Which for some reason he doesn't feel like doing right now, but he also doesn't feel like dumping the whole actual truth on her.
[Well, why did they pick Forks and not Kalamazoo?] Bella asks. [That reason, whatever it is, will be satisfactory, even if I didn't guess it right.]
He doesn't know that reason. And even just saying 'my parents' sounds like a fundamental misrepresentation of his life, to a degree that makes him uncomfortable.
[Then say you don't know; that's fine too,] soothes Bella.
Renée, as promised, doesn't pry. "It's a dreary little town," she remarks. "Safe for children, it has that virtue - but I'm glad Bella's going off to school somewhere more interesting, even if going to Forks was up to her to begin with."
He can't help it; he grins.
(He doesn't believe in safety, but he believes in Bella.)
They pull up to the house and Renée bustles into it to show Alice all the rooms, as she showed Bella hours before.
"It's just perfect for me and Phil," says Renée. "Even if he's out of it most of every year."
"I'm so glad," enthuses Renée. "Now, I was thinking I would try to talk Bella into playing checkers or something, but I bet we have a game for three in the closet if you'd like to pick something out." She gestures at the closet that contains the board games.
There are various standards - Monopoly and Connect Four and a few decks of cards and checkers and chess and parcheesi and Apples to Apples. "Hmm," Renée says, peering around him. "Perhaps we don't have anything good for three after all. Unless you know a good card game for that many."
"I don't know that many card games," says Alice. "What the hell is that one?" He points at Apples to Apples.
"That's also a card game, but not with normal cards," Renée says. "I suppose it could work with three, but it's really better with more... there are adjectives and nouns, and one person draws an adjective and the others play appropriate nouns and the person who played the adjective awards that card to whoever played the best noun."
"Well, we can see if three can work," says Renée, fetching the box from the shelf and carrying it to the table. She deals out cards.
"Oh, how lovely," she remarks, tittering and closing her eyes so she won't know which noun came from where.
Bella plays "A Sunset".
Bella waves, and wins "Lovely". It is her turn, and she plays "Patriotic".
Renée offers "The Midwest".
Alice offers "Plane Crashes". (His other cards were worse. At least this one's sort of horrifyingly funny.)
Bella blinks at these cards, and slowly picks up The Midwest. Renée claims her prize. Alice's turn!