“I have ear buds in, and I’m just pulling into the boat house now, so chat away.”
“I saw Courtney yesterday,” she blurted out.
Real smooth, Cara!
“Where?” Declan’s barked.
Cara sighed. “She came on to the set yesterday. The owner needs money, and from what I heard her say, it sounds like this is the company she’s buying for Trey. He’s going to work in post-production. It’s not a big deal though! Nothing happened!”
That wasn’t true, but it didn’t feel especially necessary to share what Matt had said. Declan already wanted to rip their stepbrother’s head off. Cara wasn’t going to be the one to give him another reason.
“You spoke to them? What did she say—exactly?” At Declan’s dark tone, Cara had the first stirring of uneasiness.
“Not much. It lasted less than five minutes.”
“They didn’t ask about Luke and James? My business?”
“No.”
Frustration warred with sadness. Declan was so paranoid when it came to Courtney. The woman was a bitch and wouldn’t miss an opportunity to needle them, but it was a bit far-fetched to believe she had an active vendetta against David Bloom’s children.
Why should she? Courtney had everything she wanted, and they had no proof she was involved in their father’s death.
“They came in, said hi, and that was it.”
“Bullshit!” Cara jumped. She’d heard her brother use that biting tone before, but never with her. “They said, ‘Hi, Cara. So good to see you. See you around?’ Don’t lie to me!”
“Fine. She made some shitty comments about how I was a lowly working person now, and Matt made a comment about me being dirty.”
There was a beat of silence before Declan spoke again, murder in his voice. “He said something about—”
Cara instantly realized her error and cut him off. “No! Not like that! It had nothing to do with… before.” A wave of embarrassment flooded her chest. “I was filthy from the set, and he made a comment about my appearance. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Heaviness weighed down on her, and her throat thickened. She hated to think about what had just popped into her brother’s mind.
“What’s the name of the studio you work for again? Something flower?”
“Peachtree Pictures. Why? Declan, don’t do anything. I like my job, and if I haven’t already lost it, I’d like to keep it. Don’t interfere. It doesn’t matter anyway. She bought it yesterday.”
“How much was that?” It sounded like he was talking through his teeth.
“I have no idea, Declan. Does it really matter anymore?”
He ignored her question. “You should stay far away from them. I’m serious. Don’t talk to them. Not a word, not even the littlest one about me or the boys. You never know what she’ll use.”
“Declan, don’t you think—”
“Just promise me.”
“I promise.”
“By the way, Chris is in Atlanta for work. He’ll probably want to take you to dinner.”
Cara’s eyes narrowed at the phone. Chris Keller was one of Declan’s oldest friends, and the son of their father’s doctor.
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“It’s not babysitting. He’s known you since you were a little girl. Just go to dinner with him—don’t make this a big deal.”
