The Paralyzed Dream (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Eight

        The grain slid off of the metal scoop, and fell into the small light green bucket that Lacey had on her lap. She was fighting hard to keep her eyes open, laden with exhaustion after a night of restlessness resulting in no sleep. As she yawned, Lacey added the grain bucket to the stack of other full feed buckets on the barn floor to her left before grabbing the last empty bucket from her right. 

     Filling the last bucket, Lacey grabbed the first stack of feed buckets, rolling over to the line of stalls on the left side of the barn. Opening each stall door, Lacey gave the horses their food. Once the left side of the barn was done, Lacey did the same to the right side. Stacking the empty buckets next to the grain bins so they were ready for the evening feeds, Lacey grabbed the hose by the door of the barn to give all of the horses water.

       Just as she turned on the spigot, and was about to turn around, two strong arms came around her from behind, enclosing her in a hug. Slade dropped a soft, feathery kiss on Lacey's neck before pulling back, telling her good morning. 

        "Mornin'." Lacey breathed out, taking the hose with her as she turned away from Slade to give water to the horses.

        "Mornin' sunshine, how can I help you?" Slade asked, following closely beside Lacey, walking with her as she went to each stall. 

         "You can start by givin' me space." Lacey mumbled, knowing Slade couldn't hear her sarcasm over the sound of the running water. "I'm almost finished here. The steers need fed their grain though. Willie mixed it up this morning, but he had to go to school, so he didn't have time to feed." 

         "Okay. I'll go pull the truck around for you then." Slade walked to the tool room, grabbing the keys for the feed truck, then made his way outside.

        Lacey sighed as she finished topping off all of the horses water buckets. She made a mental note to remind herself to dump them out and clean them tonight. After she put the hose away, Lacey heard the feed truck rumble up to the side of the barn. Shutting off the interior barn lights, Lacey met Slade outside. Just as she rolled up to the truck, about to hop in, Slade came jogging over, ready to help. 

        "I got it." Lacey said, short, as she folded up her chair, setting it in the space behind the seats. Slade, quiet, got back in the truck, putting it in drive and making their way to the feedlot steers.

        Slade slid his arm around the back of the seat as he drove, a hand resting on Lacey's shoulder. Glancing over at her he said, "You seem off today, everythin' alright?" 

       Lacey kept her eyes straight forward. "Yeah, just tired. I didn't sleep at all last night." She wasn't sure why she was so blame grouchy; she just was. Granted, the lack of sleep didn't help any, but even still, she was still more short than usual. Trying to dial it back, she made a motion to try to be as sweet as possible to Slade, knowing it wasn't his fault she was in a bad mood, and he had been nothing but nice and helpful to her this morning. 

        "You sure that's all?" Slade turned down the next lane, on their way to the steers. 

       "I think so. I just woke up in a bad mood today." Lacey glanced over at him, already feeling a little better when she saw how handsome he looked in his white T-shirt, Wranglers, and cowboy hat. 

       Finally, they were at the lot. All of the hungry steers lowed as they walked up to the trough. Driving by slowly, Slade edged the truck right beside the feed trough, pressing the button on the dash that disposed of the feed that was in the feeder on the flat bed. 

        The steers fought their way through, pushing each other, all anxious to get to the grain. Slade let out a chuckle as he drove down the lane, dispensing the feed from the auger, watching the smarter of the steers realize that there was more feed being dispensed further down, so they all didn't have to crowd around the first ten feet of the trough.