Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) (24 page)

They left me sitting in the conference room for 15 minutes, and
when they came back in, Dick made some lame excuse about an emergency that had just
arisen that he had to deal with.  He wanted to postpone the remainder of
Larry’s deposition until the next day, which was actually fine with me.  I’d
had enough of both of them.  The CEO’s depo was scheduled for the next day at
9:00 a.m. and he wasn’t available in the afternoon, so I’d have to depose the
CEO first and then go back and finish Larry’s.  Ideally, it would have been
better to have Larry’s concluded, but I knew it wasn’t going to affect the
outcome of either depo, so I agreed to the change.

I felt like I needed to take a shower after being with Larry
all day.  The guy was slime.  I called Landra as soon as I left their office. 
It was only 3:00 o’clock but I didn’t feel like going back to the office.

“I’m done.  Can I come over?”

“Already?” she asked.

“What do you mean,
already
?” I said irritably.  “Do you
mean because I’m already done, or because I want to come over
already
?”

“Uh oh.  Did someone have a bad day?” she asked.

I didn’t say anything for a second then I decided to start
over.  “Landra?”

“Sam?” she said mocking me.

“What?”  I breathed out heavily.

“Why don’t you come over?” she suggested.

“I’d love to.”

She hung up, but I could hear her laughing as she set the
receiver in its cradle.   I was at her house within 10 minutes and she was
waiting outside on her porch.   She met me halfway down the path and wouldn’t
let me pass.

“How are you?” she asked, putting her arms around my neck.

“Now I’m great,” I said, and I hugged her tightly and kissed
her.  She was so cool.  I could always count on her to forgive me when I was a
jerk.  I hooked my arm around her and we walked side-by-side to her house. 
“Can I take you to dinner?” I asked her.

She shook her head no.  “I’m making you a special dinner, but
I’m not quite finished.  That’s why I said
already
,” she said.

“Oh.  Now I really feel bad.”

“No you don’t.”

“Well, kind of, I do.”  We got inside and the house smelled
awesome.  “What is that?” I asked, breathing in, taking in the heavenly aroma.

“Come see.”

I followed her to the kitchen and Landra lifted the lid on the
heavy pot that was simmering on the stove.  I looked over her shoulder and she
turned around and smiled.

“Oh, my God!  You’re making Osso Bucco?” I said in disbelief. 
“That’s my favorite food!”

“I know.”  She put her arms around my neck and sort of climbed
up me, wrapping her legs around my waist.  “I called your mom.”

“You called my mom?” I asked skeptically.  She nodded and
kissed me and the Old Fella instantly sprang to life.  “What’s the occasion?” I
asked.

“There’s not one.  It’s my way of thanking you for everything
you’ve done for me.”

“You’ve done as much for me as I’ve done for you,” I pointed
out.

Landra smiled.  “You know that’s not true, Sam.”

I squeezed her then put her down and kissed those incredible lips. 
“How long before that’s ready?  I feel the need to ravage you,” I told her.

“Yeah, I couldn’t help notice your friend down there.”

“You mean
your
friend,” I corrected.

We had plenty of time to kill so we played around in Landra’s
bedroom until almost 5:00 o’clock then I made Landra go with me to my house so
I could shower and change clothes before we ate dinner.  We got within a block
of my house and I could see flashing lights down the street, and it looked like
they were right in front of my house.

“That’s the rescue vehicle,” Landra said, sitting up straight
in her seat.  “And the ambulance.  Oh my God, it’s at Sara’s house!  Hurry up,
Sam!” she exclaimed.

I put the pedal to the floor and when I got to my driveway,
Landra didn’t even wait for me to pull in.

“Landra wait!” I shouted, but she was already out and running
towards Mrs. Howard’s.

I parked the Suburban and raced out to the street.  The Johnses
and Maddie were out there and some other neighbors that I didn’t know, and they
all had the same concerned look on their face.  Mrs. Howard was on a gurney and
they were loading her into the ambulance.  She had an oxygen mask on and I
couldn’t tell if she was conscious or not.

“What happened?” I asked the group as a whole.

Andy stepped forward.  “We’re not sure.  It may have been a
heart attack.”

Landra was beside Mrs. Howard, talking to the ambulance
technician.  She had tears rolling down both of her cheeks and she looked so
vulnerable.  I got the familiar urge to protect her.  She looked over and found
me in the crowd and she called out, “I’m going with her,” and I made my way to
her through the wall of neighbors.

“What did they say?” I asked her.

“She’s having respiratory problems.  Can you go to my house and
turn off the stove?”

“Of course.  I’ll meet you at the emergency room.  I’ll be
right behind you,” I assured her.

She nodded her head and climbed into the back of the ambulance
and I saw her take Mrs. Howard’s hand in hers before they closed the doors. 
The ambulance drove off with its lights flashing and siren blaring while the
neighbors stood there clustered in disbelief.

I felt a hand on my arm.  “Was she conscious?” Maddie asked me.

“It didn’t look like it.”  We all stood there in silence until
the ambulance was out of sight then everyone spoke at once.  “I just saw her
this morning and she seemed fine,” I told Maddie. We walked across the street
to my yard.

“I hope she’s okay,” Maddie said.

“Yeah.  Me too,” I said.  “What about you?  Are you doing
better?”

She looked embarrassed.  “Yeah.  But I was in bed most of the
day,” she admitted.

“Where are Oliver and the baby?”  The hood didn’t seem the same
without Oliver running around.

“My mom’s bringing them home right now.”  She stopped and
looked up at me with a serious expression on her face.  “I need to ask you for
a huge favor, Samuel.  And if you can’t do it, or if you don’t want to do it, I
will totally understand.  It won’t affect our friendship at all.  Not at all. 
But I have to at least ask.”

I braced myself for what was coming.  “What is it?”

“Whale, there’s this father/son outing that Oliver’s preschool
is putting on this Saturday.  It’s at a ranch just outside of town and they’re
going to ride horses and . . .”  I cut her off before she could continue.

“I’ll take him,” I said, but she kept right on talking.

“He asked me a couple of weeks ago if you could take him and I
didn’t have the heart to give him an absolute no without even asking you.  I
told him that you have a very busy schedule and that I doubted that you’d be
able to do it.  And I suggested that he get one of his uncles to go with him;
it’s just that he’s not very close to them, and . . .”

“I said I’d take him,” I told her, and she finally shut up.

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll take him?”  She didn’t even try to hide her surprise.

“Of course I will.”  Maddie’s mother was pulling into her
driveway.  “Here he is now.  I think you should make him ask me himself.” 
Maddie looked up at me admiringly and I saw the lip start to quiver.  “Ah!”  I
held my finger up.  “Don’t even think about it!  If one tear comes out, I’m not
gonna take him,” I warned.

She took a deep breath and blinked back her tears.  Oliver was
running across the yard in our direction, and Maddie knelt down and he leapt
into her arms almost knocking her over.

“Hi, Samuel!” Oliver said.  The kid was always so happy.

“Hi, Oliver.  Did you have fun with your Grandma?”

“Yeah.”

“Oliver,” Maddie said.  “Why don’t you ask Samuel about this
weekend.” She looked at me and smiled.  I knelt down and he looked at me with
those huge blue eyes.

“Do you want to be my dad for Saturday?”

Damn.  Why’d he have to ask like that!   It almost made me want
to cry.  “I would love to be your dad for Saturday,” I said enthusiastically. 
“Are we camping out, or what?”

Oliver turned to his mom.  “Are we camping out?” he asked her.

“No.  It’s just a day thing,” she told him.

He turned back to me.  “It’s just a day thing,” he said in the
same tone of voice as Maddie.

“Oh, okay.” I found myself almost disappointed.  “Well that’ll
be fun.”

Oliver took my hand in his and kind of swung my arm back and
forth a couple of times.  I twisted him around and put him in a headlock.  “Do
you know what a wet Willie is?” I asked him.

“No,” he laughed, struggling to get free.

“You’ve never had a wet Willie?” I asked in disbelief.

“No.”

“Samuel!  Don’t teach him that!” Maddie said.  “That’s
disgusting!”

I stuck my finger in my mouth and put it in his ear and swished
it around.  “That’s a wet Willie.”

Oliver squealed in delight.  In hindsight, I guess it was a
mistake to have shown him, especially in light of his mother’s protest, because
that made it all the more fun.

“Bend down, Mom!” Oliver said with an ear to ear smile.

“No way.  Do it to Samuel.”

He got his finger good and wet and stuck the grimy thing in my
ear then laughed hysterically.

“Come here.  I’ve got to go.”  I gave him a rough squeeze and
messed up his hair.  “I’ll see you Saturday.”

“See ya Saturday!”  He stuck his finger in my other ear. 
Definitely
a mistake
.

*    *    *    *

I took a 5-minute shower and went by Landra’s on the way to the
hospital to turn off the stove.  Damn Mrs. Howard’s timing.  I was tempted to
sample the veal, but I wasn’t sure how Landra would take it if my mind was more
on food than my neighbor’s welfare.  Although it was my favorite food.  In the
end, the smell was too overwhelming and I broke down and tasted a bite.  I
decided it was a good thing Landra wasn’t there because I might have asked her
to marry me on the spot.

I found Landra in the Emergency Room waiting area.  Her face
was red and blotchy from crying and her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, but
somehow she still managed to look beautiful.

“How is she,” I asked, fearing the worst based on Landra’s
appearance.

“I think she’s okay.  But they want to keep her here tonight,
and she’s putting up a fight about it.”

“You’re kidding?  I didn’t realize she was that stubborn,” I
said, but then I thought about how possessive she was in her kitchen and I
decided it wasn’t that surprising.

“Maybe you should talk to her,” Landra suggested.

“Why me?  I don’t have any influence over her,” I pointed out.

“Will you just try?  I’ve said everything I can.”

The nurse took me back to where they were holding Mrs. Howard. 
She was on a heart monitor and she was hooked up to some other machine that I didn’t
recognize.

“What’s up Mrs. Howard?  You trying to give the neighbors
something to talk about?”

Her face lit up.  “Sam!”  She was surprisingly chipper. “What
are you doing here dear?”

“Checking up on you.  What do you think?”

She smiled self-consciously.  “You’re a good man, Sam.  How’s
Landra?”

“She’s fine.  Does she know what stuff you need from your
house?”  She looked confused, then she narrowed her eyes, but I interrupted her
before she could say anything.  “Don’t even try to argue with me, Mrs. Howard. 
I’m a lawyer; you’d never win.  Now, does Landra know what you need or not?”

She held my stare, and I realized that she could be a
formidable opponent if she wanted to be.  Apparently she didn’t want to.  “She
knows what I’ll need,” she said, with a grin of resignation.

I smiled back at her.  “Good girl.  You just keep behaving and
I won’t have to take desperate measures,” I warned her.  Mrs. Howard laughed. 
“We’ll stay until they get you moved to a room, then we’ll go get your stuff.”

“Thank you, Sam.  If I had a son, I’d want him to be just like
you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Howard.  I’m going to send Landra back in.”

I went back to the waiting room and Landra stood up when she
saw me coming.

“She’s staying.”

Landra threw her arms around my neck.  “Thank you.  I knew you
could do it.”

“I just talked my way out of my morning muffins,” I noted.

We were at the hospital until well past 9:00 o’clock and both
of us were drained by the time we got back to Landra’s.  But the house still
smelled great and I was beyond ravenous, so I polished off two servings of Osso
Bucco, potatoes and salad, and sat back on the couch feeling tired but
extremely satisfied.  Landra hadn’t eaten much at all and she was still visibly
shaken by Mrs. Howard’s hospitalization.

“She’s gonna be okay,” I assured Landra.

“I hope so.”  She curled up in my lap and rested her head
against my chest.  “Can you stay tonight?”

“I have to.  I’m too stuffed to move.  You planned it like
that, didn’t you?”

Landra laughed.  “I did.”

“Thanks for tonight . . . you know . . . for calling my mom,
and cooking my favorite dinner and all.  That was really thoughtful of you.”

“You’re welcome.  It’s the least I could do.  Your mother’s
very sweet.  We had a nice conversation.”

“You had a whole conversation?”  For some reason, I’d
envisioned solely a recitation of recipes.

“Well, yeah.”

“How long did you talk?

“I don’t know . . . maybe 20 minutes.”

“What’d you talk about?”

“None of your business,” Landra laughed.

Strangely, I was feeling guilty that I’d never introduced
Landra to my family.  I had a long-standing tradition of keeping my
relationships from my family. That way, it was so much easier when I broke up
with a girl not to have to explain anything to my parents or siblings. 
Thinking of Landra and my mom talking for 20 minutes set off a whole set of
emotions that I wasn’t prepared for.

“I guess we should get together some time so you can meet my
family,” I said.

She ran her hand through my hair. “When you’re ready,” Landra
said, sounding tired.

“What do you mean,
when I’m ready
?”

At first I thought she wasn’t going to answer and when she did
I could tell she was choosing her words carefully.  “I think you have issues
with family introductions where your girlfriends are concerned.  It’s like the
introduction would lend too much legitimacy to your dating relationship and
somehow elevate it to a place where you’re not ready to be.”