was okay!”
“She’s fifteen!” I turn to Connor and his friends. “It was really nice to meet you all. I’m sorry. I have to go take care of my sister.”
“We’ve all been there. Water and Advil. And carbs. Lots of carbs,” Nia advises.
Connor stands. “Let me come with you. I’ll walk you two home.”
“I’ve got this.” Alex is white-knuckling his beer.
“Clearly you don’t or my little sister wouldn’t be trashed.” I stalk over to Claire and Isobel. “What happened?”
“I don’t feel good,” Iz whines.
I check my phone. We’ve got forty-five minutes till curfew. “How much did you have to drink?”
“Three beers. Four?” She looks to Alex.
“I didn’t know I had to keep track,” he says tightly.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. I got a little distracted gossiping about Jenna and Coop,” Claire apologizes.
“It’s okay.” Iz is my sister, not hers. It was my job to keep an eye on her.
If Granddad is waiting up for us, he is going to be pissed.
“Would you get her a hot dog, please?” I ask Connor, and he heads for the bonfire.
“What can I do?” Alex asks. “Let me do something.”
“You’ve done enough. We’ve got it from here.”
“‘We,’ huh? Thought you weren’t dating him.”
I count to ten. “Yes, we’re dating. I like Connor, and I’m dating him, and you’re going to have to deal with it, okay?”
“Or what? We can’t be friends anymore if I don’t like the guy?” Alex asks.
“I thought you didn’t want to be friends anymore.” I whirl on him. “Go away, Alex.”
He looks at me for a long minute, and then he leaves.
“Hot dogs are like a million calories,” Iz is protesting. “Where’s Alex going? He’s nice. Mama made him bring me, but he was nice about it.”
“What have you had to eat today?” I ask. “Please tell me it was more than a grapefruit and some lettuce.”
“None of your damn business.” She tries to get in my face and almost falls over. Claire steadies her. “I like you. You’re nice. Nicer than her.”
Claire cackles. “Oh, that is so not true. Ivy’s the nicest.”
“Nuh-uh. She’s a liar.” Iz hiccups. “Everybody’s a fucking liar. Kyle. Granddad. Ivy. Mama… Mama’s the worst. Only sometimes, the terrible things she says are true.”
“How do you mean?” Claire asks. Iz hiccups again, and Claire rubs her back.
“She said Kyle wasn’t going to wait for me all summer, and I think she’s right. I’ve only been gone a week and Rhiannon says he was already flirting with Emma Sinclair,” Iz says. “Maybe if I were skinnier, he wouldn’t break up with me. Mama says I should lay off the chocolate-chip cookies. Or maybe if I gave him a blow job.”
“Oh fuck no.” Claire hauls my sister around by the elbow and stares at her. “You are so pretty. Your mama doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Some people are just big black holes of need, and they’ll suck all the happiness right out of you if you let them. My father’s like that. I mean, do you see your mama in a happy relationship? No, you do not. You are gorgeous, baby girl. Don’t you ever let her tell you any different.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” Isobel is drunk-whispering, which means I can hear her perfectly from several feet away.
“Of course. I’m a good secret keeper,” Claire says.
“Sometimes I hate her.” Isobel’s lip quivers. “She was like this when she and my bio dad broke up. She got drunk all the time and she lost her job and she got mean. I had to do everything—make dinner, do laundry, walk to school. All by myself. I was seven.” She looks at me. “Sometimes I think you’re lucky ’cause you got to grow up without her. Is that terrible?”
“No.” Claire and I say it together.
“What changed?” I ask.
“My teacher threatened to call Child Protective Services,” Iz slurs. “But she didn’t quit drinking till she met Dad.”
Connor comes back with a bottle of water and a blackened hot dog on a roasted bun.
“Thank you,” I say, handing the hot dog to Iz. “Here. Eat.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I’m not eating bread.”
“Eat the damn bread, Isobel. I can’t take you home like this. Granddad will pitch a fit.”
She glares at me. “Mama won’t care. She drinks all the time.”
“There’s so much wrong with that…I don’t even know where to start,” I mutter.
“What did I say about eating whatever you want?” Claire asks.
Iz glowers at her too. “Like you eat hot dogs. Look at you!”
“Are you kidding? I love hot dogs.” Claire grabs