“Hello,” he answered, sticking a finger to his other ear as he headed off in search of a quieter section of the bar.
“Hello, dear, have I bothered you while you’re working?”
“No, ma’am. I took the night off. We’re at The Hill, watching the election results,” he said, having heard Kennedy was a legend in this bar. A picture of her from many years ago, standing with her husband and his father, the former President Adams, hung above the bar in a prominent position. “Did you see the win?”
“Oh yes, very exciting. Have you spoken to her?” Nonnie asked.
“Yes, I hung up with her right before you called. She was taking the stage for her acceptance speech, so she asked us to make sure you knew and to tell you she’ll call you in the morning,” he said.
Kennedy gave one of her few laughs. “I knew she would win. Her opponent was dreadful. I’m so disappointed in politics today.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, because he always agreed with her, but he wasn’t sure much could have been worse than Avery Adams’s treatment during his first race and term for the vice presidency.
“You go celebrate. Tell Robert to call me tomorrow. I’m going to bed.” A hand on his shoulder had him turning to Robert who gave him a questioning look.
“It’s your Nonnie.”
“I’m your Nonnie too, Landon,” Kennedy scolded, all humor gone from her tone.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, causing Robert to smile that knowing grin. His husband knew how he felt around Kennedy. “She says for you to call her tomorrow.”
“Will do. After lunch.” Robert spoke loud enough for Kennedy to hear. Landon got a warmly voiced, goodnight, dear before the call disconnected.
“We should go. It’s late. Four o’clock comes early,” Robert said, sliding his hand down Landon’s back and hooking a finger into his belt loop.
Four in the morning represented the time he had to drag his ass out of bed and begin prepping for the lunch rush. A yawn tore free, not surprising, since he’d been burning the candle at both ends lately. Working the breakfast and lunch rush four days a week then reporting for duty right afterward was beginning to take its toll. He didn’t know how Robert could get up an hour earlier than Landon every morning to exercise.
“I’ll go settle the tab.”
Landon took the second to text his parents, letting them know Autumn had won, before heading to meet Robert at the edge of the bar.
Chapter 34
March 2017
The garage door began to open as Robert ended the phone call. He looked at the time on his Alexa display screen, surprised it was already close to midnight. He and Landon had had their routine set for a while now, years in fact, but usually by this time at night, Robert was in full-on Jonesing mode. Every night he went through what he’d determined to be mini Landon withdrawals, caused from the nine long hours of not seeing his husband while he worked his shift at the base. Technically, that was the only amount of time Landon wasn’t attached to his side. Yet, tonight, he had no recollection of the time or how long it had been since Landon had left earlier in the afternoon.
“Hey?” Landon questioned, coming through the garage door leading into their home. Robert sat at the dining room table in perfect view of the door. Still in a state of shock from the phone call, he watched as Landon’s gaze raced across the living room then kitchen before landing back on him. His husband’s brow furrowed into a hard V as he came closer. “I tried to call, but you didn’t answer. Has something happened? Is it Nonnie? Is she okay?”
His news didn’t reach a level as bad as something happening to his grandmother, but he was still unnerved, causing anxiety to swim in his gut. He stood to greet Landon like always and stopped short before reaching for Landon’s lips to kiss him. Instead, Robert ran his hands down the front of his own T-shirt, rubbing away the sweat gathering on his palms. He was undeniably upset.
“Nonnie’s fine. It’s about my daddy.”
“Kane?” Landon’s confusion was clear on his face. Robert hadn’t had time to process the information. His gaze connected again with those dark, questioning eyes. Landon brought his hands to Robert’s waist. He was thankful for the support. The two of them were well past the honeymoon stage of their relationship, but they were both touchers, and being this close and not touching the other was a rare occurrence.
“Rodney called,” he finally said and waited for a nod of recognition of Rodney’s name, hoping Landon remembered the owner of La Bella Luna. When Landon’s brow lifted, Robert finished his sentence. “He’s decided to sell.”
“La Bella Luna?” Landon asked in a clipped tone, showing he immediately understood the gravity of the situation.
“Yeah. I know Rodney’s not family, but it feels like he is. It feels like La Bella Luna’s still in our family,” Robert explained, trying to put reasonable words behind all the chaos running through his head. “My father handpicked Rodney to continue the legacy of La Bella Luna.”
“Why’s he selling?”
“He says he’s getting too old, and he can’t pull the restaurant out of the slump it’s in. He says sales are barely paying the bills. By the nature of the contract he signed with my father, he had to tell the family before he can move forward with a sale of
