Waiting for Hope

Coming Home

Coming Home - lynard skynyrd

The truck seemed to drive itself over and around the rolling golden hills of highway one. Ethan was in a daze as he made his way back home, to Morro Bay. Where his mom was waiting for him. With the girl of his dreams that he thought was gone forever.

He was nervous, to say the least.

He had spent the better part of that week wondering what to say to her. And the rest of the time he wondered if she would say anything in response. He kept telling himself not to get his hopes up. She had been painfully shy and withdrawn all these years. It would take a miracle for her to open up to even the possibility of anything with him. Even talking.

Ethan had avoided going home for the first six months after Will died. His mom hired some weekend workers so she could come visit him in SLO, otherwise he wouldn't have seen her at all. It was too painful to think about. Then at Christmas, he was finally able to suck it up and go. That experience was harder than he thought but he did it anyway. He had to stop thinking about his own pain and start thinking about his mom again. She was alone too often as it was.

Once he had made his first trip back, the next time was easier. He simply avoided places that reminded him of Will. Places like the bonfire beach, and especially north beach. Little by little he started visiting more often and had even connected a few times with old friends from school. But he still wasn't able to see Will's family. That would take more time.

As he pulled up to the campground in his truck, Ethan felt his nerves take over. He kept wondering if seeing Hope again would do more damage than good, but he had agreed to come and now he was here. So, time to face his fears. He pulled his Yankee cap on, covering his eyes a bit. He was hiding, and he knew it. Oh, well.

He stepped up to his mom's door, knocked once and opened it up. As he went inside, his heart was racing. What would she look like now? Would she be nervous too? Should he shake her hand or... His mind was a jumble of thoughts. Again, deep breath and calm down.

But she wasn't in there. He found his mom sitting at the table, reading a magazine.

"Hey, son! You made it!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah. Here I am." Ethan could feel his voice shaking. He needed to pull it together.

And the smirk on his mom's face told him she knew all about it. "Don't worry. It will be fine. She is amazing. You'll see."

"Whatever you say, mom." Ethan let out a sigh.

They continued to talk about how things were going, both on the campground and with his life in SLO. A few minutes later they heard the door knob turn and then the door opened. In stepped Hope.

It was all Ethan could do to keep calm, and quiet. What he wanted to do was gasp. She was a mess from working on the campground all day. An adorable mess. He felt it all over again. Oh man. He had it bad. Well, that didn't take much.

His mom spoke up to fill the silence. "There you are, sweetie! You remember each other, Ethan, Hope," She gestured first to Ethan than over to Hope. His mom was really over the top about it.

Ethan somehow found his voice. "Yeah, hi Hope. How are you?" He managed to get that out without his voice cracking, thank goodness.

"Really good, thanks. How are you?" She had a timid smile as she replied. He was blown away.

Giving her a smile in return, albeit a small one, he felt his nerves starting to fade. "I'm good. I had the evening off so I thought I'd visit my mom. Glad to see you again." More than glad actually, but he didn't want to scare her off already. He was working really hard to stay casual and not look like a love-sick puppy. Which was exactly what he was.