No More Secrets

No More Secrets Plot Summary

Introduction

Summer Lentz arrived at Pierce Acres with nothing but her designer wardrobe and a carefully constructed life that was slowly suffocating her. The Manhattan magazine editor thought she was there to write a simple piece about organic farming in upstate New York. What she found instead was Carter Pierce—a former Army Ranger whose steel-gray eyes held secrets as deep as her own, and whose calloused hands could make vegetables grow from barren earth. Carter had built his sanctuary on 200 acres of rolling farmland, seeking peace after the nightmares of Afghanistan. He wanted nothing to do with city journalists asking questions and disrupting his carefully maintained balance. But when Summer stepped out of her rental car in her impractical heels, something shifted in the foundation of his world. Neither of them expected that seven days among the fields and barns would unravel everything they thought they knew about love, healing, and the courage it takes to let someone see your wounds.

Chapter 1: City Meets Country: The Urban Editor in Rural America

The morning sun painted Pierce Acres in shades of gold and green as Summer struggled out of her rental car, laptop bag sliding off her shoulder and designer heels sinking into the dirt driveway. She had driven three hours from Manhattan to interview some farmer about organic vegetables, expecting a simple assignment that would advance her career at Indulgence magazine. What she hadn't expected was Carter Pierce. He emerged from behind the farmhouse like something out of a different century—six feet three inches of lean muscle wrapped in dirt-stained denim, dark hair cropped military short, and a beard that framed his mouth in a way that made her forget her carefully prepared questions. His eyes were the color of storm clouds, and when they fixed on her, Summer felt her professional composure wavering. "Are you Mr. Pierce?" she managed, extending her hand with the practiced confidence of someone who interviewed celebrities for a living. His calloused palm engulfed hers, and she felt electricity shoot up her arm. "Carter," he said simply, and she noticed how he studied her like she was a puzzle he wasn't sure he wanted to solve. The farmhouse itself was a revelation—traditional white siding hiding a modern interior where exposed beams soared overhead and stainless steel appliances gleamed in a kitchen large enough to feed a small army. Through the windows, she could see rolling pastures dotted with horses and the kind of view that made her Manhattan apartment seem like a closet. "It's just you here?" she asked, noting how the space felt both expansive and intimate. "Just me," Carter confirmed, and something in his tone suggested that was exactly how he preferred it. But as he showed her to her room—his childhood bedroom with its view of the barns and fields—Summer caught glimpses of the man beneath the gruff exterior. The way he moved through his domain with quiet confidence, how his voice softened when he talked about the land, the careful distance he maintained as if afraid that getting too close might disturb some delicate equilibrium he'd worked hard to achieve. She was supposed to be here to write about vegetables and sustainable farming. Instead, she found herself wondering what had driven this obviously intelligent, devastatingly attractive man to bury himself in the middle of nowhere, and why his eyes sometimes looked like they were seeing something far darker than the peaceful countryside that surrounded them.

Chapter 2: Seeds of Attraction: Breaking Down Emotional Barriers

Summer's first morning on the farm began with a disaster that would have sent most city dwellers running back to civilization. Carter found her in his kitchen at dawn, standing over a pan of what had once been eggs but now resembled charcoal briquettes, smoke billowing toward the ceiling. "I can handle a four-course meal for twelve in Manhattan," she said sheepishly, waving a dish towel at the smoke alarm. "Apparently farm kitchens operate by different rules." Carter rescued the pan with practiced ease, tossing the ruined eggs without comment. "Farm rule number one," he said, cracking fresh eggs into the skillet. "If you break it, you buy it. If you burn it, you eat it anyway." "That seems harsh." "Life on a farm tends to be." But as he cooked breakfast with the efficient movements of someone comfortable in his own space, Summer caught him glancing at her when he thought she wasn't looking. And when she insisted on washing dishes to make up for her culinary failure, he didn't argue. The real test came when he took her to meet the animals. Summer had never been within fifty feet of anything larger than a subway rat, so when Clementine the goat trotted up and took a healthy bite out of her designer jeans, she nearly climbed Carter like a tree. "She's just saying hello," Carter explained, his lips twitching with suppressed laughter as Summer examined the hole in her three-hundred-dollar denim. "Your goat has expensive taste," Summer muttered, which earned her Carter's first genuine smile. That smile transformed his face, softening the harsh lines and making her forget about her ruined clothes. When he helped her into the pig pen to meet Dixie and Hamlet, his hands lingered on her waist longer than strictly necessary. And when Dixie rolled over for belly rubs like an enormous dog, Carter's delighted laughter made something flutter in Summer's chest that had nothing to do with the story she was supposed to be writing. The day ended with him teaching her to collect eggs, standing behind her as she nervously reached into nesting boxes while hens eyed her with suspicion. His body radiated warmth against her back, and when his hand covered hers to guide her movements, she felt safer than she had in years. "Not bad for a city girl," he murmured in her ear, and the rough velvet of his voice made her knees weak. That night, as Summer sat at his kitchen island typing notes on her laptop, she caught Carter watching her from the living room. When their eyes met, neither of them looked away. The air between them crackled with possibility, and Summer realized she was in serious trouble.

Chapter 3: Blooming Love: Finding Connection Among the Fields

The farmers market in Blue Moon Bend's town square was unlike anything Summer had ever experienced. Vendors knew each other's children's names, customers lingered to chat about everything from weather to local gossip, and somehow everyone already knew who she was. "That's Summer," she heard one woman whisper to another. "She's staying out at Carter's place." Carter, who had been perfectly comfortable moments before, now looked like he wanted to disappear into the nearest cornfield. "Small town," he muttered by way of explanation. But Summer found herself charmed by the easy intimacy of the community. At Willa's boot shop, the mystical proprietor declared that Summer needed "something strong and sturdy that will protect you, but with a little give" before producing a pair of chocolate brown cowboy boots that fit like they'd been made for her feet. "Those boots have good energy," Willa said with satisfaction. "They'll take you exactly where you need to go." Carter rolled his eyes, but Summer caught him staring at her legs in the boots with an expression that made heat pool low in her belly. The real breakthrough came that evening when Carter's family descended for dinner. Phoebe Pierce was a force of nature—a former agricultural scientist who ran the farm's business side with maternal warmth and steel-sharp intelligence. Beckett, the younger brother and town mayor, had inherited his mother's gift for making strangers feel like family. Even Joey Greer, the horse trainer with the wary eyes and sharp tongue, seemed to approve of Summer's presence. But it was watching Carter with his family that stole Summer's breath. The careful control he maintained melted away, replaced by teasing affection and easy laughter. When he talked about his father's legacy and the farm's mission, passion blazed in his storm-gray eyes. After dinner, as they cleaned up in the barn where they'd eaten, the family drifted away one by one until only Summer and Carter remained. The space glowed with candlelight, intimate and golden. "Thank you," Summer said softly, "for letting me see this." Carter stepped closer, close enough that she could see the flecks of silver in his eyes. "Thank you for being worth seeing." When he kissed her, it was with the reverence of a man who'd been waiting his entire life for this moment. His mouth was warm and sure against hers, his hands tangling in her hair like he was afraid she might disappear. Summer melted into him, tasting promise and possibility on his lips. Later, as they made love in the barn with moonlight streaming through the windows, Summer understood that she wasn't just falling for Carter Pierce. She was falling for this life, this community, this version of herself that she'd never known existed.

Chapter 4: Hidden Scars: When Past Wounds Threaten the Future

Summer woke before dawn to find Carter's body rigid beside her, his breathing sharp and irregular. Even in sleep, his face was twisted with anguish, and when she touched his shoulder to wake him, he jerked away with a violence that left her shaken. "Carter," she whispered, afraid to startle him further. "Wake up. You're safe." When his eyes finally opened, they were haunted with memories she couldn't see. He sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, the strong line of his shoulders trembling. "Tell me," she said simply. The story came in fragments—a night raid in Afghanistan, a seven-year-old girl with terror in her brown eyes, the crack of a gunshot that ended everything. Carter's voice was flat as he described watching innocence die while his own blood pooled on the dirt floor. "I shot him six times," Carter said quietly. "And sometimes I wonder if that was enough." Summer wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her face against his back. She could feel the scars from the bullets that had nearly killed him, raised lines of tissue that told stories of pain and healing. "You chose a better way," she whispered against his skin. "I'm trying to," he replied, and in his voice she heard the weight of battles still being fought. But even as she held him, even as they made love again with desperate tenderness, Summer felt something cold unfurling in her chest. Carter had trusted her with his deepest wounds, and she was keeping secrets that could destroy them both. The next morning brought fresh complications when Jackson Pierce returned home after eight years in Hollywood. The youngest Pierce brother had his siblings' dark good looks, but where Carter radiated steady strength and Beckett projected polished confidence, Jackson carried himself like a man running from something. His reunion with Joey was explosive—literally. The woman who trained horses with infinite patience slapped Jackson hard enough to leave fingerprints on his cheek before storming out. Whatever had driven him away had left casualties in its wake. "Some mistakes take longer to fix," Carter observed, watching his brother touch his reddened face. Summer nodded, but her throat felt tight. She understood about mistakes that echoed across years, about secrets that grew heavier with time. Every pill she swallowed in private, every careful lie about her medical appointments back in the city, felt like another layer of deception between her and the man she was falling in love with. That evening, as they sat on the porch watching fireflies dance over the pastures, Carter took her hand and spoke words that should have filled her with joy. "I could have you like this every day for the rest of my life and it still wouldn't be enough," he said quietly. Summer's heart soared and broke simultaneously. Because she wanted that life more than she'd ever wanted anything, and she was terrified that once he knew the truth about her, he wouldn't want it at all.

Chapter 5: Running Away: The Fear of Vulnerability and Loss

The breaking point came on a sweltering July afternoon when Carter, in a moment of unguarded happiness, mentioned children. They were watching the chaos of a daycare field trip—a dozen tie-dyed toddlers wreaking havoc in the pig paddock while their overwhelmed chaperones looked on in horror. "I swear to you," Carter said, ice pack pressed to his forehead after one particularly enthusiastic child had head-butted him, "our children will never behave like that." Our children. The words hit Summer like a physical blow. She managed to smile and nod, but inside, panic was clawing at her chest. Carter saw a future filled with family dinners around that massive kitchen island, little feet running through the farmhouse halls, a legacy to match his parents' love story. He didn't know that her cancer treatments might have stolen that possibility away. He didn't know that every six months, she held her breath waiting to learn if her body was still her own or if the disease had returned to claim her. That night, she lay awake listening to Carter's steady breathing and made the hardest decision of her life. "I think we're moving too fast," she told him the next evening as they stood in the meadow behind the barn where they'd first kissed. Carter's face went very still. "Tell me why you feel that way." Summer forced herself to meet his eyes, knowing she was about to destroy the best thing that had ever happened to her. "I think we want different things, and I don't see why one of us should have to change to make the other happy." "Summer." He reached for her shoulders, and she had to steel herself against the warmth in his touch. "Honey, tell me what's wrong." "I don't want what you want." The lie tasted like ashes in her mouth. "I need some time to think. Some time and space." She saw the exact moment her words found their mark. Pain flickered across Carter's features, quick and devastating as lightning. But being the man he was, he didn't argue. He didn't try to change her mind. He simply nodded and let her go. The drive back to Manhattan blurred past in a haze of tears. Summer told herself she was protecting him, saving them both from the heartbreak that would come when her luck ran out. But as the city skyline rose before her and Carter's world disappeared in her rearview mirror, she wondered if she'd just made the worst mistake of her life. Back in her apartment, surrounded by all the trappings of success she'd once coveted, Summer had never felt more alone. The boots Carter had bought her sat in her closet like an accusation. Her bed felt vast and cold without his warmth beside her. She'd walked away from love to protect herself from loss, but sitting in her empty apartment while her phone remained stubbornly silent, Summer realized she'd lost everything anyway.

Chapter 6: Truth Revealed: The Courage to Share One's Battles

The September issue of Indulgence landed on Summer's desk like a bomb. What should have been her thoughtful piece about sustainable farming and community healing had been transformed into a shallow exploitation piece titled "Hot for Farmer." Carter's story—his service, his struggles with PTSD, his journey back to wholeness—had been reduced to sexual fantasy fodder complete with shirtless photos and breathless descriptions of his "farm boy broad shoulders." Summer stared at the magazine in horror, her byline mocking her from the glossy page. This wasn't journalism; it was tabloid trash that made a joke of everything Carter had trusted her with. She stormed into her editor's office, righteous fury burning in her chest. "You can take your sexy advertising and your emergency moisturizers and your constant need for ass kissing and shove it," she told Katherine Ackerman before walking out of Indulgence forever. But quitting her job wasn't enough. That night, sitting in her apartment with a bottle of wine and her laptop, Summer did something that terrified her more than any cancer diagnosis ever had. She told the truth. The blog post began with an admission that cut straight to her core: "I also have cancer." She wrote about the fear that had driven her into isolation, the treatments she'd hidden from everyone she cared about, the uncertainty that colored every moment of every day. She wrote about Carter—not the fantasy version Katherine had created, but the real man who'd shown her what courage looked like. She posted her original article, the one that honored his story instead of exploiting it, and ended with words that felt like stepping off a cliff: "Carter, I owe you a huge apology for taking your trust and then letting someone distort your story. I owe you an even bigger apology for running away when I got scared. I never meant to hurt you. I can't ask you to forgive me, but I can show you what I wanted everyone else to know about you. I'm sorry and I love you." The response was immediate and overwhelming. Comments poured in from cancer survivors, veterans, people who'd felt isolated by their own battles. Support flooded her inbox from complete strangers who recognized themselves in her story. For the first time in her adult life, Summer felt truly connected to something larger than her ambition. But the only response that mattered never came. Carter's silence stretched through the night and into the next day, and Summer began to understand that some betrayals cut too deep to heal. The morning of her follow-up appointment, Summer sat in Dr. Armenta's office trying to prepare herself for whatever news awaited. Clean tests would mean hope for a real future. A recurrence would mean facing the fight of her life—this time without hiding. "These are your results from yesterday," Dr. Armenta said, turning her computer screen toward Summer. The images showed healthy cells, clean scans, numbers that added up to a word Summer had been afraid to hope for: remission. She was crying on the sidewalk outside the medical building, overwhelmed with relief and possibility, when a familiar voice said her name. She turned to find Carter standing there with wildflowers in his hand and understanding in his storm-gray eyes. "Nikolai told me where to find you," he said simply. "Tell me everything, honey."

Chapter 7: Planting Roots: Choosing Love Over Fear

"In order of importance," Summer said, throwing herself into Carter's arms with the desperate joy of someone who'd almost lost everything, "I love you. I'm so sorry. And I'm cancer-free." Carter held her like she was something precious and fragile, his face buried in her neck. When he finally pulled back to look at her, she saw her own wonder reflected in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, but there was no anger in his voice, only a sadness that cut deeper than rage would have. "I was terrified," Summer admitted. "Not of the cancer, but of watching you choose obligation over love. I didn't want to be someone you felt sorry for." Carter's hands framed her face, his thumbs brushing away fresh tears. "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." She laughed despite everything, remembering how well he could read her. "The treatments might have left me unable to have children." "Were you planning on asking my opinion about kids before making decisions for both of us?" His tone was gentle, but she heard the steel beneath it. "Because I happen to think there's more than one way to build a family." Standing on a Manhattan sidewalk with traffic rushing past and strangers hurrying by without a second glance, Summer felt more at home than she ever had in her designer apartment. Home wasn't a place—it was Carter's arms around her, his steady heartbeat against her cheek, the certainty in his voice when he said, "Let's go home." Six months later, Summer stood in the hayloft of Pierce Acres' little barn, now converted into the headquarters of her digital magazine. Through the windows, she could see Carter and his brothers working on their brewery in the old stone barn, their dream finally taking shape. Her own dream was flourishing too—Real Life magazine had attracted readers hungry for authentic stories about health, healing, and hope. The Beautification Committee of Blue Moon Bend had declared total victory when Carter proposed on the front porch swing where they'd first made love, slipping his grandmother's ring onto her finger as fireflies danced in the summer twilight. The wedding was planned for the following spring, with the entire town already preparing for what promised to be the event of the decade. But it was the quiet moments that meant the most—breakfast together in the kitchen where she'd once burned eggs, evenings on the porch watching Dixie and Hamlet chase each other through the pasture, nights when Carter's nightmares came and she was there to hold him through them. "Where are you today?" she asked him one morning, using the Pierce family's traditional check-in. Carter smiled and pulled her close, his hands settling on her still-flat belly where their adopted daughter was growing. "Right where I belong," he said. "With you."

Summary

In the rolling fields of Pierce Acres, Summer Lentz discovered that the stories worth telling aren't found in glossy magazines or glittering parties, but in the quiet courage of ordinary people choosing to heal and grow despite their scars. Carter Pierce taught her that vulnerability isn't weakness—it's the foundation upon which real strength is built. Their love story became proof that sometimes the greatest risk is not in falling, but in being brave enough to stay. The farm that had been Carter's sanctuary became their shared foundation, a place where broken things could take root and flourish. In Blue Moon Bend, where everyone's business was everyone else's concern and love came wrapped in good-natured interference, they built a life that honored both their wounds and their hopes. The fields that had once been Carter's refuge became the ground where their future bloomed, teaching them that the most beautiful harvests come from the courage to plant seeds even when you can't guarantee the weather will hold.

About Author

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Lucy Score

Score delves into the transformative power of love and community through her contemporary romance novels. Growing up in a family where reading was as essential as a meal, she naturally gravitated toward storytelling. This passion drove her to pursue a degree in journalism, a foundation that later informed her engaging narrative style. Score's writing is recognized for its humorous and emotionally resonant storytelling, often set against the backdrop of small towns. By combining laugh-out-loud humor with steamy romance and crafting heartbreaker heroes alongside kick-ass heroines, she offers her readers a delightful escape from reality.\n\nHer career took a significant turn when she was laid off from her job at a local newspaper in 2012, prompting her to pursue writing full-time. This decision proved fruitful as she transitioned from a self-published author to a New York Times bestseller. Notable works include "By a Thread" and the widely celebrated "Knockemout Series," starting with "Things We Never Got Over." These books not only entertained readers but also positioned her as a #1 Amazon Kindle Store Bestseller. Lucy Score's impact is further amplified through her accessible prose, which resonates with readers worldwide, as her books have been translated into over 30 languages.\n\nReaders benefit from Score's novels through their exploration of second chances and the deep bonds of family and friendship. Her stories offer not only entertainment but also insight into the human experience, often leaving readers with a sense of hope and fulfillment. Whether readers are drawn to her works for the romance or the humor, Score's ability to craft compelling narratives ensures that her audience remains engaged and eager for more.

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