She nodded, pressing her lips together. “Much. Ingrid is amazing. I just…I can’t stop thinking about all of the kids who are in crappy foster homes. Truly bad ones, and even ones that are just overtaxed.”

My girl with the tender heart. God, I loved it when she let it shine through. When she gave me those glimpses of who she truly was. “That’s why there are organizations like the Alliance. To make sure these kids have a voice in what happens to them. Maybe you should think about volunteering there. I know Callie always needs more hands.”

Kenna nodded thoughtfully, but I didn’t miss the shadows that flickered in her eyes. Something was holding her back, and it was tied to that pain in her past. Maybe it was too painful for her, a reminder of what she’d gone through leaving her mother’s home and going to live with Harriet. “Is it hard for you to be around Zoe?”

Kenna jerked as if I had struck her. “No, why would you ask that?”

“Those shadows, Brown Eyes. They came out to play again. And I started thinking about everything you went through with your mom—”

Kenna made a sound of frustration low in her throat. “If Harriet was here right now, I’d be giving her a very stern talking-to about being a blabbermouth.”

My lips twitched. “She shared very little, even with all my prodding.”

Kenna’s gaze cut to me. “You’re a nosy bastard. You know that, right?”

I shrugged, my smile spreading. I’d always be a nosy bastard when it came to her. My phone buzzed in my cupholder, and I swiped it up, checking the screen.

Mom: You need to return Alicia’s call. I didn’t raise my son to be so rude. She is extremely distraught.

Alicia had pulled out the big guns and called my mother. Too bad my mom’s guilt trips didn’t work quite as well as they used to. I dropped the phone back into the cupholder with a thud.

“The ex again?”

I shook my head. “Worse.” Kenna arched a brow in question. “My mother.”

She let out a bark of laughter. “Good to know someone can still put the fear of God in you.”

“You have no idea.”

Kenna glanced down at her lap, her laughter fading. “We haven’t talked about the lawsuit.”

I hadn’t wanted to talk about it because I didn’t want to see the pain and worry in Kenna’s face—the way it was flickering to life now. I’d wanted to simply take this away and deal with it myself. But that was impossible. “The first court date is next week.”

Kenna’s fingers twisted in her lap. “Is it usually that fast?”

“No. The system generally moves at a snail’s pace.”

“So, Grant must’ve thrown his weight around.”