Page 95 of Zane

Obviously, he wanted to regain his memories and experience where it related to his career, but in all other areas, he wasn’t sure he wanted to remember. If he was going to make a marriage with Kelsey work, he wanted to do it as the man he was when he married her, not the one he’d become.

“Do you have a… uh… career?” his mom asked.

Zane had wondered himself if Kelsey had any career aspirations beyond restaurant hostess. If her goal had been to be a wife and a mother, he could respect that. But she hadn’t mentioned that they’d been planning for a family right away.

“I’ve enjoyed being in the hospitality business,” Kelsey said. “But I have other interests, too. They just haven’t solidified into anything yet.”

Zane sensed there was something more there, but he wasn’t going to press her for answers in front of his family. He foundthat he wanted to know things about her before his family did. In their current situation, that felt like how things should unfold.

“I’m grateful that even though I wasn’t able to pursue education beyond high school, I’ve ended up with a job I really love,” Rori said, clearly trying to take the focus off Kelsey and her career aspirations.

“And you do a great job at it,” Lee said, giving her an affectionate smile.

“Who would have known that I’d love working in an animal clinic?”

“Might have something to do with your husband also working there,” Zane said.

Rori smiled at Lee. “It definitely has something to do with that.”

The conversation drifted away from Kelsey, and Zane was relieved. He was never sure how to take his mom’s questions when they were directed at Kelsey. He thought she was just making an attempt to get to know Kelsey better. However, some of the questions seem to wander into areas that Kelsey wasn’t comfortable discussing.

Zane felt like there was still so much he didn’t know about his relationship with Kelsey, but he didn’t know how to delve deeper into it. Would it matter if he never discovered everything about their relationship, especially if he didn’t get his memory back?

She needed to learn who he was now, and he needed to learn about her from scratch. They were making some progress on that, he thought, but it felt a bit like one step forward, two back at times.

“We’re having ice cream sundaes for dessert,” Rori announced as they finished the meal. “So let me know if there’s something specific you want to have on your sundae.”

Kelsey got up to help Rori and Lee clear the table.

When they disappeared into the kitchen, his mom said, “How are things going with you and Kelsey?”

“They’re going well,” he said, though perhaps that was a bit of a stretch. “We’ve been spending more time together.”

“Do you think it’s going to work?”

“We’re trying, Mom,” he said. “That’s all I can say. We both want to get to a good place in our marriage, so the best thing you can do to help us is to continue to pray for us and support us.”

“Wearepraying for you both,” his dad assured him.

“Thank you.”

Lee came back in with a carafe of coffee and set it on the table. There were mugs and bowls with spoons in them already set out on the buffet against the wall, so he moved them over to the table. Kelsey and Rori returned with trays holding the ice cream and all the options for their sundaes.

“Do you think you have enough ice cream?” his dad asked as Rori set out three containers of different flavors.

“Yep. Unless you don’t like any of the flavors,” Rori said. “In which case, we have failed.”

“I told her which flavors our family seems to prefer, so we should be okay.”

Lee scooped out the ice cream requests, then took the containers back into the kitchen once he was done. Zane watched what Kelsey chose for her sundae, wondering if this was something they’d shared before.

She chose the mini marshmallows, walnuts, bananas, and chocolate syrup. He also liked the marshmallows, walnuts, and chocolate syrup, but he passed on the bananas and chose a brownie instead.

“We leave in a week for the hospital ship,” his mom said as they ate their dessert. “We had already planned to join them before your accident. I wanted to put off going, but your dad said we should still go.”

“You should,” Zane encouraged her. “There’s no reason for you to stay here. I’m doing fine, and if we need you, we can contact you.”

“It’s just hard to leave when you’re still not one hundred percent.”

---