Page 116 of No More Secrets
“Nikolai snagged the name of your doctor out of a calendar appointment once in case he ever needed it.”
“Sneaky bastard.”
“Tell me everything, honey.”
She kissed him hard on the mouth. “In order of importance: I love you. I’m so sorry. And I’m cancer-free.” She punctuated each announcement with a kiss.
Carter crushed her to him, burying his face in her neck.
“I love you so much. When I read ...” he stopped, tried to clear the emotion that was clogging his throat.
“Everything is going to be okay. Better than okay. I’m so sorry for not telling you. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I think I can find it in my ‘big as a blue moon’ heart to find some forgiveness. But you have to promise me you won’t ever keep something like this from me again or I’ll feed you to Clementine.”
Summer cupped his face in her hands. “I promise you, Carter Pierce, that I will trust you and love you and drive you crazy from this day forward.”
“Nothing would make me happier.” He spun her around, teasing a laugh out of her throat.
A dog walker with a Chihuahua and three Yorkies scurried past them without looking in their direction.
He grinned, big and bright. “You realize what this means to the Beautification Committee, don’t you?”
“I think we’re going to make that committee very, very happy,” she said, kissing him again. She pulled back to look into his eyes. “Carter, there’s something else you need to know. It may change how you feel.”
His fingers tightened on her hips. “Summer, you’re about to say something that isn’t going to matter to me in the least and I’m going to get pissed again.”
“Infertility can be a side effect of some of the treatments I had. I might not be able to have kids.” She blurted out the words before they could get stuck in her throat.
“I was right. You’re pissing me off.”
“I’m so sorry —”
He let her slide to the ground, but when she tried to take a step back he grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Summer. We haven’t even talked about kids. How do you know I want them?”
She shrugged under his hands. “You’re a Pierce. You’re destined to be a family man.”
“And you think I’d rather choose a life with someone who can get pregnant with children I don’t even know if I want instead of you, the stubborn, illogical woman I love more than anything?”
“I’m making a mess of this,” she groaned.
“Yes, you are. But you’re new at this so I’ll cut you some slack,” Carter said, pulling her into him. “For the record, I haven’t given kids a thought. Could I see us with a family? Sure. Someday. But it doesn’t have to be now, and it doesn’t have to be the way everyone else does it. There’s more than one way to make a family.”
Summer looked down, but he nudged her chin up. She saw only love in his eyes.
“Honey, I’m not upset that we might not be able to have kids. I’m upset that you think it would change how I feel about you.”
She smoothed the t-shirt over his chest enjoying the feel of him under her hands.
“I’m so sorry for so many things. For not telling you about any of this. For running away when I got scared. For underestimating you.”
He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin.
“Summer.” Her name on his lips was like a caress and she knew she was forgiven. “Jax read your blog last night and came tearing into my bedroom yelling and carrying on. All I caught was ‘Summer’ and ‘cancer.’ It scared the life right out of me.”
She winced. “I was so scared. I’ve been so scared for so long that it started to feel normal.”
