Page 23 of With You Forever

But he’s also scared as shit.

That this wrecks Lacey. That surgery doesn’t go as planned. That it comes back.

Still, he’s gotta have hope. He’s gotta hang on.

The news could be worse. It could be dark. And it would end him.

But Lacey’s got more than a good chance, and he’s determined to be her light. Because he knows, even though the news is good, it came out of left field to upend her—and his—entire world. She’ll get better, but not without a lot of attention and medicine and pain. The next three years will be getting her the treatment she needs.

Just like that their life changed.

“I don’t even know how to do this,” Lacey whispers. She takes a deep, shuddering breath, then bursts out: “I don’twantto do it. And then I feel selfish because I have to. Because it’s notthatbad, but to me, it’s awful. It’s scary, Seth.”

“It is.” His throat bobs painfully.

She’s sick.

His girl is sick.

And he can’t protect her.

The thought has the power to put him in the grave.

“I have to have surgery,” she hisses. “My breast will never be the same. And if it comes back ...” Her eyes squeeze shut against the thought.

Seth’s knuckles are white on the wheel. He shakes his head, because the thought of anything happening to Lacey has him slowly combusting. “It won’t come back.”

“We don’t know that,” she says in a dull voice.

He glances over. He can see the desperation and doubt coming off her in waves. His hurricane girl is barely a breeze. Christ. He’d kill to get that fierce fire, that fight back in her green eyes.

All he can do is show her that he’s still in this, that he loves her. That he isn’t going anywhere.

Show her that he isn’t going to stop planning their future and he hopes like hell she knows that.

An idea hitting him, Seth slows on the gas.

“Hang on, princess.”

With a jerk of the wheel, Seth cranks the Bronco and flips a U-turn in the middle of the byway. Lacey squeals, gripping the Oh Shit handle above the door for dear life.

When they’ve cleared the intersection, she straightens up, half-laughing, half-scowling. The smile on her face has his chest unclenching its stranglehold. “Seth, are you crazy?” Her eyes scan the road signs. “Where are we going?”

“We ain’t goin’ home.” Seth merges left, speeding up to take the road to Luke’s. “I wanna show you somethin’.”

Lacey sits up in the passenger seat when Wild Antler Farm comes into view. When she looks at Seth quizzically, he says, “Sit tight, princess.”

Intrigued, she does.

Instead of taking the main road to Sal and Luke’s house, the Bronco continues straight for about two miles, then hooks a left on a snaky trail of back road. Lacey bounces in her seat, laughing as Seth cranks the radio to an old country song and sings along in a hokey warble, his deep voice a soothing rumble of happy.

Relief washes over her. Instantly, she feels better. Because that’s Seth. Always making sure they can get through anything, get through it together.

She needs this man. So damn much.

Minutes later, the Bronco comes to a stop on top of a hill. Seth hops out, hustles to her side and opens her door. After helping her out, he leads her to a spot where the grass is overrun. Tall oak trees line the ridge; a deer darts past a shrub. Off in the distance, she can see Wild Antler Farm, the sparkling river.

Standing there, Lacey takes it all in. The beauty of the country, the wild fragrant scent of grass and sun. She feels like she’s a world away from reality, nestled in the forest.

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