Page 71 of Zane

“Kelsey.” Sarah’s voice was warm and her expression friendly as she focused on Kelsey. Instead of just holding out one hand, she held out both. When Kelsey took them, unsure what else to do, Sarah said, “I’m so, so glad to meet you. Zane told me so much about you that I feel like I know you.”

Zane had spoken to Sarah about her? Why hadn’t he also done the reverse?

Sarah let go of her hands and turned toward Zane. Moving with graceful steps across the room, Sarah approached Zane, who now stood with his crutches supporting him, while Ross followed more slowly.

“Zane.” Sarah reached out and briefly touched Zane’s arm. “I was so sorry to hear what happened. How are you doing?”

“I’m about as well as can be expected.”

“Well, you’re alive, so that’s a blessing.”

“Hey, Zane,” Ross said. “Good to see you again.”

“Again? We’ve met?”

“Yes,” Sarah replied. “Why don’t we all sit down so I can answer any questions you might have?”

“Would you like something to drink?” Rori asked. “Coffee? Water?”

“Water would be great,” Sarah said. “For both of us.”

Rori left the living room as the rest of them took their seats. Kelsey chose to sit on the couch with Lee, leaving the middlecushion open for Rori. Zane settled back into the armchair, while Ross and Sarah sat together on the love seat.

When Rori returned, she had a tray holding more than just glasses and a large pitcher of water. She also had a plate with cookies and brownies.

“You and Ross met a couple of months ago,” Sarah said once they’d all gotten the drinks and food they wanted.

“I met with you guys?” Zane said, his brow furrowed. “I… well, obviously, I don’t remember.”

Sympathy filled Sarah’s expression. “Yes. You came to see us because we were getting ready to make the move to Seattle. This was after we had reconnected a couple of weeks earlier.”

“Why did we break up?” Zane asked, apparently deciding to jump right in. “I just can’t come up with a reason.”

“Our paths began to move in different directions,” Sarah said. “I was feeling drawn to ministry, and you definitely… weren’t.”

“But you’re a teacher,” Zane said. “You were going to teach school, and I was going to start up my own restaurant.”

Sarah nodded. “That’s how our plans started off, but then I really felt the Lord was leading me to teach at a missionary school. We fought more about it until finally, I just said we needed to end our relationship. You were very, very unhappy about that.”

Zane didn’t respond right away. His gaze was lowered as Sarah spoke.

“About six months after we broke up, I met Ross, and we started dating. You found out about it, and you contacted me, furious that I’d moved on. I explained that it wasn’t a reflection on you that I had fallen in love again, but that God had brought me someone whose direction in life aligned with mine.You didn’t like that explanation at all.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “It really hurt that we hadn’t been able to continue on our separate paths while still remaining friends. Or at least amicable.”

Zane looked up. “So, how did we end up talking again?”

Sarah smiled as she glanced at Kelsey. “You got my number from a mutual friend, and sent me a voice note, apologizing and saying you understood why I’d moved on because you’d fallen in love with someone unexpectedly. At first, I wasn’t sure if you were just saying that in hopes of hurting me, or if it was true.”

“I encouraged her to respond to you,” Ross said. “Because I knew she was hurt by how things had ended between you.”

“So I phoned you, and we arranged to meet for coffee.” Sarah turned to look at Kelsey, giving her a smile. “And all he could talk about was you.”

Her words filled Kelsey with warmth and helped to lessen the uneasiness that had filled her since Zane had woken up in the hospital asking for Sarah and not remembering her.

“You brought him so much joy,” Sarah said. “And he was excited about the future you were going to have together. He let me know that you were getting married and moving to Tampa.”

“Why didn’t he ever talk to me about you?” Kelsey asked. It was the one thing that didn’t make sense to her.

“I don’t know,” Sarah replied. “I did tell him that I hoped I could meet you at some point, not realizing that he’d never told you about me.”

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