When Holly’s dad arrived at the house fifteen minutes later, Ivy ran for the door, but Charles got there first.
The house was full of family and friends from Franklin Grove, Transylvania, and California, all talking and laughing and eating the gourmet food her dad had chosen so carefully. After all the distractions of the past few days, Mr Vega’s long-awaited engagement party was not only happening, it was chock-full of celebrities, and he was glowing with pride.
‘Mr Turner!’ Charles gushed as he opened the door. ‘I’m so thrilled. A real live author here for such a special occasion! Lillian and I are both so honoured.’
‘We are pleased to meet you, Mr Turner,’ Lillian said calmly. Standing beside her fiancé, she looked as composed and elegant as ever in a sleek burgundy dress, completely unfazed by their unexpected guest. ‘Your daughter is in the garden, waiting for you.’
‘Oh, thank goodness. The last time we saw each other, I – well, I really need to talk to her, to apologise. I shouldn’t have been so stern with her. Sorry, you don’t need to hear all that, do you?’ Looking pale and shocked, the author reached up to straighten his tie with a trembling hand. When his gaze landed on the Count and Countess standing in the corner of the room, drinking cocktails and chatting with Lillian’s parents, he gave a nervous twitch.
The Count beamed at him and waved. They were separated by the crowd, but even a human could read the Count’s lips as he mouthed happily: ‘I’ve still got that pizza recipe for you! I’ll give it to you later.’
Mr Turner blinked, shook his head, and turned back to his host. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Vega, but could I just check – is there really a Hollywood producer here too? And he really wants to see me? My daughter said on the phone –’
‘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.