Tuesday
His phone was buzzing. Ethan made a noise of resistance but pulled back the covers anyway. He rubbed at his eyes before picking up the device from the bedside table and answering the call. He grunted into the phone as a form of greeting.
"Ethan!" It took him several seconds to place that voice but when he did, he jerked awake and he cleared his throat. "Ethan, you need to come back."
His brows concentrated into a crease. He'd only been here a week. What could possibly happen in a week? "Why?" he asked warily.
"Dad's in the hospital," Katie told him. "He was drinking with his pals at the bar and he got drunk and he got into a bar brawl."
His initial concern dissipated rapidly after his sister's explanation. "That man has done this dozens of times before. I'm done picking up after his mess. I'm not going back for him. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Katie let out a frustrated noise. "No, Ethan!" He put the phone back to his ear, looking up at the ceiling in impatience. "He's in the ICU," she pointed out. "It's pretty bad."
A disbelieving chuckle escaped from Ethan's throat. "Katie, our father's been in the ICU before from similar events. So yeah, I think he's gonna be fine."
"He's our dad!"
He clenched his jaw, his smile having vanished. "He hasn't been my dad for years, Katie," he stated coldly. "Look, unless it's something wrong with the company or Mom or you, I don't want to hear it, okay? Harrison Boyd has been upending his own life since before we were even born. He can handle himself."
"Come on-"
"Katie," he cut her off, "is there anything else?"
He knew his sister was pouting before she shot off a reluctant, "No."
He nodded and brushed his hair with his hand. "Okay, then. How is Mom doing?" he asked.
"She's worried sick about you."
Ethan sighed. "Tell her to stop. I'm fine, okay? I'll be back in three weeks."
"Okay."
"What about you? What did you do to my liquor cabinet?"
Katie chuckled. "They're intact. I did steal a sip of whiskey. What do you do with them anyway? Aren't you supposed to not drink?"
"I'm allowed to have one drink or two in a long period of time, Katie. I just don't drink like I did before," Ethan said.
"Well, as long as you don't relapse."
"I'll try very hard not to, baby sister."
She groaned. "Stop calling me that."
He grinned. "But you are."
"Ethan."
"Alright, alright. Well, thank you for the morning call, Katie. I'm very awake now."
"You're welcome."
They said their goodbyes and hung up. He placed his phone on the bedside table and stared at it with a small frown and his lips pulled down.
Did his father ever stop? Would he ever stop? Ethan was sure that the day his father stopped trying to ruin their lives with his shenanigans would be a day worth celebrating. But alas, it had been so long and Harrison was still the same man he was.
Sometimes, Ethan wondered how his mother did it. Heather, nee Langston, had been married - stuck - with Harrison Boyd for roughly thirty-five years and not once had she ever complained. She put up with her husband's infidelity and irresponsibility. She didn't say a word when he made headline news with whichever long legged skimpy blonde he recently slept with with. She just stayed with him like an obedient little puppy for thirty-five years.
There was once, six years ago, when one of Harrison's bastard child showed up at the door and Heather nearly divorced him. Ethan had really wished she had. That way, his mother wouldn't be tied to the man and had to suffer merely because she was married to him.
He'd asked her once for the reason she stayed with his father for so long after all the wrong Harrison had done her. And Heather had just displayed a smile like he was just a little boy who understood nothing.
"I love him too much to leave him, son," she'd said.
He never asked her if it was worth it. He knew she'd say it was, even though he knew it certainly wasn't. He might not know a lot of about love, but he'd seen enough to know love didn't concur all. Love wasn't everything. Love was just a part of life that wasn't necessarily necessary.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard hurried, heavy steps up the stairs and the door across the hall opening and closing. He allowed a smirk to crawl up his face.
Skylar must have fallen asleep in the living room again.
He pushed himself to his feet and padded across the room to the bathroom. And then he pulled off his sleeping clothes before tossing them in the laundry hamper. He stood under the shower head and twisted the knob. Water began trickling down his head, along his skin, wetting his entire body. He sighed heavily under the water as he washed himself.
The woman across the hall was a supporting point to his 'love wasn't everything' theory. He didn't love Skylar Smith, per se. But he had feelings for her, and he knew himself well enough to know that he had never ever developed feelings as deep as this for any other woman he'd dated in the past. He knew himself well enough that he was certain that Skylar would be the only one he would feel so deep for.
What then? Skylar's voice echoed in his head, mocking him. Ethan wasn't naive. He certainly knew he did not belong in this small town. Pursuing a relationship with her would be digging himself into a deeper hole. In the end, they would both be hurt.
So yeah, love wasn't everything.
But god, did he want her. Skylar Smith was unlike any other woman he'd met. She wore glasses; she rarely let her hair down; she never wore dresses; she was sarcastic and edgy; she kept everything in an opaque bottle, all of those made her all the more beautiful and interesting.
He rested his forehead against the wall, the water from the shower head trickling over his back. What was he going to do?
**
She was on the phone when he entered the kitchen. Ethan couldn't resist from smiling in gratification when he saw the meal laid out on the dining table. She took one look at him and smirked when she saw the look on his face. He nodded when she held up one finger and turned away.
He sat down at his side of the table and started in on the food without waiting. He was starving.
"Emma, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later but I gotta go," Skylar whispered into the phone and hung up.
He smirked down at his sausage. They had friends with the same name. What a coincidence. She sat down opposite him and began to eat as well. They lapsed into silence. He couldn't quite say it was uncomfortable, but it certainly wasn't comfortable either.
"Can you leave me at the car rental later?" he requested, breaking the silence. She looked at him in surprise. "I'm gonna rent a car."
Skylar began to look slightly regretful and she sighed. "Ethan, I-"
"You were right," he quickly interjected. "I can't hitch a ride with you all the time." He shrugged with a good-natured smile.
They stared at each other for a few moments before she nodded in relent. "Okay," she said softly.
He mumbled a thanks and downed his glass of orange juice. "So have you taken Dog out for his walk yet?"
She shook her head, looking sullen as she eyed her dog. "I woke up late again," she muttered.
He frowned slightly and ducked his head to look at her. "What's wrong with you? Why do you keep sleeping in the living room?"
"I just...I couldn't sleep." She scratched the edge of her brow and then waved her hand in the air dismissively. "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing."
"Ethan, I'm fine."
"Oh I'm not worried about you. I just feel like Dog doesn't deserve to miss all his morning walks just because you slept late." He grinned mischievously when she looked at him flatly across the table. "Any particular reason why you couldn't sleep?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," she dismissed hastily and put the last piece of sausage in her mouth. "I'll walk him during lunch break later."
"But you still have to make lunch and have lunch."
"I've been doing this for five years. I know how to manage my time."
He nodded. After all, she was her own person. "Okay."
**
Skylar watched as Ethan got out of the car. "Just tell them you know me. They'll give you a discount," she told him through the open window.
Ethan chuckled and shook his head. "I don't need a discount, Skylar."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to help you save your money. But sure, whatever." She stuck her tongue out at him. "So I'll see you back home or...?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you back at the cabin during lunch," he confirmed.
She nodded and bade him farewell before driving off to the bookstore. She was glad that they could still joke and banter. After everything that had happened last night, she was afraid that they would be in the middle of a smaller version of cold war. Just because she'd rejected his advances didn't mean she didn't want to remain his friend.
Skylar pulled over in front of the bookstore and got out with Dog. She didn't forget to lock her transport before walking into the bookstore. It was quiet and appeared empty. But Skylar knew Mr. Kingston Sr was in the back room.
"Hey, Mr Kingston!" she yelled as greeting while she hung her coat and hat on the coat rack by the door. She took the yellow tennis ball from the floor and waved it in front of Dog. She figured that he deserved some playtime since she'd failed to walk him two mornings in a row.
"Hey there, Skylar!" he yelled back.
She smiled when Dog responded after a couple more waves. He got on all fours and padded across the room to her, wagging his tail and lolling his tongue at her. She reached out to brush the top of his furry head roughly before bouncing the ball on the hardwood floor and let it skip across the floor.
"Good boy," she praised when Dog fetched the ball and brought it back to her. "You're a good boy." She took the ball, ignoring the wetness of it and tossed it again. She did it a few times before Dog got tired and took the ball to his rug and laid down, chewing on it.
She made her way to the cashier and clicked open the cash box. She spent the next fifteen minutes counting the cash, making sure they didn't lose anything.
"So what's the story with the new guy?"
She jumped to see Mr Kingston leaning against one of the bookshelves, looking at her expectantly. He was smirking. "Jesus Christ, Mr Kingston," she gasped.
His smirk widened into a grin. "So?"
She blinked and put the wad of cash back to where it belonged. "There's no story," she said.
He hummed and leaned his head back just an inch, putting a finger to his chin in a thoughtful position. "Now, why don't I believe that?"
She raised her brows and shrugged. "Why indeed."
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"The man likes you," Mr Kingston stated without pause.
She was barely surprised. Mr Kingston was nothing if not blunt. Occasionally, she wondered how Adam didn't inherit that one from his father. She feigned an indifferent shrug and took another wad of cash from the cash box.
"I think you like that he likes you."
She almost dropped the wad. Thankfully, she had a tight grip on it. She lifted her eyes to glare Mr Kingston. "A lot of my guests like me. Do I like that they like me too?"
"Nope." He shook his head. "In fact, I know that you keep an emotional distance from them as much as possible." She thrust a hand in his direction, as if to prove a point. "But it's obvious to everyone that you don't keep an emotional distance from this one."
She looked away and displayed an almost sad smile. "You can't be more wrong," she muttered as she remembered the events of last night.
"You need to get some."
She gasped loudly as she looked at him again. "You, Mr Kingston, is an incorrigible old man."
He laughed. "And yet you're still here."
He fake saluted her before turning around and returning to the back room. She had a helpless smile on her face as she continued counting money. Mr Kingston always was a peculiar character.
Adam had the day off today. He claimed that he had plans with some of his buddies from another town so he took the day off, which left her and Mr Kingston manning the store.
Mr Kingston had told her that she needed to get laid, just like Emma did this morning when she called her.
"You don't have to have a relationship with him. You can just...you know, screw him." Skylar had scoffed a that. "Look, Sky, you've had a dry spell for five years now. Five years are too long to go without sex! I can't even go a week without sex!"
"That's because you're a sex fiend while I'm perfectly normal."
"Skylar Smith," Emma snapped, "you need to get out there and get some."
"No."
Emma released a loud groan of frustration. Skylar could hear a thud which probably meant she knocked her head to a hard surface. "Okay, whatever. It's your problem. Keep on being dry all you want." Skylar smiled. "I just called to tell you that I'm coming to visit next Monday."
"Really?" She could barely keep the excitement from her voice.
"Yeah. I'll be heading back by Wednesday though. I still have a lot to settle here."
Though three days were kind of short, but Skylar had missed her best friend a lot so she would take what she could get. "Sure."
"I'll text you the details later."
And before they could say anything else, Ethan had come in, looking eager for breakfast.
Skylar wasn't sure if she should speak at all after all the things she'd said last night. She honestly did not mean to hurt him but she knew that in order for him to give up, she had to tell him the truth. He deserved better than damaged goods like her.
It seemed to her that he was on his way to giving up this morning. And that was good. That was good.
She locked the cash box when she was done counting the cash, just like how she locked away her emotional attachments to Ethan.
**
A honk outside the store caught her attention. And then she figured it was just next door so she ignored it, pulling on her coat and mittens. Just when she was stuffing her hat over her head, the honk sounded again. She looked up with a curious frown.
She turned a little when there was a shuffle behind her. It was Mr Kingston, carrying the same expression she was as he eyed the door. He seemed to be seeing something she wasn't, probably because he got a better view of the window than she did. A smirk spread across his face.
"I think that's for you," he said, a teasing lilt in his voice.
She looked to the door again, wondering who it was. She fished her car keys from her coat pocket and ushered Dog to follow her. She pushed open the door, ready to press the key fob to her Jeep, when she stopped short.
A huge, red Range Rover Evoque was parallel parked in front of her Jeep, just before the bookstore. It was still running. Her mouth formed a soundless 'O'. Who could afford such a car in this town except her?
Just then, the front passenger window rolled down and Ethan poked his head out with a cheeky grin. She released an impressed laugh and blinked a couple of times before striding towards the open window.
"What do you think?" he asked as soon as she was within earshot.
She opened her mouth, closed it and repeated the action a few times, coupled with rapid blinking and occasional little shakes of her head. "I-I don't-" she stammered, unable to find the words.
"Nice, right?"
Her arm dropped back to her side. She looked down to see Dog sniffing the front tire of the vehicle. "Didn't I tell you to save your money?"
"I did!" He slapped the steering wheel twice. "Why do you think I got this one?"
"This thing doesn't come cheap!" she exclaimed. She then narrowed her eyes. "Did Eddie put you up to this?"
It took him a moment to recognize that name. Eddie was the owner of the car rental service in town. He'd been known to rent especially classy and expensive cars. "No, no! He actually told me to get an older version of Range Rover but I like this one." He then opened the door for her and leaned back to his own seat. "Come on, I'm giving you a ride back."
"I have a Jeep," she stated, pointing at aforementioned vehicle.
"Doesn't mean you can hitch a ride with me. It's called carpooling. I hear it helps keeping the environment clean."
She shot him a flat look but climbed in the passenger seat anyway. She held back the hum of approval when she settled into it. She had to admit it was quite spacious and comfortable in here. "You never listen, do you?" she muttered.
He only chuckled as he pulled away and drove in the direction of the cabin. "Why do I get the feeling that Eddie's scared of you?"
"Probably because I threatened him once," she said. She smiled when he looked to her in curiosity. "It's a long story."
He shrugged and turned back to the road, narrowly missing a corner and swerving to the right. She grasped to the handle above the door tightly. "I'm a safe driver. And we've got time."
She swallowed when he didn't even slow down to turn into the right juncture. "You're not really proving your safe driver point right now."
"You've seen me drive before!"
"Twice. And I've been either unconscious or unfocused both times so yeah, I haven't actually seen you drive."
"Skylar, trust me." He was smiling at her and she quickly looked away before she could get absorbed into his eyes again.
She swore to god she was going to make him wear sunglasses at one point or another. "Eyes on the road, please."
"Tell me about Eddie."
"I thought you would've stopped sticking your nose into my business at this point but I guess I was wrong," she said. If he knew that she was talking about last night, he didn't make it known. "I rented a car from Eddie once. It was just a simple Toyota but he tried to rent it to me at a higher price than should be. So I did my research and printed them all out and showed them to him and threatened to call the cops if he keep on duping his customers like that. And since then, each time my guest want to rent a car, he'd give them a low price."
"Wait, you can call the cops for renting a car at an undeserving price?" Ethan sounded incredulous.
She shrugged, indifferent. "I wouldn't know. I mean, I was only 18 back then."
"18?" he nearly yelled.
She nodded without another word. They pulled into her driveway and he parked right in front of the door. She hastily unbuckled her seat belt and crawled out of the car, followed by an eager Dog. She was already preparing the ingredients for lunch when he came in the front door, having hung his stuff in the walk-in closet.
She busied herself with the chicken and flour and everything else. She could see that he had seated himself at the island, watching her work. She was glad that he didn't ask any further questions. She didn't want to talk about in broad daylight.
It didn't take her long to serve lunch. It also didn't take her long to finish her lunch. She stood up, leaving the dish for Ethan to clean, and retrieved Dog's leash from her study.
"I'm gonna go walk Dog for a bit," she announced.
She stood at the doorway, pinned under his gaze, leash hanging from her fingers. Dog was sitting in front of her, waiting for her to pin the leash on him so he could have his walk. She didn't know how, but somehow in the past eight days, she'd grown to learn his facial features so well that she knew he wanted to say something.
It was disconcerting.
She waited for him to speak, to say anything. She refused to recognize him, but there was a sort of want in her: want for him to speak. She didn't know what she wanted him to say though. She was sure that whatever he had to say, she wouldn't like it anyway, but she still wanted him to speak.
"Okay," he agreed.
A collection of air that she didn't know she was holding relieved out of her chest through her lips, slowly and quietly. She nodded and tore her eyes away from him, averting them to her dog. She leaned down to pin the leash to his collar and led him away.
**
Ethan had his head clamped between his fists, his elbows propped on the island. He stood, supporting himself with the island. His eyes were screwed shut and a deep frown that was guaranteed to etch wrinkles was on his face.
The dishwasher whirred unknowingly behind him, doing its duty. The dishwasher had a simple life. It was created and it knew its duty from the start. It was set with mechanics that would stay with it for the rest of its mechanical lifespan. It would wash filthy utensils when the buttons were pressed. It would be at a standstill when there was no need for it.
At this moment, right this second, he wanted to be a dishwasher. He wanted a simple life. He wanted to know what he was supposed to do for the entirety of his life. He wanted to not have complications. Even if he did have complications, he wanted to be able to be fixed easily.
He didn't want this.
He didn't want a screwed up father who very nearly ruined Ethan's life with his non-stop shenanigans. He didn't want fame to come along with his success. He didn't want to be involved in scandals that he wasn't even remotely close to. He didn't want to have paparazzi flooding his doorstep the minute a busybody decided to lie about his life.
He didn't want to want a woman he couldn't have. He didn't want the ocean separating two continents in which he belonged to one while she belonged to the other. He didn't want the clash in opinions. He didn't want to have to dig out secrets he had no right to know. He didn't want her to be so reserved. He didn't want her to be scared of exposing herself, especially to him.
He just...he just wanted her.
**
There was something really comforting about the night. The crickets, the grass, the crunching of the snow, the moon, the ever so mysterious stars, the dog chasing his own tail, the darkness; they all, in an odd but comprehensible way, made it easier for her to reveal things about herself.
She couldn't place the exact reason for it. Maybe it was because it was dark. Maybe it was because she didn't have the person she was revealing things to in her direct vision. Maybe it was because they were alone and she could pretend that she was alone during the few seconds when she was telling those dark, dark things about herself. Maybe it was because she was convincing herself that the man beside her was just an illusion and she was actually talking to the wild animals probably watching them right now. Maybe.
So here she was, sitting in the dark, with her knees drawn up to her chest, and a man for whom she had feelings that she'd never experienced before for. And she found it easier and lighter to say things.
"I came here when I was 18 years old. Just graduated." She sounded so soft that she wondered if he heard her. But judging from the way he shifted his knee next to her, she could only assume he did. "I didn't actually intend to move here at first. I had the same intentions you did: to take a break from...everything." She lifted her gaze to the moon and closed her eyes. She could feel the moon smiling down upon her. "But then I stayed here for a year. I had Aiden. I rented a car. I got to know the people in town. I realized I could make a good home here. A peaceful, chaos-free home where there's no one who'll recognize me, hence no one who knows my actual history except a few."
"You must have been so lonely," he commented after a long quiet while.
She huffed and turned to look at him. "I don't want your pity, Ethan." He looked chastised but there was something else on his face that she was too tired to identify. "I've been here for five years. I'm happy here."
"You're at peace here. I don't think you're happy."
"You barely know me."
He tilted his head. She thought he looked particularly adorable with that beanie on his head. "Don't you think it's time to let someone in?" he asked quietly. "I think you deserve to get that load off your chest."
"You don't even know what it is!"
"Let me be that someone then!"
"Ethan-"
"I'm not even looking for something more here," he interjected, gesturing wildly in the air with an arm. "I can see you're in a lot of pain. And I can also see you're using edginess and sarcasm to get past it. But that won't work. Trust me on this, I've been through this before. And I think you're too young to waste your life away in this small town when there's so much in the world you can explore. There's so much you haven't seen."
"I've seen enough."
He held up a finger and looked at her pointedly. "You haven't." He sounded confident. "Whatever happened, happened. You gotta let it go."
"I am letting it go."
"No, you're running away from it," he corrected. She stayed quiet at that. He sighed, his chest deflating visibly. "I'm going to be here for three more weeks. You don't have to tell me everything all at once. Day by day, make it a fact of the day."
She moved her eyes downwards, to her fingers clasped around her knees. "I'm afraid you'll find me disgusting if I tell you everything."
He hurried to his knees and held her face with his hands, urging her to look at him. His eyes were filled with care and concern. His fingers were absently brushing her cheeks. She relished in the temporary warmth. "I care too much about you to be disgusted with you." He offered a small smile, which she reluctantly returned. "And that's my fact of the day."
A/N:
there's been an easter egg from a couple of chapters in the past and this chapter and i've been wishing one of you would find it. did you find it?
let me give you two hints. it's about a character and the character's name starts with E. ;) tell me in the comments!