The Paralyzed Dream (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Six

        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.