#28: Puzzled and Torn
Downstairs, Jamie sat alone in the living room, his mind spinning. The bald man from the drawing, Stacy’s collapse, the awkward silences—it all felt like fragments of a story he didn’t yet understand. No matter how he pieced them together, the picture refused to make sense.
His thoughts broke when Lauren appeared, lingering at the doorway before shuffling over. She climbed onto the couch and pressed against him, her small voice trembling. “Daddy, are you mad?” Jamie wrapped her in his arms, reassuring her, even as his own doubts gnawed at him.