Chapter 55 - Jim

I hang up the phone and rub my temples. I wasn’t expecting that. Not at fucking all. I’m still a little stunned. Raising my arms above my head, I stretch and roll my neck. I’m used to standing in the same position for hours and didn’t realize I’ve been sitting and hardly moved for the last hour and a half.

I go to the window, giving myself a moment to process everything, and look down at the city. I’m in Alyson’s kitchen, and the view is amazing. In my younger years, I would have loved to live here. I’d feel like a fucking baller up in this place, with its large white kitchen and lakefront view.

But now…now I’m questioning raising a child in a place like this. Not because I don’t think it’s fitting, but because I know how Alyson grew up in a small town, and how I watched them, an outsider looking in, and thought the Langfords were fucking perfect.

I press one hand against the cool glass, st