Page 41 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

She pulled down the edges of her suit jacket looking entirely out of place amidst the graffiti and ragged grooves in the beat-up floor.

‘If we film this renovation, Hearth and Home will give you ten thousand dollars per episode. We will listen and follow your every direction with a promise to stay out of the workers’ way. When the house is finished’ – she nodded at me – ‘Torran will do a complete voice-over. Explain in detail everything you’ve done to bring the house back to its historic state. It will be a five-show package with a rider stating that if the shows earn the appropriate viewership, we’ll open negotiations for a full season next year. The payment will go up to twenty thousand dollars per show with a guaranteed total of ten episodes.’

Manny tugged on his cap but didn’t show any emotion. He was so much better with the poker face than I was.

I took a rough gulp and did the math in my head. Fifty grand plus an additional two hundred thousand dollars for one full season. With that money we could pay off some of our debt and consider new projects. The offer was tempting, but Hearth and Home had burned us once and I wasn’t about to jump in again without some serious thought.

‘That’s an interesting offer but it doesn’t erase the damage you’ve already done to our reputation,’ Manny said. ‘You haven’t exactly proven yourself to be trustworthy, Lauren. We’ll need time to think it over.’

‘I expected that response so let me give you one more thing to consider. If you agree to this project, we’ll take down the video immediately and sue anyone who reposts it without our permission.’

Manny and I swapped a knowing look. For days after the video went live, we went to every lawyer in Ivy Falls for help. The entire town was so angry with me no one would take our case. We went to several lawyers in Nashville hoping to find a way to force Hearth and Home to take it down. Unfortunately, those lawyers told us what we already knew: the contract we’d signed was ironclad.

If we wanted the video to disappear, Lauren’s offer might be the only way.

‘Like Manny said, we need some time to think.’ I stepped back so she had a clear exit to the door.

She rolled back her shoulders. ‘Considering what’s happening in this town, how much you both claim to love it, I thought you’d jump at this chance.’

‘What do you mean by what’s happening in this town?’ I said.

Her eyes went wide. ‘The email we received said your little town was dying. That by the end of the year half the businesses on Main Street would be shuttered. Whoever wrote that email claimed that a show like ours could create new interest in Ivy Falls. We win. You win. The whole town wins.’

By the pale color of Manny’s cheeks it was clear he knew nothing about this either. People said it was my fault tourism was down, but I had no idea things were this bad. The empty shelves in the P&P flashed through my head.

Oh my God, was Mom’s bookstore in trouble too?

‘Again, we can’t give you our answer now,’ I said shakily. ‘We’re contracted through the owner. He’ll need to give us permission.’

She clucked her tongue. ‘You have a week. This is going to be a short production schedule and we’ll need to start shooting soon.’ She glanced between me and Manny. ‘I hope you’ll give Hearth and Home a second chance to prove we’re a good partner. You two have something special and we want to share that with our audience.’ Lauren’s gaze moved to the high ceilings and crown molding. ‘And if this house turns out the way I think it will, you may just be the saving grace of this town too.’ She swung her dark hair over her shoulders before walking out the door.

‘Did you know about the town?’ Manny said only seconds after she was gone.

‘No. There were fewer people in Sugar Rush when I went in to get my coffee the other day.’ I sunk down onto the bottom step, all the air fleeing my lungs. ‘And now that I think about it, many of the storefronts around the square are vacant.’ Acid began to coat my throat. ‘What everyone has been saying is true. I ruined tourism for Ivy Falls. This is all my fault.’

‘This isn’t your fault, Tor. My guess is that Ivy Falls has been in trouble a long time.’

I dropped my head in my hands and groaned. ‘Well, my video didn’t help matters.’

Manny slid down next to me but remained uncomfortably quiet.

‘I can sense the wheels in your head spinning,’ I said. ‘Tell me what you’re thinking.’

‘We could use that money. Beck may be paying us to do the work here, but we’re still over budget on Parkview. If we want to keep working on other houses…’ He stopped. Curled his hands around the brim of his hat.

‘We need the money, plain and simple. And if we agreed to do the show, brought more people to town, I could get Ivy Falls to finally forgive my F-bomb tirade and put us on solid ground financially. Like Lauren said, win-win.’

He gave me a reluctant nod.

With a house this big, it was likely that we could have some major issues. One bad A/C pump, or broken water pipe, and this project would be in a world of hurt, but the risk didn’t scare me. It made me want to take on the challenge even more. But there was Manny too. My viral mistake hadn’t only affected me but his livelihood too. If we couldn’t make this work, he’d also be out of a job. It broke my heart when I thought about the horrible situation I’d created for him and Lou.

‘We have to talk to Beck,’ I said.

‘I’ll leave that up to you seeing as you’re working so closely now.’ His stare returned to my neck and heat flared at my cheeks. I could never hide anything from him.

‘Shut up.’ I tossed an old beer can at him. ‘I’m not sure how he’ll feel about getting this all on camera, especially since this is part of his own private history being resurrected.’

‘Don’t know until you ask,’ he said with a huff.