"Well, what do you think?" Slade turned in his seat, smiling at Lacey. "How does it feel to be behind the wheel of a truck again?" He asked as he watched Lacey run a hand over the steering wheel, staring at the dash.
"It feels weird. It's goin' to take a while for me to get used to the gas and brake pedal being on a rod to the left of my steering wheel, and having to use my hands for it." Lacey looked over the contraption that would give her a little more "freedom," aka, driving.
"Well, you ready to test it out?" He asked, smiling contently at his girlfriend.
"I think so." Lacey nodded her head, swallowing hard. Reaching behind her, she grabbed her seat belt, buckling it across herself. Out of the corner of her eye, Lacey saw Slade do the same.
"Alrighty. Go ahead and start 'er up." Slade handed the keys to the truck before situating himself so he was facing forward, folding his hands and resting them in her lap.
With shaky hands, Lacey slid the key into the ignition of her truck, turning it. Hearing the engine rumble to life made her smile. She missed her old truck; it was her first vehicle, and in high school it had seen every rodeo, every football game, every mud bog, every corn field star gazing. Her and that old Ford had been through everything together. The last time anyone had driven her truck, before they took it to the shop to have the new implements put in, was when Slade "test drove it" when they first started dating.
Being behind the wheel now, Lacey knew it had been way too long. Running her hands over the steering wheel one more time, Lacey took in a deep breath, putting one hand on the rod to her left, and the other on the gear shift on the right. Pushing the rod on the left forward, Lacey applied the brake, lowering her truck into drive. Slowly letting off of the brake, Lacey's truck began to coast forward. A huge smile rose on her face as she pushed the rod down slightly, applying the gas pedal, making her truck accelerate.
"You're doin' it, Lace! You're drivin'!" Slade cheered on from the passenger side.
Lacey couldn't help but giggle at the rumble of her old Ford as it sped up going down the driveway. Once Lacey got closer to the end of the almost mile long gravel and dirt road, she glanced over at Slade. "Mind if I take her out on the road?"
A huge smile spread across Slade's lips was the only answer that Lacey needed, but still, he added, "Go for it." Spreading his long arm across the back of the seat, Slade watched as Lacey flipped on her turn signal, looking both ways before turning right out of the driveway. It took her a while to adjust, but by the time they were only ten minutes from the ranch, Lacey seemed to have already adjusted fairly well to the new controls of her truck.
Looking to the digital clock on the dashboard, Slade saw the time. "You wanna drive us into town for some lunch? Test out your skills in a drive thru?"
Lacey spared a glance at Slade to grin. "Is food all you think about?"
Slade shrugged. "Maybe. Well, no. I think about you a lot too. Actually, I think about you most of the time." He let his hand fall to Lacey's shoulder.
"You're sweet. Now, what are you hungry for?" Lacey slowed the truck down to hang a left, heading towards town. It was still difficult for her to figure out how to make sharp turns with one hand while using her other to apply the brake. Granted, this was her first time driving since her accident, nearly seven months ago. All things considered, she thought that she was doing surprisingly well.
"I'll let you pick." Slade said as they neared town.
Lacey drove in silence the rest of the way to town. The fastest that she felt comfortable driving was 55mph, even though the speed limit was 65 for a stretch. Thankful that she lived in a town small enough that there were very few cars, Lacey felt no pressure to drive slower than the speed limit, knowing that there were very few drivers that she would upset on the road.
Once Lacey got to town, she began feeling nervous, especially when she saw many more cars. Nearing the sole traffic light in town, Lacey saw it changing to red, so she reacted correctly, pushing the rod forward, applying the brakes. Fully stopped behind another truck, Lacey let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Keeping her eyes forward, Lacey began to play with the bottom of her hair with one hand, adjusting her left hand so it was holding the brake and steering wheel at the same time. Nerves wracked Lacey's insides as she stared at the light, waiting for it to change.
Slade, seeing Lacey tense up at being in town at one of the busiest times of the day, leaned across the seat, gingerly moving some hair away from her face, kissing her neck softly. Smiling when he saw the goosebumps rising on her skin, followed by a red blush, Slade moved closer, this time his lips landing on the soft skin right behind her ear. "Don't be nervous, Lace, I am so proud of you." He whispered, just as the light turned green.
Thankful for Slade's encouragement, Lacey immediately felt better, relieving her of any of her nerves. She dropped her hand from her hair, resting it back on the steering wheel, speeding up her truck slightly before turning right into the driveway of the brand new fast food restaurant in town.
"What do you want?" Lacey asked Slade as she pulled up to the ordering screen.
Slade leaned across Lacey to order his meal before reaching into his back jeans pocket to grab his billfold, pulling out some cash, handing it to Lacey.
After they got their food, Lacey pulled back onto Main Street, heading back towards the ranch, honestly proud of herself for picking up on the new driving technique so quickly and so well. She had been attending the assisted horse back riding lessons every week, and those had been going very good as well. After almost a month of riding horses again, Lacey was finally able to hold herself up in the saddle all by herself; every time she rode, she seemed more confident, able to pick up more and more speed each time. Proud of herself for making such great progress just came to show that with God and a lot of encouragement, anything was possible.
"Home sweet home." Lacey grinned as she pulled into the long driveway. The familiar scenery comforting Lacey, taking a load off of her shoulders as she allowed herself to relax some.
"Do you want to chill at my place for a while?" Slade asked before Lacey could pull up next to the house.
"Sure." Lacey turned her truck to the left, parking it right beside the barn. Shutting off the ignition, Lacey reached behind her, grabbing her wheelchair, putting it outside of the door, and setting it on the ground. Reaching behind her again, Lacey grabbed the other wheel to her chair, assembling it all together. Making sure it was all put together and sturdy, Lacey unbuckled her seat belt, carefully lowering herself into the chair. She was extremely grateful that her truck had a full sized cab that she could easily put her wheelchair in. It made maneuvering and going places much easier, especially since now she wouldn't have to rely on another person to get her chair for her, and now it could be inside the cab, free from any weather since before it was always left in the bed as Slade chauffeured her around.
Slade grabbed the bag of food from the restaurant, leading Lacey into the barn. Smiling when Lacey heard the horses greet her with their nickers and neighs, her spirits were lifted instantly, and immediately, she knew that her night could only get better.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Supper had been eaten, the dishes were finished, all of the chores for the day had been completed, and now Slade and Lacey were just relaxing in his apartment. Lacey was sitting on Slade's bed with his laptop on her lap as she looked through what movie on Netflix they should watch next. Time and time again, Lacey had tried to convince Slade to get a small TV to put in his bedroom, since the one that he had previously in there stopped working, but Slade had claimed that he wanted to save his money and not spend anything to buy a television.
While Slade was taking his shower since he was dirty after a long days work, Lacey patiently continued to scroll through the movie selection on Netflix. One movie in particular stood out to her. On the title screen, an ecstatic couple was seen. The two giddy people were hugging, huge smiles on their faces as their foreheads were rested against each others. Tightly grasping her partner's bicep, the female was sporting a large, shiny, beautiful engagement ring. Based on the smile and glimmer in her boyfriend's eyes, it was evident that the couple was newly engaged.
Seeing that overjoyed couple, newly engaged, Lacey felt a smile rising to her lips, feeling inspired. Instead of clicking on the movie to watch, Lacey opened a new tab, typing in the name of the local jewelry store to them. Hovering the mouse over the "engagement ring" section, Lacey began to question what she was doing, wondering if her and Slade really were ready to get married, though they had talked about it multiple times.
There were a few rings that were pretty, and Lacey opened each of them in a new tab. By the time she was just about through the whole four page ring section, Lacey had about ten rings picked out, but none of them really stood out to her. Telling herself to not get discouraged, Lacey continued to scroll down the page. About halfway down the page, she saw the most beautiful engagement ring that she had ever seen in her life. Instantly, she felt tears beginning to rise in her eyes. As she blinked, causing a happy tear to almost fall, Lacey could practically see Slade down on one knee, holding out that ring to her, asking her to spend the rest of their lives together.
Opening her eyes, Lacey inwardly scolded herself for questioning if she really was ready for married life. Seeing the ring now that she had picked out, she knew she was ready; she knew Slade was ready.
Allowing herself to linger over the beauty of the ring a little longer, Lacey couldn't help but to imagine what life would be like married to Slade, spending the rest of her life with him. Just as she was about to look at more details on the ring that she had already fallen in love with, Lacey heard Slade's bathroom door open out in the hallway.
Quickly glancing up from the computer screen, Lacey saw a shirtless Slade entering his bedroom, walking straight towards her, drying his hair as he made his way closer. Right as he looked up at Lacey, he smiled, making Lacey flip into a panic, quickly trying to close out of all of the engagement ring tabs on Slade's laptop. Her plan was to close out of all of the ring tabs, leaving only the Netflix screen open, but her plan failed. Before Lacey could really react, Slade hopped up next to his girlfriend on the bed. "Whatcha lookin' at?" He tried his best to peek at the screen on the laptop, but just as he reached out to grab it from Lacey, she slammed the lid shut, moving the laptop off of her lap, out of Slade's reach. "Oh, I know. You are lookin' at anniversary gifts for me, ain't you?" Slade teased, staring at the most beautiful woman in the world who was sporting the most guilty look on her face.
Lacey let out a slightly relieved breath, thinking that maybe Slade hadn't actually seen what she really was looking at on his laptop. "Yeah, that's exactly it. Anniversary gifts is just what I was lookin' at." Ironically, their ten month anniversary still wasn't for a few weeks yet. She folded in her lips, biting down on them with her teeth. She hated lying to Slade, but she wasn't sure how he would react if she told him she was looking at engagement rings.
"Do you still want to watch a movie? Or you ready to turn in for the night?" Slade smiled up at Lacey as he laid on his side, propping himself up on his elbow.
"I'm honestly ready for bed. Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Lacey asked, seeing it was already after 11, and she was exhausted.
"Of course. I was hopin' you would." Slade reached beside him, shutting off the lamp on his bedside table.
"Alright, goodnight, babe." Lacey smiled, leaning forward, asking Slade for a kiss before she slid under the covers. Shutting off the light beside her, Lacey felt the laptop beside her, still on the bed, and was halfway tempted to continue looking at rings, but she knew that there was no way she could sneak that past Slade this time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Slade, still wide awake, glanced over his shoulder at a sound asleep Lacey. "Lace, you awake?" He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear, but only if she was awake. When she made no motion, nor sound at all, Slade ever so carefully slipped out of bed, grabbing his laptop from beside Lacey. Tiptoeing his way across his room, Slade very carefully opened up his bedroom door, slipping into the living room.
"Alright, let's see what we have here." Slade opened up his laptop, typing in the password to unlock the screen. The only reason that he was checking what Lacey was looking at wasn't because he didn't trust her, because he did trust her, knowing that she wasn't doing anything wrong, but he was simply just curious as to what it was that had her so flustered, and in a panic when he saw her. Seeing that the internet page was still open on his laptop, Slade saw two tabs. One was Netflix, but the other was something that caught his attention.
Scrolling the mouse over the tab, Slade clicked on it, opening the page. His eyes grew wide as he saw the exact reason that Lacey was so nervous about him seeing what it was that she was looking at.
The ring that she had pulled up on the jewelers website was stunning, and very fitting to Lacey and her personality. It was honestly the most perfect ring for her. A huge smile rose on Slade's lips as he bookmarked the page, closing the tab before shutting his laptop off for the night.
Careful to not wake his sleeping beauty, Slade tiptoed back into his bedroom, very carefully closing the door behind him, slipping back into bed, under his warm covers. Rolling over, Slade laid on his side so he was facing Lacey, who was laying on her back. He was truly glad that he had went ahead and checked out the tabs on his laptop, otherwise his fear that Lacey didn't actually want to marry him would have conquered his mind. Never in his life did Slade actually think that he would find a woman who loved him fully, or would willingly put up with him for the rest of his life, but from what he found tonight, he knew that that woman was laying beside him, and for that, he was extremely grateful.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The morning sun was just rising, casting it's warm rays through the windows in Slade's bedroom. Slade hardly got any sleep last night, but the second that the light began to illuminate his room, he was wide awake. For the past ten minutes, Slade had been watching Lacey as she slept, amazed by her absolute beauty, even as her mouth hung agape, with a tiny trail of dried drool crusting on the side of her mouth. He had never been more in love with her than he was in this present moment.
Reaching out, Slade ran a finger over Lacey's forehead, moving some hair off of her face. Lacey's breathing pattern changed before her eyes flitted open ever so slightly. Before long, Lacey stirred awake. The second she opened her eyes, making eye contact with Slade, a smile broke out onto Lacey's lips. "Mornin'." She let out a content sigh.
"Marry me." Slade said, partially surprised by his own words. His eyes were locked on Lacey's as he watched those baby blues light up, glistening with happy tears.
"What was that? I-I don't think that I heard you right." Lacey said, thinking that she just heard Slade propose to her.
Slade chuckled slightly, scooting closer to Lacey. Sliding a hand over her stomach, Slade repeated, "I said, 'marry me.'"
"That's what I thought that you said." She let out a chuckle, hardly able to contain her excitement. "Are you sure I'm not dreamin'?" She had to ask; this didn't seem real to her.
"No, darlin', you ain't dreamin' this. Lacey Anne Ferry, will you marry me?" Slade repeated for the third time.
"Yes! Yes, of course I will marry you!" Lacey responded, the realization that this was really happening hit her finally. Reaching out her arms, Lacey invited Slade into them.
"I love you, darlin'." Slade said as he embraced Lacey.
"I love you, too." Lacey chuckled out, passionately kissing Slade. Pulling back, she rested her forehead against Slade's, giggling like a little girl. It was at that moment that Lacey realized that her and Slade were just like the cover of that movie that she was checking out last night, only, this wasn't a movie; this was real. Her, Lacey Ferry, was engaged to her Prince Charming, Slade Reid, and neither of them could be happier. Any second now, Lacey was expecting to wake up from this dream she was in, but when she felt Slade's lips close over hers again, she knew this was certainly not a dream.