THE NIGHT ETHAN COLE FINALLY FELT AT HOME
Chapter 10
At two in the morning, the last song began.
The bonfire had collapsed into glowing embers.
The sky was filled with stars.
People gathered for one final toast.
Walter raised his bottle.
“To another year.”
Everyone repeated it.
“To another year.”
June raised hers.
“To the people who came back.”
Claire added:
“And the people who stayed.”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
The words hit harder than expected.
Walter looked at him.
Then raised his bottle again.
“And to the people who finally figured out they belong here.”
Everyone laughed.
Ethan shook his head.
“You planned that.”
Walter smiled.
“Maybe.”
They clinked bottles.
Ethan looked around.
There were fewer people now.
But he recognized almost every face.
He knew their stories.
Or at least pieces of them.
He realized something else.
They knew pieces of his too.
Not everything.
They didn’t need to.
Trust didn’t always mean telling someone every secret.
Sometimes it simply meant allowing them to know enough.
