Page 61 of Zane

“You can’t draw?” Kelsey asked.

“Not very well.”

They ended up dividing into couples, which, to Kelsey’s mind, put her and Zane at a disadvantage. Neither of them seemed to have much enthusiasm, and they didn’t have the connection they once had that would have allowed them to communicate as easily as the other couples could.

Will and Janessa were up first. Will tossed out guesses as Janessa drew, and their son jumped between them, yelling out whatever Will said. It was actually kind of funny to watch the couple and their son. Kelsey thought that Will was intentionally making bad guesses in order to wind his wife up. And when Timmy would reinforce that bad guess at the top of his lungs, Janessa’s frustration with her husband would double.

Just before their time ran out, Will made the right guess, resulting in Janessa giving him a fierce look. “You did that on purpose.”

“I got it right,” Will said with a shrug.

“The goal is to get as many as possible in our allotted time.” Janessa plopped down on the floor. “That’s how we always play it.”

“Next time,” Will promised.

Timothy climbed onto Janessa’s lap and patted her cheek. “Next time, Mama.”

Janessa sighed. “Promise, baby?”

“Promise.” Everyone laughed as both Will and Timmy responded to Janessa.

Will leaned forward to grab a couple of cookies from the plate on the coffee table and gave them to Janessa and Timmy.

“We’re next,” Carisa said, popping up from the couch with surprising ease, then turning to offer Jackson her hand. He grinned as he took her hand, but instead of letting her pull him up, Jackson tugged her into his lap. Carisa let out a laugh. “Babe, come on. I want to win.”

“Alright.” Jackson set Carisa up on her feet, then got off the loveseat himself. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Let’s show them how it’s done.”

As Kelsey expected, the pair’s turn was hilarious. Jackson apparently didn’t share his wife’s desire to win, because his guesses as she drew were as crazy as Will’s. Even so, they didn’t do as badly as Will and Janessa had and ended their turn with three correct guesses. And Carisa wasn’t anywhere near as upset with Jackson as Janessa had been with Will.

When they were done, Lexi and Wilder took a turn. Wilder was drawing, and Lexi did a much better job of guessing, which meant they were ahead with four correct guesses.

Rori and Lee took the lead after their turn, with Lee getting six correct.

“Kels and Zane, it’s your turn now,” Rori announced.

Zane groaned. “I’ve never liked this game.”

Kelsey wasn’t surprised that Zane wasn’t keen to play. His mood throughout the week had swung between subdued and testy. He hadn’t been happy, so it stood to reason he wasn’t excited to play the game the way his siblings were.

“I’m actually happy to just observe,” Kelsey said, no more eager than Zane to have to participate.

Rori frowned at them. “I guess you can sit this out.”

“Thank you,” Kelsey said, relaxing back into the cushions of the couch.

Thankfully, her and Zane’s refusal to take part didn’t put a damper on the evening. It appeared that the siblings were well used to keeping the party going, even if one of them wasn’t in the party mood.

Would she and Zane have been active participants if they lived closer? Or would the family’s opinion of her have kept them from being invited?

Since no one had been outright hateful to her—and Zane’s parents had actually tried to speak with her—Kelsey was beginning to wonder about the whole estrangement. Was it possible that Zane was the one who hadn’t wanted them to be around her?

Already, his siblings had let things slip about Sarah, and they had clearly thought that Zane would marry her. Since he hadn’t told her about Sarah, he might have been worried they would spill the beans.

That revelation left her in an emotional downward spiral. Even if Zane had loved her before the accident, it clearly hadn’t been as much as he loved Sarah.

Even though she’d decided to stick it out with Zane, the idea of leaving was getting more and more appealing. But she had to know she’d given it her all.

The next morning, Kelsey contemplated skipping church. It was a struggle to be around people when she felt the way she did. She didn’t even want to be around Zane.

---