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

said. “ Good luck with everything, man.
Don ’ t fuck this up. ”
    Brantley ended the call. “ Believe me now? ”
    “ I
never doubted it, ” Cassie
said. “ I can ’ t believe I just talked to Ryker
on the phone. ”
    “ Are
you leaving? You could stay and eat with us if you want. ”
    “ No,
I ’ m good. I think you and
Emma …” Cassie put a hand
out. “ It ’ s not my business. ”
    “ I ’ m not here to hurt anyone. ”
    “ Okay.
Just … you know what? Listen
to your band. Don ’ t fuck
this up. ”
    With that said, Cassie walked off
the porch.
    Brantley turned and saw Emma
standing with the door.
    He knew walking through that door
was going to change his life forever.
    But the second Emma smiled at him,
he didn ’ t give a damn about
change. Not if it put him with Emma once and for all.

(10)
     
    Everything was foreign to Brantley
as he watched Emma interact with Seth. The kid was fun as hell though. The way
he talked about fighting, ninjas, weapons, and bad guys, it was amazing. His
mind was beautiful and in some way, he was artistic. By creating these worlds
in his mind and fighting bad guys, Brantley was quick enamored.
    Brantley put his and Emma ’ s food in the oven and left it
there to stay warm. Seth was supposed to be in bed thirty minutes ago but he
was swinging a dishtowel making hi-yah sounds as he jumped from the
couch to the floor.
    “ Nice
jump, ” Brantley said.
    Seth looked at him. There was a
split second where Brantley almost felt as though Seth knew.
    “ Looks
like you ’ ve got your hands
full, ” Brantley said. “ How many bad guys are there? ”
    “ Four.
And I ’ m all alone. ”
    “ Wow, ” Brantley said. He slid from the
chair to a crouching position. “ You
know, Seth, I play drums, right? I have some drumsticks with me. I can help
you. I mean, you don ’ t need
it, but I ’ m there, man. ”
    “ Really? ” Seth asked. “ Wow. So you ’ re a ninja drummer? ”
    “ Yeah.
Ninja drummer. ”
    “ Cool! ”
    “ Stay
right there. ”
    Brantley hurried out to his car,
his heart racing. It was so dumb, right? His first interaction with his son and
it was over a set of drumsticks, pretending he was a ninja? Or maybe that ’ s what the father thing was all
about.
    When Brantley rushed back inside,
Emma stood there, arms crossed.
    “ What? ” he asked her.
    “ Nothing.
By all means. Go get the bad guys. ”
    “ Are
you going to make some comment about me looking in the mirror? ”
    “ No,
not at all. ”
    Brantley went to the living room
and crouched down. He showed Seth his drumsticks. Funny that there were people
that would give anything to have Brantley ’ s
drumsticks.
    “ Whoa, ” Seth said. “ Those are cool. ”
    “ Tell
you what … let ’ s finish off these bad guys … and then you have to catch some
sleep. I ’ ll let you keep
the drumsticks on your nightstand, just in case. ”
    “ Really?
Thanks. ”
    “ Sure,
man. Okay, what do we do? ”
    Seth walked to a large teddy bear
and balanced it against a wall. He bit his tongue as he did so. Brantley
smiled. The kid was beautiful. Perfect. Cool as anything.
    “ You
have to fight him, ” Seth
said. “ I ’ ll fight the other one. ”
    “ Okay.
Here we go. ”
    Brantley moved forward, crouched
down. He mimicked Seth ’ s
ninja sounds and heard Emma laugh. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.
He then faced the teddy bear and reached for its leg.
    “ Oh,
no, ” Brantley said.
    He swung the bear ’ s foot and purposely let a
drumstick fly out of his hand. He then put the bear on top of him.
    “ Help,
Seth, ” Brantley said. “ He ’ s
got me! ”
    Seth let out a yell and jumped at
the bear. He started to punch and kick. Brantley rolled away from the bear and
got to his knees.
    “ Hold
him up! ” Brantley said.
    Seth picked the bear up.
    Brantley lunged forward and jammed
the drumstick into the bear ’ s
stomach.
    “ Yes! ” Seth cried out. “ You did it. ”
    The bear