Page 128 of Zane

Straightening, Zane pulled Kelsey up from the seat and wrapped her in a hug. He knew that this wouldn’t be their first hug in Kelsey’s memory, but it was for him, and he cherished the feel of her in his arms.

He lowered his cheek to rest it on her head, getting a whiff of vanilla shampoo. “You smell like cookies.”

For some reason, that seemed to trigger more tears for Kelsey. Zane worried he’d said something wrong.

“You always say that to me.” She finally got the words out as she tipped her head back to look up at him.

“I’m not surprised.” He gave her a wink. “You smell delicious.”

For a long moment, they stared at each other, then Zane felt drawn, as if by something deep inside him, to lower his head and press his lips to Kelsey’s. Maybe, if he had his memory, being wrapped in her arms would have felt like coming home.

Instead, all he felt in that moment was a sense of rightness. Like finally, after floundering for the past several weeks, he was where he belonged.

When their kiss ended, Zane rested his forehead against hers. “I honestly wasn’t sure if I could ever feel this way, but you have my whole heart. All my love is yours, Kelsey. Only yours.”

Kelsey’s arms tightened around him as she buried her head in his shoulder. He could tell she was crying again, and he thought he knew why. It pained him to think he’d inflicted so much hurt on her when he’d first woken up after the accident loving another woman.

Now, though, it was so important that she knew his heart belonged to her and her alone.

Moving them around a bit, Zane sat down in the armchair, then settled Kelsey on his lap. His arm went around her waist, his hand resting on her hip as she kept her head on his shoulder.

“I want to thank you for being patient with me,” he said. “I know that it was extremely difficult at some points, and no one would have blamed you if you walked away. I’m just so glad that you didn’t.”

“I needed to know that I’d done everything,” she replied softly. “That I’d given us every chance before I left. You probably would have had to be the one to tell me that there was no way it was going to work out. Until you said it was done, there was hope.”

“I may not have known what I was doing half the time, but once I started to come out of the fog of everything that had happened, I just couldn’t pull the plug on our marriage. It might have started as me not wanting to lose you for the me who fell in love and married you, but soon, it was for my sake, too.”

He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Is it wrong of me to not want to get my memory back?”

Kelsey straightened and stared at him. “You don’t want to remember those years? You don’t want to remember the relationship we had?”

Zane took a moment to formulate his response in his head before he answered her. “I don’t like the man I’d become. I walked away from my faith, and I distanced myself from my family. I even switched up the dream I’d had for my future as a chef. The only good thing from that time that I can see is you. I want to love you as this me, and I want you to love this version of me.”

“I do,” Kelsey said. “I love the man you became, but I love who you are now, too. I admire your faith and even though I’ve had a rough start with your family, I love how you relate to them. I wouldn’t want you to walk away from them or your faith again.”

Zane took Kelsey’s hand in his, staring down at her fingers for a moment before meeting her gaze again. “I’m glad to hear that because they’re important to me. Just like you are.”

“You’re important to me, too,” Kelsey said.

Though she smiled at him, he could see something in her eyes that seemed a little like sadness. “Is everything else okay? Your job?”

Her gaze dropped to where their hands were entwined, and her shoulders slumped. Letting go of his hand, she leaned forward and picked up an envelope that had been sitting on top of her tablet. She held it for a moment before handing it to him.

“What’s this?” Zane asked as he took it. He read the return address, but he didn’t recognize it. Glancing up, he saw a defeated look on Kelsey’s face. “Sweetheart, what is this?”

“Remember that day I went to Spokane?”

Zane nodded as he tried to figure out what could have happened there to upset her. She’d seemed tired when she’d come home, but otherwise, she’d said she was fine.

“Are you having health problems?”

“No. I took the nursing exam,” she said. “And I failed.”

Zane stared at her for a moment. “I’m confused. You’re a nurse?”

“Not yet, I’m not. It took me ages to get through nursing school, and I was just getting ready to take the exam in Tampa when you had your accident.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about this?” Zane asked, still confused.

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