“Yes, let’s,” Julia said, with a smile.
Just then Leni stirred in the other bed, opening her eyes. “It’s morning, Mommy!” she said, waking up.
Julia and Gianluca looked over, wondering if their daughter reallywaspsychic.
64
The bathroom in the motel room was cramped, and Julia settled down on the tile floor next to the bathtub, giving Leni a bath. It was late for one, but Leni’s schedule was messed up, and bathtime was a time they relaxed and talked about the day, so Julia thought it was a good time to try and find out whether Leni had inherited any of her psychic abilities.
Julia trailed her hand in the bathwater. “Nice and warm, right?”
Leni nodded, playing with a pine-scented soap in sudsy water. Her dark wet hair dripped onto her slick little shoulders.
“Let me ask you something, honey. When I was away, Nonna said you were worried about me.”
Leni nodded, holding the soap.
“Was there something you were worried about?”
“No.”
Julia sensed Leni was telling the truth, not being evasive. “Well, you don’t have to worry anymore. Everything is okay.”
Leni looked down, examining the soap.
“I also wanted to talk to you about that time on the phone, the last time we talked on the phone, do you remember?” Julia would never forget that phone call at McKenna’s farm, with Leni screaming, terrified for her. “You were with Nonna, and you called me? Remember?”
Leni nodded, then looked up, her dark-eyed gaze direct.
“Why did you tell Nonna you were worried about me, that time?”
“I was scary.”
Julia knewscarymeantscared. “Why were you scared?”
“I don’t know.” Leni rubbed the soap with her palm.
“And what happened?”
“I told Nonna.”
“And that’s when she called me?”
“Yes.”
Julia wanted to try it another way, because she knew she got different answers sometimes, depending on the question. “So you called me because you were worried about me. Why were you worried?”
“Wild Child.”
Julia masked her concern. “Who’s Wild Child?”
“She’s my friend. She said in my ear.”
“She told you in your ear?”
“Yes, that’s her house.”
Julia thought it jibed with her theory that Wild Child was what Leni called the voice she heard, but it didn’t necessarily mean that Leni had any psychic abilities. “Leni, you know what, sometimes I hear something I don’t understand, or I feel like I know things, but I don’t know why.”
