There would be time later to take her in his arms, to tell her how sorry he was he’d hurt her, to swear to her he’d never do it again, to beg for her forgiveness. He’d tell her he wanted to marry her so he could spend the rest of his life making it up to her.
The past didn’t matter. Her fame didn’t matter. Only she and their baby and the life they would make together was important to him.
Blinded by the stage lights and feeling a little faint, Summer took another deep bow. When she straightened, she raised her hands and blew kisses as the audience continued to clap.
They stomped and screamed louder, so she bowed a final time.
This time when she straightened she heard a man on stage right call her name.
His voice shuddered through her, or did she only imagine him there?
Hoping, she turned and was overjoyed to see a tall man in a dark suit holding the biggest bouquet of roses she’d ever seen.
“Zach,” she whispered, not really believing what she saw, as she took a faltering step toward him. She sucked in a breath. “Is it really you? Or am I dreaming? Oh, please, God, don’t let me be dreaming!”
Then he came nearer, and his dear face with all those hard angles came into focus, and she saw that his eyes were warm and filled with love. He smiled sheepishly, but he dazzled her just the same.
“Oh, Zach. You came. You really came. I wanted you here so much. You’ll never know…how much.”
Handing her the huge bouquet of red roses, he swept her into his arms and kissed her.
Dozens of flashes exploded. The crowd roared, loving him, loving her, loving them together because their fairy tale had come true.
She couldn’t believe he’d come tonight, that maybe he still loved her. But then she could believe it because his kisses took her breath away as did the tears shining in his beautiful, dark eyes.
“Forgive me,” he whispered. “Love me… Please love me again or I’ll die.”
“Oh, Zach… With all my heart,” she replied. “Always. And forever.”
Although the corridor outside Summer’s dressing room was noisy, Summer was aware of nothing except Zach, who was on bended knee, looking up at her, his expression fierce, almost desperate, as he clutched her hand.
“Tell me you weren’t playing a part for the crowd when you promised to love me out there, sweetheart.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I deserve that…and worse.”
“I’ve loved you since I was thirteen. I never stopped loving you. I never will.”
“I never stopped loving you, either. I’m sorry I was so brutal when you came to Louisiana to tell me about our baby. You were so beautiful in pink, so damned beautiful, so sad… And I deliberately hurt you. Maybe because I felt so much and was determined to ignore those feelings. Gram called me a fool for not listening to my gut and a coward for pushing you and your love away, and she was right.”
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Gently Summer cupped his rugged face in her hands. “It’s okay. I understand. I do.”
“To ever think you weren’t worth whatever it costs to make our life together was the second biggest mistake of my life. The first was that I should have stood by you fifteen years ago instead of blaming you for not standing by me. I’ve always been a selfish, egotistical bastard.”
“I should have done better by you, too.”
“We can’t go back,” he said. “Or control the events of the past. We can only control how we view them.”
“And the press? You really think you’ll be able to stand all the fuss?”
“I don’t care what the world thinks about me or you. Whatever we have together is true. It is the strongest force in my life… Stronger even than my ambition, stronger than any lie the vicious press can write or say. I haven’t given a damn about work since we’ve been apart. Nothing matters to me as much as you and our child. Nothing. I can’t change the past, but together we can change our future.”
She’d waited so long to hear such words from him, to feel loved by him so completely. Happiness overflowed in her heart.
“Will you marry me, then, Summer Wallace? Will you honor me by becoming Mrs. Zach Torr?”
“What? And give up my stage name?” she teased.
He pulled a black-velvet box out of his hand and opened it.
The diamond sparkled with a vengeance.
But her eyes shone even brighter as she stared down at him. “Oh, my! You could persuade a lot of girls with a rock that size.”
“You’re the only one I want, and you didn’t answer the question.”
“That’s because I’m still in shock. But, yes. Yes!” she cried as he slid the ring onto her finger. “Yes!”
“Then kiss me, Summer. This time I won’t complain about an Oscar performance.”
She laughed as she pulled his face up to hers and pressed her lips to his and did just as he commanded, for a very long time. Only it wasn’t a performance, it was true and real.
She’d always been true and real. He would never doubt her again.
“Mrs. Zach Torr,” she breathed in an awed tone when he finally released her.
A single tear traced down her cheek. Only this time it was a tear of joy.
Summer had never had more fun at a cast party than she was having tonight with Zach beside her and his ring glimmering on her left hand. At the same time she couldn’t wait to steal away from the lavish affair, so she could spend the rest of the night with her fiancé.
But they had forever, didn’t they? Or at least as long as they both should live.
Because they’d known the reviews would be good, the producers were out to impress. They’d rented a fabulous ballroom at the top of one of New York’s most prestigious hotels. The food was excellent; the champagne vintage. She had to stay awhile because she was the star.
When Hugh crashed the party unexpectedly and began garnering more press than anybody else, she tensed, whispering to Zach that she’d tell the show’s producers to make him leave.
Zach pressed a fingertip to her lips. “Let him stay, sweetheart. I don’t care. The press can write whatever they want about the three of us.”
“You really don’t care?”
“I swear it. Don’t worry about me. Introduce me to the bastard. I’ll even pose with him. Go do what you have to do. Work the crowd. Let the photographers take the appropriate pictures of you with your cast and producers. Because the sooner you do, the sooner we can leave and have the rest of the night for each other.”
She listened to his sure, calm voice, which didn’t hold the faintest trace of jealousy, and felt as if she’d come home. At last.
Happiness filled her. So much happiness, she couldn’t speak.
“Oh, Zach.”
He pulled her into his arms. For a long moment, as he held her close, she realized that this was her new life, their shared life. He was part of all she was, just as she would be part of all he was. No more scandals stood between them.
They would be together forever.
Epilogue
The stairs creaked as Summer carried Terri, who was bundled in pink blankets and asleep, up to the nursery. But she couldn’t put her beautiful, dark-haired little girl in the crib. The baby was too soft and warm and cuddly, and every minute Summer held her was too precious.
The joy-filled days passed so fast. Summer had given herself a year off for maternity leave, and already four months of it were gone. So she sat in the rocker and began to sing to her little girl while she stared out at the pines that fringed the house that had belonged to her family for more than a hundred years.
Summer loved the time she and Zach spent in this old house, the time when they left their nannies and servants in their larger residences in Houston and New York, and they could be together with Gram and Tuck.