No, he did not! Robert stood there, stunned, as more visitors came for him, introducing themselves. His engrained manners suppressed the desire to get Landon back…for now. He did allow himself to call out to Landon, though, with a, “Well played!” before he greeted the tourists.
Chapter 32
“It’s been slow,” Rodney said, taking the seat next to Robert at La Bella Luna. Robert glanced at his wristwatch, a sweet and thoughtful wedding present from Landon. Half past eight. Then he looked around the restaurant. It did seem pretty empty.
“It’s Sunday night,” he replied, returning his concentration to the sleeping bundle in his arms. Kylie was the most precious little thing. But she’d been a tiny Tasmanian devil for the entire length of their dinner, pounding on the table with her little hands, throwing her cookies and crackers to the ground repeatedly.
Kylie had been so disruptive that Autumn had tried to bail on their dinner maybe fifteen minutes after arriving, afraid Kylie would bother the other guests. Robert wasn’t having any of that. He imagined his niece would slow her roll sooner or later. It took some time, but Kylie finally exhausted herself, crashing hard in his arms where she’d been for a good thirty minutes now. Her sweet warmth seeped into his heart. She was precious and soundly sleeping in his arms. He didn’t think a pack of stampeding elephants would wake her.
“I’ll finish cleaning up her mess when I can tear myself away from her. She’s addictive. I miss her.”
“We have a vacuum that’ll clean this right up. I just don’t want to wake her,” Rodney said, looking over the table at Kylie.
“If the music doesn’t wake her, I’m not sure anything could.” Robert cut his gaze toward the new dance floor placed in the front corner of the restaurant where Landon currently danced with Autumn. His guy had the moves. Robert had already learned that lesson. They went dancing regularly when at home, but Autumn had been delighted to see she had a willing partner and had had Landon on the dance floor for a good fifteen minutes now.
“Tell me what’s going on with you now. You’re married. I like him. What else’s going on? Are you ever going back to medicine?” Rodney asked, not sugar-coating his inquiry.
He’d been asked that same question a few times since arriving back in Minnesota. In DC, Robert’s focus had been Landon, making sure he was enough to keep Landon with him and finding a way to bring them to this point. Now a bigger picture future seemed a little more accessible, and looking back, he could see how his actions over the last year and a half may have seemed erratic to other people.
He trailed a finger over one of Kylie’s silky blonde curls before looking back at Rodney. Robert had changed so much; he couldn’t really remember the man he used to be. His peers obviously thought he’d lost his mind. His family had been indulgent and supportive, but maybe not quite sure what had happened to him. That man, who was maybe twenty feet away, expertly spinning his sister around the dancefloor, had been his life support, accepting Robert however he came.
Landon believed in him and thought he could pull off a culinary career if he wanted one. He’d even encouraged Robert to try.
Maybe he had just made the decision.
Robert released a pent-up breath as he revealed the plans he’d been chewing on for a while now. “I’m retiring from medicine, at least for the foreseeable future, but I’ve been cooking, taking lessons. I think I’m… I mean we, Landon and I… I think we’re going to start a pop-up lunch tent in DC.”
Rodney’s brows shot up in surprise. His mouth opened then closed again before he finally got out, “Like street food?”
“Something like that.” Robert nodded, adjusting Kylie in his arms as she moved to a better position. “I’ve gotten pretty good at vegetarian cuisine. I’ve been making these tacos—Landon likes them spicy. They’ve drawn some interest from a buddy of mine who has access to a professional kitchen. He’s a trained chef and a partner at a restaurant chain nearby. I think we’re going to take him up on his offer to use his kitchen. We only started talking about this over the last couple of weeks.” Robert stopped speaking, realizing the information dump he’d just laid on Rodney’s shoulders, but he couldn’t seem to contain his enthusiasm. “You got more than you counted on when asking that question, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.” Rodney grinned. “You’ve really made some changes to your life.”
Robert nodded, unable to hold Rodney’s gaze so he looked down at Kylie as he fought the edges of doubt trying to creep in. “I’m enjoying it all. I like my life now.”
Rodney nodded his understanding, if not approval, sitting back in his seat. He could feel Rodney’s fixed stare on him for several long seconds. “You’re so much like Kane. Everything he did had to be in order, set a certain way before he could commit. Paulie pushed at him a lot in the beginning. Your father worked long hours like you did, every single day. He was the hardest working man I’ve ever known. I was barely nineteen years old and the military had disabled me. I was lost. I lived in New York and I heard about Paulie and what he was doing here. I came all this way, looking for a job and a life. Paulie and Kane took me in before I even
