The next morning, Lacey felt horrible for how she had treated Slade the night before. After she had gotten home from her riding lesson, Lacey had called Brooke, asking her advice on the situation. Like usual, Brooke reminded Lacey that Slade was trying his best to be the best, but there was only so much he could do to help if Lacey wouldn't tell him what happened between her and Jeremy. 

       With a sigh, Lacey got herself dressed for her meeting that she had with Trevor this morning. Heading downstairs, Lacey greeted her mom who was busy in the kitchen. 

        "Good mornin', sweetheart. You still want me to drive you to Trevor's?" Luella asked, stirring the gravy she had simmering on the stove.

        "Actually, I was goin' to ask Slade, if that's okay?" Lacey fingered the arm rests of her chair. 

       "Of course. I think he's still out in the barn if you wanted to go talk to him." Luella smiled at her daughter almost like she knew the couple had their first tiff last night. 

       "Thanks mama." Lacey rolled herself outside, entering the barn, where, sure enough, Slade was still busily working. "Hey." She greeted, parking herself in the aisle of the barn beside the flatbed trailer Slade had backed in that was full of hay bales. 

        "Hey." Slade added another bale to the growing stack beside the horse stalls. 

        "So, I was thinkin', if you're not still mad at me, maybe you could drive me to my meeting with Trevor? Then we could go out and talk afterwards." She suggested, getting Slade's attention. 

         Slade took in a deep breath, wiping a hand over his forehead. "Sure. What time do we need to leave?" 

        "My meeting is at 11, so I was hoping to leave here by 10? Does that work for you?" 

        "Yeah." Slade walked closer to Lacey to kneel down in front of her. "And for the record, I was never mad at you, only concerned because you have been acting strange lately." Reaching out, Slade grabbed one of Lacey's hands in his gloved one. "But, I am lookin' forward to talkin' to you more about everything after your meeting." There was a smile. 

       "So we are good, then?" 

       "Of course, sweetheart. We were never not good." Slade smiled, standing up to drop a kiss on Lacey's cheek. "Now, I just need to finish unloading this trailer, then we can go inside to eat breakfast. How's that sound?" 

      Lacey nodded in response, watching as Slade carried the bales off of the trailer, stacking them onto the pile down the aisle. Shortly afterwards, Slade and Lacey made their way inside for the morning meal. 

       Lacey tried to remember the last time it was that her entire family, and Slade, were all able to sit down for a meal. It was one of the rare days that Zane didn't have to work. Even though him and Lacey have never gotten along that well, he was still her dad, and she was still glad he was there to eat breakfast with them, even if it was only for a few minutes.

      Ryder spilled on his adventures during chores this morning, and Willie updated everyone on how rodeo practice had been going. Occasionally, someone would ask Lacey or Slade a question about how things have been going recently, but like usual, Ryder was the spotlight. The boy never stopped talking, which wasn't always a bad thing, since Lacey enjoys just listening to others rather than having the attention on her.  

       By the time breakfast was cleaned up and put away, and the dishes were washed, it was time for Slade to drive Lacey to her meeting. 

     The drive seemed long, even though Slade and her were making conversation, holding hands as he drove. After what felt like longer than 45 minutes, Slade parked his truck in the same spot that he always did, grabbing Lacey's chair from the bed, setting it beside her door. 

      After checking into the desk, Lacey was asked to sit in the waiting room until Trevor came out to get her. Slade, sitting beside his girlfriend, found a rodeo magazine for them to look at while they waited. Ten minutes later, Trevor walked into the waiting room, calling for Lacey.

       "Long time no see. How's my favorite patient?" Trevor greeted, walking back to his office with Lacey. 

       "You say that to all of your patients." Lacey playfully rolled her eyes. 

       "Maybe, but I mean it when I say it to you." Trevor gave Lacey a teasing wink, holding open his office door for her. 

       Closing the door behind him, Trevor sat at his desk. "So, yesterday was your first day riding at the ranch. What did you think of it?" 

       Lacey wanted to spill everything to Trevor; she wanted to tell him all about Heather and how Lacey felt so behind in her recovery process compared to the others, but then Lacey remembered how hard Trevor worked to get her into the riding program, so she knew she had to be thankful.

       "It went well. There were some hardships, but at least I know what I need to work on now." Lacey kept it simple, instead of delving into the details. 

      "Hardships like what?" Trevor asked, jotting something down on the paper he had in front of him. 

        Lacey knew she should have kept her mouth shut, but Trevor deserved the truth, after all he has done for her. Letting out a sigh, Lacey started, "There is a girl there who has been paralyzed for half the time that I have, but she is already driving herself to the ranch, and she rides like she still has full use of her legs, while I can't even hold myself up without help. I just...I feel like I am way behind everyone there." She admitted, not looking up at Trevor. 

          Trevor sat back in his chair, running a finger over his chin. "Are you sure that this girl is fully paralyzed? I mean, are you sure that she has no ability to move either of her legs, or have any feeling at all beneath her waist? And do you know what caused her paralysis?" 

         Lacey hesitated. She had been so wrapped up in the fact that Heather was better at things than she was that she didn't even take the time to think about the severity of her condition. "Well, I mean...not really." 

           "Lacey, do you believe me when I say that you have been making astonishingly great progress? You are stronger, and more...competent, if you will, than some other folks with your condition. I pulled some strings to get you into this ranch to show you how well you really are doing, and to give you more confidence, not the opposite. If you truly feel like it isn't a good fit for you, I can make some phone calls." 

         Lacey knew what Trevor was doing. He was trying to see how close she was to giving up, but he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't a quitter. "No, I will tough it out. It was only my first time there, after all." 

        A grin rose on Trevor's face. "I knew you wouldn't give up that easily. Now, let's talk about our next therapy session here..." For the next half hour, Trevor and Lacey continued in the meeting. It went much better than Lacey had imagined it would, so she left with raised spirits. 

       Making her way out into the waiting room, Lacey smiled as she greeted Slade. "Hey, handsome, you ready to go?" 

         "Well, you're in a good mood." Slade smiled, following Lacey out of the building, and to his truck. "Meeting go well, I take it?" 

          "It did. It went very well, actually." Lacey opened Slade's truck door, situating herself to hoist herself up, into the cab.

           "I'm glad." Slade tossed his cowboy hat on the dash, starting up his truck. "So does this mean you're ready to go somewhere and talk about what's been goin' on recently?" Slade gave Lacey a look that made her smile fall. 

           Lacey stared at her boyfriend, swallowing hard. Was she ready to remember everything that Jeremy had said and did in the past, and talk about it in a way that wouldn't upset her? No, she wasn't ready at all, but did she know she had to talk about it? Absolutely. She just prayed God would give her the right words. 

                                              ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Hey, y'all, sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have been super busy recently, and honestly kind of having writers block for this book right now, so if y'all wouldn't mind, please comment, and tell me what you would like to see happen next in Slade and Lacey's adventure. :) Thanks, and God bless.