Chapter 12 - Ethan
I pull up outside Aiden’s garage, noticing Dominic’s car parked outside. Both my brothers must be here. The lights are on, so they must be working on a car. I kill the engine and jump down, strolling over to the open door.
My brothers look up when I walk in.
“Hey, Ethan,” Aiden says, glancing up briefly and wiping his hands on a rag. Dominic slides out from under the car they’re working on and grunts a hello.
I nod to him. “Shouldn’t you be at home with Mara?” I ask. “When’s she due, anyway?” Dominic scratches his head and heaves himself up. He wipes his hands down the front of his old paint-stained t-shirt and sighs.
“Needed an evening away from it all. I think I was getting grumpy, because Mara pretty much ordered me to come here. She said the baby isn’t coming out any quicker and my fussing was only annoying her.”
I chuckle. “Sounds like Mara.”
Dominic grins at me and nods to the fridge, tucked away in the corner of the garage. I head over to it and grab three cans of beer. My brothers nod as I hand them the drinks, and I nod back.
Sometimes, we spend hours without speaking a word to each other. My older brother isn’t much of a talker, and all three of us brothers have developed a sort of non-verbal language to communicate. I lean against the work bench and crack open the cold can of beer.
“As long as this baby holds off long enough for them to clear the rockslide off the freeway, I’ll be happy.” Dominic stares off through the doorway at the sliver of horizon we can see through it. “The roadworks crew told me it would be another forty-eight hours before they’d get it cleared.”
“You drove down again today?” Aiden asks, wiping his lips after taking a sip.
Dominic grunts. “Baby’s due any day now."
The nearest hospital is about thirty miles away, to the north, and access to it is completely blocked by the rockslide. I chew my lip.
“There’s no doctor closer?”
Dominic sighs, shaking his head. “They won’t airlift her to the hospital in Albany for the birth unless it was life-threatening. There’s a midwife a couple towns over, but I’d just be a lot more comfortable if we could go to our regular doctor.”
“How long does labor last anyways? Doesn’t it usually take hours? Could you drive to Albany?”
Dominic grunts again. “Doc said it would be best not to. Said the drive is too long and it wouldn’t be safe.”
He’s still staring off in the distance and I take a deep breath. He’s got a lot on his plate right now. Dominic crumples his can in his hand and tosses it in the trash.
“So what’s up?” Aiden asks. I frown, and the two of them chuckle. “The last time you came here at this hour on a work night was to convince me to burn down that hotel.”
I tip the can of beer back and savor the last few drops before tossing it on top of Dominic’s can in the garbage. My brothers are still staring at me expectantly, and I shrug. The truth is, I don’t know why I’m here. After spending all day trying to ignore the aching in my stomach whenever Zoe was near, I just wanted to get away.
Dominic and Aiden exchange a glance. Dominic grins at me. “I gotta warn you, Ethan, my criminal days are over. I’ve got a baby girl to take care of now.” His eyes are glimmering and I finally chuckle and shake my head.
“I’m not going to ask you to do anything illegal,” I say.
“But…?”
“There’s this girl,” I start.
Aiden starts laughing, and a sharp flash of anger rushes through me. He shakes his head, and looks at Dominic. Aiden’s looking at me, shoulder moving up and down as he laughs until he shakes his head and grabs another beer from the fridge. He hands one to me and one to Dominic before cracking one for himself.
“It’s always a girl,” he explains. “Who is she? Is it Katie?”
“What? No! Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“She’s been in love with you since you were nine, Ethan.” He says as he tips the beer back. I look at the full can of beer in my hand and do the same before guzzling half of it down.
“It’s not Katie,” I finally say after wiping my mouth on my sleeve. “It’s a woman I work with. She’s investigating the fire.”
Dominic’s eyes narrow as his eyebrows come together ever so slightly. His chin dips down and I know that means ‘keep talking’.
“Well, she’s not really investigating the fire. She works for the Parks, and she’s consulting on how to improve our fire safety measures to prevent it from happening again. Or something.”
“Right,” Dominic says. Aiden stares at me for a while, and I know both of them are worried. Even though Aiden had nothing to do with the fire, most of the town thinks he does. And Dominic and I definitely had something to do with the fire.
We say nothing to each other for a while. Finally, Dominic looks at me.
“So is she going to cause trouble?” He asks.
I shrug. “I dunno. She could. She’s nice, though!” Dominic sips his beer and stares at me. His eyes feel like laser beams and I try my best to ignore him. “I mean, I like her. As a person. Coworker.” I clear my throat and avoid their stares.
“Stay away from her, Ethan,” Dominic finally says. “If you get close to her, and she finds out you, me and the Sheriff burned that fucking building to the ground, you’re going to get us all in serious trouble. I’m talking nation-wide news. Can you imagine the headlines? Police Sheriff accused of felony arson,” he says, sweeping his arms to highlight the words.
“You wouldn’t even be the headline!” Aiden agrees. “Bill would take all the glory. And you’d drag me down along with you.”
Dominic grunts in agreement. “Nah, you need to stay the fuck away from that woman. We’ve got families to take care of now.”
“I don’t want to go to jail either, guys,” I sigh.
I take a deep breath, closing my eyes. All I see is Zoe. I want to tell them how amazing she is. I want to tell him about our weekend together, and the way she makes my heart thump. I don’t want them to look so suspicious. I know they’d laugh if I told him about her walking into the office right after we’d spent the night together.
Something is holding me back. Maybe it’s the thought of him chastising me for getting close to her when I know now that she could put us in prison. Maybe I just want to keep that weekend between Zoe and me.
I sigh and nod, throwing my empty away.
“You’re right,” I say to Dominic. “I’ll stay away from her.”
Even as the words leave my mouth, I’m not sure how I’m going to do that. I work with her, for crying out loud. And when I’m not working, I’m thinking of her!
Maybe it’ll pass and I won’t be so infatuated with her. Maybe I should just pursue Katie. Everyone seems to think it’s meant to be between us.
I grunt to my brothers, who grunt back. Aiden nods his chin towards me and I nod towards the door. Dominic sits back down on the mechanic’s creeper and lays back, grabbing the edge of the car they were working on. He looks at me and nods before sliding under the car again.
When I get outside, I take a deep breath.
I know he’s right. I know I need to forget that night with Zoe ever happened, and I need to keep my distance. It’s not just me that could get in trouble. It’s the Sheriff and Dominic, too. Aiden could even get in trouble even though he wasn’t there.
No, I need to stay away from her.
I bounce down the rutted road towards Main Street, letting out one last sigh. When I turn onto the road, I lean back into my chair and resign myself to the fact that I’m not going to feel Zoe’s skin against mine again. Not anytime soon, and probably not ever.
There’s a weight on my chest that doesn’t seem to be leaving. I drive slowly, heading back towards the center of town. When Harold’s comes into view, I frown.
A couple people are running. They’re running in the same direction I’m driving, over to the far end of town. I glance at the horizon, looking for a sign of what might be going on. I turn off the radio and press my foot down, leaning towards the steering wheel as I accelerate. It doesn’t look like they’re out for an evening jog.
When I get closer, I see who they are. Zoe is with Katie, running down the street towards the edge of town. I roll down the window and slow to their pace.
“What’s going on?” I holler.
Zoe doesn’t seem to hear me. She keeps running, and Katie turns towards me.
“Get your brother,” she pants. “Mara is giving birth.”