The Day Ethan Cole Got Sick — And Greyhaven Refused to Let Him Be Alone
Chapter 12
That night, Ethan sat on his porch.
The town was quiet.
The harbor lights reflected on the water.
He thought about the man he had been when he first arrived.
A man who kept moving.
A man who didn’t ask for help.
A man who believed that needing someone meant eventually losing them.
He wasn’t that man anymore.
Not completely.
Some habits stayed.
He still liked working alone.
Still kept certain things private.
Still didn’t like being fussed over.
But now he knew something he hadn’t known before.
There were people he could call.
People who would answer.
People who would show up.
That mattered.
His phone buzzed.
Walter.
You feeling okay?
Ethan smiled.
Yeah.
A pause.
Then:
Really?
Ethan looked toward the harbor.
He typed:
Really.
Walter replied:
Good.
Then:
See you tomorrow.
Ethan put the phone down.
He leaned back.
The wind moved softly through the trees.
For years, Ethan had thought home meant a place where nothing bad happened.
Greyhaven had taught him otherwise.
Home wasn’t the absence of storms.
It wasn’t the absence of sickness.
It wasn’t a life without loss.
Home was the place where people came looking for you when something went wrong.
