Page 44 of Summer Romance
Jamey leads us outside, and we sit at a small bistro table. I ask for a glass of pinot noir, and Ethan says, “Water for me, please. I’m her ride back to Beechwood.”
“So,” Ethan sayswhen I have my wine. “That’s my life.”
“You have a pretty full life.”
“Yeah.” He looks at me for a few beats, like he’s not sure if he wants to go on. “There’s a lot to do here, for the kids. And for everybody really. No limit to the problems needing to be solved.”
“And you saved this restaurant?”
“Not really. I just filed the paperwork to make it a historic landmark.”
“Of course you did.”
“It took me an hour.”
He leans down and pets Brenda under the table, as if to change the subject. A taxi passes. An older couple stops to say hello. They show us photos of their grandchildren on their phones and ask to see new photos of Theo.
“Do you know everyone in this town?” I ask when they’ve walked away.
“I know a lot of them. Those two are clients. I helped with their lease. There’s one landlord in Devon who is terrified of me, so everyone in his buildings comes to me withtheir leases and stuff.” He smiles. There is no sign of Scooter here; there’s no wrinkle in his brow. Everyone in Devon looks at him the way I do.
“How’d you even get here in the first place?”
“I was assigned to defend a big real estate firm that was accused of endangering tenants in Devon. I was making a lot of money in the city, my parents were so happy. I’d been at the law firm in Manhattan for five years. Everything was fine, but that case sort of stopped me in my tracks.” He takes a sip of my wine. “I was turning thirty and hanging out with a bunch of people I didn’t really connect with. I was questioning things, you know?”
“When I was thirty I had two little kids and was about to get pregnant again.” I take my wine back.
“At least there’s meaning there. Making people.”
“Yes,” I say.
“Anyway, I had to come up here a few times to take depositions, and it became pretty clear to me that my client was totally in the wrong.” He leans back in his chair and I want him to come close again. “Long story short, we won the case and I quit. I moved up here and started a private practice, and I finally felt at home. For the first time in my life, I felt like myself.”
“And you gave the kids a skate park.”
“I gave myself a skate park. It was so cheap. No one wanted an empty lot in this neighborhood. And now it’s just an investment of time, getting the police on board and getting the rec center involved.”
“And is it worth it? I mean, all that time you spend on this stuff blew up your last relationship.” I want to take backthe word “last” the second I’ve said it. I’ve made it seem like I think we’re in a relationship, which of course we’re not.
“Totally worth it. I’m a person who people turn to here. It feels good. Knowing who I am feels good. That might sound a little crazy.” He takes a breath and looks away. He’s quiet for another beat, as if he’s making a decision. “Ali, I don’t think you get how messed up I was in high school.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I reach for his hand.
“I hung out with a bunch of kids who were high all the time, and it was fine. I wasn’t into sports, and I couldn’t really see any place else I might fit in. I think I’d resolved to just ride out high school in a haze. But by the time we were fifteen, they started moving on to harder stuff and I was sort of stuck deciding if I was going to dive in with them or be totally alone. It sounds crazy now, but at the time those really felt like the only choices.”
I think of Greer, so close to those teen years. “That must have been scary.”
“It was. I was a kid and I wanted to be part of something. I didn’t feel like I fit in at home. I was lost. One day—it was April—I was supposed to meet them at the rec and we were going to drive to find some guy one of them had started buying from. I got there early, and there were a bunch of kids at the skate park. I watched for a while, and I knew there was something there that I wanted. I remember thinking they didn’t look trapped, you know? The whole scene was totally intimidating, and I would have never walked in, but Mr. Kennedy was there. Do you remember him? The music teacher?”
“I do.”
“He waved me in. Asked me to come help him move a cooler of water.” He shakes his head. “If he’d asked me if I wanted to try skateboarding, I would have said no and my life would have gone a totally different direction. I think about that all the time. Long story short, I walked into the skate park. My friends showed up and left without me. Nicky Bowler was dead eight months later.”
“I remember this,” I say. “He was Ryan’s little brother.”
“Yeah, he was my friend. It was horrible, and it could have been me. I got really lucky. What were the chances Mr. Kennedy would see me there and wave me in?” His gaze is intense as he holds mine.
“So then the skate park kids became your friends?”
