For a moment, no one moved, or even breathed, but then the fog clouding Leo’s vision lifted as abruptly as it had descended.
He let Lila go. Fliss, who’d remained silent until now, ghosted out of the room. Reg followed, then Kate stepped forward. “I’m going to take Lila upstairs to wash her hands.”
Dazed, Leo nodded. He was still getting used to the red haze that misted his vision when his heart beat too fast. “She doesn’t like cold water.”
“I know, sweetheart. You wrote it in your family journal.”
“Why do you have that?”
Kate lifted Lila to her hip as though she weighed nothing at all. “Your caseworker gave it to us. That’s why they asked you to keep it, so we could get to know you a little before you got here.”
That sounded about right, though Leo had only filled out the stupid diary so people didn’t fuck with Lila’s routine while he was at school. “She’s allergic to baby wipes too, so don’t clean her face with them.”
“I know, Leo.”
Kate carried Lila out of the room. Leo ran a hand through his hair and tugged hard, using the pain to ground himself. New places always felt weird, but this house was something else. He glanced around at the smiling family photos, bright cushions, and warm wood floors. The big semidetached was the kind of home Leo dreamed of on the rare nights his subconscious took him somewhere pleasant . . . took him to a place where smoke meant campfires and warm beer, not the brutal end of his childhood.
Charlie cleared his throat. Somehow, Leo had missed him setting up the Wii and parking himself on the coffee table. “Wanna play Mario Kart?”
“Hmm?”
“Mario Kart,” Charlie said. “Come on. We’ve got time for a quick game before dinner.”
“And dinner’s at seven, yeah?”
“Yep.” Charlie grinned, and it changed his whole face. His soulful eyes brightened and sucked Leo in, drew him closer until he took a place on the coffee table and found himself falling headfirst into the forgotten world of animated mushrooms and magical gold coins.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of video games and companionable silence with Charlie, and then dinner at the big round table with everyone else: Kate, Fliss, Charlie . . . Reg. Leo watched Reg like a hawk, but he made no move to touch Lila again.
After dinner, Kate signed to Lila. “Bath time.”
Leo stood and held out his hand. “I’ll do it.”
“You don’t have to, Leo. It’s our job to take care of you and Lila now.”
Our job. Leo glanced between Kate and Reg.No fucking way. He touched Lila’s arm and signed, “Come.”
No one stopped them. Leo took Lila upstairs to the family bathroom—Reg and Kate had their own—and ran Lila a bath. He tested the water absently while Lila looked on, suspicious of the big, claw-footed tub.
Leo turned the taps off. “Get in.”
Lila shook her head and bit her bottom lip. “Don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Scary.”
Leo suppressed a sigh and looked around for a bribe. Lila didn’t like change, but pretty things often distracted her. He found a half-empty bottle of bubble bath. “Bubbles?”
Lila wrinkled her nose. “It’s too late.”
“So? It smells nice.”
“I have a box of old toy ponies under my bed. Do you think she’d like to play with them?”
Leo glanced over his shoulder. Fliss, the oldest foster kid, stood in the doorway. “Why do you have toys under your bed?”
“Why not?”
