Page 106 of Zane

“Have you told him that?”

Before Kelsey could answer, Lee and Rori came into the kitchen, though Lee continued on through to the back door.

“So,” Carisa prompted once it was just them and Rori. “Have you told him that?”

“Told who what?” Rori asked, looking from Carisa to Kelsey. “What did I miss?”

“Zane brought her flowers,” Carisa said.

“I didn’t miss that,” Rori told her. “They’re beautiful.”

“Kelsey says she wants the stuff Zane does to be organic and not out of obligation.”

“Oh.” Rori’s brows lifted as she considered Carisa’s words. “That makes sense.”

“Do you think Zane is doing things out of obligation?” Carisa asked.

Rori’s brief hesitation was like a stab to Kelsey’s heart. If anyone would know that, it would be Rori or Lee. She stared at her friend, her heart aching.

“I don’t think he feels an obligation, per se,” Rori clarified. “I think he wants to do things for you that will help him view you as someone he loves.”

“Even if he doesn’t really love me?” Kelsey asked, a bit perplexed at the idea.

“As Christians, we believe that sometimes we have to choose to love someone, even if, at first, we don’t have those feelings,” Carisa said. “I believe Zane is choosing to love you, knowing that you are someone he has loved in the past, even if he doesn’t remember it.”

Kelsey wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was a foreign concept to her, and it felt like it meant that Zane would force himself to love her. She didn’t want that.

“I think it will all work out,” Rori said as she gave Kelsey a hug. “We’re all praying toward that end, and I think Zane is as well.”

After feeling so high, Kelsey was suddenly back down on planet reality. She wasn’t mad at Rori and Carisa for what they’d said. She much preferred for them to be honest with her. It was important to be realistic.

And a big part of that was to not read too much into what Zane said or did. She would accept anything he did, but she wouldn’t assume that it came from his heart.

The back door opened, putting an end to their conversation. However, it didn’t put an end to it in her head.

“Everything ready?” Kelsey asked as Lee slid the platter of steaks onto the counter, while Jackson carried the baking pan they’d taken the meat out on.

“We’ll leave the steaks to rest while we get everything else on the table,” Zane said.

It wasn’t long before they were seated at the table, ready to dig into the meal. After saying grace, they began to eat, conversation flowing easily among the six of them.

Well, there wasn’t much flowing out of Kelsey because her thoughts weren’t anything she wanted to share. But she tried to participate in some of the discussions so that Rori and Carisa didn’t think she was upset by their earlier conversation.

She wished she could experience again how things had been when she and Zane had been falling in love for the first time. But that didn’t seem to be how things were going to unfold this time around.

Whether she liked it or not.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Zane gave his brother a hard stare. “You’re not teasing me, are you?”

“Nope. The x-ray shows that the fracture is healing well, so we can move you to a walking boot.”

“And no more crutches?”

“Continue to use them for the rest of the week, then try short periods without them and see how it feels.”

“This is great news,” he said as he patted the new boot he sported. “How long am I going to be in the boot?”

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