“So, Isobel,” Reece said brightly, obviously trying to cover the bad manners of the rest of his tablemates. “You said you drove here from New York?”
Isobel nodded, dabbing a big chunk of cauliflower against the side of her plate to try to drain off the butter that had collected on it.
“Which part?” Reece asked.
She put her fork down, giving up on the cauliflower. It was like a little sponge. There was probably a half a tablespoon of butter in that single bite. “I live in the city. But I go to college upstate in Ithica.”
“So what brings you to our neck of the woods?” Jeremiah asked. He’d closed his books, apparently giving up on studying after all.
Crap. She should have anticipated this question. Why hadn’t she thought up a good answer for it? She swallowed as she tried to think of something to say. God, her throat was dry. She smiled and held up a finger as she reached for the water pitcher in the center of the table and poured herself a glass. After taking a long sip, she still didn’t have any better idea what to say.
“Um, I was just… in the mood for a change of pace.”
“What about you two?” She gestured at Jeremiah and Reece. When in doubt, deflect. “Where are you from? You grew up in Texas, is that right? How’d you end up here?”
“Oh we were just in Texas for a year. We’ve been all over.” Reece leaned back in his chair. “The question is—do you want the long story or the short?”
“Oh no, here we go,” Liam muttered. “Don’t get him going, love,” Liam leaned in, bumping his shoulder against Isobel’s. “Nobody loves telling yarns more than this one.”
Isobel smiled. “Okay, how about something in between the long and short version?”
“Well, you’d have to start at the beginning, back when Jeremiah and I were just eight years old and our mother decided she wanted to join the circus.”
Jeremiah shook his head but Reece ignored him. Isobel nibbled on a piece of celery while she listened.
“Mom decides she wants to join the circus. She was really good at gymnastics when she was younger, she says, and she’s sure she’ll be able to get a job. It’s something she’s always dreamed about doing and carpe diem! Seize the day!” Reece jabbed a fist in the air, his face enthusiastic and full of amusement.
“So she packs me and Jeremiah up in the car and we drive through the night and then all the next day. We get to this carnival right at dusk. I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s a giant ferris wheel they set up, all covered in lights.” Reece gestures with his hands, his face animated. “A man on stilts juggling. People selling candied apples and cotton candy and popcorn and hot dogs. I mean, to a little boy, this was heaven on earth.”
“Mom gave us twenty bucks and Jeremiah and I spent the whole night riding every ride and getting so stuffed on funnel cake I threw up after riding the tilt-a-whirl.” He grins nostalgically. “God, it was the best night of my life up to that point.”
Reece’s enthusiasm was infectious and Isobel couldn’t help smiling along. “So what happened then? Did your mom get a job at the circus?”
“What? Oh, God no,” Reece barked out a short laugh. “Mom was batshit. Totally nuts. She was lucky someone caught her before she took a flying leap from the trapeze. They called the cops. We didn’t know until the carnival was being shut down for the night and went looking for her.” He shook his head, still chuckling.
Isobel just stared at him, her mouth dropped open. “I’m so sorry,” she finally managed to say. “That’s horrible.”
Reece waved a hand like it was nothing. “It was fine. We went to live with our Grandma Ruth then.”
“So she raised you?”
“Oh, no,” Reece laughed again, like the very idea was ludicrous. “Granny Ruth was a raging alcoholic. No, we only lived with her for about six months before we went into foster care.”
“Oh.” Isobel took another long sip of water.
“Now this is where the story really gets interesting. Jeremiah and I got to see all different ways of life over the next few years. I’ve never met anyone who had a more colorful childhood than we did.”
Jeremiah let out a loud huff. “That’s one word for it,” he muttered.
Reece ignored him. “I mean, just the number of religions we got to personally witness was amazing. You can’t really get to know a religion by just visiting a church or a temple on Sunday, you know. But to get to see a family living out their faith,” he let out a low whistle, “You can really see where the rubber meets the road.”
“Okaaaay,” Isobel said, drawing out the word.
“Like, we lived with this really strict Baptist family first. Strict being the operative word.” Reece shook his head with a little shudder. Considering how he described his crazy mom and alcoholic grandma with such fondness, Isobel hated to think what would actually make this guy shudder.
He brightened the next second. “But then came the Unitarians, and after them there was a family who wasn’t very religious at all. But then we got to stay with the Hausers, who were Buddhists. They were these old hippies who showed us how to meditate and everything. They were very open souls.”
“Too bad about the pot dealing that landed Mr. Hauser in jail our Junior year,” Jeremiah cut in. He sounded less than amused but Reece just nodded sagely.