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“I know. As you can imagine, a part of me is impatient. I want us to be together right now, get married, start a family and get on with the life we should always have had.”
Molly bit her bottom lip. He wanted to start a family?
“I know I have to wait, to go at your pace. And I’m enjoying this, too. I’m getting to know who you are now, and I like you even more. I love you more than I did then. I loved you with all my heart, but my heart is bigger and stronger—as well as softer—now. It has more understanding and more room for love.”
She smiled. “You say such lovely things.”
“But I know you need more than words.”
She nodded. “I have to ask about one thing you just said.”
“What?”
“About starting a family.”
He nodded slowly. “I know it’s too soon to talk about that, but it’s what I’d like. And you gave me hope when you talked about adopting. Is that something you’d consider?” His eyes were full of concern, and he took hold of her hand. “I suppose the question I need to ask is one I haven’t wanted to.”
“What’s that?”
“Can you even consider a future with me? Would you want to spend your life with a man who can’t father a child?”
She squeezed his hand. “Of course. You’re the only man I’ve ever considered spending my life with. Would I like to have children? Yes. Not immediately, but someday. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get married, let alone have children. When we get to the point where we want a family, I’d love to adopt. I don’t think blood is what defines a family. It’s love.”
He closed his arms around her. “I love you, Molly.”
“And I love you.” She looked up at him. “We didn’t talk about it last weekend, but I think we should now.”
“About what?”
“I’m on the pill. I’m guessing I don’t need to be?”
“No. Unfortunately, you won’t ever have to worry about getting pregnant by me.”
She nodded. “Then I’ll stop taking it.”
He held her gaze for a moment, and she’d guess that he wanted to ask why she was on it. She didn’t need to be. She’d dated a guy for a while last year, and she’d gone on the pill then. She wasn’t going to explain unless he asked. It was up to him if he wanted to know or not.
He didn’t ask.
Tuesday morning rolled around all too soon. It’d been a wonderful weekend, but now it was time to go back to work. Marcos was going over to the house that he’d rented, and Molly was going into the restaurant. Part of her wanted to call Grady and tell him she was going to take another few days off. He could handle things at work; she knew it, but that wasn’t the point. Last weekend at Summer Lake had been like a mini vacation. This weekend had still been an escape from reality. They’d hiked and hung out and hid away from the world. Today marked the return to real life—however unreal it might seem for Marcos to be back here. She needed to know that they could build and live a real, normal, everyday life. That they could and would work together through the routines of living.
She wasn’t sure how that fit in with him going over to his rented place. Part of her wanted to suggest that he should stay here and give that place up. She justified not suggesting it by remembering that all couples started out living in their own separate homes, and at some point, they reached the stage where they were ready to move in together. It was a little different for her and Marcos because of their history, but the same principles still applied.
He set a mug of coffee down in front of her. “Do you have time?”
“There’s always time for coffee,” she said with a smile.
“Do you want to see each other tonight? Or are you ready for a break from me?”
She chuckled. “I always want to see you. I don’t know what time I’ll close up, though. It’s usually around ten on Tuesdays.”
He nodded. “Would you mind if I come in?”
She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t mind, but I might not be able to sit with you. Grady’s off today, since he covered the whole weekend, so I won’t have any backup.”
“I don’t need your attention. I just want to be around you, and I have to have dinner somewhere.”
She laughed. “Are you over your love of cooking already?”
