Free A Better Man by Candis Terry Page A

est.”
    â€œAnd now we’ve moved on to innuen dos?”
    â€œSorry, teacher.” He flashed her a guilty-­as-­sin smile. “I’ll try to behave mys elf.”
    â€œI’m sure it would be a first. So . . . you spoke with your sis ter?”
    He nodded and leaned his forearms on the table. The muscles in his neck tensed. “I went to her with all the intentions of discussing the class assignments and finding out why she wasn’t doing them. But I hit a wall. I understand she—­as we all—­have suffered the sudden loss of our parents. But what I saw in her wasn’t gr ief.”
    Lucy’s head slightly tilted and concern darkened her eyes. “What t hen?”
    â€œAn ger.”
    At that moment the server appeared with their drinks and the huge box of cookies. Jordan paused until she was out of ear shot.
    â€œIt was as if she was a balloon ready to explode.” He sipped his coffee and found it too hot to drink. Then he looked up at Lucy. “Why would Nicki be so angry? Does she have social problems at school that you know of? Any major issues other than not turning in her w ork?”
    â€œI asked the school counselor that very question today. She told me Nicole hasn’t been in her office all year.” Lucy folded her hands together on the table. “I do know your sister has become much quieter over the past month or so. I used to have to reprimand her and a few of her girlfriends when I’d catch them chatting or texting during class. I haven’t had to do that in a while. Maybe the problem has something to do with t hem.”
    â€œIs there any way we can find out?”
    â€œI’ll talk to the counselor again and see if she wants me to ask or if she wants to call the friends into her off ice.”
    â€œThat would be great. At least it’s a starting point. And I’ll talk to my brothers again. Ryan’s around her the most. He’d probably be a good one to ask although he hasn’t been very helpful this far.”
    â€œHe probably has a lot on his m ind.”
    â€œDon’t we all?”
    â€œLife does hold some interesting challen ges.”
    â€œAgreed,” he said. “Some days more than oth ers.”
    â€œI guess it keeps us on our t oes.”
    â€œI’d be happy with a lot less dr ama.”
    â€œMe too.” She chuckled. “Some days I wish I could just stay in bed.”
    He wouldn’t mind staying there with her.
    â€œI get what you mean,” he said. “At least a short break from the chaos would be n ice.”
    â€œI’d gladly join you on that deserted tropical isl and.”
    He smiled. “Before I start imagining all the possibilities of that in my head, maybe we should stick to the prob lem.”
    â€œGood i dea.”
    â€œSo, before this problem with Nicki, did she seem to like the class? Or has she always been a challe nge?”
    â€œThere’s a huge difference between then and now.” Back to business, Lucy pushed the small stack of papers toward him. “You’ve seen the work—­or lack of—­she’s handing in now. But take a look at this assignment from the first week of cl ass.”
    She waited patiently while he looked past the hearts and flowers doodled on the corners in pink pen to digest the words his sister had wri tten.
    The assignment had been to describe a well-­loved object. Nicki had composed a humorous and entertaining short story about Taffy Tickles, the orange ragtag bear she’d had since birth. The lightheartedness in her storytelling touched him deeply. He couldn’t connect the person who’d written this story with the enraged and snide young girl he’d tried to talk to yeste rday.
    â€œSeems like two different peo ple.”
    â€œI agree.” Lucy took the paper back and added it to the others. “So maybe we’re dealing with something on a grander scale