Page 44 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘You’re up early.’ I smiled at my little sister whose long hair hung down around her face like a black curtain.

‘That’s what happens when your ogre of a brother insists you take the subway halfway across Manhattan for a job interview.’

Purple shadows rimmed the lower parts of her eyes. Small creases carved into the skin around her mouth. She was only twenty-four, but the way she’d been living these last years had aged her quickly.

I gulped down all my fear and worry and plastered on a hopeful smile. ‘And did you get the job?’

‘You are now talking to the newest waitress at the Midtown Café,’ she huffed.

‘Great job,’ I gushed.

‘Whatever.’ She pulled a rubber band from her wrist and knotted up her hair. ‘The job doesn’t start for a little while. Training and all. I’m low on cash. Will you transfer more to me?’

My head screamed with about a dozen questions. What was she doing with all the money? Was she spending it on alcohol? Drugs?

I couldn’t let my mind go there.

‘How much do you need?’ I asked.

‘About two grand.’

‘To cover what?’ My voice leapt up an octave.

‘God, Beck. Food. Rent. Other necessities. I also have something special I want to buy.’

‘What is it?’

‘None of your business. It’s my money, dammit. Stop giving me a hard time.’

I let out an aggravated breath and forced my voice to be even. ‘Okay. I’ll send you the money on one condition.’

‘You are treading on my last nerve.’

‘You have to agree to check in with me at least twice a week from now on.’

‘I’m not a child,’ she grumbled. ‘There’s no need for you to constantly keep tabs on me. If Mom and Dad were alive, they wouldn’t be this annoying.’ As soon as the words left her mouth her face drained of color.

I knew she hadn’t said it to hurt me. This was always her knee-jerk reaction when I pushed too hard. It made me worry about how I was going to ease into telling her about Huckleberry Lane. After Torran and Manny spoke to me about the Hearth and Home proposal, I’d agreed they could film the house, so it wasn’t a secret I could hold on to for much longer.

After an uncomfortable pause, she said, ‘Beck, I’m sorry. You know I love you.’

‘The money will be in your account before the end of the day,’ I said, doing my best not to let any of the stress I was feeling cloud my voice.

‘Thanks.’ She gave me a sad smile and the call disconnected.

Every instinct in me said I should call her back. Tell her I loved her. Confess that I’d bought our childhood home. That things would be so much better when it was finished and she could move back to Tennessee. But I held back because I knew Piper. For years she’d sworn she’d never return to Ivy Falls.

Buying the house was an obvious risk, maybe a totally reckless choice, but she’d been dancing on the razor’s edge of life for too long. A pull deep inside of me, part fear, part worry, warned that the house might be my final chance to reach her.

Chapter Twenty

TORRAN

It Should Be Illegal For A Guy To Look That Hot In A Suit.

It’d taken a week of negotiations, and one too many breakfasts with Lauren at Sugar Rush, before we’d all agreed to Hearth and Home’s offer. Ten days later the preproduction team descended on the house. Lauren and her slew of assistants photographed every room. They wanted before and after shots for social media and to use as transition segments at the end of each episode.

The camera crew couldn’t start filming until the permit was approved by the town council, which Lauren assured me would only take about two weeks.