"Thank you, again, for lettin' us come out, Paige." Lacey said, giving Paige a hug a few hours after they arrived. 

     Pulling back from the hug, Paige said, "Don't thank me. It was Slade's idea. When y'all came to Amarillo's, Slade and I got talkin' and I told him that Marey was about to foal, and he said that you love foals, so I gave him my number, and I texted him on Monday when Mondy was born and we set this meet and greet up!"

     "Thank you, Slade for settin' this up." Lacey said, flashing a smile at Slade. She hadn't stopped smiling since she met Mondy and Marey. 

     "No problem, darlin'." Slade replied. Looking up to Paige, Slade added, "Thanks again, Paige."

     "It was my pleasure. Anytime y'all want to come back out, please just let me know. I'm sure Marey and Mondy would love to see you again." Shifting her weight, Paige added, "Are you sure y'all don't wanna stay for supper? My parents are at the restaurant, so I will make supper, but I promise it will be good." Paige smiled. 

     "I know it would be great, Paige, but I promised my parents that we will be home by supper, and I'm still full from lunch." Lacey replied with a smile. "Plus, we still have to get Ryder some ice cream because we ate all of his the other day." Rolling her chair forward some, Lacey reached up to give Paige a hug. "Thank you, though. I'm so glad that Slade brought us out here." 

     "Absolutely, my dear friend." Paige said, pulling back from the hug. "Well, you two get goin' before Connie's closes and I will see y'all soon, hopefully." 

     "I think it's safe to say that you will see us again soon." Lacey said truthfully.

     After talking for about five more minutes, Lacey and Slade finally said their final goodbyes before heading out. When Lacey got to Slade's truck, she set the brakes on her wheelchair, and right next to her was Slade, arms ready to lift her into his truck. "Y'know, Slade, I wanna try to get into your truck myself." Lacey said with a smile on her face. She was feeling courageous and brave for the first time in a while. 

     "Okay. Are you sure?" Slade replied, giving Lacey a slightly concerned look. 

     "Yeah, I'm sure, but just stand near just in case I need help, please." 

     "Absolutely." Slade replied. 

     "Okay...so..." Lacey took a second to think through the easiest and safest way to get up onto her seat in Slade's truck. Using her arm rests on her wheelchair, Lacey pushed herself up and over so she was sitting on the floor of Slade's truck, just beside the seat. Reaching up into the cab, Lacey grabbed the top of the seat with one hand and, with the other, she grabbed the door panel. Pushing with all her might, Lacey felt her body lifting on the truck seat. She was able to get on about halfway before she felt like she might fall. When she started slipping off the seat, Lacey saw Slade moving closer to her, arms stretched out, ready to catch her and lift her back on to the seat. "I'm good." Lacey replied to Slade's silent comment. 

     Determined to get into the truck all by herself, Lacey put one hand on the dashboard, pushing back on it. With her other hand, Lacey grabbed her legs, pulling them into the cab with her. "There we go. That wasn't so bad." Lacey said once she was fully in the cab.

     "You're amazing." Slade smiled in response.

     "Thanks." Lacey chuckled, shrugging the compliment off as she buckled her seat belt. 

     "I got your chair." Slade replied, folding up Lacey's chair. "Alright, let's go get Ryder his ice cream." Slade said once he was buckled up.

     Once Slade was on the road, heading back to Connie's, Lacey reached across the console to grab Slade's hand. "Slade, thank you, again. I really needed this. And y'know, I honestly missed it. Being around horses and all." A smile was still plastered on Lacey's face. 

     Slade smiled in response. "You're welcome, darlin'. I meant what I said the other day about how happy you look when you're around horses. Lace, I cannot describe how your face lights up and it seems like you sit a little taller, and are more confident. And, I am more than willing to take you out to the barn anytime. You just let me know when you want to go." Slade smiled at Lacey, bringing her hand up to his lips, placing a kiss on it before setting it back down on his leg. 

     "Thank you, I really really appreciate it, Slade. If you're okay with it, I would love to help you feed the horses tonight." Lacey said truthfully. 

     "Lace, I would love to have you help me." A smile lit up Slade's face. He gave Lacey's hand a squeeze before turning on the radio, with his left hand, using his knee to steer the wheel. "You ready for another singin' battle?" Slade gave Lacey a mischievous grin. 

     Lacey let out a groan followed by a chuckle. "Why not?" Lacey swung her head to the side.

     That's how the rest of the truck ride went. Slade and Lacey laughed so much during the ride to Connie's, and back to Lacey's ranch. Once Slade pulled into the ranch, parking his truck, he let go of Lacey's hand to grab her chair out of the bed of his truck. 

      "Here ya, go, darlin'." Slade said, unfolding the chair, holding the handles. "Would you like help down?" Slade asked Lacey.

     "I would like to try on my own, if that's alright."  Lacey says, unbuckling her seat belt and sliding her legs to the side of the seat. 

     "Absolutely, that's fine." Slade replied, standing behind Lacey's wheelchair. 

     Lacey carefully thought out how exactly she wanted to execute this. Placing one hand on her wheelchair arm rest and the other on the edge of the seat, Lacey careful lowered herself into her wheelchair, with little assistance from Slade. 

     With a smile, Slade praised Lacey, "See, there's nothin' to it." 

     Lacey didn't reply, instead she just smiled and began wheeling herself to the house. Slade was right behind Lacey as she placed her hands on the wheels of her chair, pushing herself forward. When she got to the ramp leading onto the porch of her house, Lacey wheeled herself faster so she could make it up the incline. 

     Once on to the porch, Lacey stopped her wheelchair, spinning it around to face Slade. Placing her hands on the ice cream carton that was resting on her lap, Lacey smiled up at the handsome cowboy with the black Stetson standing in front of her. "Thank you so much for today. It was by far the best da-" Lacey stopped herself. She had started to say 'date,' but they had never really established if it was a date for sure or not, so Lacey decided it probably wasn't best for her to call it a date until Slade said it was. "I had fun with you today." A smile was plastered on Lacey's face. When Slade smiled back, Lacey felt her cheeks and neck heating up with blush. 

     "Best date of my life." Slade's drawl reached Lacey's ears, answering her silent question. "Do I get to look forward to a second date with you?" 

     Lacey's blush only deepened when she responded with a smile she attempted to tame. "Absolutely."

     Slowly stepping ever so closer to Lacey, Slade asked, "And when may I take you out again?" 

      "Well, Slade, I'm goin' to have to say..." Lacey started, making Slade anticipate the response. "I'm pretty much free anytime." Lacey ended with a smile. 

      "Great. How does three days from now sound?" A smile played on Slade's lips; his eyes glowing under his cowboy hat. 

     "Sounds perfect." Lacey replied, her fingers playing with the arm rests on her wheelchair so they didn't fiddle with the ends of her hair. 

     "Great. I cannot wait." Slade replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

      Lacey nodded, thinking of something to say to break the awkward silence. Tossing her thumb backwards, Lacey asked, "Would you like to come in for a little bit?" 

     "I would love to, however, I have a hankerin' that your dad would get a little peeved if I don't get back to work. I gotta stock and take inventory on everything we brought back from the feed store." Slade explained. 

      "Oh, okay, cowboy." Lacey smiled. "Well then, I reckon I will see you at feedin' time." 

     A huge smile broke out on Slade's face. "Sounds perfect. I very much look forward to that." 

     Lacey nodded and smiled in response before turning to wheel herself inside. Once inside, Lacey put the ice cream carton in the freezer. After rolling past the office to say hi to her dad, Lacey made her way upstairs. Opening her bedroom door, Lacey saw how messy her room had gotten. It definitely needed cleaned. 

       Deciding cleaning her room would be a good way to pass the time until it was time to meet Slade in the barn to feed the horses, Lacey pulled her cell phone out, dialing her best friend's phone number. Brooke picked up on the fourth ring. "Hey, bestie, I was just about to call you and see how the date went! So, how did the date go? Did he kiss you yet?" 

      "Hey Brooke." Lacey chuckled. "The date went really really well. No, he didn't kiss me yet, but y'know, I'm kinda okay with that. I wanna take our relationship slow." Lacey spoke her realization out loud for the first time. 

      "Take it slow? You're a barrel racer, you don't take anything slow." Brook said, truthfully.

      "I know, but Slade is different. I want to get to know everythin' about him, but I want to do so slowly." Lacey explained, rolling over to her closet where her her laundry basket was, picking it up and setting it on her bed. 

      "Makes sense." Brooke replied simply. 

      "Yeah. So, I really called because I am cleanin' my room and would love some company. Are you free right now?" Lacey was picking up some of her clothes that had been strewn on the floor. 

      "For my buttercup, I am always free." Brooke replied, a smile in her voice. "I am already on the road comin' from the vet, so I will be at your house in about twenty minutes, is that alright?" 

      "Yeah, that sounds perfect." Lacey smiled, excited to spend time with her best friend. "See ya in a bit, Brookes." 

      "Alright. See ya, buttercup." Brooke replied, hanging up the phone. 

      Sighing, Lacey rolled over to her door, picking up her grabber stick thing. As she made her way back to her bed, Lacey used the grabber to pick up random articles of clothing and such. 

      Once all of her clothes were picked up, Lacey heard a knock on the door downstairs, then someone entering, announcing their arrival. 

      "Oh, Lacey." Brooke's voice drew out, piercing through her bedroom door, floating to Lacey's ears, making a smile break out on Lacey's face. Their familiar code was tapped out on the wood door, assuring Lacey it was Brooke asking permission to enter.

      Rolling over to her door, Lacey opened it, welcoming Brooke inside. "Hey, Brooks, so good to see you." Lacey smiled up at her friend, closing the door behind her.

      "You too, buttercup." Brooke walked a few more steps into Lacey's room before looking around, placing both hands on her hips. "What is there to clean in here? Your room looks organized as always." Brooke remarked.

     Lacey rolled over to her bed, grabbing the basket of clothes. "Yeah, pretty much all that needed done was pickin' up the dirty clothes but I am kinda getting tired of how my room is arranged." Lacey stated, glancing around her room before looking at Brooke. "Maybe you could help me move stuff around?"

     A huge smile broke out on Brooke's face. "Well, of course! You know that this kind of stuff is what I love to do!" Brooke took off her cowboy boots, throwing them outside Lacey's door. After rolling up her sleeves, Brooke rubbed her hands together, taking in her surroundings. "Where would you like to start?"

     "Well, I know it's a big task, but I was hoping to move my bed next to my closet. I use my bed to get dressed in the morning, and the majority of my clothes are in my closet. Plus, I always keep my clothes basket in my closet so it just makes sense for my bed to be over there." Lacey pointed at the opposite side of her room, where her desk was currently.

      "But if you put your bed over there, then you'll be farther away from your bathroom, is that okay with you?" Brooke, the master organizer asked.

     "Yeah. I never get out of bed during the night, and honestly, the only time I really use my bathroom is when I have to shower, so it's fine with me if my bed isn't near it." Lacey replied.

      "Alright." Brooke shrugged, agreeing with Lacey's reasoning. "So then how would you want everything else arranged?"

     "I'm not sure honestly. I want my dresser near my bed still. But my desk and chair can move over to where my bed used to be." Lacey looked at the layout of her room. She had a decent amount of open floor space due to the little amount of furniture she had in her room. "And I was hopin' to put my bed between the two windows so the morning sunlight would come in. Plus, I would have a better view of the barn."

      "Alright." Brooke replied with both hands on her hips as she looked around Lacey's room. "This should work." Brook slowly started walking around Lacey's room. "What do you say if we put a chair over here in this corner..." Brooke pointed a finger to the back corner of Lacey's room, next to the window that had the best view of the barn. "That way it'll be easier for you to get dressed in the morning, and also you'd had a good view of the barn whenever Slade is out working with Smokey." Brooke looked back to Lacey, giving her a wink after she finished the suggestion.

       Lacey smiled, shaking her head at her friend. "You're crazy." Truth is, Lacey was secretly hoping that Brooke would have suggested putting a chair by the window...she loved the view from her window...especially when Slade was out there. 

       Brooke looked over her shoulder at Lacey. "You're welcome." Smiling, Brooke turned around, clapping her hands together. "Alright, well, let's get started." 

       The next two hours were filled with laughter, story telling, sorting through old stuff, organizing, spying on the life outside, oh, and somewhere in those two hours, Brooke and Lacey completely rearranged Lacey's bedroom. "There, that was fun. Good teamwork, buttercup." Brooke smiled at Lacey. "High five." Brooke held up her hand to Lacey for a high five. 

      Chuckling, Lacey slapped her friend's hand. "Thanks for your help, Brooks." 

      "Anytime, buttercup. I'm really glad that I could come over." Brooke smiled, taking a seat on the edge of Lacey's bed. "I really like how this is organized now. I think the next thang we will have to do when we have time is sort through your ribbons and paraphenlia on your walls, and maybe even slap on some new paint." Looking back to Lacey, Brooke asked, "What do you think?" 

      "I think that sounds great! I have been wantin' to put some of my ribbons and certificates in shadowboxes and such so that they don't fade." On her bedside table, Lacey heard her phone vibrate. Rolling over beside Brooke, Lacey grabbed her phone. Seeing who it was brought a huge grin to Lacey's face. 

      "What?" Brook drug out, leaning forward on the bed to try to see who Lacey was texting. "Who is it?" 

       Lacey sent her text response before answering Brooke. "It was Slade. You want to come feed the horses with me?" 

       Brooke shot up from the bed. "He's gotten you back to feedin' the horses?! Lacey, this is so exciting!" Brooke leaned forward, giving Lacey a hug. "I would love to come out and help y'all, but I wouldn't want to infringe on any alone time the two of y'all could have together." Brooke added a wink. "Plus I promised my parents I would be home in time to feed there, so I probably should get goin'."

      "At least come meet him, please? You've never even seen him up close in person." Lacey replied, trying to convince Brooke. 

       "Well, of course I want to meet him in person. If he's as cute up close as he is from a distance, I might make myself look like an idiot, but just for you, I'll meet him." Brooke replied before walking over to the door, grabbing her boots before opening the door for Lacey. 

     "Thank you." Lacey said, rolling out of her bedroom. "Slade said he was fixin' to walk up to the house to meet you and walk us to the barn." Lacey said, reading the text from Slade.

        As soon as the girls arrived at the bottom of the stairs, the front door opened, with Slade appearing in the entry way. "Hey." A huge smile conquered his face when he saw Lacey, not even noticing Brooke for a couple seconds. "Oh, howdy. You must be Brooke. I'm Slade. It's nice to meet you; Lacey has told me an awful lot about you." Slade reached one hand up to his hat, removing it. The other hand he extended out to shake Brooke's. 

       "It's nice to see you...I mean meet you. Lacey's told me a lot about you as well." Brooke stumbled over her words, retreating her hand. "All good thangs! No worries. And she doesn't talk about you all of the time, but I mean she's told me a bunch of thangs and you just seem like the perfect gentleman and..." Brooke paused to take a deep from her rambling. Glancing at Lacey, she saw her friend smiling at her, looking like she was about to burst at the seams from holding in her laugh. Looking back at Slade, Brooke tried to recover her embarrassing flustering. "Anyways, Slade, it was a pleasure meetin' you, and I'm sorry, but I have to get goin'." Giving Lacey a look, Brooke closed with, "Y'all have fun, and behave." Brooke added a smile before giving Lacey a hug, heading outside to her truck.

      Once Brooke was outside, and out of earshot, Slade smiled at Lacey, stuffing his hand in his pocket; with the other, he rested his hat against his leg. "Oh, so you talk about me a lot, do you?" He leaned slightly closer to Lacey, that cockeyed grin pinching the corners of his eyes.

      Lacey teasingly rolled her eyes, pushing the wheels on her chair forward, heading for the door. "Come on, cowboy. The horses are gettin' hungry."