Page 82 of Zane

“Nope. We’re just talking about our schedules for next week.”

As she and Ross approached them, Sarah gave Kelsey a warm smile before turning her attention to Zane. “Do you have a lot of doctor’s appointments?”

“More than I want,” Zane replied. “But less than I might have had. If the circumstances had been different.”

“Will there be any charges against the driver of the other vehicle?” Ross asked.

Zane nodded. “His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, and unfortunately, this was not his first offense. Thankfully, they don’t need anything from me, since I don’t remember the accident.”

“I just can’t understand why people don’t learn the dangers of drinking and driving,” Sarah said. “Will it take killing someone for it to sink in?”

“Sad to say, that’s often the case,” Ross said.

Kelsey didn’t sense any awkwardness between the trio, but she didn’t assume that Zane was magically over his feelings for Sarah. It was hard to accept that, but she didn’t have much choice. For now, she had to be content with the knowledge that he was going to at least try to move past them for her sake.

“Did you hang around the church?” Zane asked.

“For a bit,” Sarah said. “But then we went for dinner with Pastor Kennedy and his wife and some of the elders.”

“It sounds like the church might consider supporting us on a monthly basis,” Ross added. “Which would be a real answer to prayer.”

“That would be great,” Zane said. “And not too surprising. It has always been a mission minded church.”

“We did have several people sign up for our newsletter and take the information pamphlets we had there.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t a wasted trip for you,” Zane said.

“Zane,” Sarah said, a slight rebuke in her tone. “Even without that response, it wouldn’t have been a waste. I think it was important for me to answer the questions you had. Especially since I was the only one who could tell you what happened between us.”

“I do appreciate you and Ross making the time to come here.”

“Thankfully, it was a shorter drive than if we’d still been in Chicago,” Ross said with a laugh.

“That’s true,” Zane agreed.

“Do you have anything else you need answers for?” Sarah asked. “Before we leave tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so,” Zane said. “I mostly needed to understand what had happened.”

“And do you?” she asked.

Zane nodded. “I understand why we’re not together anymore, though I do still have a hard time reconciling in my mind how our paths diverged.”

“You had as difficult a time accepting it then as you have understanding it now. So it’s not like it made perfect sense to you at the time, either. When we spoke a few months ago, however, you said it made more sense.”

Kelsey wished, once again, that Zane had been more honest with her about his relationship with Sarah. While it might not have changed things about their current situation, it would have meant she wasn’t so shocked to learn about it when he no longer remembered or loved her.

At some point, Lee appeared, followed a few minutes later by Rori and Elsa. The dog made quick work of greeting them all, then wandered over to her bowls to lap up some water.

Rori gave Kelsey a quick one-arm hug before going to the counter to turn on the kettle. Kelsey was still getting used to the physical affection. Rori had asked her if she minded, sharing that she’d been deprived of physical affection for much of her life because she hadn’t been close to her parents. Because of that, she loved offering affection to those she cared for.

Kelsey told her that she understood because of her own relationship with her parents, and she was glad someone thought she was worthy of affection, especially when she wasn’t receiving any from her husband.

“Why don’t we go sit outside?” Rori suggested. “Enjoy the nice warm days while we can. Fall is just around the corner.”

“And I can’t wait,” Sarah said as they headed for the back door.

Kelsey was torn between joining them or going for a nap. In the end, she decided it was more important to hang out with this group of people. She could nap later.

---