THE LIFE ETHAN COLE NEVER EXPECTED
Chapter 1
The first sign that something had changed was the coffee.
It was always coffee.
Ethan had been going to the diner for years now.
At first, he had gone because it was the only place in Greyhaven that opened early enough for him to eat before work.
Then he went because June knew how he liked his coffee.
Eventually, he stopped asking himself why he went.
He simply did.
That morning, the diner windows were fogged from the warmth inside.
Rain had fallen overnight, leaving the streets slick and dark.
Ethan pushed open the door.
The bell above him rang.
June looked up from behind the counter.
“You’re late.”
Ethan glanced at the clock.
“Seven minutes.”
“You said you’d be here at eight.”
“I said around eight.”
June placed a cup of coffee on the counter.
“That’s what I mean.”
Ethan took the cup.
“You waited?”
She shrugged.
“I made coffee.”
“For me?”
“For whoever came in.”
There was no one else in the diner.
Ethan looked around.
June caught him.
“Don’t.”
He smiled.
“Don’t what?”
“Look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
She turned away.
“Like you’re about to say something annoying.”
Ethan took a sip.
“Coffee’s good.”
“That’s what you wanted to say?”
“Yeah.”
June looked at him.
“You’re getting worse.”
Ethan smiled.
He took his usual seat.
There had been a time when these mornings meant nothing.
Now they were one of the most reliable parts of his life.
He knew how June moved around the diner.
The way she tucked loose hair behind her ear when she was busy.
The way she tapped a spoon against a cup when thinking.
The way she looked toward the window whenever she was worried.
He had noticed these things slowly.
So slowly that he hadn’t realized he was paying attention.
Until recently.
Recently, Ethan had begun noticing something else.
He missed her when she wasn’t there.
He thought about her when he was working.
He found himself saving stories to tell her.
And whenever something good happened, June was often the first person he wanted to tell.
That morning, he sat across from her after the breakfast rush.
She was sorting receipts.
He was drinking coffee.
Neither said much.
They didn’t need to.
That had become another strange thing about them.
Silence wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.
It was familiar.
Comfortable.
Almost intimate.
June looked up.
“You’ve been staring at me.”
Ethan blinked.
“No, I haven’t.”
“You have.”
“I was thinking.”
“About?”
He hesitated.
“You.”
June’s hand stopped moving.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she lowered her eyes.
“That’s dangerous.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“Probably.”
