âSorry to check this,â she said a little too quickly, breathlessly. She flipped over the screen, and the light illuminated her face as she scrolled the pages. âI only leave the notifications on for family and for messages from the hotline for my victimsâ support group, so it could beââ
She went silent, lips pursed as she read.
âSomething wrong?â He admired her for using her own experiences as a victim of cyber stalking to help others, even if it interrupted a conversation that had captured his undivided attention.
âThereâs a local girl Iâm planning to check on while Iâm in Heartacheâsomeone Iâve communicated with off and on over the last two years through my online group.â Gabby worked the keypad on the screen while she spoke. âIâm really worried about her. Sheâs so young and sheâs alone taking care of her dyingââ after an awkward pause, she stopped typing to peer up at Clayton, her eyes widening with what looked like a âlightbulbâ moment ââfather.â
âWhat is it?â Heâd been behind the eight ball from the beginning of this conversation, so it was no surprise heâd missed a step somewhere.
âHer father is dying of cirrhosis and he lives just over the town line. Heading toward Franklin.â She frowned. âAnd you had mentioned that Peteââ
The truth slammed into him.
âYouâre meeting my half sister Mia?â
* * *
NOT EVEN CLAYTONâS warm leather jacket could ward off the chill that his words sent skittering over Gabriellaâs skin.
Gabriella had communicated with Mia Benson for two years online. And although she hadnât built up enough trust for the girl to confide her name until a few months ago, Gabriella never had any reason to connect her to Clayton.
They didnât have the same last name, for one thing. Then again, Mia wouldnât be the first offspring that didnât share Pete Yancyâs surname.
âYou know her.â She repeated the fact only because she was still having trouble making sense of it. âSheâs your half sister?â
Clayton gave a clipped nod. âYes, sheâs my half sister, but I didnât even know about her until very recently. But why are you worried about her? Is she being bullied? You met her through that victimsâ group you run?â
He fired the questions fast. Impatiently.
âSheâs not being bullied,â Gabriella assured him honestly, although she could kick herself for mentioning anything about the girl, even if she hadnât used her name. âBut Iâm not at liberty to say anything more without her permission. I had no idea you would know her, Clay. I swear. She was in the foster system.â
And just how on earth had Mia ended up in foster care when she had an older brother who might have stepped in? Defensiveness on Miaâs behalf simmered.
Gabriella needed to call the girl back, but since Mia hadnât flagged the message as urgent, Gabriella couldnât walk away from this shocking conversation with Clayton just yet.
âI had no idea she existed until Pete told me about her two weeks ago when he called to say he didnât have long to live.â Clayton shoved out of the wooden chair heâd been seated in, edging past her on the narrow porch to stalk freely around the patch of grass in front of his motel cabin. He paced like a tigerâtrapped and not happy about it.
âIâm surprised the foster system didnâtââ
âSo am I.â Cutting her off, he swung back toward the railing between them, grabbing the wood in two hands as he leaned closer, his knuckles turning white at the tight grip. âAnd you know whatâs really messed up about that, Gabby? I made it my mission to find all my half siblings after I graduated high school. I ended up being so damn good at itâunearthing one heartbreak story after another in the form of my sad and disjointed family until I had eight of us accounted for.â
The haunted expression on his face made it clear that not all of his siblings had navigated through childhood as successfully as he had. And Gabriella remembered firsthand how rough his experience had been. Heâd told her once about getting separated from a younger brother when social services removed the boy from Clayâs fatherâs house.
âIt was good of you to look them all up. Provide a sense of family for them.â Sheâd relied on her brother so much since her father went to jail and her mother wasted away waiting for him. Her mom had moved to the tiny town in Kansas where her father sat in a federal penitentiary.
If not for Zach, Gabriella wouldnât have a family.
âYeah. A real hero. Except that I stopped looking after I accounted for eight kids. As if the old man had suddenly given up going home with strangers and fathering more children he had no intention of supporting.â Clayâs bitterness came through every word, although it wasnât clear if he was more upset with himself or his father. âI guess I resented the old man so much that once I was done with that job, I didnât look back. Didnât visit. Didnât write. Didnât ask how many other kids he planned to shove out into the world with no means of support before he finally kicked the bucket.â
With that, he pushed away from the porch rail. Straightening, he walked away from the cabin, out into the moonlit parking area. She watched as he sucked in one long breath after another, before turning on his boot heel to stalk back toward her.
She waited until he was close enough to hear before she spoke.
âIâm glad to know that Mia has you now.â She reached over the rail to take his hand, willing him to look at her. âIâm sure she felt alone and reached out to me because she didnât know she had you. But things must have changed for her since you came into her life.â Gabriella had been frightened at the references Mia made to much older men back in the days when she was under her motherâs care before social services stepped in. The girl had joined the support group after that, to ask for help dealing with a teenage boy at her first foster home, but she had wound up resolving the issue and moving into a better home before Pete got himself together enough to get her out of the system.
Or so she said.
Still, Gabriella got the impression that Mia had enough dealings with her mother where she was still exposed to some unsavory types.
âThatâs kind of you to think, Gabby.â Clay squeezed her hand where sheâd taken it, his warm, callus-roughened palm sending a surprise thrill through her despite the grave nature of the conversation. âBut since I havenât even met Mia yet, Iâve been exactly no help at all to her.â
âYou said you found out about her weeks ago.â She slid her hand away from his, regretting the loss of warmth but wondering how well she knew Clayton Travers after all. Protectiveness for Mia rose inside her, and yes, a sense of identifying with the confused teen. Gabriella knew how it felt to be abandoned by a parent. âI guess I thought you would have already gone to see her.â
âI needed some time to research more and find out if Pete had any other offspring Iâd overlooked.â
âAnd?â
âMia is the last oneâthe only one Iâd missed. She lives with my father. And while I resent the old man bitterly, I thought they had a peaceful relationship if she chose him over the stability of a foster home. I figured he must have mellowed with age and his illness since the hospital forced him to get sober,â Clay explained. âBut if sheâs still reaching out to a victimsâ support group, maybe life in the Yancy household sucks as much as ever. Iâll make sure she knows that there are good homes in the foster system that will give her more stability.â
There was a cold finality to the words.
âYouâd send her back into foster care?â She couldnât believe the boy she once knew could have grown so heartless. âWhat about you? You could take her in. You would be a good role modelââ
âMe?â He sounded shocked she would consider it. He shook his head. âIâve made enough of a mess of my own relationships. I wouldnât be any help to a girl her age.â
âYouâve dealt with so many of the same things and gone on to be a successful adult.â
âBecause I broke away from my messed-up family.â The jut of his chin told her how much he would stake on that belief. âI wouldnât be doing Mia any favors to invite her back into the screwed-up legacy that is her genetic birthright. Better for her to find a good foster home like I did, with people who are committed to understanding at-risk teens.â
âShe had very different experiences in the foster system than you. Itâs hard for her to trust anyone.â Gabriella understood that much about the people who called her hotline or emailed her privately looking for help. Victims of stalking and bullying were less inclined to trust.
And although Mia wasnât currently being bullied, that was the situation in her first foster home when her foster motherâs teenage son had tried to coerce her into sex in exchange for extra privileges in the house.
Of course, Gabriella couldnât share any of that with Clay. It was information protected by the privacy policies of her support group. And although the policies were more flexible where the underage participants were concerned, Mia had shared the information with her caseworker. And for her part, Gabriella would do what she could to protect Miaâs privacy for as long as she could.
âThat, I understand. But I will explain to her how getting out from under the dark cloud of the Yancy influence helped me.â His dark eyes glittered with determination, his square jaw set. âSheâll be far better off in the system with experts watching out for her.â
Standing, Gabriella realized their conversation had come to a definite stalemate. Sheâd worked through enough of her past tonight without taking on Miaâs future, too. She would save that for another day, when she had time to think over her best course of action.
Besides, she wanted to talk to Mia and make sure she was okay.
âIt seems we did a good job of surprising each other tonight.â She slid off his jacket and laid it gently over the wooden railing for him, the scent of the leatherâof himâlingering along with the warmth. âYou had no idea I was baring my soul to you online ten years ago. And I had no idea you were the kind of man to return a teenage sibling to the foster system.â
She walked away without waiting for a response. She heard him call out to her, but she was too tired and upset to continue a heated discussion tonight. Not with the trial starting tomorrow.
Besides, if Clayton Travers wasnât concerned about Mia going back into state custody after Peteâs death, that was his business. But for her part, she planned to call the girl and see if she could help.
Gabriella understood all too well what it was like to have the people you counted on abandon you.