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Emberleigh places a firm hand on his wrist. “Sit down, Braxton.”
“No.”
“Yes. You may be the oldest, but it doesn’t make you a parent.” She tugs at his sleeve. “Layton needs his brother, not another dad. Team Ranger is a team, not a captain plus three. Please, sit.”
Braxton exhales and sits, but his face never changes.
Emberleigh continues, “I’m not a Ranger by birth. I’m not even a Ranger by marriage—”
“Yet,” Braxton interjects.
“Yet,” Emberleigh echoes. “But this family has surrounded me and made me their own. You don’t have to see eye to eye.Wedon’t have to see eye to eye, but we’re family. Layton doesn’t have to celebrate, and he doesn’t have to take responsibility for what he didn’t do.”
Braxton clenches his jaw as Colt says, “Feck cue,” to his noodles.
“Pop not sleeping isn’t on Layton. Now, for what is, that’s on him. For what help we can provide, that’s on us. It’s what Rangers do.”
“Hear, hear.” Willa raises her glass. She turns her face to me. “I don’t know you as well as I’d like, but you’ve been clutch for me, been a brother to me, saved my sanity and Exton’s more than once. I’m team Layton all the way.”
My nose tickles as I exhale.
Elias pipes in. “You’ve been in my life as long as Braxton has. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this family. That includes you. Call or text, day or night. I’m here for you, brother.” He extends a fist, and I tap my knuckles with his.
“You’re my ride or die. Period. If you don’t ask when you need help, there will be hell to pay.”
“Oh, my delicate little sister,” Exton cuts in with a smile. “At the risk of being the dork here, I feel like Legolas when Frodo decides to take the ring to Mordor. When he says ‘you have my bow.’ I’m here. One hundred percent. No questions asked. Okay?”
I can feel the tickle in my nose become a tingle and grind my molars to not be overcome with more emotion than I can stand.
Braxton looks a bit ashamed. His eyes are sincere when he holds mine. “You see that little man?” He points at Colt. “The one repeating curse words he learned from you?”
I nod.
“I’d fight wolves bare-handed if I had to for him. I’d take a bullet for him. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect him… Very little I wouldn’t do just to know he’s happy. So I get where Pop is coming from.”
My eyes must be defiant. Here we go again with the lecture.
“But I would do the same for you. The thing is, Layton, you’ve never needed that. You blaze your own path, stand on your own two feet, and take no prisoners. I’ll fight the wolves for you. I’ll battle demons with you. I’d be proud to be at your side in either fight.”
I lose the battle with my nose as I feel it warm. “Very Rivendell,” I snark, just to cut the tension. “But thank you. That means everything.” I look from person to person, stopping on Colt. “And don’t say bad words, buddy. If you do, blame it on Uncle Eli, okay?”
“Unca Eli,” he repeats and, with that, a bit of levity is restored to the room.
We finish eating, mostly discussing mundane, daily life things. Nothing emotionally deep. No bombs lobbed at one another. Just family, sitting around a table, being family.
Eventually Eli and Bright clear the table and return with coffee and dessert.
“When did we get so old we do the coffee thing at night?” I ask as Exton taps Willa’s leg and rises from his chair, heading for the front door.
Bright speaks to no one in particular. “Some of us are old.”
“Shut up.” Braxton smiles and throws a balled-up napkin at her.
Eli pinches her side. “Seriously? It was one gray hair. One.”
“On your chest,” Brighton shoots back as she begins pouring coffee.
“None for me.” Willa extends a hand over her cup as if we’re in a restaurant. “I already don’t sleep well. If the dude gets coffee this late, he’ll be rocking and rolling like he clubs for a living.”
