Chapter 160

Hope wiped at her cheeks, letting Judah's story about his first wife set in, before she said quietly, "You didn't kill her, Judah. That's not murder. What you did was an act of love, an act of kindness to end something she couldn't do herself."

"Whatever you wanna call it, Hope, I still shot my wife in the head, and that's somethin' I have to live with every day of my life." He was looking at her now, and his eyes were heavy with the weight of the past.

There wasn't anything she could say to take the pain of the past away from him, and she felt like he'd done enough storytelling for one night. Asking to hear about Sylvia seemed foolish and selfish, so she didn't. "Thank you for letting me know what happened. I'm glad you did. I wish everyone could know."

"No one else needs to know."

There was a finality about the statement that told her she needed to keep his business to herself. Hope nodded. "Still, I appreciate it. I'm sure it's not an easy thing to speak about."