‘You sent a dress?’ the Countess asked, clearly impressed.
‘She loves it,’ Ivy said.
Jackson’s mysterious text message, the perfect-for-Olivia dress, even the odd meeting in the mall could be explained by Jackson’s Valentine’s Day plan.
Ivy realised that S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E really spelled D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. Olivia was with Prince Alex right now, thinking the dress was from him. She was also thinking that Jackson might not even like her any more. And to top it all off, Olivia had a date for the ball that wasn’t her boyfriend.
Ivy was going to have to find her sister before Jackson did and warn her. She decided to get him out of the way first.
‘Um, great!’ Ivy said brightly. ‘Why don’t I take you on a tour of the house and show you to your room?’
‘He’s in the east wing, near your father,’ the Countess said.
‘East wing,’ Ivy muttered.
As long as Olivia and Alex aren’t on the way to the east wing, we’ll be fine, Ivy thought to herself.
‘Why don’t we drop off your stuff before we find my sister?’ Ivy suggested and didn’t wait for a response. She grabbed Jackson’s elbow and steered him out of the ballroom and down the hallway. They passed a grandfather clock, ticking loudly. Ivy tried to control the simmering panic. Time’s running out, she realised. And I’m the only one who can fix this!
‘This is a beautiful room,’ Olivia said, looking up at the floor-to-ceiling shelves of books in the library. ‘I haven’t had a chance to look at it closely yet.’
Prince Alex gave her a curious look. ‘But we sat in here and talked yesterday,’ he said.
‘Oh, um, that’s right.’ Alex was thinking of Ivy’s impersonation, she realised. ‘But a collection like this can always be examined more thoroughly.’ She hoped that was enough to cover her slip-up.
She set the box with the dress down between them. ‘You’ve gone out of your way to welcome me to Transylvania, and I’m really grateful.’
‘I’m happy to,’ Alex said. Olivia tried not to wince. He really was such a nice guy and having to tell him that she only wanted to be friends made her feel awful.
She was just going to have to come right out and say it. ‘I am honoured to walk into the ball on your arm but –’
‘But not as honoured as I will be,’ Alex interrupted.
Olivia tried again. ‘I mean, I know that it’s Valentine’s Day –’
‘The day to spend with the one you love,’ Alex cut in.
This could not get any worse, Olivia thought.
She took a deep breath. ‘Look, Alex, I just don’t feel that way about you.’
Alex sat back a little and blinked.
Olivia rushed on. ‘I’m sorry not to have said anything sooner, but I have a boyfriend and –’
His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head to one side. ‘I know that.’
‘You know?’ Olivia was caught off guard.
‘Well, I didn’t know that you had a boyfriend, but I knew you weren’t interested in me,’ he replied. ‘You didn’t think I . . .’ Alex began and Olivia realised that he didn’t look hurt at all. Just confused.
‘Um, well, I . . .’ Olivia didn’t know what to say now.
‘Olivia, I think you are an amazing person – so positive and kind, even when some people disapprove.’ Alex smiled at her. ‘But I could not be interested in you romantically.’ He paused for a breath. ‘My heart belongs to someone else.’
Olivia was dumbfounded. ‘Who?’
‘You haven’t guessed?’ Alex said with a sad smile on his face. ‘I would have thought to someone as romantic as you it would have been obvious.’
‘Er . . .’ Olivia blinked. ‘I haven’t noticed.’
But at least it isn’t me, she thought, relieved that she wasn’t offending him at all.
‘What about the dress?’ Olivia asked.
‘What dress?’ Alex responded.
She pointed at the big box on the table. ‘That dress.’
‘I did not give you a dress,’ Alex said.
Now Olivia was completely baffled. ‘But if you didn’t . . . then who did?’
‘Don’t you want a moment to rest? A nap, perhaps?’ Ivy almost pleaded. She’d delayed Jackson as much as she could on the way up, but couldn’t keep it going forever.
He dumped his backpack on the red-patterned carpet and had a quick look around the bedroom. It had a beautiful view over the lake, dozens of old-looking framed maps on the walls and a gold inlay wooden dresser and wardrobe.
‘Beautiful,’ he said and then turned to leave. Ivy needed more time.
‘I came to see Olivia, and I don’t want to waste another minute,’ he declared.
Ivy sighed. Jackson was going to find Olivia alone with Alex, who was probably spouting poetry to her this very second. Maybe, she thought, if I steer him clear for long enough, she’ll be back in our room.
‘OK, let’s see if we can find her,’ she replied cheerfully. She led him out of the hall and paused for a moment, pretending to be considering which way to go. Then she turned away from the nearest staircase.
‘What do you think of this?’ Ivy asked, pausing in front of a painting of a flower pot.
‘It looks like all those flowers are dead,’ Jackson replied.
‘Mmm,’ Ivy replied, pretending to consider it. ‘The artist must have been commenting on the whole genre of still life. What is life when it is still?’ She had no idea what she was saying but she hoped it sounded good.