Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) by Debra Trueman

“Oh, brother!”
    “Don’t oh brother me,” I said, trying not to laugh with
her.
    “That’s just retarded, Samuel.  They’re our neighbors, and it’s
just being neighborly to go over and welcome them.”  She nuzzled into me, “I
came over and met you the day you moved in,” she said, snuggling her
head against my neck, then she climbed up me and wrapped her legs around my
waist and her arms around my neck. “Remember?”
    “I remember,” I said, totally distracted by the proximity of my
hot wife.  “Max crapped all over the place.” I brought my lips to hers and gave
her a slow and lingering kiss that carried just as much passion as one of those
early on kisses, then I set her down and pulled down one strap at a time on her
sexy little nightgown.
    Not long after I ravaged my hot wife, I watched my two boys tromp
across the grass with Mrs. Howard to the new neighbor’s house. And something
told me I’d be meeting a new neighbor before the day was out.
    “You might as well go bake those damn cookies,” I said.
     
    I was outside doing some yard work when Mrs. Howard brought my
boys back home. Oliver came running as fast as he could.
    “Dad, we met the new neighbors!” he said, winded from his
sprint. “There’s a lady that’s the mom, and her name’s Mrs. Travis. And a kid
that’s five!  But it’s a girl; her name’s Emily. And a baby like Morgan, only it
has a weird cry.”
    “A weird cry?”
    “Yeah, like a goat or something.”
    “You didn’t say that to Mrs. Travis, did you?”
    “No, but it’s true.”
    “Okay.  Cool.  Well, your mom’s making cookies so we’ll go over
when they’re done. Don’t tell them their kid sounds like a goat, okay?”
    “Okay,” he said agreeably.  
    Mrs. Howard went off to the bank and I watered some plants that
were wilting in the blazing heat. Summer had well and truly settled in. I was
just finishing up in the yard when Maddie brought my cell phone outside.
    “Someone from the bank for you,” she said.
    “On a Saturday?” I mouthed to Maddie, and she shrugged her
shoulders.
    “Samuel Collins,” I said into the phone.
    “Mr. Collins, this is Chad from down at the bank.”
    “Hey, Chad, what’s up?”
    “Well, I hate to bother you on a Saturday, but I know that
you’ve been in here with Sara Howard before, and . . . ”
    “What’s happened?” I cut him off, and headed inside to grab my
car keys.
     “She backed into someone’s car in the parking lot.  There’s no
damage to the guy’s car, and he wasn’t even in his car at the time, but he’s
acting like he got hurt, and he’s trying to get money out of Mrs. Howard.”
    “I’m on my way. Are you with her now?”
    “No, but another teller is outside with her.”
    “Tell Mrs. Howard I said do not, under any circumstance, give that
dirt bag a dime. And let that bastard know that her attorney is on his way. 
I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
    Sensing something was going down, Oliver exclaimed, “I’m
coming!”
    “Me too!” said Max.
    I didn’t have time to argue, so they both jumped in and Oliver
strapped Max in, then got himself strapped.  I drove as fast as I dared,
considering there were lots of fawns that were not yet streetwise. We pulled
into the bank parking lot next to Mrs. Howard’s Crown Victoria.  I told the
boys to stay put, and I got out leaving the motor running and the A/C
blasting.  The look on Mrs. Howard’s face was a mixture of embarrassment and
relief; Chad’s was strictly relief.
    “Thanks for calling me,” I told Chad.
    “No problem.  We all like Mrs. Howard.  The guy took off as
soon as I told him you were on your way.”
    “Samuel, I really pulled a booboo,” Mrs. Howard piped in. 
“Look what I did to my car.”
    There was a 6 inch dented scratch on the passenger rear panel where
she had cut the turn too close and scraped against the other car’s bumper.
    “Ah, it’s not that bad, Mrs. Howard.  Did you give that