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place just feels out of my league,” she admitted.
    He groaned. “Do you want to know the truth? It’s out of mine too. If it weren’t for the fact that the couple who adopted me had wealth and privilege, I’d be as uncomfortable as you are. I had to get used to it earlier, that’s all.”
    Kelly blinked, stunned both by the revelation and the fact that he’d confided in her at all. She’d sensed his unease with many things in his life, but she never thought he’d let her in enough to explain. Ethan had once mentioned that he’d let his brothers down, but he’d been vague and she hadn’t wanted to pry. Now she wanted to know more from Nash, but she had no time to ask.
    “Just hold your head up high and believe you belong here. You’ll be fine.” He reached out and squeezed her hand, the unexpected reassurance causing a lump to form in her throat.
    He hid himself so deeply that she hadn’t known he could be kind. Now that she did, it only added to his appeal.
    “Thanks.” She smiled in appreciation.
    “You’re welcome.”
    “And don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you’re really a nice guy behind that gruff exterior,” she said with a laugh.
    He raised an eyebrow. “I am a nice guy!”
    “Then try smiling more often. Maybe more people would know it.” Like Tess. But she didn’t voice the thought out loud. She already knew his strained relationship with her was a sore subject.
    “Come on, wise guy.” He placed a hand behind her back and led her toward the classroom.
    Tess’s homeroom teacher, a woman named Julie Bernard who looked to be in her midfifties with glasses, gestured for them to come in and waited for them to sit down across from her desk.
    “So,” Ms. Bernard said when everyone was settled.
    “We’re looking forward to hearing about Tess,” Kelly said. “I’m her sister, by the way. Kelly Moss.” She extended her hand and the woman shook it, her grip cold.
    “I’m her brother. Nash Barron.” Nash also shook the teacher’s hand.
    Julie Bernard treated them to a curt nod. “I understand Tess has a complicated family situation,” she said through pursed lips.
    Kelly tried not to read anything into the other woman’s words. “Yes, but no more so than many kids today,” she said with a smile. “Tess lives with her brother, Ethan. He’s away on his honeymoon.”
    “So you’re all related?” Ms. Bernard asked.
    “Actually Tess and I share a mother,” Kelly explained. “Nash, Ethan, and Tess share a father. It’s complicated, as you said.”
    The woman clasped her hands together on her desk. “Well, that explains a lot.”
    Kelly narrowed her gaze, no longer so willing to assume the best about the woman. “I can assure you that Tess has a solid foundation behind her and people who love her. So perhaps you’d like to tell us what you mean by ‘that explains a lot.’ ”
    “Your sister has a bit of an edge.”
    So do you, Kelly thought. “So do most teenage girls.”
    Nash placed a hand on her arm, warning her to relax.
    “Not most teenage girls here, Ms. Moss. At Birchwood, we place higher expectations on our students.”
    Could her nose reach higher in the air?
    Nash leaned forward in his seat. “Is Tess acting out in class?”
    Ms. Bernard met his gaze. “Not particularly.”
    “Mouthing off?” Nash asked.
    Kelly bit the inside of her cheek, knowing firsthand how foul Tess could get.
    She shook her head. “Not with the teachers or the staff.”
    “Then what’s the problem? You just don’t like her?” Kelly couldn’t help but ask. Obviously this woman did have an issue with Tess.
    She pushed her glasses farther up on the bridge of her nose. “As I said, she has an edge. She does what she’s asked but often begrudgingly. Her work is completed on time but often looks rushed. She has an attitude that’s not acceptable here.”
    What is acceptable? Kelly wondered. Stepford children?
    “We’ll definitely talk to Tess about her attitude, but I sense