Read Online Waiting For Ethan by Diane Barnes - Free Book Online

haven’t gotten very far with your report yet. I’ll send it to you by the end of the day tomorrow or early Friday . Hope you’re having a good day, Gina. ”
    I can’t help myself; I bold Hi, Cooper and Hope you’re having a good day. I imagine Cooper noticing the difference in font. I should try to make my messages friendly like Gina’s , he’ll think. Yeah, right. More likely Cooper will be annoyed that I took time away from editing his report to type the unnecessary words.
    His reply comes a minute later. “ Thanks for the quick response, Gina . I wish you were as speedy with my report. Best, Cooper.”
    His response causes me to laugh, and I happily go back to editing his report on mobile torture devices.
    Â 
    A light snow is falling on my drive home. The weatherman on the radio insists it won’t accumulate, but when I get home the flakes are heavier and my driveway and walkway are coated with the white stuff. The motion lights do not snap on when I step out of my car, so I plod my way around to the back of the house and up the stairs in the dark. As I unlock the door, I hear ringing. I rip my hand off the key and on the pitch-black landing grope through my purse for my phone. My hand lands on it, and I wrench it out. I don’t recognize the number and I take a deep breath before answering. As I’m saying hello, the phone slips out of my gloved hand and bounces halfway down the staircase. “Yikes!” I race down the five steps to where the phone has landed, but by the time I pick it up, no one is on the other end. “Call back, call back,” I chant as I climb up the stairs again and enter my apartment.
    Five minutes later I am sitting on the couch with the phone in my hand. I feel it vibrate before it rings and answer immediately.
    â€œIt’s Ethan, the guy who helped you out during the storm,” he announces, his voice softer and less steady than it was in person.
    â€œRight, the guy driving the red pickup truck who helped me out on the highway.”
    â€œNo, I was driving a bl—You’re playing with me.”
    â€œGotcha.”
    He laughs. “I was worried about you driving in the snow tonight.”
    Ethan was worried about me! “I’m an excellent driver.”
    My imitation of Dustin Hoffman must be pretty good because Ethan responds, “If you say so, Rain Man.”
    The line is silent for a moment. Then we both speak and stop speaking at the same time. “Go ahead,” I say.
    â€œI just wanted”—he clears his throat—“do you still want to get together?”
    â€œAbsolutely!” I scream it so loudly that I expect my downstairs neighbor to bang on the ceiling.
    â€œHow about Saturday night? We could go bowling and to dinner.”
    â€œBowling?”
    â€œYa, bowling. When’s the last time you went?”
    I have no idea, but I try to sound definitive. “My twelfth birthday party.”
    â€œMy twelfth was monumental. First game of Spin the Bottle,” he pauses. “I made it to second base with Holly Pierce. I swear she was in a D cup before high school.”
    I imagine a young Ethan fumbling with the breasts of a voluptuous twelve-year-old, and I’m jealous. Ridiculous.
    In the background I hear a man’s voice calling Ethan’s name. “Got to run,” he says. “I’ll pick you up at six on Saturday.”
    Â 
    At lunch on Thursday, Luci takes me to the mall to pick out an outfit for my date with Ethan. She drags me into a store where a beefy man dressed in black wearing an earpiece guards the door. Inside two perfectly groomed saleswomen wearing fitted jackets, short skirts, and long boots look me up and down and immediately turn their attention to Luci.
    â€œMy friend has the most important date of her life Saturday,” Luci explains. “She needs a casual outfit that makes her irresistible.”
    The two women look at me