The Devil's Lair Read Online Free PDF

father?”
    “Not in the picture. He took off when they found out she was pregnant.”
    “My wife is going to be devastated over this,” I voice what I’m thinking.
    “It’s sad. I promised her we’ll do everything possible to make him happy.”
    Shane sits with one of Trey’s guitars on his lap, demonstrating what he knows. His audience is completely captivated by him. Leila looks over and smiles at me. I give her one in return, but her frown tells me she knows I forced it.
    “Does Shane know she’s sick?”
    Jen nods. “He doesn’t know details, but he knows his mommy is sick.” She turns to face me. For the first time since knowing her, I can see emotion in her eyes. This is upsetting her. I guess you’d have to be hard as stone to not be affected by this story.
    “Show time. I was supposed to introduce them to you guys this afternoon, but their flights were delayed. I apologize for doing this to you before a show.”
    “Don’t apologize.”
    “Maybe keep it to yourself until afterwards. No need to upset all of them minutes before you go on.”
    “I agree. Jen, we’ll figure this out,” I lie out of necessity.
    “Yep. We will.” She walks over and says something to Paula. Paula smiles and picks Shane up off Tara’s lap. This kid is a charmer. He has everyone wrapped around his little finger already.
    They stop before me on their way out. “I’m going to be in the front row,” he says to me proudly.
    “You are? Well, I’m going to have to say a great big hello to you during the show. Would you like that?”
    “Yes, please.”
    I hold up my hand for a high five. “You got it, bud.”
    I remain where I’m standing after they leave the room. My wife comes over seconds later. “What’s wrong?”
    “Cute kid.”
    “He’s adorable, such a great personality. Paula said they are traveling with us and that she’s helping Jen out. The twins are going to go nuts over him.”
    “They definitely will.” She watches me closely. I can never, ever hide anything from her. I plaster my best dimpled smile on my face, and she reacts immediately. “Ready to play? Shane expects a personal greeting.”
    “Yeah, let’s go give Shane a good show.”
     

Hunter
    The day after our opening night Jen called a band meeting to discuss pending issues with the reality show. Once business was reviewed, without any preamble whatsoever, she told us of Paula and Shane’s story. That’s how Jen rolls.
    Paula has Stage IV breast cancer. She’s been through chemo and had a double mastectomy. Unfortunately, it has spread to her lymph nodes and she’s no longer willing to spend her days in and out of hospitals. For her, the decision to travel the globe with her son was an easy one. The hard part was asking her friend, Jen. They finally reconnected after having lost touch. Paula didn’t want Jen to think the reason she called was for this favor. It took a long time for Paula to reach deep within herself and swallow her pride to ask for Jen’s help. Without close friends or family to speak of, she is facing this alone. She’s doing all that she can, while she can, to make all of Shane’s dreams come true.
    After Jen left us, we all sat staring into space. How do we not let this affect us in a profound way? To say the mood in the room took a nosedive is an understatement. Jack admitted that Jen filled him in before the show. He kept it from Leila and us. Leila was visibly shaken as she listened to the details. She asked question upon question while Jack held her hand.
    Leila was the first to speak, “We need to do something.”
    She’s right. That little dude deserves as much happiness as he can get. Paula is a very brave woman. I can’t imagine putting on a happy face, pretending everything is perfect while knowing you’ll be leaving your child alone in the world.
    Later that night when I told Mandi, she handled the news just as I knew she would. She remained very quiet while I relayed the details. The only