Page 120 of Zane

So he was thankful that God was working in him, and hopefully, He was also working in Kelsey. There were still moments when he saw reservation in her gaze, and he knew she was still afraid to hope. Afraid to get hurt by him.

The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He cared about how she felt now, in a way he hadn’t really cared a few weeks ago.

He moved over to where a ceramic cookie jar sat on the counter. As he lifted the lid, he glanced over at Kelsey. “Want one?”

“Sure. Chocolate chip?”

“Yep. I tried my hand at making some earlier today.”

He wasn’t a huge sweets eater, but he’d definitely been eating more while he’d been in Serenity. And though he wasn’t a baker, per se, he knew how to bake something relatively simple, like chocolate chip cookies.

“These are yum,” Kelsey said. “Another winner from Chef Zane.”

“I’m not really a baker, but I decided to give it a whirl.”

“What’s for supper?” she asked as they ate their cookies. “Something smells good.”

“I’ve got a chicken stew in the crock pot.”

“The crock pot?”

Zane grinned. “I think my family is rubbing off on me.”

“No kidding. I’m not sure you’ve ever used a crock pot since I’ve known you. A pressure cooker, yes, but not a crock pot.”

Some of the exhaustion Kelsey had had when she’d walked through the door had faded, and Zane was glad to see that. His curiosity was still there, but he didn’t feel a pressing need to know what she’d been doing in Spokane.

She was back home, and she was smiling at him. Despite the wariness that he sometimes spotted in her eyes, he thought that she was happy. Or as happy as she could be considering their circumstances.

He hoped that meant that she was willing to continue on this journey together… slow though it might be. His hope was strong that they were going to be able to make things work.

Their marriage might end up looking different from the one they’d had prior to the accident and his memory loss, but he had confidence that it would still be good. If they were both committed to making it work, he was more certain than ever that things would be fine between them.

He just had to keep doing his best to learn about Kelsey and the things she liked, to make her feel like she was important to him. Because, while that hadn’t been the case when he woke up after the accident, it had become that over time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Kelsey followed Zane into the large gym at the high school. Others of the family were also there, many having already secured seats on the bleachers.

The sound of multiple basketballs hitting the floor echoed in the large space, but it couldn’t quite block out the murmur of conversations from the people already gathered there.

It had been a long time since Kelsey had last been in a school gym. Even when she’d been in high school, she’d gone to the gym only under the duress of having to take physical education.

There certainly hadn’t been nights when she’d gone with a group of friends to cheer on other friends as they played sports. If she’d made friends at all in a new school, they were definitely not a part of the cool kids group. More often than not, she hadn’t had a close friend, so her Friday nights were spent working or at home.

There was a buzz in the air as people anticipated the first home game for the local high school basketball team. The Halversons were all there to support Jay as he coached the team and his son Peyton, who played on the team.

Kelsey hadn’t been sure about attending the game, but when Zane had made it clear that he was going, she’d decided to go too. These days she was trying to spend what time she could with Zane, even if that included attending a basketball game for high schoolers.

As they approached the section where members of the family already sat, Zane slowly headed up the metal bleachers to the row in front of his sisters. Once they reached the row, Zane led the way into it, carefully maneuvering his booted leg.

He would be going to see Gareth next week to get an x-ray done to see if he still needed to continue to wear the boot. But things were looking promising, and Kelsey was sure that in a week’s time he’d have it off.

“Hey, you two,” Janessa said as they settled on the bleacher in front of her and Will.

“Where’s the little man?” Zane asked as he turned toward Janessa.

“We left him with my folks,” Will said. “They’re having Grandma and Grandpa time with him.”

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