"It did. About the second week, she came home from work just beaming. Said she'd run into someone from Bergen. A boy she knew from school. He was staying with family nearby and working at the hardware store for the summer. His grandparents lived in that town, apparently.”
Kelly's grip on the phone tightened.
"Did she say his name?"
This was it. A new lead.
“Of course. We met him. His name was Ethan. I don't remember his last name, but what a lovely young man. Friendly, well-spoken. We adored him, and Lori did too. When they both weren't working, they were inseparable."
The garden tilted slightly. Kelly sat down on the wrought-iron bench and pressed her palm flat against the cool metal armrest.
Ethan.
Ethan Walters. Student class president. Voted most likely to be president. Sandy blond hair, curly at the top. Slim and athletic. Currently, a local attorney running for mayor of Bergen. He was also attending the wedding today, and she’d seen him earlier at the buffet.
The same Ethan Walters that Rob had been bragging about not thirty minutes ago.
"Mrs. Givens," Kelly said carefully, "were Lori and Ethan romantic? Were they dating?"
"Well, she never came right out and said so," Patricia replied. "But they were always together. He'd pick her up after her shifts. They'd go for walks along the river. One evening I looked out the kitchen window, and they were sitting on the porch swing, her head on his shoulder, and I thought, well, that tells the story, doesn't it?"
"Did she mention a boyfriend back home? Someone named Cal?"
"She mentioned him a few times early on. But after Ethan showed up, I don't think she brought him up again. I assumed they'd broken up. Young love, you know. It changes like the weather at that age."
Kelly's free hand was trembling. She watched it shake against the armrest as if it belonged to someone else. Of all the people in all of the world…she hadn’t expected this.
"Did anything else seem different about Lori toward the end of the summer?" Kelly asked. "Before she went back to Bergen?"
Patricia was quiet for a moment.
"She was quieter the last few days. A little sad, I thought. She and Ethan had some kind of talk, I think. I heard them on the porch one night, not arguing exactly, but serious. Intense. When she left, she hugged me for a long time and said thank you for the best summer of her life."
Patricia’s voice was clogged with emotion, giving the words even more meaning.
The best summer of her life. Not long after, someone strangled her and left her in a ditch by a cornfield.
"Mrs. Givens, I really appreciate you telling me all of this," Kelly said. "Would you be willing to talk again if I have more questions?"
"Of course, but I’m not sure how any of this is helpful. I’ve always hoped Lori could rest in peace.”
“I want that, too. More than you can ever know.”
She ended the call and sat motionless on the bench. The reception continued behind her, the DJ now playing something from the eighties that had drawn more people onto the dance floor. She could hear Rob's voice rising above the music, which was a feat given the volume.
Ethan Walters and Lori Powell. Together that summer. A secret relationship that no one in their friend group knew about. Not Kelly, not Hannah, not anyone.
And then Lori had come home, pregnant, not telling anyone.
Kelly stared at the dark garden beyond the string lights. The pieces were rearranging themselves in her mind, clicking into new positions like a combination lock turning.
What if the father was Ethan Walters, the boy with the serious expression and the bright future? The student class president who was voted most likely to be president? The young man who, according to Rob, would be nothing without his guidance?
And if Ethan was the father, did he know? Had Lori told him?
Had that confrontation gotten her killed?
Kelly's mind went to what Rob had said during the ceremony. "He was ready to blow his entire future, and I was able to get him to see reason."
