Page 27 of Ignite

“Well.” Sonia tossed her hair haughtily, “I’d call it lucky. First, he cheated before the two of you got married. Then there is the luck that you’ve been single long enough to get over Darin before Mr. Sexy Captain Coach Ethan Cooper came to town. I’d call you lucky.”

“And I’d call me starving and I hope he’s ordered for me.”

“Ohhh, a man who knows what a woman wants? I’d like to get me some of that.” Sonia’s laughter followed me back into the main room. Not that Sonia would be interested in Ethan. Everyone knew she had a not-so-secret crush on the brother of Felicity’s sometimes house guest from Sydney. I could see the attraction in Lucas, and admired Sonia’s patience. Like most of her friends, I hoped Lucus would be worth the wait.

By the time I reached the main room, Ethan was talking with the waitress at the bar, ready to order.

“Here she is,” he called to me, “I couldn’t decide whether you’d prefer the chicken parmi or the chef’s salad.”

I quickly looked up at the specials, deciding I needed to choose something out of the ordinary.

“I’ll go with the Fisherman’s basket, salad, with the dressing on the side.”

“Really?” Freya, the waitress, looked at me as if I’d grown two heads. “You always alternate between the parmi and the salad.”

“I felt like a change.” I bristled, was I really that predictable? No wonder Darin cheated. “Should I post a message in the group chat?”

Shit. Now I was being a bitch.

“Sorry, Freya.” I quickly corrected before turning to Ethan. “Freya’s right. I usually don’t have the energy to think about the menu and choices. It’s easier just flipping between the two meals.”

“And tonight?” His eyes twinkled, “You feeling energetic or inspired?”

“Neither!” I shook my head, laughing. “I just felt like fish. It seems like a wasted effort to cook fish for just me, and I haven’t eaten it in months.”

If my admission had unsettled Ethan, he didn’t let on. “Reece keeps inviting me out to go deep sea fishing with him and the boys. Perhaps if I catch it, you can teach me how to cook it.”

“You can’t cook fish?” I asked as he paid and escorted me back to our table. “It’s literally the easiest thing in the world to cook.”

“Easier than toasted cheese sandwiches?”

“Um …” I looked around for help. “I don’t know how to respond to someone who thinks toasting sandwiches is cooking.”

“Never needed to, before.” His eyes dulled. “My mother did all the cooking. She preferred no one else touch her stove. I watched a lot. I can peel a mean potato but for the actual cooking, I’m not your man.”

“You lived at home until you moved here?” Ethan seemed so independent, thinking of him as a mama’s boy surprised me.

“I’d moved out for a time, but then came back home.” His shoulders tensed and he looked around the room, “There’s Eric and his missus. How about we challenge them to a game of pool while we wait for our meals.”

I didn’t call him out on his redirection. If Ethan didn’t want to talk about his mother, or why he’d lived at home until moving here, it was his prerogative. But I wished I could do something about the sadness in his eyes when he talked about her. And I wished I didn’t recognize it as the same grief I felt for my parents.

After we lost two games to one, our meals were ready. I ate chips off Ethan’s plate, and he stole two of my prawns.

“You realize we couldn’t order prawns and chips if we were in the States,” he said, dipping what used to be my prawn in tomato sauce.

“Why? Because they wouldn’t ruin a good prawn by dipping it in sauce?”

“No, because they’d call it shrimp and fries, and they’d dip it in ketchup.”

“No one should dip prawns in tomato sauce.” I didn’t even pretend to be offended, it looked disgusting.

“Don’t knock it unless you try it.”

“I’ll give it a big pass.”

After our plates had been taken away, I waited for a sign to get up and leave, but Ethan settled into his chair. He ordered coffees and then sighed.

“Spit it out.” I still wanted to ask him about why he seemed so resistant to signing up for the RFS. He was running out of time to go through all the training and be ready for this bushfire season. Reece would soon close the books and then I’d have to manage servicing the trucks around my normal business.

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