Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 145676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Let me. You stay.”
“No way,” Landon said. The struggle of the dirty plates became real until Robert shifted his gaze toward the family who had gone utterly silent, gaping at the two of them. Robert’s engrained sense of manners kicked in, and he let go, giving Landon the win. When Landon noticed their shell-shocked expressions, he barked out a loud laugh. “It’s not that big a deal.”
“I’ve never seen it before,” Karen exclaimed as if Landon had suddenly grown two heads.
“I’m pretty sure I second that,” Michael said, pushing back in his seat, finding humor in the whole scene.
“Thanks, Uncle Michael. You’re supposed to be on my side.” Landon reached across the table for his father’s plate. “You done?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Landon took his dumbfounded father’s plate then went for his mother’s. His uncle readily lifted his to Landon, having no problem with Landon taking his dirty dishes.
“Are you planning on washing those?” Karen asked, still seemingly unsure what she was seeing. Robert couldn’t help his own quiet chuckle at their reaction. Apparently the helpful, generous man he’d grown to love beyond anything reasonable wasn’t necessarily that same man his family had always known.
“I will later, if that’s all right. I thought it would be easier to talk without the dirty dishes in front of us,” Landon explained.
The suggestion Landon would indeed clean the dishes, he just wanted to wait until they finished talking, had them all speechless. The perfect comic relief Robert needed to grow comfortable again. He took his seat, pushing backward, and reached for his wineglass. Landon started around the table, stopping beside Robert’s chair.
“I’ll bring more wine.”
“Thank you.”
Landon’s loving gaze slid over his face. His mister was happy, which made Robert happy. Landon winked as if he’d read Robert’s thoughts and started for the kitchen.
“You’ve been good for him,” Karen said when Landon disappeared around the corner into the kitchen.
“I can still hear every word you say,” Landon called out in a fake irritability.
“He’s been good for me,” Robert replied, taking a long swallow of his wine to help hide his humor.
“How did you two meet?” Karen asked as her cell phone started vibrating on the table. She lifted it then turned it for the table to see. The phone showed a picture of Lori, Presley, and Parker playing in the hotel’s swimming pool.
“They’re having fun. That’s wonderful,” Robert said, reaching for the cell phone. He tapped a finger on the screen as it began to darken to get a better look at Lori. She was beautiful. She and Landon looked so much alike. “They’re great kids.”
“That’s debatable,” Tony said, giving one of his regular gruff grumbles. “Until your car’s gone at two o’clock in the morning.”
Karen slapped her husband’s arm. “You hush. They don’t want to hear all that right now, and it only happened once.”
“Once with each one of my kids and grandkids.” Tony gave a pfft, rolling his eyes as he called out, “Landon, have you told Robert about the time you took our car for a joy ride?” Tony reached for the almost empty bottle of wine and topped off his glass to the brim, the memory seeming to need some fortitude to get through.
“Maybe,” Landon yelled back, completely unfazed by such a topic. Three pair of expectant gazes turned toward Robert to find the answer.
“I’m not sure,” Robert said, mentally ticking off the different topics Landon had broached about his youth. Honestly, Landon had readily admitted he’d been a lot to handle. “He told me he had a sordid past.”
Tony burst out with a loud bark of a laugh, and Karen again instantly scolded him. “We’re not rehashing all this tonight, Tony. Robert, how did you two meet?” Karen asked again, redirecting the conversation.
Robert paused to see if Tony had anything left to say before he answered. Met with silence, Robert began. “We were at the military hospital in Germany together,” he stated as Landon came back into the room with a new, uncorked bottle of wine. “I had taken a temporary position there and met Landon a day or two after his surgery. We read together every evening and—”
“You had surgery?” his father barked in a shocked bellow, this time startling Robert with the unexpected outburst.
“Oh shit, I forgot…” Landon had started to pour a refresher in Robert’s glass when he paused and looked down at him. “I hadn’t told them about that.”
“You didn’t warn me,” Robert said as their panicked gazes collided. “I wouldn’t have—”
“You forgot you had surgery?” The volume of his father’s voice increased by a full octave. Robert swore the table vibrated under the force.
“Listen to me!” Landon demanded, his voice strong and loud.
The wine bottle was forgotten, discarded on the table as Landon turned to face off with his now standing father. His mister grew ten feet tall, his chest swelling as he prepared for a war of words.