Page 102 of Zane

She missed her Zanesomuch. She missed the conversations they shared before falling asleep. And how he held her as they laid together. The kisses they’d shared. The closeness that she’d never imagined having with someone.

The affection Zane offered her had been something new, and she’d soaked it up like a sponge. It had taken her awhile to feel confident in approaching Zane with affection of her own, trusting that he wouldn’t reject it. Or tell her that it was too much.

But now that closeness was gone again, and she no longer had any right to give him affection, and he certainly wasn’t offering her any.

Tears pricked her eyes again. She was sure they were puffy from the tears she’d shed before falling asleep earlier, and though she’d slept okay, she still felt emotionally drained.

How long was she supposed to do this?

She felt like she was on a road to nowhere. Each day, she was putting one foot in front of the other, but had no idea where she was actually headed. It felt like at any moment she was going to reach a dead end and be forced in a new direction.

A new direction that would entail a whole lot of pain and heartache.

Curling on her side, Kelsey tried to find the motivation to get up. Even though she had a different shift than everyone else, she attempted to keep to a schedule, depending on if she was working or not. And she needed to stick to it.

With a sigh, she flipped back the blanket and sat up. She was very grateful that she had a room with an attached bathroom. In fact, she was very grateful that Rori and Lee had given her a room in their home. It was a beautiful space. Nicer than anything she’d had prior to marrying Zane.

Pushing up from the bed, she went into the bathroom to go through her morning routine. When she was done, she changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, then left her room.

Zane was usually downstairs when she went to the kitchen, and it seemed that would be the case that day too. The aroma of coffee reached her even as she stepped out of her room.

Bracing herself to see her husband, Kelsey gripped the smooth surface of the banister and made her way down to the main floor. When she walked into the kitchen, she immediately spotted Zane at the counter with a couple of mugs in front of him.

He looked up and smiled at her, his brown gaze warm. For a moment, she thought maybe his memory had returned. However, all he said was, “Good morning.”

Swallowing, Kelsey said, “Good morning.”

“Coffee?”

“Please.”

As she approached the counter, she noticed a large bouquet in a vase. It hadn’t been there earlier, so either Lee had askedhim to pick up flowers for Rori, or he’d picked them up for her himself. Maybe as a thank you for opening her home to them.

“Here you go,” he said, sliding the mug across to her along with the cream she usually put in her coffee. “How did you sleep?”

She poured some cream into her mug. “Not too bad.”

Her eyes were puffy—she’d seen that in the mirror—but she hoped he wrote it off as her still being sleepy. She watched as he moved to put a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster.

Once the toast was out and buttered, he handed her the plate. “Thank you. How has your day been?”

“It’s been good,” he said as he picked up his mug and took a sip. “I went to talk to Pastor Kennedy.”

“Will’s dad?”

Zane nodded. “Yeah. I needed someone to talk to.”

“Is he like a therapist or something?”

“Yeah. Something like that. Most pastors also counsel members of their congregation as needed.”

Kelsey had so many questions, but she wasn’t sure he’d go into detail about his conversation with the pastor. “I hope it went well.”

“It went pretty good. Sometimes it’s nice to talk to someone who is outside the family circle.”

“But isn’t he part of the family since Janessa is married to his son?”

“I suppose, but he’s been my pastor longer than he’s been my brother-in-law’s father.”

---