THE HOUSE ETHAN COLE BUILT FOR TWO
Chapter 1
The first thing Ethan learned about owning a house was that nothing stayed simple.
The second thing he learned was that every problem somehow cost money.
The third thing was that he didn’t mind.
At least, not as much as he thought he would.
The old house sat at the edge of Greyhaven, far enough from the center of town that the nights were quiet, but close enough that Ethan could walk to the harbor in less than fifteen minutes.
It wasn’t large.
Two bedrooms.
One bathroom.
A narrow kitchen.
A living room with an old fireplace.
A wooden porch that leaned slightly toward the left.
The paint had faded years ago.
The gutters needed replacing.
Several boards on the back wall were soft from years of rain.
The previous owner had left behind an old refrigerator, two broken chairs and a collection of things nobody had bothered to throw away.
Walter had taken one look at it and laughed.
“You bought this?”
Ethan stood in the doorway.
“Yeah.”
Walter looked around.
“Why?”
Ethan shrugged.
“Because I could afford it.”
Walter pointed toward the ceiling.
“That roof?”
“I’ll fix it.”
“The plumbing?”
“I’ll fix it.”
“The porch?”
“I’ll fix it.”
Walter stared at him.
“You know you could’ve bought something smaller.”
Ethan looked around.
“This is smaller.”
Walter laughed.
Ethan smiled.
He had expected the house to feel like an achievement.
Instead, standing inside it for the first time, he felt something quieter.
Possibility.
There were empty walls.
Empty rooms.
Dust on the floor.
Nothing belonged there yet.
But that was the point.
For the first time, Ethan wasn’t moving into someone else’s life.
He was building his own.
And this time, there would be two people living in it.
