Free The Greatest Show (Willow Son #5/Brothers of Rock #20) by Karolyn James

said. “ I lost myself for a second.
Look, I can ’ t take you out,
that ’ s okay. It ’ s almost night. I ’ m not going to sit in a bar and
eat a greasy burger with you. Sorry. ”
    “ Oh, ” Emma said.
    Brantley touched her chin and
smirked. “ I ’ m going to order from your
favorite restaurant. Then we ’ re
going to pick it up and take it back to your place. Okay? We ’ ll stay there, eat, talk,
whatever you want. Put Seth to bed and figure all this out. ”
    “ And
at the end of the night? ”
    “ Don ’ t worry about me, ” Brantley said. “ I have a big backseat. And there ’ s plenty of hotels. I can make a
phone call and have my manager arrange it. That ’ s
not your concern. ”
    They stared at each other for a few
seconds.
    “ Brantley,
you can ’ t hurt him. You can
hurt me, I don ’ t care. But
you can ’ t hurt him. ”
    “ I
would never hurt him, ” Brantley said. “ You just
give me the word and I ’ ll
do anything. I swear. ”
    Brantley leaned and put his
forehead to Emma ’ s. He
wanted to kiss her again but held off. This wasn ’ t
all about him anymore. This was about something much greater.
     
    **
     
    “ Wait
out here for a minute, ” Emma said. “ Okay? ”
    “ Sure, ” Brantley said. He grabbed for
Emma ’ s hand. “ And hey, it doesn ’ t bother me to be your friend.
In front of Seth. I ’ m not
here to jump in as his father, okay? I can ’ t
imagine how hard it must be for you. And I don ’ t
want to confuse him. Not if he ’ s
sick. You know? ”
    “ You
keep saying the right things at the right time, ” Emma said. “ I hate that. ”
    “ I ’ m just saying what I believe. ”
    “ Again, ” Emma said.
    She pulled her hand away and went
inside. She tried to convince herself that this was the right thing to do.
Nothing bad was going to happen. And once they were actually alone and quiet
she could then explain what she needed from Brantley. He was the only one that
could provide a needed blood transfusion for Seth. For some reason she was
afraid to talk about it. She feared Brantley would bolt. But why?
    “ Mommy! ” Seth yelled and ran toward her.
    Cassie was on her knees, putting
toys away.
    “ Cass,
I can do that, ” Emma said. “ You don ’ t have to clean up. ”
    “ No,
it ’ s fine. I think I made
more of a mess than he did. ”
    Emma lifted Seth and touched his
forehead. “ How do you feel? ”
    “ Good. ”
    “ What
did you do with Auntie Cassie? ”
    “ Watched
TV. Played cars. She doesn ’ t
know how to play cars the right way. ”
    “ Seth, ” Emma said.
    “ It ’ s true, ” Cassie said. “ I
didn ’ t realize they had to
be in color order and in ninja order. ”
    “ Oh,
right, ” Emma said. “ That ’ s very important. ”
    “ Or
else the bad guys will win, ” Seth said.
    “ That ’ s right, ” Emma said. She kissed Seth. “ Why don ’ t you finish cleaning up so I can talk to Auntie
Cassie for a second? ”
    Emma put Seth down and he ran to his
toys. His version of cleaning up was to make a bigger mess and then attempting
to clean up. Normally Emma would stay on top of him about it, but not tonight.
    “ Hey,
how ’ s your father? ” Cassie asked.
    “ Fine.
He left his cellphone in the apartment. He had a doctor ’ s appointment. ”
    “ And … your friend? ”
    “ He ’ s on the porch. ”
    “ What? ”
    “ Come
here, ” Emma said. She led
the way to the kitchen. “ I
have to tell you something. You have to stay calm. ”
    “ Okay …”
    “ Brantley … he ’ s Seth ’ s
father. ”
    Cassie ’ s eyes and mouth went wide. “ Are you … wait. Wait a second. You ’ re
saying … you and Brantley?
The drummer from Willow Son? ”
    Emma laughed. “ Yes. Okay? We had a little thing
back in the day. I don ’ t
look at him like you do, Cassie. But he ’ s
Seth ’ s father. Okay? ”
    “ Okay.
Wait a second. I have to stop looking at him like a famous person. He ’ s an asshole. ”
    “