There was no way he could change what he had or hadn’t done. Whether or not his daddy’s life was always going to end the way it had didn’t change the fact he could have done things differently. He’d have to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life, but Landon had offered him solace in the understanding that wherever his parents were, they were together. Robert needed to pick himself up and honor their extraordinary legacy in every step he took for the rest of his life. And he would. What a heady thought and tremendous redirection of his life.
Robert sat in the chair instead of on the edge of the bed just to use something inside this room besides the bed—to give it purpose. He rolled his eyes at that. Maybe he was taking all this meaning of life a little far, but whatever.
He stared down at the phone screen and his stomach dipped when he realized there were eighty-eight unread text messages. The sheer volume seemed a little daunting, so he chose his sister’s text messages first. Forty-three of the eighty-eight messages were from her. He scanned the list of messages, not really reading them, knowing if something had gone wrong, she would have made sure he knew.
The last text message she sent was in capital letters, showing her irritation. “I’VE NEVER GONE 26 DAYS WITHOUT SPEAKING TO YOU. There was a time I would have appreciated that, not today though. PLEASE MESSAGE ME BACK, BRATBERT.”
He grinned at the nickname she’d given him when they were children, trying to decide if he should make it twenty-seven days just to get further under her skin. As a teenager, he thought his towering height and strength automatically made him superior to his sister. He’d go out of his way to beat her at every task that required muscles or height. He’d purposefully go into the kitchen pantry and place everything he could out of her reach and then practiced becoming a master at opening jars—pickles, mayonnaise, jelly—all just to be better than her. She’d get so frustrated with him when he’d pluck the object out of her hands and open it with just a pop. He loved that memory. Those were the only arguments he ever heard from his fathers. His daddy would get on to him for overpowering Autumn. His dad seemed to understand what was going on with him and tell Kane it was part of growing up.
Under the weight of this newfound consciousness, Robert decided he shouldn’t make her worry any longer and typed the message he’d picked up his phone to send.
“I need a favor.” He pushed send, staring down at the screen. Maybe he should have started with a “hello, sis…”
Less than fifteen seconds passed before Autumn responded.
“It’s one o’clock in the morning and you want to chat?”
Hmm. He hadn’t considered the time difference.
“I knew you’d be up.” Which of course he hadn’t.
“I don’t know why I worry about you. What favor?” Autumn shot back. He couldn’t deny their twin bond, which allowed him to practically hear Autumn’s aggravation—frustration, sarcasm, and all—through her words.
“I need you to send me some sort of reading pad. Something that has audio and earphones, good earphones that cover the ear. I don’t know the buying options here in Germany, so maybe load all George RR Martin’s books and whatever books complement his genre. Also, load all Dad’s books on there, but it’s got to have audio, even if the books aren’t on audio. Make sense?”
Maybe as much as a minute passed before she answered.
“What? Robert that’s asking a lot. I’ve got a lot going on. When do you need this by?”
Since he was asking the world, he might as well dump more pressure on her.
“Tomorrow? Can you overnight it today to arrive tomorrow? For sure by the next day. I’ll be heading home then.”
He could practically hear her screech as her thumbs furiously typed if the three little dots were anything to go by.
“What! No, I can’t. Call Dad’s assistant. She’ll do it. I really do have too much going on.”
The time difference made reaching out to his father’s office a difficult task. In seven hours, he’d be knee deep in patients and forget to make the call which was the whole reason he’d enlisted Autumn in the first place. “Can you call her in the morning for me? I’ve got to go to work.”
“This isn’t as easy as you think. It’s asking too much. Why do you need it?”
Yeah, there was another glaring reminder of what a self-absorbed ass he had become. Technically, this information was where he should have started this text message exchange.
“I found the honor guard who stayed with Daddy and me that night at the funeral. Remember? I want to gift all this to him. He’s a reader. We’ve been reading together. I was hoping to give it to him personally, from the both of us, before I leave day after tomorrow.”
He pushed send and waited, startling when his phone rang in his hand. Robert shoved back in the chair and smiled as he answered as if he didn’t know who called. “Hello?”
“You found him? Are you sure it’s him?” she asked, her voice raspy and thick, clearly she’d been sleeping so he’d forgive the dumb question.
“Of course, it’s him. Who would even know about his generosity and why would they lie?”
“What did he say? Did he get our thank-you message?”
Robert nodded to the empty room before she finished asking the question. “He did. He read Dad’s books, and it helped him overcome a situation in his life. That’s why he did
