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"Thanks, Ruby," he replied, almost sheepishly. "Sorry for the bother."
"No, don't you worry none. Cook's even thinking about adding it to the menu as a regular item. Call it the 'Ethan Special' — wadda'ya think?"
"I — Um," Ethan said as the tips of his ears reddened ever so slightly.
Ruby just grinned, shooting a conspiratorial wink at Jakob. "And how about you, hon?"
"Sounds good to me. I'll have the Ethan Special too, please," he told her, earning himself a delighted grin from Ruby as she reached for his menu.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jakob could see Ethan's ears go even redder.Oops. Time for reinforcements. "And make sure we get a big slice of that pie after if you can?"
"I'll fetch it now and put it in the back for when you've finished," she told him as she tucked her order pad away; giving Ethan's shoulder a pat as she walked past before vanishing off beyond the swinging kitchen door.
"She seems nice," Jakob said; mentally trying to recover himself from the sense of finding himself suddenly in an episode of one of those cheesy old shows Frank used to watch.
"Seems like a walking cliche, you mean?" Ethan replied with a broad grin as he leaned back against the vinyl bench seat. "Ruby loves it — says it 'adds to the diner experience'. Keeps folks coming back here instead of just grabbing a quick cup of burnt swill and some cardboard mislabeled as food from some drive-thru window. Not that this stuff is any healthier, mind you. Sometimes you gotta pick your poison, and I suppose coconut pie's not a bad way to go if you’re going."
"And the chicken and waffles?" Jakob teased.
"There's worse addictions out there. Though I hope she's kidding about slapping my name on the menu."
"Does it really bother you?" Jakob asked, trying not to be obvious about watching the way Ethan's bicep flexed as the other man draped his arm over the back of his bench. He glanced away, towards the handy distraction provided by the sound of the diner's bell above the door ringing, signaling the arrival of more customers.
"Naw," Ethan replied, rubbing almost absently at his chin. "I just… You know I've never been much a one for being the center of attention."
Ethan was watching him now; his big frame leaned back comfortably against the worn red vinyl — nearly the same shade as his red and black checked flannel shirt.
Red was a good color on him, always had been.
"How's that work, then, being a teacher?" Jakob asked, curious how Ethan — shy and soft-spoken for as long as Jakob had known him — had found his way into teaching, of all things.
"That's different," Ethan said, a thoughtful note in his voice. "Art's not… It's not showing off, not for me. It's… These kids at that age? They need a healthy outlet to express themselves. My job is just to show them a few options, see if any of them stick — y'know?"
"How'd you get into it? Last I remember, you were majoring in accounting or something back… back then, right?" Jakob said, trying to think of something, anything, to break the silence that had fallen. "What made you switch?"
Jakob didn't like how Ethan's eyes went flat at that; the way he sort of faded, almost shrank in on himself.
"Guess I just needed a change. Only picked accounting because… because it seemed useful. Everyone needs an accountant, right? Could keep my own books, check my own numbers, make certain I wasn’t being cheated by an agent or something. But after we…after— I don't know. You saw how much I liked that art class we took together."
"Liked the guys modeling for us, you mean," Jakob teased, the uneasy feeling twisting in his gut making him desperate to lighten the mood.
"Sure," Ethan smiled easily enough. "Picked up a few more, talked to my adviser who found me a scholarship for education majors to help cover the extra year switching set me back. With football, it’s not like the school cared what I majored in, just so long as I kept winning games for them. Then when everything happened… I couldn’t play pro ball anymore. Not with my shoulder in the shape it was, my ACL all torn up. But I had my fallback plan, right? And so… here I am. Teaching."
"I bet you're a good one," Jakob told him, that warm curl of pride in his friend returning as he felt a smile steal across his face.
"Kind of funny, isn't it?" Ethan said with a quiet, inward sort of chuckle. "There we were, taking that class for all the wrong reasons, and it ended up… well. Life just has a curious habit of changing on you in ways you least expect, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Jakob huffed, suddenly unable to meet Ethan's eyes; looking down at their table's chipped laminate instead, as if it held the answers of the universe in its speckled surface. "Sure does."
"So… An ex-husband, huh?"
There was a strange tone in Ethan's voice, something more than just idle curiosity. Something… something that brought to mind an old wound that hadn't ever healed quite right. Jakob grimaced and almost reflexively rubbed his leg, glancing up to meet Ethan's steady gaze looking back at him, odd shadows dancing in those warm brown eyes.
It was the waitress who saved him, Ruby arriving just in time to deliver their coffees in thick ceramic mugs before dashing away again.
It was something to busy his hands with, at least. Give him a moment to organize his thoughts as Ethan fussed with adding sugar and creamer to his. Jakob watched the steam curl off his own mug in the light from the big plate window next to their booth,just off-center enough from the table to be annoying.
Jakob sighed, knowing… knowing he owed Ethan an explanation after all these years. Owed him far more than that, if he was being honest. But… maybe it could be a start. A peace offering, of sorts.
