoo and deodorant.

      "I did." Looking to Lacey's mom, he said, "Supper smells delicious, ma'am."

      "Thank you, Slade. It's Zane's recipe. Wait until you have his steak sauce; it's the best." Luella complimented, taking a sip of her tea. 

       "I look forward to it. Would you like me to check the steaks for you?" Slade asked, pointing to the grill.

      "If you want, thank you." Seeing how close Slade and Lacey were sitting, Luella added with a smile, "I'm going to run inside and check on the asparagus and taters." Standing up, Luella walked off the patio. 

       Letting go of Lacey's hand, Slade walked over to the grill, checking the steaks, using the tongs to turn them over. Walking back to where Lacey sat, with her back against the picnic table, Slade sat down next to her, wrapping both of his arms tightly around her, laying a long kiss on her temple. "Mmm." Slade groaned into Lacey's hair. "I have been waiting since this time yesterday to do that." There was a smile on his face.

       Turning slightly so she could lean back against Slade, Lacey smiled. "If this is how you act after being away from me for only a day and a half, I can't imagine how excited you will be to see me after we are apart for a week or longer." 

       "Well, darlin', I hope that we are never apart for that long." Slade snaked his arms around Lacey from behind, resting his hands on her stomach. 

       Wrapping her fingers through Slade's, Lacey looked down at his arms. There on his left forearm was that tattoo she had been wanting to ask him about. Tilting his arm off her waist just enough to see it, Lacey saw for the first time that there were two tattoos in a parallel line. Between the two tattoos there was a deep, jagged scar, at least a quarter of an inch thick. Reaching up slightly, Lacey softly ran a shaky finger over the top scar. When she felt Slade move slightly, letting out a breath, Lacey lifted his forearm so she could read the tattoos that were printed in a rustic font. 

       The top tattoo read, "With God, all things are possible. -Matthew 19:26" the second tattoo, the one under the scar just had a chapter and verse from the Bible. It was Matthew 18:22. 

      Slade picked up on the obvious question hanging in the silence. "Someone hurt me really bad, so those Bible verses are a reminder to always forgive." He explained, only producing more questions in Lacey's head.

      Fingering his forearm, Lacey asked in a quiet voice, "What about the scar?" She turned her head to look at Slade. 

     "That's a story for another time." He responded, giving her a fake, half smile. Slade began to pull away but Lacey pulled him back to her.

       "Slade?" Lacey pressed on. As hard as it was for him to talk about his past, if they were going to have a good relationship, he would need to start telling her more things. 

     "I got it as a result of me being stupid. It's no big deal." Slade replied in a convincing voice, placing a kiss on top of Lacey's head. Letting go of girlfriend, Slade stood up off of the picnic table and walked over to the grill, telling Lacey it was time to change the subject. Opening the lid, Slade took the steaks off of the hot grill, then turned and smiled at Lacey. "Supper's ready." 

      Lacey carefully slid herself into her chair, then followed Slade inside of the house. Once inside, Slade and Lacey saw that the rest of the family was already all sitting around the table, waiting for the couple to come in. 

      "Thank goodness the steaks are done. We're starvin'!" Ryder exclaimed, reaching for the plate that Slade just sent down on the table. 

       "Ryder, we say grace first." Luella reminded, grabbing young Ryder's hand.

      After Slade helped Lacey into one of the wooden dining room chairs, he took a seat next to her, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on the collar of his shirt. Once their food was all dished out, Slade reached over, grabbing Lacey's hand and intertwining their fingers. 

      Lacey forgot that anyone else was in the room when she looked at Slade and he smiled his famous grin at her. She could nearly count the stars in his eyes, but Willie handing her a plate distracted her from her daytime stargazing. 

      "Thanks, Will." Lacey said, taking the plate from her brother, making sure that she added a slight glare since he interrupted the cute moment shared between Lacey and Slade.

     A couple hours after the family sat down, all of the food was gone, and Slade and Lacey were in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes. Luella walked into the kitchen with the last few dishes in hand. "Thanks, you two, for cleaning up the kitchen." 

      "It's no problem, ma'am. I know that you and Zane have a lot to catch up on, and I know it's gettin' close to Ryder's bedtime." Slade said, taking the plates from Lacey's mom.

       "Well, I very much appreciate it." With a smile she added, pointing a finger at the couple, "Now, you two, don't stay up too late."

      "No, ma'am, we won't." Slade answered for Lacey. 

      Luella nodded, walking out of the kitchen. Slade plunged his hands into the hot, soapy water as he scrubbed another plate, making sure to splash Lacey with some water as he handed her the plate to rinse and dry.

      "Slade Reid! What is it with you and me getting into these water fights recently?" Lacey remembered their water fight they had in the barn a couple weeks ago as she rinsed off the last plate in the stack, drying it with the towel. Since the sink water was still turned on, Lacey cupped her hand, throwing the water in Slade's direction. 

      "Hey!" Slade laughed. "You better be careful, young lady. I still have to pay you back for spraying me with the water hose the other day." Keeping his eyes on Lacey, Slade slowly reached his hand toward the water sprayer on the sink. 

       "Okay, I won't splash any more water on you. You win! Please, I already took a shower today. I don't need another one." Lacey pleaded.

        Slade retracted his hand, resting it on the sink. "Really? You're still usin' that excuse? This afternoon you said that I couldn't hug you because I was muddy and you had just taken a shower and now I can't spray you with a little bit of water because you took a shower a few hours ago? I'm startin' to think that you just don't wanna spend time with me." Slade said, a look in his eyes as he teased his girlfriend. 

      "That is not true at all! Of course I want to spend time with you I would just rather stay dry and clean instead of-" Lacey couldn't finish because a spray of cold water plastered her front. "Slade Reid! Oh my gosh!" Lacey did the only thing that she could do, and that was to laugh.

      "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I had to." Slade let out a laugh, handing Lacey a dry towel. Stepping behind her, Slade wrapped her up in both of his arms, placing his lips on the side of her head. "Can you forgive me?" He buried his nose into her hair, loving how it smelled.

      Lacey let out a playful sigh, melting in Slade's arms. "I guess."

       "Good. Now do we get to go to my loft and watch a movie and cuddle on the couch?" Slade asked in an excited voice, turning so he could see Lacey's face. Lacey rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle, rolling away from the kitchen. "Babe? Where are you goin'?" Slade asked, still standing in the kitchen.

      "To your loft. I wanna sit on the couch and cuddle with my boyfriend." There was a playful smile on Lacey's lips.

      Shaking his head, Slade walked out of the kitchen and to the door, opening it for his girlfriend. A huge grin was plastered on Slade's face, causing Lacey to ask him, "Why are you smilin'?" 

      "I'm just so lucky to have you as my girl." Slade replied, closing the door behind him as they walked outside and into the night.

      "I think I'm the lucky one, here." She reiterated. "Just think, when you first started workin' here a few months ago, I refused to go outside, but now look at me, I'm willingly going to the barn, where all the horses are, and I truly enjoy it." 

      Stopping walking, Slade turned to Lacey. "It's all by the grace of our great God." Grabbing Lacey's hand in his, Slade looked up in the night sky just in time to see a shooting star. Smiling, he thought to himself that he didn't need to make a wish. He was holding the hand of everything that he could ever wish for.