“I provided workshop seating.”
“Unacceptable.”
“Is this business?”
“No.”
He looked toward house.
Lucy had her face pressed against window.
Elena smiled.
“Definitely not.”
Ethan looked back.
“Friday.”
“Seven.”
“Fine.”
She drove away.
Lucy ran outside immediately.
“You’re dating.”
“It is one dinner.”
“Dating.”
“Go clean room.”
“You can't silence truth.”
Ethan pointed toward house.
She laughed and ran.
Their first dinner almost failed.
Elena picked a restaurant in Columbus.
Michelin-level ambition.
White tablecloths.
Valet parking.
Ethan arrived in his best jacket.
Immediately looked like man who would rather repair furnace.
Elena saw.
“This was a mistake.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I can eat fancy food.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
He looked around.
“Why are forks multiplying?”
Elena laughed.
They lasted twenty minutes before Ethan loosened collar.
Elena said:
“Leave.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“Take me somewhere you’d choose.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“You made reservation.”
“I own phone.”
“I can cancel.”
He stared.
“You’re strange.”
“Move.”
They left.
Ethan took her to a twenty-four-hour diner.
Sticky menus.
Coffee refills.
Pie under glass.
Elena loved it.
“You’re lying.”
Ethan said.
“About what?”
“You do not prefer this.”
“I prefer you not looking like hostage.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
They talked until midnight.
Rachel.
Elena’s mother.
Lucy.
Fear.
Guilt.
Ambition.
Money.
Ethan admitted he hated wealthy people slightly.
Elena said she hated mechanics slightly.
“Why?”
“Every mechanic has told me something expensive with mysterious certainty.”
“That is because cars hate you personally.”
“See?”
He laughed.
She asked:
“Would Rachel hate me?”
Ethan’s smile faded.
“No.”
“Why?”
“She liked women who scared people.”
“That seems concerning.”
“She was a trial attorney.”
“Of course.”
He looked at coffee.
“She would've worried about Lucy.”
Elena nodded.
“So would I.”
“Would that stop you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
That answer mattered.
Because love after death often becomes trapped under impossible loyalty tests.
Ethan did not need someone who promised not to change his life.
He needed someone who respected that change affected a child who had already lost one mother.