Page 40 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘All right, spill it. What’s going on? Who’s outside?’ I said too quickly. ‘My dad already made an unwanted appearance today. Is it Old Mrs Vanderpool? She was giving me the stink eye at the park earlier today.’

Before he could answer, a familiar cadence of clicking heels echoed against the concrete walkway outside. A second later Lauren Gillroy from Hearth and Home walked through the door.

‘What the hell is she doing here?’ I said, tugging Manny back against the wall and out of sight.

‘I caught her lurking outside when I drove up. She’s here to see us. And, well, the house.’

‘The house? How does she even know about this place?’

‘Why don’t you come down here and I’ll be happy to tell you?’ Lauren’s high-pitched voice floated upstairs.

Manny shrugged and I shouldered my way around him. When I vaulted off the last step and into the entry, Lauren gave a quick wave like we were old friends. Hardly.

‘Hello, Torran. It’s good to see you again.’

Several responses played through my head, most of them words that were worse than what was written on the walls upstairs. The last time I’d seen Lauren I’d said quite a few things that would’ve gotten me a long censoring beep on television.

When we’d first signed the contract with Hearth and Home, Lauren promised she’d take care of us, look out for our best interests, but when push came to shove, and my video went viral, she didn’t lift a finger to help us.

‘Why are you here?’ was the most civil thing I could say.

‘Well,’ she hedged, her eyes darting around the chaos of the house. ‘I was wondering if we could talk for a minute?’

‘About what?’

It took every ounce of control for me to not totally lose it in front of the woman who’d made me the laughingstock of my entire town, not to mention the whole damn country.

Lauren shifted uncomfortably back and forth on her four-inch heels. ‘First, I wanted to apologize for the video being released on YouTube. After doing some digging, the network was mortified to learn one of our cameramen uploaded it without permission. He was promptly fired.’

‘Huh, that’s funny,’ I shot back. ‘The video is still up and has over a half a million views the last time I checked.’

‘Yes,’ she gulped. ‘But you did sign a release.’

If I stood still long enough, I could feel the weight of that green paint as it swerved down my back. The raw scent of it as it dripped onto the lovingly restored floors.

‘This conversation is over,’ I said, jamming my finger toward the front door. ‘You can leave now.’

Lauren huffed but straightened her shoulders. ‘Please, let me explain why I’m here.’

‘Go back to Atlanta, Lauren.’ Manny sauntered down the stairs, his grip whitening on the crumbling banister.

‘I’m here to offer you a new deal,’ she blurted out. ‘My boss heard about this house and wants to film its transformation. Have Torran go on camera narrating the changes you’ve made. He’d like her to talk about the importance of preserving old homes like this one and the value it adds back to the community.’

‘Heard from who?’ Manny said.

‘We got an anonymous email. The person gushed about the kind of renovations that were planned for this house. How you’re both so talented. That the network would be dumb not to give you another chance to showcase your work. That’s all I know.’

Manny and I swapped the same irritated look. If she thought she could waltz in here and sweet-talk us, she was dead wrong. And exactly who in town would brag about us? It didn’t sound legit.

‘Torran, everything all right?’ Beck leaned over the banister with Lou standing right next to him.

‘Just a small miscommunication,’ I said unconvincingly. ‘Can you take Lou back to the room where we were working? She can give you some pointers about the rest of the carpet.’

Beck let out a low chuckle at the way Lou propped her hands on her hips and gave him a firm nod.

Once they were out of earshot, I took a step toward Lauren and lowered my voice. ‘That video ruined our reputation in this town. No one warned me they’d laid down that rug. You and the cameraman were standing there the whole time. It would have taken one word of warning to prevent it. But no, you let me crash into the ladder and be doused by a can of green paint. And then no one told us the camera was still running,’ I fumed. ‘Do you have any idea how mortifying it is to get tagged in an Instagram post with over a thousand people snarking about what an idiot you are? Not to mention the damage it did to my relationship with practically everyone in my hometown!’

Lauren yanked the collar of her pink blouse away from her throat before squeaking out a reply. ‘It all happened so fast. If I had a chance to do it over, I would. Please believe me, I ordered that part of the episode to be deleted but Roy, the cameraman, has always been shady. He uploaded it without the network’s permission but then…’ She searched the ground for firm footing and huffed out a heavy breath. ‘It went viral. Our ratings went up and the network let it go. We do feel bad about it and because of that my boss is prepared to offer you this deal.’