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

that was about the same
size as Morgan. Jake looked like a skater, with shaggy hair, a Hurley t-shirt,
and skinny jeans. I introduced myself and went to shake the guy’s hand, but he
didn’t have one; his right arm was amputated below the elbow, so I just kind of
waved instead, since his other hand was occupied with the kid.
    “Nice to meet you, Jake.”
    “Same here, dude!  Like, how old is your kid? They look about
the same age.”
    “About four months.  Her name’s Morgan.  And yours?
    “Four months here too.  This is Cosmo.”  He waved the kid’s
hand at Morgan and the two infants checked each other out, reaching out one
slobbery hand to another.
    I introduced Oliver and Max to Jake.  The look on Oliver’s face
was somewhere between shock and awe, and he blatantly stared at Jake’s missing
arm.  I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring
pat, willing him to keep his mouth shut until we could talk privately, but he
clearly wanted some answers right then and there.
    Maddie and Jake exchanged greetings and started yakking, giving
Oliver the opportunity to pull me down to his level.  I squatted down beside
him and put my arm around his shoulder hoping to provide a little privacy for
the conversation I knew was coming.
    “He only has one hand!” Oliver whisper shouted, his blue eyes
huge with amazement.
    “Yeah, I saw that,” I said.
    “What happened to it?”
    “I don’t know. He lost it somehow.”
    “He lost it? Where ?”
    I couldn’t help smile. “No not like that.  He didn’t misplace it. He may have hurt it and the doctors had to take it off,” I tried to
explain.
    “But where is it?”
    Maddie saw my discomfort and came to my rescue. 
    “I think he’s wondering about your hand,” Maddie said to Jake like
it was no big deal, and addressing the elephant in the room somehow removed the
awkwardness.
    Jake looked down at his arm and then to Oliver.
    “I was in a car wreck and my arm was hurt too badly to fix. 
Want to see something else?”  Oliver nodded without speaking. Jake passed Cosmo
to Kitty, and then he pulled up the leg of his skinny jeans to expose a
prosthetic leg.  “This is what happens when you don’t wear your seatbelt,” he
said, and then he asked Oliver, “Do you wear your seatbelt?”
    Oliver nodded solemnly, apparently words still eluding him.
When he finally got his tongue back, I was mortified when he asked, “Can I
touch it?”
    “Sure,” Jake said.  “Check it out.”
    “Max, you want to touch it with me?” Oliver asked.  Max had
been conspicuously quiet, but never one to pass up an opportunity to maul
something, he joined his big brother in the show-and-tell session where they
learned everything there was to know about Jake’s prosthetic leg. They touched
it and they knocked on it; Jake showed them how to take it off and put it on,
and they even carried the damn thing around.
    We threw back a couple of beers, polished off Maddie’s cookies,
and by the time we headed back home, I suspected that the new neighbors were in
all likelihood going to turn out to be new friends, as well.
    Maddie slipped her hand in mine as we crossed the street back
to our house.  “Gosh, I can see why you didn’t want to go meet the new
neighbors.  That was awful,” Maddie said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the
laughter from her voice.
    I pulled her to a stop, wrapped my arm around her neck, and
planted a kiss on her mouth.  “Okay, go ahead and say it.  I know you’re dying
to.”
    “Let’s say it together,” Maddie teased, and she stood there
looking at me with this adorable smile on her face.
    I rolled my eyes, but I said it with her anyway, “I told you
so!”  My wife laughed. “All right,” I conceded.  “Maybe it wasn’t that bad.”
    “Samuel Collins, I’ll make a social butterfly out of you yet.”

Chapter 9
    The day I was dreading had arrived; we were going to Harmony. I’d
considered going in a separate