"Man, I'm glad that we are finally done for the day. It goes so much quicker with someone to help me, but dadgum, I'm awful hungry." Swayde stated, walking into the house, hanging his cowboy hat on the peg right inside of the door. Taking a seat on the bench in the foyer, Swayde took off his cowboy boots. Renne did the same, then made her way into the kitchen, Swayde closely behind her. 

After opening the fridge and cupboard doors, Renne saw how sparse her resources. Walking to the pantry, and flinging open the doors, Renne saw just how little she had to work with to make supper. 

Turning around to face Swayde, Renne put her hands on her hips and said with a smile, "Well, cowboy, looks like we gotta go shopping." 

Swayde was leaning back against the island with his hands resting on the counter top. His ankles were crossed as he grinned at Renne. "Why? There's plenty of food here." There was a slight teasing chuckle in his voice. 

"Really? If you offer grilled cheese and tomato soup one more time I will have to-"

"What's wrong with my grilled cheese?" Swayde interrupted.

"I've had it almost every single time I have come over. Even though there's nothin' wrong with it, it's nice to have something different ever once in a while." Renne slipped her hands into the back pocket of her jeans. "Literally all you have here is noodles and cereal, and about a million cans of corn and green beans. Nothing I can whip into for supper."

"Okay, in my defense, I only have to cook to myself. I never have company over that I need to cook for. And recently, I've been at your grandparents house more then I am here and you know that your grandma won't let me leave on an empty stomach. Besides, us cowboys don't eat a lot."

Swayde looked so cute with his crooked grin, arms folded, leaning back against the sink, but Renne kept her thoughts to herself as she said, "Okay, well, first off, I know that's a lie. I swear, I've spent more money on groceries because of Matt alone in the last couple years then I spend on my horses." Her smile faded slightly at the thought of Matt; it was at the point where just thinking about him made her upset. "Anyways, I'm fixin' to go to the store tomorrow and get you stocked up on food. Then I'll make you the best supper you've ever had." 

Swayde's smile faded down to a grin as he stood up from his leaning position against the island. Making his way nearer to Renne he said, "You always take such good care of everyone else, you know that? When was the last time that you did something for yourself?" 

Renne shifted in her spot as she thought about it; Swayde had a point. Sure, Matt used to take her on thoughtful dates when they could find the time, but it had been such a long time since Renne had taken even a day off to just go have fun and relax on her own. Do something with her friends, or anything. She was always told that she works too much, but she always chuckled at people when they said that. What she did wasn't work, because she genuinely enjoyed it; if she stopped working, she didn't know what she would do. 

Looking down at her appearance, she realized that she was wearing her best pair of work boots which had a half inch cut in the leather on the right foot, which causes her feet to get soaked every time there was even the slightest bit of water, and the soles were non existent. The pair of Wranglers she was wearing weren't much better. They were worn, the hems frayed, and there was a rip on the left thigh that came from a barbed wire fence. Sure, Renne had sewn it up, but it was still slightly visible if you looked hard enough.

Before Renne would answer, Swayde said, "Tomorrow, I'm takin' you out to dinner. Then we could do absolutely whatever you want to do. But, you deserve a day off from all of this craziness. Just give yourself a day to relax and unwind." Renne opened her mouth to protest, but Swayde put a finger up and interrupted her before she could even speak a word. "Don't even think about tryin to change my mind. Don't even say anything, because that's what we were gonna do, okay?" 

Renne sighed. "All I was gonna say is that that sounds nice." She smiled. 

"Sure you were." Swayde smiled back and shook his head. "In the meantime, whaddya think about grilled cheese for supper?" Reaching onto the island, Swayde picked up a loaf of bread.

With a chuckle, Renne shook her head, turning to walk out of the kitchen. "Come on, let's go see if mamaw and papaw has any food there." 

"Yes, ma'am." Swayde drawled, following Renne outside to his truck after slipping on his boots and slapping his hat on top of his head. Once outside, as always, Swayde opened the passenger side door of his truck for Renne, waiting until she was fully in before closing the door. 

The drive to Mamaw and Papaw's house was anything but quiet. Swayde was making Renne laugh harder than she had for a very long time. It was the same way when they got to Renne's grandparents house. 

Opening the screen door, Renne entered her childhood home. "Hey, mamaw, papaw." Renne called out into the quiet house. 

From the kitchen, Mamaw appeared, wiping her hands on her yellow and white daisy print apron. "Reagan, Swayde. This is a nice surprise. We haven't gotten to see y'all for a couple days." Mamaw smiled, giving Renne a hug. Although Mamaw was only 5'2", she still gave some of the best hugs of anyone Renne knew. Passing the love on, Mamaw stood on her toes to reach her arms up to Swayde, embracing him in a hug as well.

"I know I haven't been home lately, but Swayde and I have been really busy and are gettin' a lot done back at his ranch." Renne gave the explanation. 

"That's alright, dear. You're old enough to make your own decisions. But, anyways, your grandfather was just about to call you to see if y'all wanted to come over for supper, but since y'all are here, y'all might as well stay and eat." Mamaw motioned for them to follow her into the kitchen.

With a chuckle, Renne followed. "That's exactly why we came, actually. We wanted to see if y'all had anything I could steal to make for supper." 

"Well, I'm makin' meatloaf and scalloped taters for dinner, so instead of drivin' back, y'all just stay here for supper." Mamaw was already back to busying herself chopping potatoes.

"Meatloaf and scalloped taters sound good to me." Swayde smiled at Mamaw, making the decision for both Renne and himself. Besides, they didn't have anything better back at his house. 

"Good, Swayde, you finish slicing these taters; I'm going to check the meatloaf. Reagan, you can prepare the table, if you'd like." Mamaw gave the orders. 

Not long after Swayde and Renne arrived was supper ready and on the table. "Let's say grace, and give God thanks for this food." Papaw said, holding out his hands. "Bow your heads and close your eyes as we lift our thanks to the Lord." Papaw requested; having been a pastor for over 30 years, some routine lines never left him. It made Renne smiled as she listened to her grandfather pray. "In your name, we pray. Amen." Papaw concluded his prayers a short time later. Retreating his hands, and lifting his head, Papaw pasted on a smile. "Now, let's dig in." 

With a smile, Swayde spread the white cloth napkin out over his lap. "This looks and smells amazing, thank you." He said, taking a spoonful of the garden fresh green beans. 

"You're welcome, Swayde. Thank you, both, for keepin' us company tonight. As unexpected as it was." Mamaw replied, taking a slice of the warm meatloaf.

The rest of supper went great; it was much like the truck ride here: Swayde was making everyone crack up laughing by telling jokes and funny stories. There was a lot of reminiscing, but in a good way. 

After all of the meatloaf had been eaten, and the leftover potatoes were put in a container in the fridge, Swayde manned himself at the sink, turning on the warm water, putting the stopper in the sink.

"These are the last of the dishes." Renne said, setting the four plates into the soapy sink water. 

Swayde rolled up his sleeves to his elbows before plunging his hands into the warm water. "If I wash them, do you want to dry 'em and put them away?" Swayde asked, grabbing the scrubbing brush.

"Sure." Renne smiled, grabbing a clean, dry towel from the drawer to the left of the sink. As she waited for Swayde to was the dishes so she could dry them, Renne leaned back against the counter. With a smile, Renne said, "This is a pretty familiar scene. Remember when we were teenagers and we used to do this exact thang? You knew I liked drying the dishes, so you would always offer to wash them." 

Swayde chuckled at the memory. With a mischievous grin presented on his face, Swayde looked at Renne out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, I remember. I also remember all of the soap and water fights we got into." He grabbed a handful of bubbles, lifting it and turning to face Swayde.

Renne, seeing what was about to unfold, took a step back and pointed a finger at Swayde. "Don't you dare throw bubbles at me, Swayde McAllister!" Renne demanded, a smile on her face.

Lifting his hand to his mouth, Swayde softly blew on the mound of bubbles, many of them reaching Renne. Swayde laughed, but Renne didn't look the slightest bit amused.

"Really?" Renne stood with a hand on her hip, giving Swayde a raised eyebrow look.

Turning back to the sink, Swayde busied his hands to cleaning the dishes again. "In my defense, you said I couldn't throw bubbles at you. Technically I blew them at you, I didn't throw them." 

Renne trusted him enough to take her place leaning on the counter. Scooting a little closer to Swayde, Renne kept herself close to the sprayer. "It's the same difference." 

"Okay. I'm done teasing you with bubbles." Swayde surrendered, placing a clean plate in the adjacent sink to be rinsed. 

Turning to face the sink, Renne grabbed the water sprayer to rinse the plate. Spraying the plate for a second or two, Renne decided that two could play the game Swayde was introducing. Trying to contain her smile, Renne nonchalantly turned the sprayer to the left, the water reaching Swayde's bicep. "Oops." Renne giggled, holding tight to the sprayer.

"Oh, it's on now, Reagan Renne." Swayde laughed, turning to Renne with a handful of bubbles. 

Somehow, Swayde was able to pin Renne against the sink, grabbing the sprayer from her unyielding hand. "Oh, I got you now." Swayde laughed, giving the sprayer a couple squeezes.

"Swayde, stop!" Renne managed to get out between laughs. 

"Sorry, what was that? You said, 'Swayde, spray!'? Well, that's just what I will do." With one hand tightly around Renne's waist, preventing her from squeeming away, Swayde continued to terrorize Renne with water until a handful of bubbles found his face. In a process to get the bubbles out of his mouth and eyes, Swayde let go of Renne. Renne, now having the advantage, managed to grab the sprayer hose from Swayde, holding the weapon out in front of her, aimed right at Swayde. With both hands in the air, Swayde grinned, "Okay. Okay. I surrender." 

"Good." Renne, seeming content with winning, Replaced the sprayer to it's holder. "Now, please excuse me while I go find a dry t-shirt to wear since you decided to have a water fight."

"Just tryin' to make you smile, Reg." Swayde said, glancing at Renne.

"Well, cowboy, it certainly worked. Thank you." Renne placed a friendly hand on his bicep. 

"I'm glad. No go get out of here and go change before I get you completely soaked." Swayde teased, reaching for the sprayer again. 

"I'm goin'. I'm goin'." Renne said, tossing her towel at Swayde before making her way out of the kitchen and up to her room. 

Once upstairs in her room, Renne walked over to her dresser. While filing through her drawers, looking for a comfortable shirt to wear, Renne noticed her reflection in the mirror. Pasted on her lips was a bright, genuinely happy smile. With how she felt right now, Renne was pretty certain that that smile would never fade, and for that she was so thankful for. 

Shaking her head as she thought about the water fight her and Swayde just got into, Renne brought her eyes back down to her dresser drawer to resume her search for a shirt. Silently, Renne thanked God for Swayde, her grandparents and the fun they had today. Her smile only grew as she felt a sense of peace coming over her being. Right then, Renne knew that no matter what events played out over the next couple weeks, everything would be alright because, with God, all things are possible, even mending a broken heart that had been shattered into a million tiny pieces.