Page 92 of Zane

“You bought me my rings.”

His gaze dropped to her hand, his brow furrowing. “Why aren’t you wearing them? You were wearing them before.”

Kelsey flexed the fingers on her left hand before making a fist. “I decided I wasn’t comfortable wearing them, considering our circumstances.”

“We’re still legally married,” Zane said.

“True. But you’re not sure you want to be married to me,” Kelsey said, managing to get the words out, even though they hurt to say. “So, I thought it would probably be best to keep them off until we make a decision one way or the other.”

Zane’s frown deepened at her words, but he didn’t respond to what she’d said.

“And anyway, you’re not wearing your ring either.”

He looked down at his hand. “I didn’t know I had one. Where is it?”

“It’s in a box with my rings. They gave it to me at the hospital after your accident.”

Zane sat in silence for a long moment, staring at his hand.

Kelsey hadn’t planned to have this conversation with him. If she’d known that it was a possibility, triggered by her not having her rings on, she might not have left them off.

“Would you prefer that I wear my rings?” Kelsey asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. At least he was honest.

“I don’t know either.”

“I think I’d rather that we did wear them, because we’re going to get a lot of questions if you don’t. But if you’re not comfortable with it, I’m not going to force the issue.”

Her shoulders slumped as she rested her hands on the counter. All of this was uncharted territory for them. She’d never heard of anyone else being in the position they were in, though she supposed that if some existed, they might not be making it public. After all, she and Zane hadn’t exactly gone public with their situation.

Kelsey turned her attention back to the boxes and pulled out more items. The discussion about this wasn’t over, but she had no idea what more to say. She wanted him to want them to wear their rings because of what they represented, not just to avoid questions.

Her heart hurt as she finished putting the contents of the box on the counter. Zane seemed troubled, though she was sure he wasn’t feeling the hurt she was.

She really hoped she was strong enough to carry this through to wherever it was headed. Right then, it felt like they were in a tenuous position, but she wasn’t going to give up until Zane said the word.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Zane pulled the casserole dish out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack on the counter. It pained him to be making a casserole, but it was the easiest thing to make given the food available to him.

Thankfully, he knew how to make it taste good, and the people who would be eating it were always appreciative. Especially Rori, who was glad to not have to be doing the cooking herself.

That night, his parents were joining them for dinner. He wished that wasn’t the case because things were still tense between him and Kelsey after their conversation the previous day.

Who would have thought that a quick trip to retrieve his cooking tools would lead to the tension they’d ended up with?

Not him. He’d just thought it would be nice to get some of his stuff—hoping it might jar some memories loose—and also for them to spend a bit of time together.

Instead, they wandered into a difficult conversation, with him discovering that for whatever reason, he’d not given Kelsey a wedding gift when she’d given him an expensive set of knives. She’d said that her rings were a gift from him, but in his mind, he should have given her more.

Her expression had closed down during their discussion about it, so he hadn’t been able to tell if the memory had made her mad or sad. But the fact that she hadn’t revealed how she felt told him that she hadn’t been happy about it. And she shouldn’t have been. He should have gotten her a necklace or somethingto commemorate their special day, especially considering they’d eloped.

His disappointment in himself was only topped by his disappointment that Kelsey had decided not to wear her rings. It wasn’t disappointment in Kelsey. He was just disappointed in the circumstances that had made her feel like taking them off was a good idea.

But he could hardly complain since he wasn’t wearing his either. It hadn’t even crossed his mind to ask where his ring was, or to ask for it back.

It just felt like she didn’t believe that he was committed to giving their marriage a genuine shot. He needed to figure out how to prove that to her.

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