Page 35 of See You Soon

“What’s your point? Come on. We need to walk a little faster for a warmup.”

Cara picked up the pace. “My point is that with a kid that young, she’s most likely in a relationship.”

“How’s that my problem? You’re overthinking it. All I did was smile at her. You sound like James.”

“Slow down a little!” she said, panting.

“Oh my god! Why are you so short?” But he immediately adjusted his pace to match hers.

Cara decided to let the matter drop. She rarely got to see her brother even though they lived in the same city. She didn’t want to waste time arguing about his conquests.

After a minute, Luke broke into a slow jog. Without a word, they loped along for almost a mile. They passed the mile marker sign, and the trail sloped downward toward the river. Within minutes, she could hear the Chattahoochee flowing over the rocks.

Cara was tiring, but she’d rather die than admit defeat to Luke. She watched the trail carefully, but when she tripped over a root for the second time, Luke tugged her elbow.

“Let’s walk.”

“Sure, if you need a rest,” Cara said, between giant gulping gasps of air.

Luke ignored the jibe. “I’m glad you insisted we get together. It’s been a crazy year now that I’ve gone out on my own.”

“Do you have a trial coming up?”

As a defense attorney, her brother was always cagey about who or what he was working on. He didn’t deal with the nicest people in the world, and he had told her once that he wanted to keep that part of his life as far away from his family as he could. She understood his need to protect all of them, but sometimes she worried about who was protecting him?

“Always. Fraud case. Nothing particularly complicated.”

Cara took advantage of a bench overlooking the river and collapsed onto it, unhooking her water bottle.

She offered it to him, but Luke shook his head. Cara might be a little out of shape from the long hours of work, but Luke looked like he’d barely broken a sweat.Jerk.

“I saw Mom the other day.” Luke stared thoughtfully out at the green water rushing over the rocks. “She asked about you.”

Cara felt a twinge.

“I need to call her. I keep meaning to, but…”

“I get it. She’s not mad or anything. You know how Mom is. She loves you, same as us. She worries.” He hesitated. “She hasn’t been feeling well lately.”

Anne had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years ago, but it was only in the last few that the disease had taken over her life, forcing her to retire from the work she loved.

“I’ll call her this afternoon. Shooting is supposed to be lighter this week. Maybe I could drive out and see her.”

“She’d like that.” He took the water bottle from her hand and finished it with a giant gulp.

“Hey!”

Luke grinned again. “Big brother rights.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So, what’s new with you? Loving the movie life? Meet any celebrities?”

“Not yet.”

“How’s your roommate, the model? Do her model friends come over a lot? Maybe you should invite me over,” Luke teased, nudging her with his elbow.

Cara managed a weak smile. She still hadn’t told her brothers about her living arrangement.

“What’s that smile?”

Cara schooled her face into a more neutral expression. “I talked to Declan last week.”