Page 95 of Fight Or Flight

Natalie laughed. “And we’re neighbours.”

Chelsea jumped up and down, doing a little clap. “What now? Are you going to go find Ethan?”

Natalie let out a deep breath. “There’s something I need to do first.”

“What could you possibly need to do?”

Natalie picked up her purse and started for the door. “I need to go shopping.”

twenty-three

Ethan lounged back in his parents’ deep sectional with a bottle of Tipped Canoe stout in one hand, his phone in the other, and a smile on his face. He was listening to Amy and Jaclyn recount the adventures they’d had on their three-week island-hopping honeymoon in the Caribbean. The moment they’d mentioned petting pigs on the powdery white-sand beaches of the Bahamas, he’d pulled out his phone and, in a moment of uncharacteristic spontaneity, booked a trip to Costa Rica for the week after Thanksgiving.

It had been years since he’d gone on a vacation purely for enjoyment and relaxation, and he was determined to make his life more fun ever since Natalie had left.

Jaclyn sat on the floor in front of the coffee table where his mom had just placed a platter of butter tarts. He slipped his phone into his pocket and reached for one.

“Remember the catamaran tour to those caves in Aruba, Ames?” Jaclyn said around a mouthful of pastry.

Amy nodded. “It was so cool. Ethan, you would love it.”

“I’m going to Costa Rica,” he said, then took a swig of his beer.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I just decided.”

“Okay. I’ll text you the name of the travel agent we used,” Amy said.

“No. I just booked it. Now, on my phone. While you were describing the pigs.”

All eyes around the room widened and stared at him.

“Are you going alone?” his mom asked .

Ethan shrugged, took another drink. “Yeah. Why not?”

She looked at his dad, who looked at Jaclyn, who looked at Amy.

Amy squared her shoulders and zeroed her attention in on him. “You’ve been a little . . . erratic since we saw you last. Are you sure you’re okay with everything that happened? With Lindsay and Natalie?”

Ethan nodded. “Everything with Lindsay is resolved. And Natalie has moved on, just as she said she would. And I . . . I’m trying to live my life differently than I used to. Why shouldn’t I go on vacation?”

“You should,” said his father. “It’s just a lot of changes in a short amount of time. You sold your truck, hired a real estate agent to sell your house, now this?”

Ethan looked at his family. An equal amount of love and annoyance overcame him as he took in their worried faces. “These are things I should have done all along. Life is meant to be lived!”

“Oh God,” Amy said, taken aback. “Now he’s talking like Adam.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “I’ve just learned that you can’t always make the most practical decisions. Sometimes, you just have to do what feels right. Even if it’s wrong.”

His father shrugged as Jaclyn and his mother nodded. But Amy was frowning.

“I think you were in love with Natalie, and she left, and now you’ve gone off the deep end—”

Ethan’s phone rang in his pocket with Adam’s ringtone, and he leaped off the couch. “Sorry Ames, I gotta take this.”

“No, you don’t! It’s just Adam.”

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