Page 124 of A Legal Affair

He gave a humble nod.

Catching Daniela’s eye, their mother smiled tenderly and patted her heart.

Kennedi turned the phone toward her own face and smirked at Kenneth. “Well done.” Before he could grumble a response, she disconnected the call and looked expectantly at Daniela. “So what’s it gonna be? Do I have to drag your mopey ass onto that plane, or will you go willingly?”

Daniela shook her head at Aunt Phyllis. “Why is your child like this?”

Her aunt merely laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

Kennedi tapped her platinum Chopard watch with the tip of a stiletto nail. “Clock’s ticking, Daniela. We need to leave soon to catch our flight.”

Daniela relented with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Their mothers beamed and clapped.

“Fabulous. This calls for a toast.” Kennedi topped off everyone’s drinks from the pitcher and then raised herglass, hazel eyes twinkling. “To mothers and daughters and generational girls’ trips.”

A chorus of “Hear, hear!” rang out as they all clinked glasses and drank.

Kennedi bumped her shoulder against Daniela’s and grinned. “This trip will be good for you, El. We’ll go dancing one night and take pictures with hot Greek guys to post on your Insta. If Caleb just so happens to be lurking—which wouldn’t surprise me—he’ll see that you’re at leasttryingto move on, and that’ll make him feel some type of way.” Her grin spread. “It never hurts to make a man a little jealous.”

“I don’t want to make him jealous,” Daniela mumbled into her glass. “And I seriously doubt he’ll be lurking on my page. He hates my guts.”

“Need I remind you there’s a thin line between love and hate?” Kennedi sighed. “See, boo, men don’t chase available women. They’re hardwired to want the ones they can’t or shouldn’t have. Part of your appeal for Caleb was that you were forbidden fruit. Now that he knows who you really are and he’s free to be with you, you’ll have to give him new incentives to come sniffing around again. Because that’s his biological imperative: to pursue and conquer.”

Pamela wagged her head at her sister. “That girl is always strategizing, isn’t she?”

“Always,” Aunt Phyllis confirmed, chortling.

Daniela frowned miserably. “I don’t want Caleb to pursue me for the thrill of the chase. I want him to take me back because he loves me and can’t go another day without me.”

“Of course, of course. Believe me, I want the same thing for you,” Kennedi insisted, slipping her arm around Daniela’s shoulders and pulling her against her side. She sighed before adding, “In the spirit of full disclosure, I have other reasons for wanting you and Caleb to work things out. Caleb is best broswith Brandon Chambers,” she explained to their mothers, who exchanged impressed looks. “Once Caleb and Daniela are back together, she can introduce me to Brandon, who in turn can introduce me to his brother Beau, who’s fine as all hell and still very much single.” She winked at Daniela. “You get a Thorne. I get a Chambers.”

Their mothers burst into warm laughter.

One minute Daniela was laughing along, and the next minute, without warning, she broke down crying. The others immediately gathered around her in a group hug, wiping her tears away and telling her everything would be okay.

God, if only she didn’t know better.

37

“Professor Thorne, wait up!”

Caleb stopped and turned to watch as April Kwan hurried to catch up with him, her long legs carrying her quickly across the manicured campus lawn.

“Miss Kwan,” he murmured when she reached his side.

“I’m so glad I caught you,” she said, panting lightly. “I called your name three times, but you didn’t hear me. You must have been deep in thought.”

“I was,” Caleb admitted, though he wasn’t about to tell April who, or what, had been occupying his mind. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I wanted you to be the first to know that after this semester, I’m leaving Northbridge.”

Caleb looked down at her in surprise. “Really? Are you transferring to another law school?”

“Nope,” she chirped. “I’m dropping out to pursue a career in photography.”

“Really?”