But he stopped me. “Nope. It never happened, so we don’t even need to talk about it.”
I laughed, smiling over at him in his handsome suit. He had such an easygoing personality. It was one of the things I really liked about him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, and he relaxed a little, his grip on the steering wheel lightening.
“So, what weird phone call did you get?” he asked.
I sighed, looking out at the lavender fields as he pulled off the road into town. AWelcome to Willow Harborsign greeted us as we drove past it.
“It was from Idaho County Jail. James’s…killer.” It was harsh but true.
Seth stiffened. “What? How did he get your number? What did he say?”
I shrugged. “He sounded young and polite. I hung up on him.”
Seth nodded. “Good. And I’ll go talk to the sheriff ifyou want and see how he got your number. He shouldn’t be allowed to bother you.”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. I told him not to call me again. I think he wanted to make amends.”
Seth side-eyed me. “Did you look up the case at all online?”
I chewed my lip. “No. Why?”
“Nothing. Just wasn’t sure how much you knew or wanted to know.”
I sat up straighter just as Seth pulled into the church parking lot. “Whatisthere to know? What do you mean?”
There were streams of people dressed in their Sunday-best walking into the pretty white-painted building, and my heart pinched for a second.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss church. The music, the message, the spirit, the people. Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them back.
“You wanna come in? You can stay backstage,” he offered.
I scoffed. “No way. I look gross.”
Seth smiled at my joke and turned the car off.
“Wait, what did you mean about looking up the case? What is there to know?” I asked again.
Seth swallowed hard, his hand on the steering wheel of the car. “The kid who killed James was two days past his nineteenth birthday. He was high on drugs and a first-time offender. He got life in prison with no parole.”
The kid.He’d saidkid. I didn’t want to feel sorry for the guy. But I did. Barely nineteen. Life in prison with no parole? I mean, he’d murdered my husband, so getting himoff the streets was good. And he had been on drugs, but that wasn’t an excuse for murder.
I just nodded, letting the shock of his words sink in.
“Idaho doesn’t mess around with murder. They said they would have given him the death penalty if he were older,” Seth said.
That made my eyes widen. James wouldn’t have wanted that. A life for a life. And suddenly, I was grateful for the life sentence. This was overwhelming. I wasn’t sure what to think.
Nineteen.
“I’m sorry, Ella. I have to go.”
I shook myself. “Of course. Good luck.”
He nodded. “I’ll get you gas and back on the road after the service.”
I just nodded, unable to shake myself from the stupor of finding out my husband had been killed by a nineteen-year-old high on drugs.
