‘Oh, yes, yes.’ Looking smug, Charles led Holly’s dad through the crowded house, towards the garden, where Harker and Holly both waited. ‘He’s a friend of my fiancée, you know. She loved your book, so – oh!’ He suddenly came to a halt, looking inspired. ‘You don’t take commissions, do you?’
‘Commissions?’ Mr Turner blinked. ‘I’m not sure I understand . . .’
‘Novelisations of real-life weddings, for example?’
Oh no. Behind them, Ivy rolled her eyes. She heard Olivia choke. Groomzilla had struck again!
Luckily, Lillian had been close enough to overhear. ‘Come along, darling. I think Mr Turner has plenty to think about already. Mr Turner, may I introduce Jacob Harker? Jacob, Mr Turner will be with you in just a moment, but I think he needs a minute alone with his daughter first.’ Putting one hand on her fiancé’s arm, she gently dragged Charles back inside and closed the glass door to the garden.
As they left, Ivy could hear her father saying, ‘But wouldn’t it be a brilliant idea, sweetheart? We could hand copies out to all the guests – we could even start a wedding blog to promote it!’
‘Oh no!’ Ivy’s jaw dropped open.
Behind her, she heard her twin’s giggle. Ivy turned to meet Olivia’s eyes. ‘She will stop him, won’t she?’ Ivy said.
‘I think Franklin Grove has had enough blogging to last a century,’ Olivia agreed. ‘And can you imagine Grandma’s face if she found out there was a would-be blagger in the family?’
Ivy snorted with laughter. ‘She’d have a fit.’ She shook her head. ‘You’re right. I don’t think we have to worry about groomzilla-dot-com popping up any time soon, no matter what Dad might think.’
Together, they looked out into the garden, where Holly and her dad were sharing an enormous hug. Mr Harker stood nearby, tapping his foot impatiently, but it looked like Hollywood was going to have to wait – ‘S. K. Reardon’ was putting his daughter first. When Holly finally stepped back, her dad draped one arm around her shoulder before he turned to the waiting producer.
‘Do you want me to tell you what they’re saying?’ Ivy asked Olivia. She knew the glass door was too thick for her twin to overhear without super-strong vamp hearing.
Olivia shook her head, though, smiling as she watched Harker’s first words put a look of amazed joy on the author’s face. ‘There’s no need,’ she said. ‘I can tell exactly what’s going on out there.’
Within a minute, Turner and Harker were talking excitedly, while Holly beamed at them both, shining with happiness.
‘And now there’s no more need for Holly’s blog either,’ Ivy said. ‘Whew.’
‘Thank goodness,’ Olivia said. ‘Let’s give them some privacy.’
They moved into the living room, sharing a secret smile. As they stood by the window, just far enough from the other party guests, Olivia murmured, ‘I can’t believe we wriggled out of this mess – and without anyone getting hurt on the way.’
‘You’re telling me.’ Ivy sighed. ‘I know we won’t always be so lucky . . . but I’m glad we were this time.’ Linking arms with Olivia, she rested her head on her twin’s shoulder. I must be going soft in my old age, she thought.
Outside the window, the crowd of VITs was still milling around, but Ivy didn’t care about any of them any more. While they’d waited for Holly’s dad to arrive, Holly had promised to close down the blog – and to write a final post explaining that it had all been just a hoax. It was a blog post that would take real courage to write. But I’m finally beginning to see that Holly had courage and loyalty all along. Even Ivy Vega could admit when she’d been wrong – to herself, at least.
‘I promise,’ Ivy said to Olivia now, ‘no matter what happens in the future – whether your talent makes you a huge Hollywood star, or my V-ness takes me away again – one thing will never, ever change. I will never not be there for you, wherever we are in the world.’
‘Oh, Ivy!’ Olivia wrapped her up in a rib-crushing hug.
‘Hey!’ Ivy whispered, even as she sniffled back a tear. ‘Maybe you have inherited some vampire strength, after all!’
‘Um.’ Holly coughed, just a foot or two away, and the two of them broke apart. ‘I just wanted to say . . .’ She looked out the window and winced. ‘I’m so sorry for all the fuss I’ve caused in your home town. I never thought so many people would really believe in vampires, of all things!’
Ivy had to hide her grin behind an ‘understanding’ face. Poor Holly didn’t realise just how much fuss she’d really caused – she had no idea that, right at this moment, she actually was surrounded by vampires. Holly would be shocked to know she’d been telling the truth on her blog all along!
Next to Ivy, though, Olivia looked grave. ‘I’m not sure I liked all of your tactics,’ she said. ‘I mean, circulating anonymous Internet rumours is never a good idea . . . But I can kind of understand where you were coming from. Everybody wants their family to be happy.’
She shot Ivy a significant glance. Ivy stifled a sigh as she stepped towards Holly.
‘Friends?’ she said to her, stepping forwards.
Before Holly could answer, Olivia’s cell phone rang. The sound made both twins freeze.
Ivy knew that pop-song ringtone. Olivia flushed, her eyes widening as she stared down at the ringing phone. Holly just looked confused. ‘Um, aren’t you going to answer that?’ she asked.
‘I . . .’ Olivia took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders. ‘Yes, I am. I really am.’ She pressed the button. ‘Jackson,’ she said. ‘How are you?’ The tone of her voice was as cool and confident as if she were talking to a stranger, but Ivy recognised the dreamy look in her eyes.
Ivy smirked and raised an eyebrow. ‘Give him my love,’ she whispered.
Olivia rolled her eyes at her twin, but her cheeks turned even deeper pink. She slid away through the crowd, clearly looking for a quiet spot.
‘Who was that?’ Holly asked.
‘Olivia’s ex-boyfriend,’ Ivy said. But she couldn’t help adding, ‘At least, for now.’
Jackson had a funny habit of calling at all the right moments, didn’t he? And now that the film industry strikes were over, Eternal Sunset could finally start shooting, with Olivia and Jackson starring in the lead roles . . . which meant that he and Olivia would be reunited soon, at least on a film set.