Page 93 of Zane

“I’m short a fork,” Kelsey said as she came into the kitchen from setting the table in the dining room.

There were only six of them there for the meal, but the breakfast nook felt like it would be a bit crowded for them. He didn’t want it to end up being an awkward meal, but the chances were high. Things were still tense between him and Kelsey, but he hoped that it wasn’t too apparent. Especially to his mom.

Kelsey grabbed a fork from the drawer, then went to check out the chicken broccoli cheese casserole that was sitting on the counter. “Smells good.”

“Here’s hoping it tastes good.”

She looked at him with raised brows. “Is there a chance it won’t? Because if that’s the case, we might have some deaths around here tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when you cook great, it tastes amazing,” she said. “So I can only assume that when you cook bad, it’s lethal.”

That got a huff of laughter out of Zane, and he felt a little of the tension he’d been carrying ease. “It won’t kill anyone. I promise.”

“Then I’m sure it will taste fine.”

As she disappeared, the door to the garage opened. Rori and Lee came in with smiles, but they didn’t linger before heading to their room to change out of their scrubs, since dinner was almost ready to be served.

Zane had placed some rolls in the oven, so he checked the timer and saw that they still had a couple of minutes left. He hadn’t made them himself. The store had had frozen unbaked rolls, so he’d added them to the grocery order he’d placed for delivery earlier that day.

The doorbell rang, and he looked toward the entrance to the kitchen, listening to hear if whoever it was let themselves in.

“Hello!” his mom called out.

“In here, Mom.”

A moment later, his parents appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

“It smells delicious, darling,” his mom said as she approached him and gave him a hug. “Better than anything I could ever make.”

“I think it’s been established that that’s a fairly low bar,” Zane said with a laugh.

His dad also chuckled as he gave Zane a hug. “Did you make enough so there’ll be leftovers? If so, I’ll gladly take them off your hands.”

“I might fight you for them,” Lee said as he walked in with Rori.

“Hello, darlings.” His mom gave them both a hug, then bent to greet Elsa, who had followed them into the kitchen. She gave the dog all the attention she’d probably give a grandchild, if any were present.

Kelsey quietly joined them, making no effort to insert herself into the conversation. Zane knew she was still uncomfortable around his parents, but all of them were trying to interact with her a bit more.

“Can someone please carry this to the table?” Zane asked as he gestured to the casserole dish on the counter.

Lee stepped up to take it, while Zane pulled the pan of rolls out. He slid them out onto the cooling racks on the counter beside the oven, waiting as Kelsey moved past him to the fridge, then he got the basket he’d set out for the rolls earlier.

“I’ll take those,” Rori offered once he’d transferred them to the basket.

Zane handed them over, then they all moved to the dining room and took seats around the table. They’d shrunk it down to its smallest size, since they hadn’t wanted to have everyone clustered around one end of the expanded table. There was still lots of room around it, though.

Lee said a prayer before they began to eat. In addition to the casserole and rolls, Kelsey had made a salad. It wasn’t a meal Zane would ever serve in a restaurant, but the majority of his family preferred more down to earth, hearty comfort food style meals. So, he gave them what they wanted.

“This tastes as delicious as it smells,” his mom said after she took a bite.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Are you a good cook, Kelsey?” his mom asked.

“When measured against Zane, I’d say no,” Kelsey said. “But if I compare myself to non-chef people, I’d say I do okay. Never poisoned myself or anyone else, so I figure that’s a win.”

---