Ethan walked into his
workshop and looked around. He let out a contented sigh as he looked over the
antique furniture waiting to be restored. Which
one do I start with? He pondered. Evans Woodworking was well known throughout
the state as the very best in furniture restoration. This was because Ethan
Evans was the best. He had a great passion for his work and it showed. Although
very humble in nature, he was simply the best and he knew it. He never let it
affect him in any way other than the desire to continue to be the best.
I guess I’ll start with this old desk.
He went to his computer and after a time printed out a picture of that the desk
originally looked like. He worked for a couple of hours when the phone rang. “Evans
Woodworking. Ethan speaking. How may I help you today?” He answered in a
chipper voice.
“Hey, baby, watcha
doin?”
A big smile lit up
his face. “Hey Patrick. I’m working on restoring an old desk. It’s going to be
awesome by the time I’m done with it.”
“Can I come over? I
love watching you work. You’re so intense, yet peaceful at the same time. Shows
how much you really love your work.”
He blushed a deep
crimson. “Oh, stop. You know you can come over anytime.”
“I know. I just don’t
want to be a distraction.”
“You distract me
every time I see you. I’ve learned to deal with it.” He snickered.
Patrick’s loud laugh
came over the phone. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye honey. See you
soon.” He smiled as he hung up. Yes, Patrick was a distraction, but one of the
very best kind. In a short time he heard the door open. He quickly hid and
waited until Patrick closed the door behind him. He waited for just the right
moment, then jumped into Patrick’s arms.
“Jesus Christ, Ethan.
You scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry,” Ethan said,
trying to keep the shit-eating grin off his face. He was anything but sorry.
“So show me the desk
you’re working on.” Patrick was always interested in what Ethan was working on,
and just a little bit envious. He wished he could do stuff like Ethan did.
Ethan made it look so easy.
Ethan led Patrick
over to the desk he was working on. Patrick took one look at it, picked up the
photo and said, “Good luck with this one. Looks like it’s gonna be a bitch. A real
challenge for you.”
“Well, you know how
much I love a challenge.”
Patrick pulled him
into his arms. Reaching up to put his and on the back of Ethan’s head He
stroked the soft hair beneath his hand, wishing he could hold him in his arms
forever and never let go. Kissing him gently he told Ethan, “God I love you so
much. I wish I could convince you to move in with me.”
Ethan broke the kiss
slowly. “Baby, you know I can’t. You know why I can’t.”
Patrick touched his
forehead against Ethan’s. “Yeah, I know. Your parents left the house and the
shop to you and your brother in their will. I understand why you don’t want to
leave it. It’s the house you grew up in. This shop is your life. You could not
stop woodworking any more than you can stop breathing. It’s part of who you
are. I just wish…”
“I know, baby, I
know. Maybe someday I’ll be able to, but just not now. My parents only died a
year ago. They still haven’t discovered the reason for the plane crash. They
were never able to recover the flight recorder,” he said, slightly tearing up.
“Oh, baby, c’mere.”
Patrick gathered Ethan into his arms. “I can’t imagine what it must be like for
you, not knowing what happened to your parents. You know I’m here for you,
Ethan.”
“I know. It’s just
hard sometimes. Every time at night when I look up at the moon I can’t help but
wonder where they are.”
“They’re looking down at you from
Heaven, marveling at all that you have accomplished, you, Chris, Troy and
Alicia.”
“I hope so. Anyway, I need to get going
on this desk.”
“Any way I can help?”
“Not really, at least
not at this point. I have to figure out what materials I’m going to need. I may
just have to build a new one from scratch. I’ll know more once I start working
on it. Once I figure out what materials I need and how long it’s going to take,
I have to call the Kieron’s and give them an estimate, and let them know I may
have to build them a new one from scratch. Then it’s up to them what I’m going
to do with it.”
“It sounds kinda
complicate.”
“Not really. I figure
what materials I need and how much they’re going to cost me, then I tack on my
$25 per hour fee, guestimating how long it’s going to take.”
“Wait a minute. Let
me see if I understand this. You charge them what it costs you for the
materials and charge them $25 an hour?”
“Yep. You got it.”
“How can you afford
to work like this?”
“Look around you and
see how many pieces of furniture I have to restore.”
Patrick looked around
the shop. “I didn’t realize how much you had to work on. But geez, Ethan, $25
per hour? How can you survive on that?”
“Honey, money is the
one thing I don’t have to worry about. The house and the shop are all paid off.
There’s no mortgage. Chris and I split everything right down the middle. Do I tell him how much money my parents left
us? Nah. That’s something that needs to remain in the family. “Okay, time
to get to work.” He started preparing 2 estimates, one for a restoration, one
for a rebuild.
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