The Greatest Show (Willow Son #5/Brothers of Rock #20) (14 page)

“
Thanks
for helping,
”
Emma said.
“
Cassie will be here soon enough.
I have my cell on. Call for anything.
”

“
Anything,
”
Brantley said.
“
We can turn around and be home
in no time. No matter what.
”

Emma grabbed Seth and kissed him.
“
I love you, Seth. Be good for
Pop and Auntie Cassie.
”

“
I
will,
”
Seth said.

Seth looked at Brantley.

“
Thanks
for letting me borrow your mom for a night,
”
Brantley said.

“
Like
I had a choice,
”
Seth said.

Mike burst into laughter.

Brantley shook his head.

With quick comebacks like that? A
definite sign that Seth really was his.

Everyone said one more goodbye and
then it was Emma and Brantley, together. They got into his car and started to
drive.
Before they got to the end of the street, Brantley took Emma
’
s hand
…
he was never going to
let her go again.

(13)

Brantley had been a whirlwind from
the second Emma met him. That crazy night when she had one too many vodka
drinks had given her a surge of confidence to approach the drummer like he was
just some regular cute guy. That set a path she never thought possible.

Now it had taken yet another wild
turn.

Ushered to a small airport and
watching Willow Son standing there, waiting. Of course, they all made comments
about why Brantley and Emma needed a private jet to themselves. Before Emma
could get over meeting the band, she was led to a small jet and was then
blasted off into the air, Brantley by her side.

Each minute that passed put lots of
miles between she and Seth. She had never been that far from her son.

They landed and Emma called Cassie.

Seth was fine, running around the
house with his magic drumstick, fighting wars, and asking too many questions
about Brantley. Those were Cassie
’
s
exact words. That told Emma it was getting close to decision time on
everything. She and Brantley could mess with each other
’
s hearts all they wanted but they couldn
’
t do that to Seth. It wasn
’
t fair to him. They needed to
have a serious talk about what they were and where they were going. Or how to
handle Seth in it all.

“
You
okay?
”
Brantley asked as
Emma put her phone away.

“
Yeah,
fine,
”
Emma said.
“
Just checking in on things.
”

“
How
’
s the kid?
”

“
Good.
Playing with his drumstick.
”

“
That
’
s awesome.
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Hey,
”
Brantley said. He touched her
waist.
“
What is it?
”

“
Nothing.
”

“
Don
’
t lie to me. Do you want to go
back?
”

“
We
just flew out here.
”

“
I
don
’
t care. We
’
ll fly back if this is too much
for you. Tell me.
”

Emma touched his face.
“
No. I want to have this night
with you. I just
…
all of
it, Brantley. Where it
’
s
going.
”

Brantley nodded.
“
I understand. I
’
m not going to force my way
anywhere I
’
m not wanted.
But I can tell you this, you
’
re
real to me. This is real between us. We have a son together.
”

“
B!
We gotta roll.
”
It was
Ryker, waving his arms.

“
You
tell me the truth about tonight,
”
Brantley said.
“
You get a
hint that you want to be home, we leave. I swear.
”

“
Okay.
Thank you. Let
’
s go see
this show. I haven
’
t been
to a concert in a long time. In fact
…
if I remember right
…
the
last time I had fun I spent the night with the drummer.
”

“
Oh,
hell no,
”
Brantley said.
“
That
’
s not happening. You
’
re
going home with one drummer.
Me.
”

**

The venue was bigger than a club
but not quite the arena size. It had two stories, everything open to look at
the stage. The second floor had tables and chairs, a place to lounge and relax.
The first floor was the open stage but had a bar around the entire perimeter.

Backstage, it was busy and crammed.

There was a large hall type of room
and that
’
s where the two
bands were hanging out.

“
What
a turnout,
”
Brantley said
as he approached the band.
“
Good
for you guys.
”

“
Jeff?
”
Harry asked.
“
I
’
m
Harry
…”

“
Yeah,
”
Jeff said.

The two managers shook hands.

“
Holy
shit,
”
someone said.
“
Willow Son is here. For real.
”

“
We
’
re here,
”
Brantley said.

“
Okay,
”
the guy said.
“
Wow. Uh, I
’
m Erik, man. I sing.
”
Brantley shook his hand.
“
We
’
re
After the Run. This is Slade, he plays guitar. This is Liam, another guitarist.
Jase is on bass. And then Caine on drums.
”

“
You
know us, right?
”
Ryker
asked.

“
I
think we got it,
”
Slade
said.
“
Goddamn.
”

“
Let
’
s get a picture,
”
Jeff said.
“
This is great press.
”

The two bands got together and
pictures were taken over and over.

“
So
why the low key life?
”
Brantley asked Erik.

“
Nothing
about us is low key,
”
Erik
said.
“
We
’
re just living the life. We
’
re rich already, so why the hell
go bigger?
”

“
What
about the music?
”
Van
asked.
“
Don
’
t you want to reach the world?
”

“
It
does,
”
Jase said.
“
We sell across the country and
the world.
”

“
Now
you need to tour,
”
Colby
said.
“
I
’
ll cut right to it. You know why
we
’
re here.
”

Brantley looked over at Emma as she
stood near the door, holding a drink. He smiled and winked at her.

“
I
guess that
’
s manager talk,
”
Liam said.

“
Fuck
that,
”
Ryker said.
“
Fuck managers. Fuck record
companies. This is about two bands getting up on stage together.
”

“
About
both of us tearing up arenas,
”
Brantley said.
“
We
’
re not looking for a band to
open for us to fill some time and space. If that
’
s
what we wanted, then the record company would do it. We tried that route and it
was terrible.
”

“
This
is about us picking a band,
”
Jett said.
“
You guys rock.
Bottom line.
”

“
Shit,
”
Caine said.
“
Willow Son thinks we rock.
”

“
So
what do you want from us?
”
Erik asked.
“
A pinky
promise?
”

“
No,
”
Colby said.
“
Just know we
’
re looking at you. We
’
re not offering a thing. Just
putting it out there that if you want to come on tour with us, let
’
s do it. Let
’
s have some fun.
”

“
Let
’
s play this show first,
”
Slade said.

“
I
can live with that,
”
Brantley said.

“
Tell
you what,
”
Jeff chimed in.
“
Why don
’
t we see how the bands mesh together? A little
surprise song featuring Willow Son?
”

“
I
can definitely live with that,
”
Brantley said.

“
Going
to be a full stage,
”
Colby
said.

“
The
people are going to go fucking nuts,
”
Erik said.

“
Wait,
”
Harry said.
“
They already are.
”
He showed everyone his phone.
There were people on social media claiming they saw Ryker in New York already.
“
Looks like there
’
s some buzz building.
”

“
We
have to get out there,
”
Liam said.
“
You
’
ll hear us call for you.
”

The bands broke up and as Willow
Son went to Harry, Brantley went to Emma.

“
Hey
you,
”
he said.
“
You ready to have fun?
”

“
That
’
s crazy what you guys do.
Talking like that.
”

“
Yeah.
We had a band open for us once and it was a bad thing. Pushed by the record
company. It didn
’
t end well
at all. This is better.
”

“
They
were shocked to see you.
”

“
I
’
m shocked that you
’
re here,
”
Brantley said.
“
Now,
you need another drink and I think I saw some big speakers out there. I know
how much you like to dance next to them.
”

Emma smiled and blushed.

She got on her toes and kissed
Brantley
’
s cheek.
“
Only for you.
”

**

Emma caught herself wanting to
dance from the second After the Run took the stage. She was able to stand off
to the side of the stage, sort of next to some big speakers. Willow Son tried
their best to hide as they watched the band play.

One thing was for sure, After the
Run had a serious following. From the second the lights went out, the place
hadn
’
t stopped with noise
and jumping. The fans loved them and they were singing every word back.

Being someone who really had no
knowledge of music, Emma had covered enough bands and concerts to know what
made a band good or bad. These guys were good. They had chemistry together and
they had confidence in their music. None of it sounded processed or forced
together to make sound. Everything worked and flowed perfectly. From verse to
chorus to solo to end
…
then
right into the next song and the next song after that.

Soon an hour had gone by.

Brantley slipped a hand around
Emma.

“
What
do you think?
”
he yelled.

“
They
sound good,
”
Emma yelled
back.

“
Come
for a walk with me.
”

They moved to the backstage area
where it was a little more quiet. Brantley had Emma by the hand as he led the
way.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Emma asked.

“
It
’
s been a little while. Don
’
t you want to check on Seth?
”

Emma smiled.
“
Oh, yeah. Sure.
”

“
You
forgot, didn
’
t you?
”

“
No.
I just figured no news was good news.
”

“
Call
and check.
”

“
You
’
re worried?
”
Emma asked.

“
A
little. I know this is all different for you and him. And me. So just check up
on him.
”

“
You
’
re such a father,
”
Emma teased.

She took out her phone and Brantley
touched her wrist.
“
I am,
sexy
moves
. I am a father. I
’
m
going to be a good father to him. And a good man to you. All this talk about
touring, I don
’
t want you
to get nervous. I
’
ll make
sure it works out. I
’
ll
…”

“
Let
’
s get through tonight first,
”
Emma said.
“
Okay?
”

“
Okay.
”

It touched her that Brantley wanted
her to call and check on Seth. It touched her that Brantley wanted to talk
about the future.

Emma sent Cassie a text and she
replied with a picture of she and Seth on the floor, playing with toys. For a
second, Emma almost sent a text asking why Seth was up so late but then she realized
there was a three hour time difference.

“
Here,
”
Emma said and showed Brantley
the picture.
“
He
’
s happy.
”