Mirror Image. Laura Scott

“I don’t know. I’m going to try and find her.” Jenna lifted a curious brow. “I know she had problems, but they had no right to take me away.”

      “Drugs? Alcohol?”

      “Drugs,” Claire admitted with a heavy sigh. “She’d stay clean for a while, but then one day I’d come home from school and find her strung out.”

      Griff tightened his grip on the spatula, imagining what Claire had suffered. Maybe she had broken the law at some point. He only hoped that the crime wasn’t so bad he couldn’t help her get out of it.

      He slid the omelet onto a plate, added toast and set it beside Claire. She glanced up and gave him a nod of thanks.

      Jenna paused for a few minutes, allowing her to eat. Claire eagerly dug into the simple meal, making Griff glad that he’d taken the time to cook a hot breakfast.

      He’d fully intended to leave them alone, but since Claire seemed willing to keep talking, he decided to clean up the kitchen a bit, admittedly eavesdropping on their conversation.

      “How old were you when you entered the foster system?” Jenna asked in a gentle tone.

      “Eleven, almost twelve, and I hated every minute of it,” Claire said flatly. “My mother’s rights were terminated a year later. I was adopted by an older couple, but I didn’t handle it well. I caused a lot of trouble for them, so I couldn’t really blame them for giving me up for re-adoption.”