Destiny (3 page)

He’d jumped from one awkward situation right into another.

Since her arrival in Serendipity, Kelly discovered
there’d been a lot of nevers in her life. She’d never had a maid, never lived in a mansion, and never gone to private school. She walked into Birchwood Academy and immediately wondered if her sister’s discomfort with the uniform was more due to the atmosphere than the clothing. This was no public school with dimly lit halls, old metal lockers, and dingy commercial linoleum everywhere. Money elevated the look of the building and from what Kelly could see, affected the attitudes of the parents and teachers. But she was determined to keep an open mind.

“What’s wrong?” Nash asked.

Surprised by the question, Kelly stopped walking toward the classroom where they’d been told Tess’s homeroom teacher would meet them. “What makes you think anything’s wrong?”

“You stiffened up the minute we walked into this place. Not to mention the fact that you talked about a million and one things on the ride here and you haven’t said a word since we walked in.” Hands in his jacket pockets, Nash leaned against one of the brightly painted metal lockers and studied her through perceptive ocean blue eyes.

“I chatted in the car to keep you comfortable,” she lied. She chatted to keep herself level-headed and so that she wouldn’t be tempted to coax him into kissing her again. The attraction was definitely there, but she didn’t want to upset her sister’s life by pushing for a fling with Nash. No matter how sexy she found him to be.

“And what changed now?” He probed for answers like the lawyer he was.

Kelly frowned. With his short, expensively cut hair, he looked every inch the rich boy who’d fit right in at this school. Only the fact that she’d seen him feeling awkward and out of place at his own brother’s wedding had her considering leveling with him now.

“Well?” he prodded. “We’re going to be late if we don’t get a move on.”

“Then let’s go,” she suggested.

“Not until you tell me what’s bothering you.”

The concern in his tone got to her. “This 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 there’s something more,” Nash said, “another reason you don’t like Tess, because based on your description, I have to agree with Kelly. Tess sounds like a typical teenage girl.” He braced his hands on the desk, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge hard. “That you happen not to like.”

Kelly had picked up on Ms. Julie Bernard’s attitude, but she figured Nash would be the first one to jump all over Tess for hers. Instead, his perceptiveness surprised her.

Kelly folded her arms over her chest and waited for the woman to reply.

“Okay, fine. I’m well aware of the fact that Mr. Barron—Ethan Barron—wrote a large check to get his sister into this school. And if the institution hadn’t been financially crippled by his wife’s father, Martin Harrington, the school wouldn’t have needed the influx his cash provided.”

“And a child like Tess would have been turned away?” Kelly asked bitterly.

“Yes.” Ms. Bernard didn’t flinch as she replied.

“Shame on you,” Nash said as he rose to his feet. He grasped Kelly’s hand and pulled her to a standing position beside him.

She was too stunned to do anything but follow and admire as she watched him in action.

“Excuse me?” Ms. Bernard asked.

“I said,
shame on you
. As an educator, you’re supposed to be tolerant and understanding of each child as an individual. All I hear now is bias toward an innocent kid who’s had a rough life and whose brother cared enough about her to give her a second chance. Not to mention that he helped stabilize your school’s financial situation at the same time.”

Kelly wanted to applaud.

Ms. Bernard rose to her feet. Her diminutive height didn’t help her cause. “I have colleagues who lost jobs because of Faith Harrington’s father. Programs were cut. Children who were thriving here were forced to return to public school when their parents also lost their savings!” The older woman trembled with anger.

“So did my parents,” Nash said to her. “My foster father had a heart attack and died not long after. But at least my parents placed the blame with the person on whom it belongs. You’re taking your anger out on a child.”

Nash turned to leave, but Kelly, stunned by Nash’s revelations, still had one thing more to add. “You can be certain that Ethan Barron and his wife, who so generously provided money to this school, will hear about how his sister is being treated.” Kelly stormed out of the classroom, breathing hard, Nash right behind her.

Once in the hall, she turned to him. “You were amazing! The way you stood up for Tess! Ethan and Faith will be so grateful you backed them up too.”

Nash pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned against the wall, his breathing shallow. “I didn’t do it for them.”

“I know. You did it for Tess.”

“Who wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for Ethan,” Nash said.

Kelly reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “But she wouldn’t have this opportunity, either,” she gently reminded him.

He met her gaze.

In his eyes, she saw a pain that touched her deeply. “I want to help,” she said softly.

He drew a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Someplace where you can learn all about the Barron brothers’ sordid history.”

Three

Nash and Kelly drove through downtown Serendipity.
The sun hadn’t set completely, but streetlights were on in readiness for the night. He wound through familiar back streets until they reached a small house at the end of a cul-de-sac. A house he knew as well as he knew his own name. He, Ethan, and Dare used to play in the yard and they’d learned to ride bikes around the circle. He glanced up at the old place he still thought of as home. Even the front windows still held the bright orange-red Tot Finder stickers on the room he’d shared with Dare. He wondered whether children lived there now or the owners were just too lazy to remove the decals.

“Where are we?” Kelly asked, breaking into his thoughts.

“I grew up here.” He gestured to the home he’d parked in front of. “Ethan, Dare, and I.”

Kelly glanced over, then waited. She was smart enough to sense this story wasn’t easy, and he appreciated her letting him tell it his way. His childhood wasn’t something he revisited often and definitely not in front of someone else. Hecouldn’t say exactly why he’d chosen to confide in her now. Though he was certain her relationship to Tess had something to do with it, his gut told him the reasons had more to do with Kelly herself. Her perceptiveness and quiet understanding made it easy.

“My brothers and I were close. All three of us, even Ethan,” he said before she could ask. “As for my parents, my father traveled a lot, and when he was home they argued, mostly over his traveling and being away from home. The thing is, he provided for his family the best way he knew how. At least that’s how I saw things until—”

“Until you found out about Tess.”

He nodded, remembering how floored he’d been, standing in Ethan’s kitchen and hearing about Tess, a sister none of them knew they had. The conclusion, that their father had had an affair, had been an obvious one. Nash had been in such denial he’d insisted they run a check on the DNA test results Kelly had given Ethan. He’d had a lot of time to think since then, to revisit his earlier years when they’d all been a family.

“I knew my parents had problems, but so did so many of my friends’ parents, so I buried my head in the sand. I didn’t want to think the fighting meant there were other things going on, like affairs.”

Kelly nodded. “I can understand that. What kid wants to let his mind go there?” she asked. “I never wanted to think about what my mother did each and every night she left the house.”

He met her gaze and realized how little he knew about her and his new sister. “What was it like for you and Tess?” he asked.

“Oh, no. No changing the subject to me. We’re here in front of your childhood home. Let’s just stick to the Barron boys for now,” she said, an amused and knowing smile on her face.

For the first time, he hadn’t forced the subject away from himself on purpose. He really had wanted to know more about her. “Okay, but that means you’ll owe me,” he warned.

She curled one leg beneath her and maneuvered into a more comfortable position. “That’s okay. I don’t welsh on my debts.”

He laughed. “Good to know.”

“So… ? What were you going to tell me next? You were close to both of your brothers—what happened?” She prodded him for more information about his childhood.

“Would you believe I was just thinking about how your quiet understanding made it easy to talk to you?” He shook his head, amused at her sudden change in tactics.

She grinned. “You already tried to ditch the conversation once. I’m just making sure you don’t do it again.”

He rolled his eyes, but he did enjoy how she joked and tried to lighten any subject or mood. Except where he had to go now in conversation… it was almost impossible to lighten.

“Ethan and Tess have a lot in common,” Nash said, finding the easiest way to broach things.

“How so?”

He thought back to the tough, hard exterior his sister possessed when she’d arrived on Ethan’s doorstep this summer. “He was a juvenile delinquent too. He ran with the wrong crowd, stayed out all night, drank, and literally drove my parents crazy.”

Kelly blinked, obviously stunned by the revelation. “Ethan looks like the most upstanding kind of guy!”

“Which is exactly what drives me mad. Everyone sees him as some sort of savior. I know the truth. Hell, I lived it,” he said through clenched jaw.

Kelly reached out and touched his cheek. “Relax and tell me,” she said softly.

He exhaled a deep breath. “It’s not like Dare and I were angels,” he said at last.

“But?”

He swallowed hard.“But Ethan was trouble. Then one night, he didn’t come home. My parents were so used to it, nobody even bothered calling around until the phone rang at three A.M. He’d been arrested for joy riding. My parents went to bail him out and they were killed by a drunk driver on the way to the police station.”

She sucked in a stunned breath. “I’m so sorry.” She edged closer, until they were inches apart, separated only by the center console.

“There’s more.”

“I’m listening.”

“The judge was understanding and gave Ethan a second chance, but instead of coming home to me and Dare, he took off for parts unknown and we didn’t hear from him for ten years.” Even as he spoke, Nash realized his entire body shook, taut with the rage that always consumed him when he allowed himself to both remember and feel.

“Where did he go?” she asked quietly.

“Does it matter?”

Kelly placed a hand over Nash’s tightly clenched fist. “I guess not,” she said for now.

In reality, where his brother had gone and why he’d made the choices he had might matter if Nash were ever going to get past his hurt and anger. That she wanted to help him in this mission told Kelly she was in trouble.

But first things first. “What happened to you and Dare?” she asked.

“Foster care.” Without warning, he faced forward, shifted the car into drive, and put his foot on the gas pedal.

She knew without asking they were taking the next part of his tour. She was so grateful for the insight and his willingness to share, she remained silent on the drive, fearful any wrong comment would cause him to change his mind and withdraw instead.

She couldn’t be any more surprised when he pulled up to a mansion like the house fairly close to where Ethan and Faith lived.

“This is the house I grew up in after my parents died,” he said, speaking again at last.

She let out a low whistle. “Nice.”

“You’d think so.” He inclined his head, pressed his foot to the accelerator, and drove on, past the house, not spending time at this particular stop.

They circled around, passed through town once more, ending up in what had to be the most run-down section of Serendipity. The entire area made a mockery of the town’s name. Streetlights were randomly out, graffiti marked the buildings and gangs of leather-jacket-clad boys, or maybe they were men, grouped together along the darkened street.

Kelly shivered.

And she waited.

He drove farther. Beyond the run-down apartments were equally shabby-looking houses. The occasional porch light illuminated a shattered window here and a broken wood railing there. Nash parked in front of a home that possessed both; the front window had been shattered, bound together with heavy-duty tape in a poor attempt at makeshift repair, and yellow ties crisscrossed the entry, preventing anyone from walking on the porch.

“Where are we now?” Kelly asked into the silence.

“This is where Dare grew up,” Nash said.

“Wait. I knew you ended up in foster care, but—”

“You assumed we stayed together?” Nash let out a harsh laugh.

Kelly winced. “Well, yes.”

Nash closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, she could see he was lost in memories. “We didn’t.”

Therein lay the source of his anger and bitterness, she thought. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen. He lost his parents, his older brother abandoned him, and then the state ripped his brother from him too. So, really, who could blame him for his resentment?

“What happened?” she asked softly.

“Richard Kane was the DA at the time. He told me that Ethan had taken off and Dare and I would have to go to foster care. He said he’d do his best to keep us together. We each stayed with a friend for a couple of nights, and one day Richard showed up and explained how he’d tried but couldn’t find a family to take us both.”

Despite having been warned of the outcome, Kelly gasped anyway.

He let out a rough laugh and she wished she could take back the sound.

“Why couldn’t your family take Dare? It’s obvious they had the money.”

He shrugged. “To this day, I don’t really know. Richard said there were reasons but that the Rossmans were good people. They’d lost their only son the year before.”

Kelly shook her head, overwhelmed by the story, yet Nash had lived it and he’d only been sixteen years old at the time. “Did you know their son?” she asked.

He rested his arm on the steering wheel and shook his head. “He’d gone to private school. But the whole town knew the story. Rich kids let out of school early because of a freak power failure. They went to someone’s house whose parents were out of town. They were drinking, one thing led to another, one guy threw a punch and hit Stuart Rossman. He fell and his head hit the patio. While he lay there, the rest of the kids panicked. Some ran, others cleaned up the evidence of alcohol before calling nine-one-one.”

“That’s awful!”

He nodded. “And a horrible mark on the town. I’m guessing since I was the same age as Stuart, the Rossmans wanted me. They’d never wanted two kids. When I got older, I tried to talk to them about it, but they always shut me down. It’s ironic, really, since in all other ways we grew very close. They talked to me about everything else.”

She didn’t know what to say—or feel—so she could only imagine that Nash had felt the same way. “You must’ve been a mess,” she whispered. “Guilty over your little brother’s living conditions yet grateful for what you had.”

He turned his head and met her gaze. “You should’ve been a shrink.”

She shook her head. “It’s not hard to figure out. I just put myself in your place.”

“I was afraid Dare would hate me. I ran away a few times, hoping to make my point, but the cops would find me and bring me back. Eventually I accepted that I had no choice. Richard played a big role, talking to me and making sure I knew Florence and Samuel were good people. That they just couldn’t have done anything differently. I still don’t understand but I played the hand I was dealt.”

Kelly’s stomach had cramped in a tight knot. “How’d you manage?”

“Honestly? Dare made it easy. He wasn’t angry at me or at the Rossmans. He was older at fifteen than I was at sixteen. I just did what I could for him. I brought him extra food when I could and gave him my not-so-older clothes.”

Her heart swelled with emotion, for the kid he’d been and the adult he was now, who still so obviously held on to so much pain.

“You’re a good man,” she said, sensing he needed a reminder.

“A good man would’ve made sure his brother had it as good as he did.”

“The man you are now, maybe. The kid you were then did everything he could.” Kelly leaned across the car’s center console so she could get closer to him. “It’s time to let go of the guilt.”

He turned his head and their faces were inches apart, their mouths so close, Kelly couldn’t say who moved first, but the kiss was inevitable. Not hungry or urgent, this was more about comfort and understanding… and a sudden sense of caring that both shocked and frightened her. Because now she knew him better. Now the beginnings of emotion were involved. Hers, definitely. And if the gentleness in his touch was any indication, his feelings were now engaged too.

A sudden knock on the car window startled her and she jumped back with an unladylike yelp.

“What the—” Nash glanced over and opened the window, and a flashlight shone into the car, all but blinding her.

“I got a report of someone casing the area,” a familiar voice said.

“Shut off the damn light, Dare,” Nash muttered to his brother. “You know my car, so quit playing games.”

Officer Dare Barron snapped the flashlight shut, braced his hands, and leaned down so he could look into the car. Then he grinned. “Can’t you two find a better place to hook up?”

Caught again,
Kelly thought, embarrassed. And this time they weren’t even really making out, they were just…

“We were just talking,” Nash said to his brother.

“Yeah, I saw the dialogue. Mama Garcia put a call in to the station,” Dare said of his foster mother.

Nash groaned. “Tell her I’m sorry we scared her. I was just giving Kelly the Barron tour of Serendipity.”

Dare nodded, his expression one of understanding.

Nobody had to tell the youngest brother that Nash had been reliving their family history.

“I’ll let her know. Can I give you a suggestion?” A definite mischievous twinkle lit Dare’s dark brown eyes.

“Could I stop you?” Nash asked.

“Next time you two feel the urge to lock lips? Go somewhere more private. You have a habit of making a spectacle of yourselves,” he said with a laugh.

Dare straightened to his full height, tapped the top of the car twice, and strode off, leaving Kelly mortified.

Baring his soul had left Nash more exposed than if
he’d stripped naked and run through the street. Not even being caught kissing Kelly—yet again—bothered him as much as the fact that she now knew his deepest secrets. Okay, not secrets, since anyone in the town could repeat the Barron family history, but she instinctively knew exactly how circumstances had affected him.

And wasn’t that why he’d told her? Because she made him feel less alone? Not even his ex-wife who’d been his best friend had understood him quite so well. Nor had he understood her. If he had, he wouldn’t have been shocked when she’d asked for a divorce.

Kelly met his gaze. To his surprise, she remained silent and he wondered what she was thinking.

“Not as fun as the last one, huh?” Kelly asked.

“What?”