Page 4 of Ethan

I'd never gotten into gaming. At thirty-six, I probably should have been caught up in the trend of my generation's youthful endeavour, but I could never see the appeal. My parents owned a large piece of property out in Saanich with a barn and two practice areas. We'd always had horses growing up. My two older sisters and I had been heavily into equestrian sports.

Then and now, I preferred to be outside rather than cooped up in front of a game console. In addition to riding horses, I loved surfing in Tofino and snowboarding at Mount Washington.

I still had a horse out at my parents' named Phantom. He was a seven-year-old gelding chestnut quarter horse full of spunk. He loved show jumping and I'd started training him in the art of dressage. I threw a western saddle on him sometimes. The change kept his mind stimulated.

Eric fired up the espresso machine next. He was my manager from Monday to Friday. We opened at 7:30 am seven days a week. I left him to his daily routine and went back into the kitchen. Claire was cutting up cold scrambled baked eggs for the breakfast sandwiches.

I helped her arrange the perfect cubes of egg with slices of cheddar cheese and crispy bacon in the cooled croissants. My other two front-of-house staff arrived, including the new hire.

I smiled as I approached her. I was excited to have her on staff.

"Susie. Welcome to your first day."

She grinned at me. "Ready to work."

"Perfect." I motioned to Eric. He came over to us. "This is Eric, he will run through our procedure manual with you after the morning rush. Stick with solely making coffees until then."

"Any questions before that … just shoot them at me," Eric said.

Everyone behind the counter prepared for battle, I unlocked the front door and turned on the OPEN sign. A queue had already formed along the front of the building.

Out of habit, I looked for Daniel in the line of faces.

"Good morning," I addressed the early starting patrons as they streamed into the shop. We wouldn't have a lull for another couple of hours. When we did, I'd take a second to text Owen to check in on the start of his day. It was a morning ritual I cherished.

At least I had the love of my friends in my life.

Chapter Two | Daniel

I wasn't sure how many times I'd checked my outfit in the mirror. Not sure why. It's not like I had a variety of options in my closet. I typically wore what amounted to a uniform, only switching out the slacks I wore with a white button-down shirt and tweed jacket with jeans.

Everything always fit well. I made sure of that. The only time I switched to different clothes was when I was lounging at home, camping, or meeting up with my bowling league guys for a practice or bowling tournament. It was Saturday, so white sneakers accompanied my jeans. Every weekend for the past six months started like this. And every weekend, I lost my nerve.

I hadn't seen Ethan since I ran into him at the grocery store, and he dropped a hint that he worked in his coffee shop on weekends as well. I'd gone back and forth a thousand times on why he had told me that. Was he inviting me to come see him? Or was I delusional?

Ethan was more than his sultry appearance. He was charismatic and intelligent. But he was also almost twenty years younger than me. I shouldn't even be considering going to see him today, but the time we had spent together talking, I'd felt a soul-deep connection.

I think he had too.

I'd spent far too much time imaging that there was something between us.

Clearing my throat, I retrieved my phone and sat on the edge of my bed. I needed to distract myself for a moment. I started by texting my daughter, Sarah.

Me: I love you. How's your weekend going?

Without waiting for an answer, I texted my son, Derek.

Me: I love you. How are the kids?

My daughter was the first to answer.

Sarah: Love you too, Dad. Lazy start to the day. Stayed up late watching television.

Me: Anything good?

Sarah: Nah, just mindless crap. Thankfully, Damian entertained himself this morning.

Derek: Hey, Dad. Love you too. Kids are restless. Going to take them to the beach.

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