"Lacey, breakfast is ready." Lacey's mom, Luella, said from the bottom of the stairs. Lacey was upstairs in her room, reading.
    "I'm not hungry." Her stomach growled loudly, saying otherwise. Lacey looked down at it and glared. She didn't feel hungry.
    "Lacey, honey. Please come downstairs." Luella said calmly, still from the bottom of the stairs.
    Lacey sighed and threw her book to the side of her bed. She pulled her wheelchair close to her and then careful moved herself into it. Before she made her way downstairs, Lacey threw on a sweatshirt even though she wasn't cold and it was the dead of summer. She just wanted to be comfortable.
    Once Lacey reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard an unfamiliar male voice coming from the living room area. The unfamiliar male voice was talking to Lacey's parents. It was deep, drawled, and held a thick Western, country accent. Although the voice was deep, it sounded like it belonged to a young man somewhere in his early twenties.
    Lacey rolled her way into the living room. Once she passed through the doorway, Lacey's parents and the unfamiliar male voice man stopped talking and all looked at Lacey. The unfamiliar male with the deep, heavily country accented voice quickly stood up from his seat on the couch and walked over to Lacey, smiling. He stretched his hand out.
    "Howdy, you must be Lacey." The man said.
    Lacey accepted his outstretched hand. She almost felt like she had to clear her throat since she was certain her voice wouldn't work. "Yes. That's me. And you are?" Lacey asked, smiling at him.
    "I'm Slade. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lacey." Slade said, dropping his hand from Lacey's.
    "You too, Slade." Lacey replied. She looked past Slade to her parents for an explanation as to why this incredibly attractive, handsome cowboy was here. Luella didn't help any; she was just smiling. Lacey looked to her father when he stood up and walked over to Slade.
    Putting a hand on Slade's shoulder, Zane said with a smile, "Slade is goin' to be our new ranch hand."
    Without thinking, Lacey asked in surprise, "Ranch hand? We don't need a ranch hand."
    Zane's smile faded. He looked to Luella, then back to Lacey. "Well, since all your siblings except for Ryder and Willie have moved out, work has been picking up around here, and so your mother and I reckoned that we could use an extra hand around the ranch." Ryder and Willie were Lacey's younger brothers. Willie is 16, just a month shy of 17, and Ryder just turned six. Willie did his fair share of work on the ranch, but there was still more work then just him and Lacey's parents could handle. There were things that Willie or Zane couldn't do; things that required a young, strong, able man, so it made sense for them to hire Slade.
    To try to make up for her comment that she said purely out of surprise, and didn't mean offensively to Slade, she smiled and said to him, "Well, it's great to have you here. The extra set of hands will be helpful."
    "Well, thank you, ma'am; I appreciate that. I look forward to workin' with y'all." Slade said, smiling. He had a nice smile...a really nice smile; his lips went up in one corner into a cockeyed grin, revealing sparkling white teeth. That smile was enough to make any girl swoon. And his eyes...good gravy, his eyes! They were a shade of blue that could make the sky jealous. Lacey had never seen such a shade before. She was sure, however that next to Slade's eyes, the sky would look bland.
     Although he wasn't wearing one now, Lacey noticed Slade's cowboy hat sitting on the couch and could only imagine how great he looked in it, but even without it, it was obvious that Slade is just naturally attractive.
    Lacey had to tear her eyes away from Slade's smile before he saw her blush. Did her father have to hire somebody so handsome, so rugged, so muscular, so rustic...Lacey snapped back to reality when she heard her dad say something to her.
    "Your mom made some breakfast. Pancakes, hash browns, sausages, and eggs."
    "That sounds great. Slade, will you be joining us for breakfast?" Lacey asked, turning her attention back to Slade. She was surprised to find that her voice was actually working.
    Slade looked between Lacey's mom and her dad. "Well, I reckon that'd be right nice...if it's alright with y'all." Luella smiled and Zane nodded his head.
    "Fine with us." Zane said. He made his way into the kitchen.
    "After you." Slade looked to Lacey and motioned for her to go in front of him. There was that smile again.
    "Thank you." Lacey replied. She turned her head down to keep him from noticing her blushing for the second time in two minutes. Why was she blushing? She just met this handsome...rugged...western...authentic...cowboy stranger about five minutes ago. Lacey rolled herself into the kitchen and began grabbing plates and silverware to set the table for breakfast.
    Several minutes later, Luella, Zane, Willie, Ryder, Lacey, and Slade were all seated around the dining room table. Before they ate, Zane said, "Let's say grace." He held out both his hands. Lacey's family always holds hands whenever they pray before a meal. Slade was sitting next to Lacey on her left and Willie was on her right. Slade held out his hand for Lacey to hold. She slipped her hand into his; hands were warm and calloused from hard work. Lacey bowed her head and closed her eyes and tried to not think about how welcoming and natural Slade's hand felt in hers.
   "Dear God," Lacey's dad, Zane, started. "We thank you, Lord, for this day..."
   Lacey tuned the rest of her dad's prayer out just as she did almost every day. Her faith walk isn't as strong as it used to be since her accident, to be honest. Sure, she believed that God had a plan for everyone, but Lacey struggled to see the plan in her life. She struggled to see how it was in God's plan for everything she ever knew and loved to be changed and leave her paralyzed in a wheel chair, leaving her unable to walk or ride a horse ever again, two things that she did every day and took for granted.
    Lacey said "Amen" with everyone else, then looked up and let go of Slade's hand. As she reached for the pancakes, her mom quickly stood up, taking the plate of pancakes from Lacey, and said, "Oh here, honey, I'll make your plate for you. What would you like?"
    Lacey gave her mom a look. She was perfectly capable to getting her own breakfast. It was her legs that were paralyzed, not her arms. If Slade was not there, Lacey would've gladly told her mom that, too, but she bit her tongue and held back the snide remarks, just for Slade's sake. She knew she had to make a good first impression on him, since he would be living and working on their ranch.
    "I just want a pancake." Lacey said.
    "Just one? Honey, you need to eat more then that. Here, I'll give you two pancakes and some hash browns and a couple sausages." Luella said and reached for the sausages.
    "I just want one pancake, mom." Lacey said, trying to sound persistent, but not irritated, even though she was.
    "O-okay." Luella said, placing just one medium sized pancake on Lacey's plate, then handing it to her.
    "Thank you." Lacey replied. She was self conscious about eating in front of others, mainly because of her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. If Lacey's mom hadn't made a big deal of it and just let Lacey get her own food, like she was very capable of, Lacey would've gotten more food.
    Lacey cut up tiny pieces of her plain pancake and downed each bite with her orange juice. She was finished before anyone else despite her tiny bites chewed numerous times. Lacey's parents had been talking to Slade since they sat down to eat breakfast. Zane was telling him about the ranch and that before he would officially hire Slade, he would need to see how he well he rode horses, and that Slade would "work" for a week. Judging by how well Slade did in the "trial run," he would be hired on after that. Luella, on the other hand, was asking Slade questions about his background, etc. Lacey looked over when Slade answered one of Luella's questions about his parents. She watched as his jaw clenched and how he fiddled with his fork while answering Lacey's mom. Lacey could tell by the look in Slade's eyes that what he was telling his mom about his background was a well practiced lie and that he did not like talking about his past for some reason.
    Changing the subject for Slade's sake, Lacey said to him, "So you rodeo?" Lacey had assumed he had; the belt buckle was just one give away.
    Slade smiled that heart melting smile of his and responded, "Yes ma'am. Since right after I could walk. I started with mutton bustin' then worked my way up to junior bull riding. Now I mainly ride bulls, but if I'm doin' well enough on the circuit and want a few easy points, I'll ride broncs. I prefer bulls just because of the adrenaline rush, and the challenge, but broncs are safer and usually a more sure thang." Slade winked at Lacey, then asked, "How about you?"
    Lacey opened her mouth to say yes, but then looked down at her immovable, paralyzed legs and said, "I used to. Not anymore."
    "You should really think about getting back into it. Your parents told me that you were really good and won quite a few buckles." Slade said as if he didn't realize that she was paralyzed, let alone rodeo.
    "I did alright." Lacey replied, her voice quiet. Truth is, she was the one person that everyone wanted to beat; she was the biggest competition, winning nearly every event she competed in. It seemed like everyone in this side of Montana knew or had heard of Lacey Anne Ferry.
    "We have been tellin' her that she should get back into it, Slade." Zane said, looking between Slade and Lacey.
   With a sigh, Lacey backed away from the table, taking her dirty dishes with her. She had heard this conversation too many times. Lacey saw her parents tense up like they always did whenever she moved her wheelchair. She ignored them, however, and rolled herself into the kitchen to place her dishes into the sink.
    As Lacey rolled back out to the dining room where they had eaten breakfast, she almost ran into Slade who was carrying his own dirty dishes to the kitchen.
    "Sorry." Slade said quickly, backing up a step.
    "It's okay." Lacey replied, pasting on a fake smile and rolling past him.
    Slade and Lacey continued to help clear the table. As Slade set the last dirty glass in the sink, Zane clapped him on his back, and said, "Why don't you come outside and I'll show you around the property?"
    Slade nodded and followed Zane outside. Lacey watched as they walked away. It was going to take a while for Lacey to get used to having another face at the table, but she smiled to herself as she thought that Slade was the kind of face she could get used to seeing every day.

    "Hey, Lacey?" Lacey's little brother, Ryder, started.
    Lacey didn't put down the book she was reading down nor did she look at her little brother. "What?" She said, slightly annoyed.
    "Do you want to come outside and see me rope? Dad said I'm doin' gooder." Ryder said. Since he just turned six, his voice was still that higher pitched, often annoying voice. Just like everybody else in her family, Ryder's voice held a thick Western accent. Ryder's accent, however, was still developing so his words often mushed together and his words were drawled out more then usual.
    "Better." Lacey corrected her brother's grammatical error.
    Lacey heard Ryder audibly sigh at her correction. "Why do I got to go tawlkin' all proper? You don't."
    Lacey set her book down to roll her eyes at Ryder. "Because..." Lacey couldn't come up with a good reason, so she dropped it. "No. I'm busy right now, Ryder. I'm sorry. Maybe later I can come out and watch you rope."
    Ryder groaned. "You say that every day, Lacey. When are you goin' to come outside? Smokey told me he misses you."
    Lifting the book back up to her face to hide her smile, Lacey replied, "Oh, he told you, did he?"
    Ryder sat down next to Lacey on the couch. Only Ryder pulled his legs under him by his own, something Lacey would never be able to do ever again. "Yeah. Smokey said he was sorry for what happened and he said he hopes you don't blame hilm. He wants you to git to feelin' better so you can ride hilm agin."
   Lacey's smile faded. She knew Ryder meant the comment innocently...he was a little kid anyways, but the mention of the accident that left Lacey paralyzed stung Lacey's heart. She inadvertently slowly set her book down. Ryder must have read the obvious hurt on Lacey's face. He tried changing the subject, but Ryder's previous words rang loud in her ears. "You know, never mind. I don't feel like ropin'. You wanna look at baseball cards with me?"
    "Um, ya know, I'm actually really tired." Lacey replied. She pulled her wheelchair next to the couch and careful slid herself into it. "I'm goin' to go take a nap." Without looking at Ryder, Lacey rolled out of the living room and towards the stairs.
    "Whoa." Lacey heard a male voice say. She looked up and saw Slade. If Slade hadn't said something to let Lacey know that he was right there, Lacey would've ran into him. There was a wall behind him so he had nowhere to go.
    "S-sorry." Lacey replied. This was the umpteenth in these past two weeks that Lacey had almost ran over Slade with her wheelchair.
    "It's fine." Slade replied, smiling that smile of his. His smile quickly faded as he seemed to study Lacey's face. "Are you okay?" He asked. His eyebrows were pushed together in concern.
    Lacey didn't say anything; she just rolled her wheelchair past him and to the stairs. She could feel his gaze on her as she placed herself into the stair lift chair and folded her wheelchair, placing it on the track...all by herself..without any help from anyone.
    Once Lacey got back to her room, she immediately laid down in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She really wasn't tired, and she wasn't necessarily fixing to take a nap, she just wanted to be alone. Lacey heard her phone vibrate, so she reached over and grabbed it. There was a text from her friend Brooke.
    "Hey, girl, thinkin' about you today. You need somebody to hang with? I could come over."
    Lacey sighed. She loved her friend Brooke, but the last thing that she wanted to do was hang out with somebody. As Lacey texted back telling Brooke that she was really tired and just wanted to sleep, she heard a sharp neigh coming from a horse outside. Lacey quickly grabbed her wheelchair and rolled over to her window. Outside, she saw Slade and her dad trying to handle a horse. Lacey looked closer and gasped. "Smokey!"
    Lacey quickly rolled away from the window and made her way to the stairs. Once she was downstairs, Lacey quickly rolled to the back door and flung it open. She was about to go out on the porch, but abruptly stopped. What was she doing? There was nothing she could do out there to help with Smokey. He hadn't come out of the barn for a couple weeks and ever since the accident, he's been too scared to come out of the barn, especially because the first thing he sees is the outdoor arena where Lacey used to practice running barrels. That arena must look exactly like the one they were at when Lacey had her accident.
     Smokey was neighing and throwing his head like crazy outside. Slade expertly held the lead rope and tried keeping Smokey's head down as him and Zane were trying to clam Smokey down. Smokey pinned his ears back and reared unexpectedly. Slade was at the wrong place at the wrong time; Smokey's hoof came down hard on his ribs, knocking Slade to the ground. Without missing a beat, Slade quickly rolled out of the way to avoid being smashed when Smokey reared again, slamming his hooves hard into the ground right where Slade had just been. Zane grabbed on to the lead rope, and Smokey reared a couple more times, then seemed to settle some. Slade slowly made his way to his feet. Lacey watched as Zane asked Slade something when Slade placed a hand on his right side. She reckoned Zane was most likely asking if Slade was okay. Slade nodded yes in response, then took the lead rope from Zane and slowly inched his way to the round pen near the barn with Smokey.
    Lacey blinked and immediately saw flashbacks to her accident. She retreated from the door and quickly slammed it shut. Breathing heavily, Lacey just stared at the closed door.
    Lacey felt a hand on her shoulder almost immediately. She jumped at the sudden touch. "Lacey, honey, are you okay?" The question made her focus on the present again.
    Looking up at her mom, Lacey slowed her breaths and replied, "Yeah. I'm fine."
    "You sure, sweetheart?" Luella asked, a concerned expression conquering her face.
    Lacey nodded, then asked, "Are you okay if Brooke comes over?"
    Luella dropped her hand from Lacey's shoulder, then smiled and said, "Sure, sweetheart. That would be fine."
    "Thanks." Lacey mumbled and rolled away from her mom and to the stairs.

    Lacey heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. "Come in." She replied to the knock. Lacey looked over her shoulder and saw Brooke walk in. Smiling, Lacey rolled over and gave Brooke a hug.
    "Hey, girl. I've missed you." Brooke said.
    "I've missed you too. I'm glad you could come over." Lacey replied. She had been staring out her window, watching her dad and Slade trying to work with Smokey.
   "You sounded upset on the phone, are you okay?" Brooke asked.
   Lacey sighed. "It's hard, Brooke..."
   "Lacey...I'm sorry..." Brooke said. She took a seat on the foot of Lacey's bed. "What happened?"
    Lacey fingered the arm rest of her wheelchair. "Ever since Slade has been working here, he's been tryin' to get me to go outside." Lacey looked up to see Brooke's reaction; she looked sympathetic. "And he also acts like I'm not in a wheelchair."
    "How so?" Brooke asked, taking her cowboy boots off and throwing them on the floor. She folded her ankles and leaned back on her hands.
    "Well, he will invite me outside to watch him work with Smokey, which I never accept. But he will just...I don't know...it's hard to explain...well, his first day here, during breakfast, he asked me if I do rodeo. I told him that I used to, but not anymore. He told me that I should really consider getting back into it as if I still had two working legs." Lacey said. It wasn't that Lacey didn't think that you could have no movement or feeling in your legs and still not ride a horse, it was more that she told herself that since she was paralyzed, she didn't have to face her fears and get back on a horse.
    "Does he know about your accident?" Brooke asked, her voice quiet. She knew how much Lacey hated talking about it.
    "I don't know. I don't think so, unless my parents told him." Lacey's voice matched the low decibel of Brooke's.
    There was a slight pause, then Brooke said, "What if you go outside with him once? What would be the harm in that? Then, he will probably stop bugging you and who knows, it could be good for you. You wouldn't have to go out to the barn or anything, y'all could just sit out on the porch and talk or something. Besides, a little fresh air never hurt anybody." Brooke smiled.
    Brooke had a point, but still, if Lacey went outside, she would probably see Smokey in a corral and that would remind her of her accident and everything that followed. How she would never be able to walk ever again, ride a horse ever again, and especially never rodeo again. Also, if she did oblige to Slade and go outside, even if it was just to the porch, he'd want her to do more...go to the barn, watch him work with Smokey...things like that and Slade wasn't an easy guy to say no to. Sighing, Lacey said, "I know. But I can't..."
    "You can't what? Go outside or say no to that handsome cowboy?" Brooke said, winking and smiling a mischievous grin.
    Lacey chuckled awkwardly. She felt herself start to blush. "Both." Lacey admitted, keeping her head down.
    "Oh my gosh. You like him, don't you?" Brooke gasped and put her hand to her mouth, sitting up on Lacey's bed.
    Lacey jerked her head up and said a little too quickly. "No!" She titled her head down again. "I mean..."
    "Oh my gosh. You do, don't you?" Brooke was practically bouncing with excitement with the opportunity of playing matchmaker, something she was scary good at.
    "Well, I mean, he's a super sweet guy...he's attractive...really attractive...and he's got a nice smile...he's the real McCoy...and his drawl-" Lacey stopped talking when she heard Brooke squeal with excitement. Lacey laughed and looked at her overly excited friend. "What? I never said that I like him...I just said that...he's an easy guy to like...and not exactly bad on the eyes."
    "Well I think y'all would be adorable together." Brooke said, looking down to avoid Lacey's obvious surprise.
    "What?!" Lacey exclaimed. "No. No, we wouldn't. I do not like him like that. I hardly know anything about him."
    "So? If you date him, you could get to know him a whole lot better." Brooke stated.
    "No. Don't. I know what you're thinkin' and no. I won't allow it." She waved a finger at Brooke.
    "Oh. Come on." Brooke slapped Lacey's bed. "Every couple I have set up has stayed together. Heck, many have gotten married, and the ones that haven't gotten married are goin' to. It's inevitable." Brooke said, smiling. It was true; Brooke was just a natural matchmaker and every couple that she had set up had stayed together and many had gotten married.
    "Brooke, I cant. I can't be in a relationship right now." Lacey said. She lowered her voice and in a sad tone said, "Not after Jeremy."
    "Jeremy was a jerk! And look, I didn't set that up and see how it turned out." Brooke stated.
    "I loved Jeremy, Brooke. And I thought he loved me." Lacey said, her voice turning sad at the memory of her old boyfriend.
    "Who cares about Jeremy? That was in the past. This is now. You and Slade are my new project." Brooke winked at Lacey and sat back on her hands again.
    Lacey groaned. "Brooke..." Lacey drew out.
    "You'll thank me later, trust me." Brooke stated, dramatically swinging her legs off the side of Lacey's bed.
    Lacey wanted to protest, but she remembered how successful Brooke has been in her often "accidental" matchmaking and thought that maybe it would be okay if Brooke made Lacey and Slade her "new project."