Page 104 of Zane

“I’m going to go take care of something, then I’ll be back.”

“Sounds good.”

Kelsey left the flowers on the counter, wanting to show them to Rori when she got home. Upstairs in her room, she sat down at the small desk to make her appointment. It didn’t take too long, and then she headed back downstairs to join Zane in the kitchen.

“We have plenty of time before we need to start on the pasta, since we don’t have to cook it until right before we’re to eat.”

Kelsey wondered if he was taking the time to teach her now because he wasn’t devoting so much of his day to cooking. Whatever the reason, she was going to roll with it. If things ended up not working out, she wanted to know that she had taken every opportunity to try.

For the next couple of hours, Zane walked her through how he made her favorite dish. He didn’t move too quickly—he literally couldn’t, thanks to the crutches—and he patiently answered all her questions.

When it came time to make the pasta, he told her to prepare to get her hands messy. Under his instruction, she combined flour, oil, salt, and eggs until it all came together into a smooth dough.

While it was resting, Kelsey quickly set the table in the breakfast nook, since it was going to be just the four of them. As she finished, she glanced over at Zane and saw him frowning down at his phone.

She froze, wondering what he’d say if she asked what he was looking at. As she approached the counter, he looked up as he slid his phone into the pocket of his shorts.

“Ready to make the noodles?” he asked.

“Yep.”

Once again, he led her through the steps, sticking close as he showed her how to work his pasta machine. Their arms bumped as he showed her how to feed the dough into the machine.

Partway through, Lee and Rori arrived home. Rori came to a stop, her eyes wide as she looked from where Kelsey and Zane stood together at the pasta machine to the large bouquet of flowers.

“Are we… interrupting?” Rori asked.

“Nope,” Zane said as he swung around on his crutches to lean back against the counter. “I decided to teach Kelsey how to make pasta.”

“Oh. Fun!” Rori ventured further into the room, a smile on her face. “I can’t wait to try it.”

“Let’s go get changed, love,” Lee said. “How long until dinner’s ready?”

“Probably about twenty minutes.”

Lee placed a hand on his wife’s back and guided her toward the entrance of the kitchen. “Sounds good.”

As they left the kitchen, Zane swung back around. “Okay. Let’s get this meal finished up.”

Kelsey tucked each of their moments of closeness into her heart to cherish, still not sure what had prompted Zane to spend this time with her. Though they had spent time together in the more recent days since his accident, this felt a lot more intentional.

Would this be a one and done thing?

She really hoped it wasn’t the last time they spent time together in the kitchen. It wasn’t a space that they’d shared a lot at their apartment in Tampa. At least not working together like they were right then.

Since he always moved so quickly and confidently, it probably wouldn’t have been enjoyable for either of them. He had an intensity in the kitchen that he didn’t quite lose, even when he was cooking at home.

This leisurely version of Zane was something she’d never seen before, and she was enjoying being allowed into this part of his life. For however long he let her be there.

“Great job,” Zane said when they got to the point of adding the pasta to the pot of boiling water.

“This has been fun,” Kelsey said, reaching for a cloth on the counter and taking a moment to fold it. “Thank you for teaching me. I appreciate it.”

“I’ve enjoyed it too.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Maybe we could do it again sometime…?”

“Sure. I could use a sous chef.”

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