“I think it’s cute.”
“I think it sucks. I can’t have the geriatric police tracking me down every time I don’t come home at night!”
“Oh, Sam.”
“Don’t Oh, Sam me!”
“It’s only because you were out with me.”
“Well then, that settles it . . . I’m not going out with you again,” I told her.
“You’re so full of shit.” She moved in without warning and before I knew what was happening, her arms were wrapped around my neck and her lips were pressed against mine, then just as quickly as she began her assault, she retreated. She picked up her coffee cup, went to the fridge and poured in some cream, and then she smiled up at me like nothing had happened. “You want to go sit outside and drink our coffee?”
I just shook my head and laughed. “I’m going home.”
“Why? Because I kissed you?”
“No. Because I have a lot of things I need to get done today. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, which you obviously are.”
Landra’s whole demeanor changed and she got a serious look on her face. “Please don’t go yet, Sam.” She was holding my hand again, but there was nothing sexual about it. I felt like it was more out of desperation than anything.
I put my arm around her. “Why don’t we go outside and drink our coffee.”
We went out on Landra’s back porch and drank coffee and talked for the next two hours. It took her 30 minutes to bring up the events of the previous night, and when she finally did, it was apparent she was very distraught. She put on a brave front and, although I could tell she was fighting tears through much of the conversation, not once did she actually break down and cry. I almost felt like I should tell her it was okay to cry, but then I would have been encouraging what I had always considered to be woman’s greatest weakness. Resorting to tears rarely helped matters, but in this case I felt she was justified, not because it would solve anything, but because I knew she needed the emotional release. Of course, I knew of a more pleasant method of release, but I didn’t think that sex was appropriate considering the timing, so I opted to keep my mouth shut and if she had ended up crying, I would have been sympathetic towards her. But she never did and I must admit I was very impressed.
Landra was worried about what was going to happen, not only with the police, but with her friends and especially with the media. As her attorney, I tried to reassure her that if the police had thought it was anything other than self-defense, they would not have let her go home the previous night. And as her friend, for lack of a better word to describe our relationship, I told her that if the people she was worried about were true friends, they would rally to her side and if they didn’t, they weren’t worth worrying about. As for the media . . . that was different. They could spin the story either way, but knowing Landra, she’d come out on top on that one too. I was always one to avoid the limelight, but I could just imagine Landra basking in it.
By 10:00 o’clock, we had exhausted the subject of Drake Reeds’ demise and all I could think of was food. “Can I go home now? Because if you’re going to make me stay here any longer, you’re going to have to feed me.”
“I’m sorry. I should have offered you something. I don’t have any appetite and I just didn’t even think about it. Are you starving?”
Damn she was cute. And I don’t usually like to use that word to describe a woman, but Landra was. I could just envision myself accidentally proposing to her if I wasn’t careful.
“Hell yes, I’m starving!” I told her. “You made me miss out on my hot muffins two hours ago. Next time you shove someone out the window, we’re staying at my place.”
Landra laughed. “Maybe next time, I’ll shove you out the window.”
“Come here,” I said. I pulled her over onto my lap and hugged her, and she leaned her head against my chest. The girl was getting to me big time. I could feel my chest constrict at the thought of anything bad happening to her, and I knew that she wouldn’t come through this thing unscathed. “Are you going to paint my walls tomorrow?”
She nodded her head without lifting it off of my chest, and I realized she was crying. I ran my fingers through her hair, smoothing it back off her face, and I squeezed her tighter. “It’s okay to cry, Landra. Just let it out. It’s what you need.”
And that’s exactly what she did. She sat there in my lap and cried her eyes out while I held her in my arms, and by the time she finished, I almost felt like crying too. I hated seeing her so distraught. It made me wish Drake was still alive so I could kill the bastard myself.
“You’re going to be okay, Landra,” I told her, when she had calmed down.
“I know. Thanks, Sam,” she said, into my chest.
“What are you doing today?” I didn’t want to leave her.
“I need to go by Sara’s later this morning and then . . . I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you come over and get started on my walls after you do your thing with Mrs. Howard?”
“You’re afraid to leave me alone, aren’t you?” she said.
“No.”
She smiled and touched my lips with her finger and called me a liar. “Don’t worry, Sam. For one, I’m not suicidal, and for two, I’m not your responsibility. I don’t want you to think of me as some helpless girl you have to take care of. That’s not the kind of relationship I want with you. I’ve got lots of girlfriends that I can call on if I need to, so please – you don’t have to feel responsible for me.”
“You have this way of coming up with the most bizarre, off-the-wall comments that . . . Where do you come up with this shit?”
“I don’t know. I just say what pops into my head.”
“Obviously. Didn’t your mother ever tell you to think before you talk? Now, do you want to come over or not? Because if you don’t, I’m going to call some other girl and ask her to come in your place. Where’s your phone?”
I made her laugh again. “I’ll come over later.” She kissed me on the cheek and got off my lap, then she took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “You’re looking kind of scrawny. You should eat something.”
I pulled her over to me and hugged her again, and then we went back inside and I gathered my coat and tie and put on my shoes and Landra walked me to the door.
“I’ll see you later,” I told her. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. It was a harmless peck, but it was enough to make me want more. “Plan on staying for dinner and I’ll cook for you.”
Landra smiled. “That sounds great. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
The truth was, I didn’t want to go, or rather, I wanted to take Landra with me. Not because of any of the reasons she had stated; but for the simple fact that I liked her and I liked her company. She was the first girl I had met in a long time whose company I really enjoyed. And I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather spend the day with. She had turned back towards her house and was already halfway inside when I grabbed her arm and pulled her back outside.
“Come with me,” I said.
“Where?” Landra asked, confused.
“I don’t know. Home. Somewhere there’s food.”
“I thought you said you had tons of stuff to do today.”
“Did I say that? Well there’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Come on. Come with me.”
I’ve always been really good at arguing. That’s why I make such a good lawyer. And I had a come-back for all of Landra’s excuses, both legitimate and made up, for why she couldn’t spend the day with me, and in the end, I prevailed. I waited around while she showered and changed clothes and by the time we got out of her house it was almost 11:30 and I still hadn’t eaten a thing. I had rummaged through Landra’s pantry and fridge looking for something edible while she got ready, but nothing looked appetizing. We loaded Landra’s paints and supplies into my Suburban and drove straight to Taco Cabana, the unmistakable pepto-pink restaurant, with its palm trees and tropical setting. TC is a haven for late-night parti
ers with a craving for Mexican food and a ritual for those nursing a hangover the next morning, and that day was no exception. The place was packed.
We went to the drive-thru and I got my breakfast tacos, then we drove back to my house to eat. When we finished, Landra walked across the street to Mrs. Howard’s house to do whatever she needed to do with her, and we agreed to meet back at my house at 2:00 o’clock.
I had gone into the kitchen to get some orange juice and I noticed that the light on my answering machine was blinking. The first message was from a friend inviting me to a barbecue for later that afternoon, so I made a mental note to call the guy back and decline. I was mid-swallow when the next message came on and what I heard made me choke on my juice.
“Hey, Sam. It’s Niki Lautrec. I’ve come up with something on both matters you called me about last week. I’m going to be out of town for the rest of the weekend, but I’ll get back with you Monday.”
I stood frozen in place, looking at the answering machine but not even hearing the next two messages. Damn, damn, damn. What the hell had he come up with on Landra? As I contemplated my dilemma, I realized how the concept of shooting the messenger arose. I was pissed off at Niki and if he had delivered the message in person, I might have even slugged him – this, in spite of the fact that the guy could kick my ass, no problem. Now I was going to have to sit around all weekend and wonder what bombshell he was going to deliver come Monday morning. Fuck and double fuck.
My doorbell rang before I could think any more about it. I tried to hide my frustration when I opened the door, but it must have shown on my face because Oliver said, “Hi, Samuel. You’re face looks like this,” and he furrowed his brow and gave me a scowl just like mine.
I had to laugh. “Hi, Oliver. What’s up?” He smiled when I did and I decided he was a good distraction, so I invited him in. “Want some Oreos?”
He had a little bag with him that was full of toys and we made ramps with my clipboards and played cars for the next 30 minutes, then we went out in my front yard and tossed the ball back and forth for a while. At one point, I noticed a black truck with tinted windows driving slowly past Maddie’s house, and I didn’t think much about it, until the same truck came back by in the other direction ten minutes later. He had definitely slowed down and checked out her house and then picked up speed again once he had gotten past it.
“You ever seen that truck before, Oliver?”
Oliver stopped and looked at the truck and shook his head, “Nuh uh.”
If the guy had driven by a third time, I would have stopped him and found out who he was, but I didn’t see him again so I decided it was probably nothing. Maddie came out shortly afterward and called Oliver home for lunch, so I was stuck with myself and my imagination, as I tried to figure out what Niki had come up with on Landra. I reasoned that whatever it was couldn’t be that bad or it would have materialized immediately, and I decided to give Landra the benefit of the doubt until I found out exactly what it was. The truth was, I had all but fallen in love with her and I wasn’t even sure how I would react to what Niki had to say. For some reason, I was feeling very protective of her and all I wanted to do was defend her.
The feeling was only reinforced when she came knocking at my door when 2:00 o’clock rolled around. She was holding a basket of Mrs. Howard’s muffins and that song where the wolf is singing about Little Red Riding Hood popped into my head. I wanted to take her straight back to my bedroom and take her clothes off and ravage her.
“How’d it go with Mrs. Howard?” I took the basket and ate three muffins one after the other.
“Not so great. I told her what happened last night and she’s all worried. She wanted to go down to the police station and tell them what a nice person I am. I had to convince her not to.” She took a muffin from the basket and somehow managed to make three bites of it. I was watching her chew, staring at her mouth and wanting to kiss her, and she called me on it. “You’re staring at me.”
“Am I? Sorry.” I still didn’t look away. Yep. I was definitely whipped. No way was I going to be objective when Niki told me whatever he had to tell me.
“Are you okay? You seem distracted,” she said.
I was trying to picture her doing something unscrupulous and it was just unimaginable. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t conjure up a vision of her being anything but kind and sweet and beautiful and funny, and beautiful . . . and beautiful.
“I’m fine,” I told her. I went to my fridge and pulled out a beer and offered Landra one.
“Not right now, thanks. You ready to paint?”
“I thought you were painting,” I said.
“I’m just doing the stones. You have to do the undercoat,” she said smiling.
I groaned. “Can’t you just paint over what’s there?”
“I could,” she said agreeably, but then she added, “If you want it to look like shit.”
Shit was not really the look I was going for, so I broke down and painted the damn walls while Landra sat there directing me and pointing out what I was doing wrong. In truth, her method was better, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
We went outside and sat on the front steps while the paint on the walls dried. Landra was in the midst of telling me something about Mrs. Howard when I heard a car door slam. I turned toward Maddie’s house and saw Oliver walking away from the black truck I’d seen earlier. He had an ice cream cone in his hand and was waving happily to the driver as the guy drove forward and pulled into the driveway next to Mrs. Howard’s to turn around.
I was on my feet, running towards Oliver before I even realized it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Landra yelling, “What’s the matter?” but I just kept running without looking back. When I got to him, I squatted down and took him by his shoulders. “Who was that, Oliver?”
“Mommy’s friend from work. His name is Larry. He got me an ice cream.” When Oliver realized I was upset, he added, “He said that Mommy said it was okay.”
Landra had come running after me and I shoved Oliver at her and went running like a madman into the street. Larry had just backed out of the neighbor’s driveway and I jumped in front of the truck just as he was putting it in drive and I slammed my fist on his hood to get his attention. His window was halfway down and I could see him fumbling with the lock as I made my way to his door, but I got there first. I opened the door and I pounded him in the face with a couple of good punches as he tried to push me off. He hit the gas and I ran along side the truck while he tried to get his door closed.
“You ever come near Oliver again and I’ll break both of your legs!” I shouted.
I gave him one last shove and ducked away from the door. He slammed it closed and drove off as I doubled over in the street, trying to catch my breath. Maddie had come running out of her house and was huddled next to Oliver, and Landra came running over to me.
“What the hell was that? Who was that, Sam?” Landra asked.
“Someone who Maddie’s had problems with at work,” I told her, shaking out my sore knuckles.
She took my hand and looked it over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
We walked back over to where Maddie and Oliver were. Maddie was pale and Oliver was in tears.
“He called me a second ago and told me he was with Oliver in front of my house,” Maddie said. She let go of Oliver and came over and hugged me.
“Thank you.” She was shaking almost as much as I was. “I can’t believe he would do that. What if he hadn’t brought him back?”
That was something I didn’t want to think about. “You need to call the police,” I told her.
She unlatched herself from me and I bent down and picked up Oliver. “That guy’s not nice, Oliver. And you should never, ever, get in a car with him again.”
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and buried his head in my neck. “I won’t. I’m sorry, Samuel,” he cried.
“I know you are. And I’m sorry I scared you. I was just rea
lly worried about you.” I squeezed him and slapped him on the back. “We still friends?”
He lifted his head and wiped his eyes with his fists and nodded his head yes.
“Good.” I handed him off to Maddie. “Go call the police.”
I fully intended to talk to Maddie about her letting Oliver run around the neighborhood unsupervised, but I wasn’t going to do it in front of Oliver. The two of them went inside and returned with the phone and it wasn’t two minutes before a police car pulled up in front of the house. I told the officer what I knew and hung around for a while, then Landra and I went back to my house, but it was probably an hour before my nerves finally settled down. I kept thinking of things that could have happened to Oliver and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to kill Larry.
I finally picked up the phone and called Maddie and told her that she needed to quit working at Datacare on Monday, and that made me feel a little bit better. Except that I had promised her a job, so now, not only would I have to put up with Maddie every day, but I would also be outnumbered by the women in my office, 2 to 1. This, I was explaining to Landra, who, true to form, found amusement in my predicament. She was smiling almost to the point of laughing as I related my dilemma.
“What’s so funny?” I finally asked her.
“Nothing.” She tried unsuccessfully to say it with a straight face. “There’s nothing funny about this whole thing. I’m just falling in love with you as you speak. You’re the most incredible man I’ve ever met, that’s all.”
That’s all? I leaned my head back against the couch and looked at the ceiling and then over at her. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, then picked up my hand. I intertwined my fingers with hers and she ran the fingers of her other hand over my swollen knuckles.
“You should probably ice that,” she said.
I removed my hand and reached over and touched her face, then I pulled her over close to me and gave her the kiss I’d been wanting to give her all day. It was slow and deliberate, a mixture of passion and pent-up emotions from the previous 24 hours that desperately needed to be released. She leaned her full weight against me and I could feel her chest going in and out with each breath she took. I ran my hands through her hair and over her body while the kiss continued. I realized that all that I ever wanted was right in front of me, and if I had died at that moment, I would have had no regrets. As it was, it wasn’t the grim reaper who came knocking, but one Sara Howard, who waited patiently at the door while Landra buttoned up her shirt and I tried to hide what had grown to ridiculous proportions while we’d been kissing. It took a good three or four minutes before I answered the door, but Mrs. Howard didn’t seem bothered in the least; nor did she seem to care about bothering us.
Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) Page 7
