"Are you excited?" Slade asked, looking over at Lacey, who was riding in the passenger side seat of his truck as he drove her to the therapy ranch that Trevor had gotten her into. 

            "If you ask me if I an nervous, the answer is yes. Excited? I'm not sure about that yet." Lacey let out a nervous chuckle. 

            Slade slung his arm around the back of the bench seat, rubbing Lacey's shoulder with his hand. "That's understandable. It's your first real session there, considering the three other times you have gone it's been all orientation and formalities. But, on the bright side, you have already gotten back on the horse, so you're goin' in with a huge advantage over most of the other students."

            "Yeah..." Lacey was hardly listening to Slade's encouraging words because she was too busy taking deep breaths, trying to calm her nervous stomach. Between her fingers, she was twirling her hair like she always did when she was nervous. 

           "You're goin' to do great, darlin'. And I will be there the whole time, so you have nothin' to worry about." Slade smiled, trying his best to comfort Lacey. 

           "I'm glad you think so. Slade, I have never ridden by myself; I've only ridden with you. And I have only been on a horse four times since my accident. I'm worried I won't be able to hold myself up right." She spoke her concern.

        "I see what you're sayin', but they will have plenty of professional staff there to help you. Try not to worry, love. If you don't feel comfortable at any time in the session, you can tell them to stop, you can get off, and then we will go home. Simple as that." 

           Lacey didn't reply; instead, she just nodded, staring out her window, only hoping things would go as well for her today that Slade thought they would go.

          Only a few minutes later, Slade's truck coasted to a stop next to the huge red barn. "Alright, darlin'. Let's grab your wheelchair." Slade began to slide out of his truck, but Lacey's hand on his arm stopped him. Turning back so he was fully in the cab, Slade looked at Lacey, seeing her giving him an almost concerned look.

        "We are almost twenty minutes early. Can we please just sit here for a bit before we go in?" 

       Slade chuckled slightly, closing his door, scooting closer to his girlfriend. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Slade pulled Lacey closer to him. "Do you want to listen to some music while we sit?" Before she could even say yes in reply, Slade turned the knob to the on position, slamming the top of the dash to make the station come in. Finally, an old classic country song came softly through the speakers. Under his arm, Slade heard Lacey laugh. "What?" He grinned because of Lacey's contagious smile.

        "I can't believe you still haven't fixed the radio yet." Lacey was still laughing hysterically. 

        "Well, I am never gonna fix if it means I get to see that pretty little smile of yours." Slade flirted, leaning closer to Lacey. 

        Even as she leaned in, the smile never faded from Lacey's lips. Slowly her and Slade's lips connected once before they pulled back. 

        Resting her head on Slade's shoulder, Lacey stared out of the windshield, looking at the big red metal barn. "Thank you for bein' here with me. I know it's boring for you to just stand there and watch folks ride horses around the arena. 

         "Darlin', I wouldn't miss this for the world." Slade smiled, softly brushing a finger over Lacey's shoulder. 

        A new Chevy Silverado truck pulled up next to Slade's old, beater Ford truck. Looking to her right, Lacey saw the Chevy door open, watching as the driver assembled her wheelchair, sliding down from her truck seat to sit in her wheelchair expertly. Letting out a sigh that she didn't mean to be audible, Lacey watched as the lady wheeled herself into the barn; she definitely was at a place with her disability that Lacey could only dream to be at. 

         "You're gettin' there, sweetheart. It just takes time. You're makin' great progress already." Slade read Lacey's mind, his eyes watching the lady as well. 

        "You ready to go inside?" Lacey ignored Slade's compliment.

          Slade nodded, hopping down from his cab to bring Lacey's wheelchair over to her side. He locked the brakes, opening the passenger side door for her, and watched as Lacey lowered herself into the chair. She really had made fantastic progress these past couple months, but Slade felt like a lot of her hard work had gone down the drain after last week when they ran into Jeremy at the ice cream shop. Since then, Slade had noticed a change in Lacey's personality, but he didn't say anything to her about it, worried about what kind of confrontation it would bring about. 

         Lacey rolled herself into the barn with Slade closely beside her. After signing in at the barn office, Lacey was instructed to head to the arena where her horse was already tacked up for her. Sure enough, Lacey made her way to the arena where she was surprised to see a concrete sidewalk that led to the mounting block, specifically for wheelchairs. 

         Slade opened the gate for Lacey and was about to walk in when a man in his mid twenties walked over. "Hey, sorry, sir, but the arena is for riders only." He was looking right at Slade. 

        "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize. Where can I go to watch Lacey, then?" Slade asked, suddenly concerned that he wouldn't be able to watch her.

       "Our view room is being renovated, so if you want to watch, you can just stand over there by the fence." The man pointed to the gate that Slade and Lacey had just entered into the arena through. 

       "Alright." Slade said hesitantly, unsure why he was not allowed to just sit on the mounting block to watch. "I'll just be right over here, Lace." He said quietly to his girlfriend, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. "Love you." He whispered with a smile; he couldn't tell her, but he was just as nervous as she was.

       "Love you, too." Lacey said back, watching Slade walk to the gate.

       "He your husband?" The man made conversation, motioning for Lacey to follow him to the ramped mounting block. 

       "No, my boyfriend." Lacey replied, taken aback by the stranger's random question. 

       "Oh, I just got married two months ago, so I guess that makes me think that every young couple is married as well." The man said, waiting for Lacey's horse to be brought up to the block. "I'm sorry. I never introduced myself. I'm Brad." Brad stretched out his hand to Lacey with a grin.

        "Nice to meet you. I'm Lacey. Lacey Ferry." She said, becoming suddenly nervous when a brown and white paint horse was brought up next to the mounting block. 

       "Pleasure. Well, Miss Ferry, this will be your horse today. His name is Captain, and he is a big old sweetheart. Since you have ridden recently, you are already a huge step ahead of the majority of the other clients here. Are you able to mount on your own from a mounting block?" Brad asked, looking down at a concerned Lacey.

       "No. My boyfriend has always lifted me into the saddle." 

       "Alright. That's fine. We will help you in then. Also, if you want, we can have a staff member walk beside you, until you feel comfortable on your own." Brad explained. "Are you ready to get on?" 

        Lacey glanced over at the fence where she saw Slade standing. He gave her a smile and a slight nod as if he had heard what Brad asked. "Yes." She said, turning to face Captain. 

        "Great. If you can, go ahead and set the brakes on your chair and slide your feet out. Then, I'm goin' to have you scoot to the very edge of your seat, and I am going to help you stand up, then I will pick you up, bride style, and we will get you seated." Brad explained to an obedient Lacey. 

        Once she was seated on the edge of her seat, Brad carefully wrapped his arms under her shoulders, helping her stand so all of her weight was on him. Not even standing for a second, Brad swooped Lacey up, carrying her to Captain's side where the side walker helped to get Lacey situated in the saddle.

        Once she was atop of Captain, Lacey noticed she had a hard time sitting up straight. Her body kept wanting her to lean forward. When she attempted to correct herself, then her upper section wanted to lean far back. That was when Lacey realized that every time she had ridden since her accident, Slade had been on the horse behind her. Never once had she ridden by herself, so this was the first time she realized how she could not hold herself upright in the saddle. 

        "Um, sorry. I have always had Slade ride behind me to keep me upright." Lacey said, embarrassed, sure many of the other clients were watching her. 

         "That's alright. Since it is your first time here, would you feel more comfortable if I sat behind you?" Brad asked from where he still stood on the large mounting ramp. 

         Lacey glanced over her shoulder to see Slade already gone from where he stood at the fence. Looking back to Brad, she said, "If you don't mind?"

        "Of course. But just for this first time. After this, we are goin' to make you do it on your own." Brad slid behind Lacey in the saddle, softly resting one hand on her midsection. Once he was seated, Brad excused the side walker from beside Captain. "Alright, Lacey, you can go ahead and lead Captain away from the mounting ramp, and head around the arena." 

        Lacey obeyed, leading Captain off the rail, walking him around the arena, feeling slightly uncomfortable on the back of another horse besides Bud's, sitting in front of another guy who wasn't Slade. Speaking of Slade, when Lacey and Captain made their way around the arena, Lacey saw Slade standing by the gate again; this time, however, he had a very jealous look on his face. Already, Lacey knew they would have a conversation about this after the ride. 

         Seeming to sense the tension between Lacey and Slade, so after several minutes of Lacey leading Captain around the arena at a walk, Brad asked, "Are you ready to try riding by yourself?"

        Lacey nodded her head in a "yes" before stopping Captain next to the mounting ramp so Brad could hop off. Immediately, Lacey noticed how hard it was to keep herself straight in the saddle. Granted, when Brad was behind her, Lacey was doing everything she could to not have to lean back in his arms like she would with Slade. 

        Brad walked to the center of the arena, instructing the riders to break up into two groups. Each side of the arena would have an instructor, and each rider would be given a couple minutes each to practice trotting, and loping for the more advanced riders. Lacey led Captain to the far side of the arena, which happened to be the one where Slade was standing. 

        "Hey," Lacey smiled at Slade, stopping Captain next to the gate. 

         "Lookin' good up there." Slade smiled, taking a second to glare at Brad when he walked closer to Lacey.

          "Lacey, you're up." Brad motioned for her to lead Captain over so she could have individual time to work on trotting by herself. 

         Trotting without Slade, or other means of support, was very hard for Lacey. Sure, here at this ranch, they gave their riders straps so their legs wouldn't come out of the saddle, but that didn't make it much easier. 

        The rest of Lacey's lesson didn't go much better. She told Brad she didn't feel comfortable with loping on her own. For the remainder of the time, Lacey couldn't help but to think of how hard the riders were pushed during their time in the arena. Sure, Trevor had warned Lacey it would be hard, but this wasn't quite what she expected. 

      All of the riders were lined up in the center of the arena, waiting to be allowed to the mounting block to be helped down to dismount. 

       A female rider on a sorrel quarter horse stopped next to Lacey. "Hi, you're the new girl, right?" She asked, smiling a little too happily at Lacey.

        Lacey looked to her left, realizing it was the same lady who she had seen in the parking lot. Something burned inside of Lacey as she remembered how the lady had driven herself here and mantled her own wheelchair; she was incredibly independent. Before her accident, Lacey never asked for help, insisting on doing everything on her own, something she found nearly impossible now. "Yeah, I'm the new girl. Lacey." She introduced, just to be nice. Reaching out her hand, she shook the lady's.

        "Nice to meet you, Lacey. I'm Heather." She shook Lacey's hand, dropping it to point at Lacey's Wrangler clad legs. "What kind of accident?" 

        "Geez, does everyone just spill their life stories here or something?"  Lacey thought to herself. "Barrel racing. Six months ago." 

       "Oh wow. Six months? That's crazy. I was in an accident about two and a half months ago but I missed the horses way too much. My doctor said that he's amazed by my progress." Heather bragged. When she glanced at Lacey, seeing her refusing eye contact, Heather waved a hand in the air. "I'm sorry. I mean, you're makin' good progress, I'm sure. Everyone recovers differently." 

      The feisty side of Lacey wanted to go off on Heather, yelling and screaming, maybe even giving her the slap in the face she deserved, but the good, Christian girl overpowered Lacey's spunky side. In response, Lacey just nodded at Heather, leading Captain to the mounting block when she was called. 

        Brad brought Lacey's wheelchair up next to Captain as the helpers assisted to get Lacey carefully seated. Lacey thanked Brad and the staff for their help before rolling down the paved path to where Slade held open the gate for her. 

         "Hey, you looked great out there!" Slade greeted, smiling as he walked beside Lacey out of the barn. 

          "Yeah, can we please go home?" Lacey said, discouraged after her ride today. 

         "If that's what you want, but I thought we could stop and get some celebratory ice cream." Slade unlocked his truck, opening up the passenger side door for Lacey.

         "Celebratory? What are we celebratin'?" Lacey, asked, setting the brakes on her chair. 

         "Well, for starters, we will be celebrating your awesome first lesson, riding a horse all by yourself." Slade watched as Lacey hoisted herself into the cab of the truck, patiently waiting for him to put her chair in the back so they could go home. 

        "I wasn't riding by myself, though. Brad had to help me for the first half of the lesson because I couldn't hold myself up." It was a defeated tone. 

         "Speaking of Brad, he's not a bad lookin' guy, huh?" A jealous Slade partially teased, not picking up on Lacey's subtle cues that said she wasn't in the mood to talk about her lesson. 

          "Slade, he's married." Lacey let out a chuckle, more like a scoff.

         "Oh, well do you still think he's cute?" Slade drove his truck down the ranch's driveway, stopping at the stop sign at the end of the road to put on his sunglasses. 

         Lacey looked over at Slade who was biting his bottom lip as he looked both ways before turning left out of the driveway. "You're jealous, aren't you?" It was more of an observation than a question. 

        "What? No. I'm just askin' if you thought he was cute." Slade said in a not convincing voice, shrugging his shoulders. 

         "No, I didn't. Stop askin'." Lacey looked out her window, but turned back to Slade to give him a slight grin. "He did think we were married though." 

          "I reckon that isn't such a bad observation, now is it?" Slade reciprocated the smile, reaching out to hold his girlfriend's hand as he drove. "So, who was that girl you were talkin' to at the end of your lesson?" 

        "That was Heather." Lacey let out a breath, allowing all of the bad thoughts from the day back into her mind. "She's only been paralyzed for two and a half months and she already drives herself places, and she rides almost as good as I did before my accident. She kept braggin' about how proud her doctors are for her and how good she's been doin' and all of this stuff and I just can't help but feel like I haven't made as much headway as I thought." 

        "Well, I'm sure there is more to the story, Lace. You have been makin' great progress as well. Maybe her accident wasn't as traumatic or her injury as bad as yours. There's a lot of factors that goes into this, babe. Or, maybe, she wasn't in a horse riding accident. Y'know? Maybe it was a car accident or something like that." Slade tried to comfort. 

          "I doubt it. I'm just behind. I keep makin' excuses why I don't do anything. It's my own fault that I have allowed myself to waste six whole months of my life, not doin' anything but throwing myself a pity party." Lacey felt herself getting more and more upset the more she talked.

         "Don't say that. You haven't wasted any time at all. Lacey, you have improved so much since I met you...in more ways than one. I wish you could see it like I do. But, I promise you, I will continue to be there for you every step of the way." Slade turned down another street, still holding onto Lacey's hand.

        "Speaking of that, where did you go at the beginning of my lesson? I was hopin' you would have stuck around. You were gone for almost twenty minutes." She knew she shouldn't let her frustrations out on Slade. Sure, she was upset, but it wasn't Slade's fault. There was no reason she needed to start a fight with her and Slade, especially since they had never had a fight in the five months they had been dating. 

        "I...had to go make a couple phone calls. I came back as quick as I could." Slade began to get agitated, unsure why Lacey was suddenly mad at him. "What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" 

       "I'm just...I'm not makin' any progress. I spend so much time with you when I should be doin' things that would help my recovery process." Lacey hadn't meant it to sound accusatory, but realized that was exactly how it came out. 

      "Woah, whoa, whoa. You think that by spendin' time with me, that it's setting back your recovery?" Slade spared a glance at Lacey, who's hand he refused to let go of, although the tensions were rising. Letting out a sigh when she didn't reply at first, Slade asked, "Are we really goin' to have our first fight right now, Lace?"

       "Slade, all we do is cuddle, do chores, and go out to eat. That's it. None of that helps me with my recovery, especially the eating out." 

       Slade's grip tightened on the steering wheel as he knew what was about to happen. He flipped on his hazard lights, pulling off on the side of the road. Letting go of Lacey's hand, Slade turned to face her. "Ever since we saw Jeremy last week you have been really on edge. You barely eat, you're grouchy all the time, and you're just actin' strange. I've put it off for this long, but no longer. What is goin' on? Are we aren't goin' home until you tell me!" Slade's voice was raised slightly; the hollow cab making his voice just seem that much louder. 

        Lacey let out a sigh. The last thing she wanted was to fight with her boyfriend, but it was a little too late for that now. "Slade, you don't understand." She shook her head.

        Slade scoffed. "Try me." 

        Lacey clenched her jaw in an attempt to not say all of the things that were threatening to spew out. "No." She replied sternly. 

         "Fine." Shaking his head, Slade turned back to the wheel, turning off his three ways, and slamming his truck in drive, speeding down the road.    

       Lacey watched Slade's ticked off demeanor for another couple seconds until she let out a huff, shaking her head as she stared out the window. This was not at all how this day was supposed to go.