THE TOWN WHERE ETHAN COLE WASN’T A STRANGER
Chapter 3
The repair shop was called Hayes Marine & Auto.
It stood near the harbor between a bait store and an abandoned warehouse.
The owner was Walter Hayes.
Seventy-two.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
One knee that hurt when it rained.
Which meant it hurt most days.
Ethan walked in the next morning.
Walter looked up from an engine.
“You buying?”
“No.”
“Then you’re wasting my time.”
“I’m looking for work.”
Walter looked at him.
“What can you do?”
“Engines.”
“Boats?”
“Yes.”
“Electrical?”
“Some.”
“Welding?”
“A little.”
Walter pointed toward an old fishing boat outside.
“The alternator is dead.”
Ethan walked over.
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“Why?”
Walter shrugged.
“Because nobody here knows what they’re doing.”
Ethan smiled.
Walter didn’t.
Two hours later, the engine started.
Walter stood with his arms crossed.
“You’re hired.”
Ethan wiped his hands.
“How much?”
“Minimum wage.”
Ethan nodded.
“Fine.”
Walter grunted.
“You need more?”
“No.”
“You have somewhere to sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Car?”
“Truck.”
“Family?”
Ethan paused.
“No.”
Walter studied him.
“Good.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Good?”
“Less trouble.”
That was how Ethan Cole started his new life.
No ceremony.
No dramatic promise.
No one telling him he belonged.
He simply showed up to work the next morning.
And the morning after that.
And the morning after that.
Days became weeks.
He learned the names of the fishermen.
He learned which boats were always late.
He learned that Walter drank black coffee but complained when anyone made it too strong.
He learned that June closed the diner at nine but stayed until ten every night because she hated going home to an empty house.
And slowly, people began learning him.
Not his secrets.
Just him.
Ethan liked black coffee.
He hated mayonnaise.
He fixed things instead of replacing them.
He rarely complained.
He always paid his bills on time.
He sometimes disappeared onto the beach after work and stood there for an hour.
No one knew why.
No one asked.
That was perhaps the greatest gift Greyhaven gave him.
Silence without suspicion.
