Page 119 of Zane

“Would you like to have a conversation about it?”

“Is now really the time for that?” Kelsey asked with a frown.

“I think it is,” Zane said, wondering why she wouldn’t want to have the conversation. “We don’t have to make definite plans, but I think it would be good to be aware of what we’re each thinking.”

She nodded. “So, what are you thinking, then?”

“I think we should probably stay here, maybe until the end of the year,” he said, having given it some serious thought already. “And then, if I still don’t have my memory back, we can start to make plans of where we want to go next.”

“You always said that you weren’t interested in living here,” Kelsey said.

Zane nodded. “That’s true. And I’m not saying that we have to live here long term.”

“So you wouldn’t consider staying here?”

That made him pause for a moment. “Wouldyouwant to stay here?”

Kelsey tilted her head as she stared down at her mug. “I don’t know. It’s not the worst place. Though I’m not sure I’d want to work full-time as a shelf stocker. Maybe I could find a different job here or drive to Coeur d’Alene.”

Her willingness to consider staying in Serenity took Zane by surprise.

“You’d really want to stay this close to my family?”

“Like you said, they’re getting more friendly,” she said. “Plus, Rori and Carisa are here.”

“Yes. They are.” Zane smiled. “See? I’m glad we talked about this. It lets me know what options we have.”

“So you would consider making this our permanent home?”

“Sure,” he said, glancing around. “And we could probably keep living with Lee and Rori. As long as you don’t mind that.”

She paused for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t mind.”

“I’m going to start looking into restaurant possibilities around here. That way, if we do decide to stick around, I’ll have some ideas in mind.”

“Will you talk to Kayleigh?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t want her to feel obliged to hire me. I’m not really going to be in a position to work in a busy kitchen for awhile yet. Gareth said I can probably be walking without the boot soon, but he wants me to go for physio once it comes off.”

“That’s good.” She smiled, and it lit up her eyes. “You’re going to be so happy to be free of that and the crutches.”

“I am,” he agreed. “Want to go dancing?”

That got a laugh out of her. “Not a chance. I’ve never danced.”

“Neither have I,” he said. “Maybe we could take lessons.”

“How about you get your leg strengthened up first,” she told him, her smile growing. “Then we’ll talk about dancing.”

Zane felt their connection strengthen as they shared a laugh. He couldn’t deny that something had settled inside him when Kelsey had arrived home earlier. As time passed, his desire to be around her grew.

Early on, he’d rarely thought of her, and he’d tried to avoid being around her—especially if it was just the two of them.

Now, he sought out her company and really enjoyed it when they hung out on their own. And he rarely thought of Sarah these days.

When he’d initially made the decision to stick it out with Kelsey, it had seemed like getting to this point would be nearly impossible. Now that he had, he knew that it could only be God working in his heart.

To no longer feel the pulse of heartache from losing Sarah this soon was a minor miracle. Zane had envisioned it taking longer, but he wasn’t upset that it had happened sooner. There was a chance that if he’d taken too long to get to that point, they would have gone their separate ways.

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