Chapter 2

 

Year One…

 

After a six-month search, Lila and I found a home in Carmel—land of the roundabouts—and had settled in to suburban living. With the lives we’d led, it was quite an adjustment. Being neighborly was a foreign concept for Lila, leaving some of our neighbors a little put off.

She wasn’t the stereotypical suburban housewife like many of the nearby residents.

There was a good chance we would never fit in well, but it didn’t bother me. She was all I needed.

We had a beautiful lot overlooking a small lake. It made for wonderful nights sitting on the deck, watching the sun set.

I stared at her, my eyes wide in surprise at her sudden burst of anger. My wife was livid—pissed beyond belief at me—and I had no idea why. Her face resembled the same shade of red as the Twizzler dangling out of my mouth. I held up my hands in surrender, never having seen the she-devil before me, and I had no idea how to handle her.

“Why?” Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, sh