Maybe, she thought, I should be even more obvious and write out: Kiss, kiss, kiss. And don’t make my first kiss be with Garrick!
‘Come inside,’ Rebecca called. ‘And help me finish up the soup.’
They trooped down the hall into the kitchen; the smell of onions had started to fill the air. Brendan had to duck to avoid the copper pots that were hanging from the ceiling, and definitely looked out of place next to the blue-and-red checked tablecloth.
‘What can I do?’ Brendan offered.
‘Nothing, nothing,’ Rebecca insisted, so Brendan sat down at the table awkwardly.
‘So, Ivy … Olivia gave me the summary all about you,’ Rebecca said, snipping up chives into the soup pot. ‘Why don’t you give me the rundown on your sister?’
Ivy pretended to think hard. ‘Well, she’s a neat freak, much too cheerful in the morning and has a flare for extravagant party planning.’
Olivia smiled. Ivy was such a cute grump.
‘Oh yeah, and – as you know – she’s dating the most famous movie star in the whole world.’
Rebecca clapped. ‘I know!’ she squealed and turned to Olivia. ‘Tell me all about it.’
That wasn’t something Olivia had trouble talking about at all. She launched into the story of how they’d met, when he’d dressed up as a security guard.
But a nagging voice at the back of her mind kept piping up: He still hasn’t kissed you yet!
Ivy and Brendan sat quietly while Olivia and Rebecca babbled on about cheerleading, horses and Jackson. Gonzo and Gibson, the Labradors, kept an eye on them from matching baskets in the corner of the kitchen.
‘So, Brendan,’ Rebecca said in a rare lull in the bunny conversation. ‘Why don’t you tell me a little about you?’
Brendan pushed his curly hair away from his face. ‘Well, uh, there’s not much to tell. I like running and am kind of a science geek, like my dad – chemistry, building stuff.’
‘Are you in any after-school clubs?’ Rebecca asked.
Brendan shook his head. ‘The kind of stuff I like tends to be less crowded.’
‘He plays a mean game of air hockey,’ Ivy put in.
Rebecca didn’t look impressed.
It’s not fair, Ivy thought to herself. Comparing Brendan to Jackson was like comparing funeral wreaths to wedding bouquets. Jackson might be the most amazing guy according to the entire world, but Brendan takes me by surprise every day.
‘Aunt Rebecca,’ Ivy said. ‘Do you mind if I take Brendan on a little walk around the yard before he rides home? We promise not to disturb any of the animals.’
At least, she hoped they wouldn’t.
‘Of course, sweetie.’ Rebecca looked relieved, either that they were going for a walk or that he was going to ride home. Probably both, Ivy thought. ‘It makes sense to head out long before sunset.’ Ivy remembered Rebecca saying something similar to her dad.
‘Do you want to come, Olivia?’ Ivy asked.
Olivia shook her head and held up her script. ‘I was going to run through my Juliet lines.’
‘Ooh, can I help?’ Rebecca offered.
‘Sure!’ Olivia replied and handed over the papers.
Brendan grabbed Ivy’s lightweight buckled coat, and they headed out on to the front porch.
The sun was low and the sky was turning yellow.
‘I think your aunt doesn’t like me much,’ Brendan said, as they wandered past one of the weeping willow trees casting shadows across the yard.
‘She thought you were stalking her chickens.’
Brendan chuckled. ‘They are some crazy-looking chickens.’
‘She doesn’t seem to be a big fan of black,’ Ivy said. ‘She doesn’t like my dad much either. But she is really nice, and she’s already told us a ton about our mom that we never knew. Olivia is loving every minute.’
Brendan nodded. ‘There might be parts of your mom that Olivia understands better, but there are parts just for you, too.’
Ivy thought of Jane Austen again. ‘You’re right.’
‘And you’re beautiful,’ Brendan replied, giving her a little kiss on the nose. ‘I’d better go, before the sun sets and either my bike turns into a pumpkin, or I turn into a chicken-stalking zombie … Grr arrg!’ He held up his hands and pretended to chase Ivy.
She dashed under the willow tree branches, back up the steps and collapsed giggling on to the porch swing.
Brendan kissed her and then headed off into the sunset, like a cowboy. Well, a black-clad vampire cowboy on a bike.
‘Thanks for coming,’ she called after him. He did a wheelie in reply, sending up a cloud of dust.
She snuggled into the cushions and gently swung back and forth, watching the sun go down. She could see why her mother would have loved coming here. The ranch was beautiful.
Ivy wished she had her notebook, but it was upstairs in her backpack. She felt like this swing would be the perfect place to write.
She sat for another moment, enjoying the changing colours of the sky. Then Olivia and Rebecca burst out laughing inside. Ivy hopped down from the swing to join them. She took a step. Her foot hit a floorboard that was poking up and she ended up sprawled across the porch. Ivy twisted round to look back over her shoulder; she’d dislodged the wooden plank.
Great, Ivy thought. Now I’m destroying the house!
Ivy crouched down and saw that there were no nails at either end of the board. It had been loose for a while. When she went to slot it back in place, she realised why. There was something hidden under the plank. She took out her cell phone and used the light of its screen to see a battered journal wrapped in a clear plastic bag. As she pulled it out, she could see that its leather cover was embossed with the initials ‘S.K.’