Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) (32 page)

Maddie threw her hands up.  “That does it!  You’re going home
right now!  You have no business being here today!”

“No.  I’m okay,” I said.  “Can we please just forget this whole
conversation?” I said wearily.  All of a sudden I felt very tired.  Maybe
Maddie was right; I shouldn’t have come in.

Maddie took my hand and squeezed it.  “I’m worried about you,
Samuel.  I think you’re trying to do too much, too soon.  Why don’t you let me
drive you home?”

My problems had nothing to do with a gunshot wound or a
concussion, but I couldn’t tell her that.  “I’m really okay.  I’m just a little
tired,” I said.

Maddie smiled.  “Okay.  Whale, I’m going to get some work
done.”  She let go of my hand and I moved aside and let her leave. I waited
until she was gone then I banged my head against the wall trying to knock some
sense into myself.

I tried my best to avoid Maddie for the rest of day, which
wasn’t exactly easy since she was my secretary.  If I didn’t get my shit
together, she was going to drive me nuts.  I decided the best thing to do was
to spend as much time with Landra as possible, but when I invited myself over
to her house for the evening, she turned me down flat.

“Don’t you remember, I’m going out to dinner with my parents?”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I acted like I
did.  “Oh, yeah.”

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

Having dinner with Landra’s parents was the last thing on my
want-to-do list for the night, so I gracefully turned her down.  I sat in my
chair pouting.  My arm hurt and my damn medicine was making me itch again.  It
felt like bugs were crawling all over me.   I called Penny on the intercom.

“Yes, Samuel,” she said cheerfully.

“Penny, will you call my doctor and tell him my pain pills are
making me itch and that I need a prescription for something else?”

The line was silent for a second.  “Your pills are making you
itch?” she asked.

Did I stutter
?  “Yes.  My pills are making me itch,” I
said irritated.  “Oh, never mind.  I’ll do it myself!” I said, and I hit the
button and disconnected her.

Someone knocked on my door 30 seconds later.

“What!” I called out.

Maddie opened the door and peeked her head in.  “What?” she
repeated.  “Since when did
come in
go out of fashion?”

I dropped my pen down on the desk and rubbed my temples.  “I’m
in a bad mood.”

“Obviously.”  She came and sat down in the chair in front of my
desk, even though she hadn’t been invited.  “May I make a suggestion?” she
said, and she smiled at me like she might have done to Oliver.

“Okay, mom.”

She smiled again.  “Now, I’m not saying this to make you mad,
or to offend you in any way,” she prefaced her statement, “but I really and
truly think that what you went through in the Tower is affecting you more than
you want to admit.  I think that you should take the rest of the week off and
recuperate, give yourself some time to relax and your body some time to heal. 
You’re just not yourself right now.”

She was so sweet.  How could I hope to work side-by-side with
her without wanting to molest her?  There was no way.  Even as she spoke about
how disturbed she thought I was, I was replaying in my mind the hospital
scene.  I was kissing those beautiful lips.  I was stroking her silky hair.  I
was . . . not paying attention and she’d just asked me a question.

“I’m sorry?” I said.

“That’s just what I mean, Samuel.  Your mind is somewhere else
and it has been all day.  Please let me take you home.”

I couldn’t look at her any more without giving myself away so I
picked up my pen and started doodling on my legal pad.   “Maybe you’re right. 
I’m okay to drive though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”  I tempted fate and looked at her just for a second
then I went back to my doodling.  What was wrong with me!  I was practically
salivating I wanted her so badly.  I put my pen down and stood up and I waited
for the aches and pains to subside.  “Will you call my doctor and have him call
in a different pain medication?  I’ll pick it up on my way home.”

“Sure,” she said smiling.  “Here, let me help you.”  She held
up my jacket and I put my good arm in the sleeve and she draped the other side
around my shoulder, then she pulled the jacket together in the front and
straightened it up.  “There you go,” she said, patting me on the chest.

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”

“That’s over and done with,” she said.  “Now come on.  Get out
of here, you!” She hooked her elbow around mine and physically escorted me out
of my office and to the front door.

“You just want to get rid of me so you and Penny can have a
party.”

“He’s onto us, Penn,” Maddie said, and Penny came out of her
area.

“Your new prescription should be ready by the time you get to
the pharmacy,” Penny said.

“Thanks, Penny.  Sorry for being a jerk.”

“You just need some rest,” she said.

I was lucky Penny was so understanding or I’d have been out of
a secretary a long time ago.  She put up with my shit and never complained.  I
made a mental note to give her a bonus at the end of the month.

I’d gone home and taken one of my new pain pills but it didn’t
do anything, so after an hour I took another one.  It never occurred to me that
throwing a couple of beers into the equation might multiply the effects of the
pills exponentially, but all of sudden I was gone.  One minute, everything
hurt; and the next, I didn’t feel a thing.

Most of the night was one big blur, but I distinctly remember
stumbling across my yard and into Maddie’s and knocking on her front door.  It
must have been around 8:00 o’clock, because they had finished dinner and the
kids were getting ready for bed.  Maddie opened the door and looked surprised
to see me.

“Samuel.  Hi.”  The baby tried to escape but Maddie blocked his
path with her leg.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing.  I was just going to see what you’re doing.”

“Oh.  Whale, I’m just getting the boys ready for bed.  Do you
want to come in?”

She opened the door wider and the kid made another break for
it, but she intercepted him before he got out the door.  Maddie picked him up
and set him on her hip.

“Hi,” I said to the kid, and he reached out and tried to touch
me, but Maddie pulled his hands back.

“Have you eaten?” Maddie asked, leading the way to the kitchen.

Oliver came charging out of his bedroom, tugging at his pajama
pants, one leg in and one leg out. “Who’s here?” he called out, and when he saw
me, his eyes lit up.  “Samuel!  Look at my pajamas.  They’re frogs!”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, trying to focus.  “Those are cool.”

“We had roast with mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. 
Can I make you a plate?” Maddie asked.

Her kitchen was spotless.  Not a dish in sight.

“No, that’s okay,” I said, but Maddie was already taking things
out of the fridge and setting them down on the counter.  She dished out
servings of everything on a plate and stuck it in the microwave, then she put
everything away and pulled out a carton of milk and filled two of those cups
with lids while my food heated.  I was exhausted just watching her.  She had
one kid tugging at her leg the whole time and the other asking what-if
questions about frogs.

“What if there was a frog as big as David Robinson?” Oliver
asked.

“He’d be the biggest frog in the world,” Maddie said.

“What if a frog as big as David Robinson came into our yard?”

“We’d chase him into Samuel’s yard,” she said, and she looked
at me and smiled.  “Are you okay?” she asked me.

“I don’t think I was supposed to mix alcohol with my pain
pills.”

It was much easier to be around her when I was stoned.  I was
so relaxed that nothing bothered me.  It was great.  I could look at her
without feeling like I had to censor my thoughts.

“Are you trashed?” Maddie laughed.

“Pretty much.”

“Oh, I’m jealous!”

Damn she was cute.  The bell on the microwave went
ding
and
Maddie removed the plate and I followed her out to the table.  “What do you
want to drink?  That’s non-alcoholic,” she added.

“Don’t wait on me.  I can get it.”  The baby followed me back
into the kitchen and pulled on my leg, trying to get me to pick him up.  “Hi,”
I said again.  My vocabulary was suddenly very limited where the baby was
concerned. “I can’t pick you up.”

“He wants his milk,” Oliver said.

I looked around and got one of the cups Maddie had just filled
and the kid reached up with both hands and took it with a big smile on his
face.

I considered drinking another beer, but I was afraid I might
pass out before I got back home so I opted for water.  Oliver and the baby both
joined me at the table when I sat down to eat.  Maddie had gone back into the
kitchen and was messing with the coffee maker.

“This is delicious,” I called out to her.

“Oh, thanks.”

Oliver disappeared and came back with a fork.  “Can I have some
of your mashed potatoes?”

What was I going to say?  “Sure.”

He pulled his chair right next to mine and both he and the baby
climbed up.  “Max wants a bite,” Oliver said. 
Max . . . so that’s his name!

“Give him a bite of yours,” I suggested.

Oliver shook his head.  “He wants to share with you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Ask him,” Oliver said, then he got the kid’s attention and
said, “Max, do you want to share with me or with Samuel?” and the kid patted my
arm and smiled.  He only had like six teeth in his whole mouth.

“Where are all your teeth?” I asked, and the kid pointed to his
mouth and laughed.  Maddie came in just as I was feeding him another bite of
mashed potatoes.

“Don’t eat all of Samuel’s food!  You guys have already eaten,”
she said.

“Samuel wanted to share with us,” Oliver stated.  “Right
Samuel?”

“Right,” I said.  The baby reached over and stuck his hand in
my gravy then wiped it on my sleeve.  “Hey!  Don’t do that!”

“Max!  No!” Maddie exclaimed.  She swooped in and removed him
from the table and marched him to the kitchen sink.

I finished my food, but when I stood up to take my plate to the
kitchen, I got a serious head rush and had to sit back down.  I needed to be
horizontal.  Maddie must have read my mind.

“Why don’t you lie down on the couch?” she said.

She wasn’t going to have to ask me twice.  I left my dishes on
the table and stumbled over to the sofa and fell back into it.  It was a lot
softer than mine and I sunk way down into it, to where I wondered if I’d ever
be able to get back out.  I lay on my back and closed my eyes.  My hand was
hanging off the side of the couch and all of a sudden I felt something wet and
squishy in it.  I opened my eyes to find that the kid had put a disgusting
chewed up piece of toast in my hand, and he was standing beside me looking like
he’d done me a favor.

“That’s gross, Max,” I told him and he shook his head and said
no.  I was shocked.  “I didn’t know he could talk,” I called out to Maddie. 
She answered from right next to me and I jumped.  “I thought you were in the
kitchen.”

“I’ll take that,” she said, and she relieved me of Max’s gift.

“What else does he do?”

“What else does he do?” she laughed.  “He wears me out!”  She
picked him up and held him upside down. “Don’t you?” she said, and the kid
giggled out loud.  She sat down on the couch next to me with Max in her lap and
faced the kid towards me.  “Here’s the latest thing we’ve learned,” she said. 
Then she went through all the parts of the face and Max pointed to first his,
then Maddie’s when she’d call the name.

“That’s pretty good.  How old is he again?” I asked.

“Just over a year.  Can you honk Samuel’s nose?” she asked the
kid, and he reached out and pinched my nose.  I made a honking sound and the
kid laughed.

“He’s cute when he’s clean,” I said, holding out my finger for
him to hold.  He stuck it in his mouth and bit it. “Ouch!  Don’t bite me.”

“No Max.  Biting is bad.  Biting hurts.  We don’t bite,” Maddie
said firmly.  I watched her as she scolded the kid.  Her features were so soft
and the angles of her face were so perfect.   “We’re going to read a book
before bed,” Maddie said.  “Would you like to join us?” she asked me.

“I’d like that,” I said, not taking my eyes off of her.

She looked down at me and smiled.  She had no idea what kind of
effect she was having on me.  No idea whatsoever.

Oliver arrived with his book selection and I sat up and made
room for everyone else on the couch.  I stayed awake through maybe three pages
and I don’t remember anything else until Maddie was laying a blanket over me
some time later.  I opened my eyes and she sat down next to me.

“I fell asleep,” I said stupidly.

“That’s okay,” she smiled.  “It’s what you need.”  She touched
my cheek with the palm of her hand.  “Spend the night here. You could sleep
here on the couch or in the guest bed.”

“I want to sleep with you,” I said groggily.

Maddie laughed.

“You think I’m kidding, don’t you?” I asked.

“I think you’re high,” she said.

I pulled her down towards me. “Well if I can’t sleep with you,
can I at least hold you for a minute?”

Maddie smiled. “Sure.”  She laid down with her back to me and
scooted up beside me and I put my arm around her and pulled her close to me.  I
nuzzled my face into her neck and breathed in her scent. I knew she was just
humoring me because of my compromised condition, so if I never got to do this
again, I didn’t want to ever forget what it was like.

When I woke up, Maddie was gone, but I could still smell her
perfume on my clothes, so I knew it wasn’t a dream.  I fell back asleep and
when I woke up again, it was morning.   I had to think for a second to figure
out what day it was.  Friday.  Friday the 13
^th
to be exact.

The house was quiet.  I went to the bathroom where I’d run the
bath for Max that dreaded day and when I came back out, I heard noises coming
from the baby’s room.  I poked my head in and the kid sprung up like a
jack-in-the-box.  He gave me a huge smile and held his arms out like he wanted
me to pick him up.

“Up,” he said.

“Up?  You want to get up?” I asked, and he made excited baby
sounds.

I looked around trying to determine what I’d do with him if I
got him out, but I didn’t get any ideas.  A cursory check disclosed that his
pajamas were clean and dry. I decided to go for it.   I took a deep breath and
approached the crib.  Max reached down and got his blanket then came to the
railing in anticipation of me busting him out.

“Okay.  Here we go.”  I scooped him up in my good arm.  If he
decided to wiggle I was going to be in big trouble, but he seemed perfectly
content to be held.  We went out to the kitchen and I set him down and poured
him a cup of milk and I found some Cheerios, and we sat together on the couch. 
The kid crawled over and sat on my lap and started playing with my buttons,
something he no doubt learned from his brother.  He fed me Cheerios, which
really grossed me out, because I could just imagine all the germs on those
little hands.  All in all, things were going smoothly until I smelled something
. . . and then I got nervous.

“Come on.  Let’s go get your mom.”

I carried him back to the bedrooms and when I got outside of
Maddie’s, I put him down and sent him in.  He was hesitant to leave me at
first, but I gave him a little nudge and he toddled right up next to Maddie’s
bed. The kid made some baby noises and Maddie woke up.

“Whale, hello,” she said surprised.  “How did you get out?”

She picked him up and put him in bed with her and I was totally
envious.  Max pointed to the doorway where I was standing and Maddie looked
over.

“Good morning, Mr. Pill Popper,” she said, then she pulled back
from the kid.  “Pew!  You stink!  Is that why you brought him to me?” she said,
and I had to laugh.

She threw the covers off and got up and went straight to the
bathroom and closed the door, but not before I saw that she looked really hot
in her nightgown.  When she came out she was safely tucked into a robe.

“Come on, smelly.  Let’s get you changed,” she said, and she
picked up the baby and kissed him all over his face.

How pathetic that I was jealous of a one-year-old.  I moved way
back to let her and the stinky kid pass.  I could have kicked myself for having
been so trashed the night before because my memory of her laying there with me
was so vague.  She wasn’t acting offended, so I must have been a gentleman,
which really surprised me in light of my unchecked feelings for her lately. 
I’d have thought I would have been all over her.

“Sorry I showed up here last night,” I said.  I wasn’t really,
but I felt like I needed to say it.

“You don’t need to apologize.  You’re welcome here anytime,”
she said.  She’d cleaned up the baby and strapped on a new diaper, and she set
him down on the floor.  “How about some coffee?”

“Thanks, but I guess I better get home,” I said, not wanting to
wear out my welcome.

“You’re not going in today, are you?” Maddie asked
skeptically.  “I thought you were going to wait until Monday to go back.”

“I don’t know.  I may just go in for a little while.  I get
bored sitting at home all day.”

“Then you have time for a cup of coffee,” she said cheerfully.

The timer on the coffeepot had gone off since I’d been back in
the bedrooms and the kitchen smelled like freshly brewed coffee.  Maddie poured
me a cup and one for herself, then she got the milk out and took out a cup for
the baby.

“He’s got milk somewhere,” I said looking around, and Maddie
gave me a surprised expression.  “The boys have been hanging out together this
morning,” I informed her.  “Right Max?” I said, and the kid laughed.

I’d never realized how easily entertained a one-year-old was. 
What was the big deal?  All you had to do was speak to the little guy and he’d
reward you with a great big smile.  If only women were that easily entertained.

“I have to say I’m shocked,” Maddie said, staring at me like I
was a stranger.

I feigned ignorance.  “Why?”

“I don’t know.  I got the feeling you didn’t much care for
babies.”

If it hadn’t been such an accurate statement I would have been
offended.  As it was, I just pretended to be.  “Why would you say that?  I have
nothing against babies.” 
Except when they crap all over the place
, I
wanted to say.

Maddie shrugged her shoulders.  “My mistake,” she said
nonchalantly.  She looked at me over her cup as she sipped her coffee and I got
the feeling she was hiding a smile.

“What?” I asked.

“What what?” she said innocently.

I moved towards her and took her coffee cup out of her hand and
placed it on the counter.

“I want to kiss you one time, just to get it out of my system,”
I said.