Luke saw Jess’s hand jerk her father’s arm and he caught her eye. Sending her a reassuring glance and the slightest shake of his head, he silently told her that he wanted to hear about his mother. God, he knew nothing about her—of course he wanted to hear about her.
‘Really? How did you know her?’ Luke was quite impressed that his voice sounded vaguely normal.
‘We went to art school together in Cape Town. I think I was half in love with Katelyn.’
‘You were half in love with everyone at uni,’ his wife said crisply. ‘Katelyn...Katelyn Kirby? I remember her. Long hair, green, green eyes. Your eyes.’ Liza leaned across Nick to touch his hand quickly with the tips of her fingers. ‘I’m sorry you lost her so young, Luke.’
Such simple, sincere words. It almost made him want to tell her that he hadn’t lost her, she’d already gone...
‘I remember going to her older sister’s cottage, near Lambert’s Bay. The sister raised her—she was a professor of archaeology at UCT, often away on digs.’
David took a sip of wine and Luke swallowed. God, he had an aunt. How...? Why...? He’d never known he had an aunt.
Not that it mattered after so much time, he had no intention of tracking her down but...wow, he had an aunt.
‘I loved her work. Adored her work,’ David rambled on. ‘She was destined for great things. Then there was Greg Prescott...’
‘And Dad’s off and running,’ Nick muttered. ‘Heaven help us. He’s going to give us a dissertation on every artist he ever knew.’
‘Distract him—quick!’ Luke heard another brother—John—hiss.
Patrick jumped in and spoke over his father. ‘So, when are we going to settle our bet, Shrimp?’
Luke’s head snapped up. Bet? What bet?
‘We have time this weekend. We can find a five- kilometre route and settle this once and for all,’ Patrick goaded Jess.
‘Oh, goodie.’ Liza clapped her hands. ‘I’m sick of dripping taps.’
Luke saw Jess wince. What was going on?
When Jess didn’t speak, Patrick leaned across the table and got in her face. ‘Chicken, Jess? Are you being a girl?’
‘I am a girl, frog-face.’
Luke saw stubbornness creep into her expression. He looked at Nick again. ‘Want to explain what the bet is?’
‘Who can run a quicker five-k.’
‘Me,’ Jess and Patrick chimed in unison.
Luke poured wine into his glass and took a sip before pinning Jess with a look. ‘No.’ He saw the protest start to form on her lips and knew that her instinctive reaction was to baulk. ‘Not negotiable, sweetheart,’ he added in his firmest voice.
Jess held his glare for a long minute before muttering mutinously, ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Ten.’ Luke held up both his hands. He knew that she didn’t want her family to know that she’d had stitches in her leg, that she didn’t want them fussing over her—especially the two doctors—so he’d agreed to keep her secret. But not if she was thinking about racing her brother over five kilometres.
He saw Jess’s lips move in a silent curse and hid his smile when she finally looked at Patrick. ‘Not this weekend, slowpoke. I’m still a bit sore from my fall.’
Patrick seemed to accept that as a valid excuse, Luke thought, feeling Nick’s interested gaze on his face. He turned his head and lifted his eyebrows. ‘What?’
‘Well, that was interesting. Ten what?’
Luke ignored him, but Nick wasn’t the only brother to have picked up on the tension between him and Jess. Patrick geared up to needle his sister again.
‘So what’s the deal between you and Savage, Jess? I think that’s the first time in history that you’ve listened to a man without an argument.’
Jess leaned across the table and skewered him with a hot look. ‘What’s the deal between you and brains, Pat? As in...where are yours? And mind your own business.’
‘You are my business. Our business.’ Patrick spooned up his dessert and leaned back in his chair.
Nick rolled his eyes. ‘Here we go.’ He turned to Luke. ‘Patrick and Jess have butted heads their entire lives. They are only nine months apart, and Pat loves to lord it over her. Not that we’re not all interested in what’s happening between you and our baby sister.’
‘But you’re just quieter about it?’ Luke shot back, and read the warning in Nick’s eyes. Mess with her and you’re a dead man. Which annoyed him... After all, she hadn’t caught him in bed with someone else.
And never would. He didn’t cheat.