THE NIGHT ETHAN COLE FINALLY FELT AT HOME
Chapter 2
By sunset, Ethan realized Walter had been right.
The festival wasn’t an event.
It was a reunion.
The entire town seemed to have gathered along the harbor.
Long wooden tables stretched from the community center to the edge of the pier.
String lights hung between buildings.
Someone had built a makeshift stage.
Children ran through the crowd carrying sparklers.
A local band played near the bonfire pit.
Smoke from dozens of grills drifted through the warm evening air.
There were ribs.
Sausages.
Corn.
Potatoes.
Fresh bread.
Watermelon.
Peaches.
Blueberries.
Pies.
And enough drinks to keep the entire town talking until sunrise.
Ethan stood beside Walter.
He looked around.
“I didn’t know Greyhaven had this many people.”
Walter laughed.
“Most of them don’t come out until there’s free food.”
Ethan smiled.
Then June appeared.
She pressed a cold bottle into his hand.
“Drink.”
Ethan looked at it.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She walked away.
Ethan watched her.
Walter smiled.
“See?”
“What?”
“You’re already being adopted.”
“I’m not being adopted.”
“Give it time.”
A little girl suddenly appeared beside Ethan.
“Ethan!”
He looked down.
Lily.
She was holding two sparklers.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“The games.”
“I don’t play games.”
“You do tonight.”
She grabbed his hand.
Ethan looked helplessly at Walter.
Walter shrugged.
“Good luck.”
Lily dragged him into the crowd.
For the next twenty minutes, Ethan discovered that Greyhaven had several traditions he had never heard about.
There was a ring toss.
A sack race.
A pie-eating contest.
A watermelon-seed-spitting competition that Ethan refused to participate in.
And a game involving throwing horseshoes at a wooden target.
Ethan won that one.
Lily screamed.
“You cheated!”
Ethan laughed.
“I’ve never cheated in my life.”
“Yes, you did.”
“How?”
“You practiced.”
He looked at her.
“I work with tools.”
“That’s cheating.”
Ethan laughed.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed that freely.
