THE LIFE ETHAN COLE NEVER EXPECTED
Chapter 4
Their first date was almost embarrassingly ordinary.
There was no expensive restaurant.
No fancy clothes.
No carefully planned evening.
They went to the harbor.
Ethan brought sandwiches.
June brought coffee.
They sat on the end of the pier.
The sun was disappearing behind the horizon.
Fishing boats returned one by one.
June looked at him.
“So this is our date?”
Ethan nodded.
“Apparently.”
She laughed.
“You could’ve tried harder.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“I brought the good sandwiches.”
She opened the bag.
“They’re from the diner.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t make them.”
“No.”
June laughed again.
Ethan watched her.
He liked that sound.
More than he wanted to admit.
They talked until the sky became dark.
June told him about her childhood.
Ethan told her things he rarely spoke about.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
When they finally stood to leave, June reached for his hand.
Ethan looked down.
Then at her.
She didn’t say anything.
She didn’t need to.
He took her hand.
They walked home that way.
Slowly.
Neither in a hurry.
For Ethan, that walk became one of the most important memories of his life.
Because for the first time, walking beside someone didn’t feel like being followed.
It felt like being accompanied.
