Page 41 of Zane

There were a couple of snickers, and at least one muttered mention ofold folks. Kelsey would have to side with theold folksin this regard because she was ready for a nap herself. Her long walk was definitely catching up with her.

Both of the Halverson parents made sure to say goodbye to Kelsey, which made her equal parts grateful and suspicious. Though she did her best not to reveal the suspicions she harbored over their sudden warming up, Kelsey suspected that she might not have succeeded.

Once they were gone, a quiet settled over the house. Leaning against the counter, Lee took Rori in his arms. She relaxed back against him, and the tension melted from her face.

Witnessing that interaction, Kelsey knew that Lee was Rori’s home. He was her safe place. Her protection from the world.

Zane had been that for her, but that wasn’t the case anymore. Now, what she needed protection from the most was him. Or rather, her love for him because if he never remembered her, the heartbreak would be immense.

“I think we’re just going to hang out in our room,” Lee said after he and Zane had a brief conversation about something that had evidently been brought up earlier with their siblings.

“See you in a bit,” Rori said with a smile as she took Lee’s hand when he held it out to her.

A weighty silence settled over the kitchen in their absence, and as much as she’d once have loved to hang out with Zane, Kelsey was filled with a strong desire to leave. She took her nearly empty paper plate to the garbage, then picked up her glass.

“Do you think we could talk for a bit?”

It was a good thing she hadn’t taken a drink of her water, or she would have choked on it. Instead, she clutched the glass between her hands and turned to face Zane.

“Uh… sure.”

On legs that trembled just a bit, Kelsey made her way to the breakfast nook, fearful of what Zane might have to say to her. Had his parents been nice to her earlier because they knew she was on her way out?

Once she was seated, she lifted her glass to take a sip of water. Just to have something to do.

Zane looked down at his hands as he turned his phone over and over, making Kelsey’s stomach twist. Just when she’dresolved to stay strong, she was being presented with a situation that threatened to break her down.

“I want to apologize for my attitude toward you since the accident.” Kelsey could only stare at Zane in shock, his words having rendered her speechless. “I know it doesn’t reflect well on me, but honestly, I’ve just wanted to put my head in the sand when it comes to our relationship. It felt like the easiest thing to do.”

“I understand,” she said, though she didn’t, really.

“You shouldn’t have to, but I appreciate it.” Zane gave a familiar sigh, and if it still signified the same thing, it meant he was frustrated with himself. “I think we need to have a conversation about how we’re going to approach this.”

“Would you like me to leave?” she asked, needing to tear the bandage off.

He stared at her for a long moment. Unfortunately, Kelsey had zero confidence in her ability to read his expressions anymore, so she had no idea what he was thinking.

“Though that is tempting, simply because it would be the easiest thing for me, it’s not the right thing.” Zane’s brow furrowed as he hesitated. “From what Lee has said, the me before the accident would be absolutely livid if I didn’t give you… us… a chance.”

Kelsey agreed, but she didn’t let him know that. It felt important to really get a feel for what he was thinking before she revealed her own thoughts about their situation.

“So, I want to give us a chance,” he continued. “I’m just not sure what that will look like.”

Kelsey hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but a few things came to mind. “Maybe I could drive you to your doctor'sappointments. And instead of avoiding each other, we need to accept that we’re sharing space here.”

Zane nodded. “My parents will most likely want to go with me, but you could probably come.”

“I’d like that.” Even if she had to put up with awkward moments with Zane’s parents.

Zane regarded her for a moment, his brown eyes serious. “How did we meet?”

“We both worked at the same restaurant in Chicago,” she said. “You’d been working there for a couple of months already when I was hired.”

“Did we start dating right away?”

Kelsey shook her head. “Rumor had it that you weren’t giving any woman the time of day romantically, so even though I thought you were attractive and a nice guy, I didn’t flirt with you or anything like that. Instead, we became friends.”

“Why did things change?” Zane asked.

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