Page 5 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

I’d worked hard to erase that terrible day from my mind. To forget about the half-million (and growing) online views, and the contemptible glances I got whenever I walked into Minnie’s Market to buy a box of cereal or check out the paint samples at Hendrix’s hardware store.

Isabel sat back and fluffed her silver bob. ‘No one has so much as blinked at that house in two years. I’d say it was as good as yours.’ Her gaze darted around the bank. ‘Everyone knows you’re the right person to restore it whether they’ll admit it or not. Once you get a hold of that place it’s going to be a beauty.’

‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If you have the money, you have a shot to bid,’ I said, pulling the checks across the desk. ‘Just hope this is enough to scare off any other buyers.’

The lines of zeroes made my head spin. Manny had questioned if we needed this house. If it was the right project for us. After showing him the numbers, the kind of profit we could make, he’d been convinced – but we both knew it was a risk. The money we’d put out was the last of our company’s savings and our credit cards were maxed out. If this didn’t go well, no connection to the family bank would save us from our looming creditors.

Like Amos a minute ago, Isabel hesitated before a slow smile crossed her lips. ‘It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, you’ve got skills, young lady, and this town is darn lucky to have you.’

‘Thanks. Can you spread the word around?’ I joked.

She returned the laugh. ‘I’m working on it. You and Manny go and do your thing. People will get over themselves soon enough.’

‘I hope so,’ I said, pushing my chair back. ‘Still, keep your fingers crossed for me.’

She gave me a wink. ‘Don’t need to, honey. It’s in the bag.’

The creak of a door sounded behind me. I pushed in the chair and tried to make it to the side exit.

‘Torran!’ My father stalked across the room and customers scuttled out of his way. The sharp, unforgiving creases in his blue pinstriped pants matched his demeanor. His thick head of silver hair was combed into its perfect white helmet and his mouth drooped into its regular perma-frown. ‘Were you even going to say hello?’ he said, planting himself in front of me.

‘I’m in a hurry today. Auction and all.’ My heart pounded in an unsteady rhythm as I waved the checks in my hand. One interaction with him was all it took to turn me into a wobbly-kneed little girl again.

Several sets of eyes fixed on us and he pulled me into a corner. My phone made its annoying buzz again.

‘I’d like to have dinner soon with you and Tessa and the girls. Can you break away from all your leaky plumbing and termite-infested hovels to join us?’

The snark in his tone stung. Too many times he’d questioned why he’d paid for an engineering degree if all I was going to do was ‘crawl around old houses’ (his words not mine). I’d tried a dozen times over the last year to explain why I loved my job but he never listened.

Story of my life.

‘I’m busy and things aren’t great with Tessa and the girls.’

‘You should make time. Family matters most.’ His voice went up an octave like he was performing for the crowd. He was in what my sister liked to call ‘mayor mode’. I took a breath, trying my best to be cordial, aware of the audience watching, but just looking at him made a cavern split open in my chest. Mom always said he was a bear on the outside but inside his heart was soft like a lamb’s. For years I’d tried to see it. Give him chance after chance, but after what he’d pulled the day she died all I saw was a man minus a heart.

‘Like I said, I’m busy.’

‘Please.’ His voice dropped low, his gaze landing on the customers who were still watching us. ‘Let’s not do this today. Come into my office where we can talk in private.’

A mix of raw emotion scrambled my brain. I heard my mother’s voice, begging me to figure things out with him, but then flashes of that empty hospital hallway filled my head. It’d been almost a year since we’d lost her and now he wanted to talk?

I couldn’t do this. No matter how bitter my memories were, I wouldn’t cause a scene. There were already enough whispers flying around town about me, and I refused to add another link to the Ivy Falls gossip chain.

‘I’m already late. I have to go.’ I spun away and pushed out the exit door.

With the warm spring sun beating against my head, I raced past the old post office and the spot that used to be Olga’s antique store. She unexpectedly closed the business a few months ago and went to live with her daughter in Georgia, leaving yet another storefront empty in the square.

When I reached the door to my truck, I leaned my head against the window and pulled in a full, yet shaky, breath. Nothing could rattle me today, not even my own father. My single focus had to be winning Huckleberry Lane. Keeping my promise to my mother and showing everyone in Ivy Falls that I was worthy of their trust again. That no matter what I’d said in a flash of anger, I really did care about this town.

Chapter Three

BECK

Run and Never Look Back.

The speedometer raced over thirty as I drove past the town’s carved wooden sign welcoming me to Ivy Falls: Home to 10,032 smiling faces and award-winning berry cobbler.

I expected memories, but nothing could have prepared me for the knot tightening in my gut as I sped through the center of town, past the park where I played Little League, and my old high school.