The Day Ethan Cole Got Sick — And Greyhaven Refused to Let Him Be Alone
Chapter 8
Ethan returned to Hayes Marine & Auto the following Monday.
Walter was waiting.
He looked at Ethan.
“You’re early.”
“I always am.”
Walter nodded.
Then handed him a rag.
“You’re not touching the heavy stuff.”
Ethan frowned.
“I’m fine.”
Walter raised an eyebrow.
Ethan stopped.
“Okay.”
Walter smiled.
“Good.”
They worked.
Slowly.
Ethan wasn’t at full strength yet.
Walter noticed.
He didn’t comment.
That was another form of care.
He simply adjusted the work.
At lunch, they sat outside the shop.
The harbor was calm.
Ethan looked toward the water.
“I missed this.”
Walter opened his sandwich.
“Work?”
Ethan shook his head.
“The normal stuff.”
Walter nodded.
“Yeah.”
For a while, they said nothing.
Then Ethan spoke.
“I used to think being alone was easier.”
Walter looked at him.
“It is.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
Walter smiled.
“For some things.”
He took a bite.
“But not everything.”
Ethan looked toward the harbor.
Walter continued.
“Being alone means nobody can disappoint you.”
“Exactly.”
“But it also means nobody can surprise you.”
Ethan thought about that.
Walter smiled.
“Sometimes that’s worth the risk.”
Ethan didn’t answer.
But he understood.
That evening, after work, Ethan walked toward the diner.
June had already put coffee on the counter.
Claire was there.
Sam came in ten minutes later.
Then Caleb.
It became an ordinary gathering.
No one had planned it.
No one needed to.
Ethan sat with them.
He listened.
He laughed.
He argued about something meaningless.
And at some point, he realized something.
He was no longer sitting at the edge.
He was in the middle.
