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Chapter 9
The next morning, Ivy ran down the stairs of her family home like she was late for the school bus, which in some ways she was. She was heading out to scout locations. A rented minivan was idling out front, waiting for her. Ivy had overslept. She’d pulled on some shorts, grabbed a baseball hat, and yogurt from the fridge, saying a quick goodbye to her parents as she ran out. They barely looked up.
“You’re late,” Bruce Danton, the assistant director in charge of moving things along, said to her. Ivy apologized, but Drew and Vera and Lane, the location manager, didn’t even acknowledge her, all deep in thought. Maybe Drew was upset that Ivy decided to stay with her parents and not at the Belhurst Castle. Ivy had wanted to keep their relationship professional. But she wasn’t starting off very professionally. She was late for the location scout. The movie’s first day of filming was the next day, and Vera wanted to review the locations.
There was another reason why Ivy hadn’t wanted to stay at the Belhurst Castle, something she hadn’t revealed to Drew. It was where she and Nick had thought they would spend their wedding night—if they had gotten married. Nick had suggested that when they had begun high school. Nick was always the more romantic of the two of them.
Nick! I have to get Nick out of my head.But she knew this was next to impossible.
As they drove around Geneva to give Vera the lay of the land, Ivy would gaze at the town. Every street corner had a memory of Nick. They circled back to Main Street to the scene of the crime: the Presbyterian church where she and Nick had met during the Christmas pageant. She’d never realized just how close the church was to her house. It had always felt like a mile away. Ivy wondered why the great Bruce Danton, who acted like he knew everything, didn’t just have them all trek to the church on foot. It was only four blocks away from her house, an easy walking distance.LA people,she thought,they will always drive the four blocks.She paused for a moment as she realized: I’m an LA person.
The church was still beautiful but much smaller than she’d remembered. Vera loved the gothic architecture and called it “breathtaking.” Drew and Lane went to talk with the minister and the church secretary to finalize the contract. Ivy soaked it all in. This was the church where she was raised. She’d loved the children’s sermons with Miss Kim. She’d loved singing in the choir. She’d loved the Christmas pageant. It was where she had met Nick when they were eight years old. They had been thrown together by Miss Kim who directed the Christmas pageant. Ivy had been thrilled. Nick had grunted okay but he was nice. He had to hold her hand as they walked down the aisle. They had been adorable in the play. Ivy had been so excited she dropped the baby Jesus. Nick, the Pop Warner football star, had caught it before it hit the ground. He had held it up like Jesus was the lion king!
The damn circle of life had now brought Ivy back here. She shrugged it off. She thought of the improbability of meeting one’s soulmate at that early of an age. But it had happened. She’d loved going to church, but she had stopped going—why? What was the break? Oh yeah, the breakup. Her childhood church was where she always had her faith restored. She took a breath, smiled. Drew and Vera were walking out, saying goodbye to the minister.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to take real good care of this place,” Drew said.
“We’re not going to change a thing…” Vera added, then whispered to Bruce, “See if you can move that statue over there.”
“The Jesus one?” he asked.
“Yeah, it will dominate the frame, ruin the shot. What’s next?”
They got back into the van. Bruce announced, “The train station.”
“Train station?” Ivy asked. “We don’t have a train station in the script. What scene?”
“The reunion when Ilsa comes home from college,” Drew said.
“That was at the bus stop,” Ivy said.
“Trains are more cinematic,” said Vera.
“I thought we wanted real,” she said.
Vera took a breath. “I also want it to look really good. A bus stop in front of a smoke shop doesn’t read ‘Christmas.’” Drew glared at Ivy. She knew what he was saying:Don’t argue with the director.
Ten minutes later, Ivy was outside the historic Geneva train depot with Vera, Drew, Bruce, and Lane. Vera was pacing around the station in excitement.
“But it isn’t even a working train station,” Ivy was still protesting.
“Seems like it’s working to me. I hear a train coming,” Vera said.
“I mean it’s not for passenger travel. Just freight,” she insisted.
“We’re not making a documentary,” Vera reminded her. “Even though—maybe we are…”
What did she mean by that?Ivy thought as a freight train chugged toward them. A mass of steel that was determined not to stop. Lights shone out like eyes. Vera got very excited.
“Love it!” She held up her cell phone and began filming the train. Testing out different angles. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Even Ivy started to feel it.
“You’re right. It is perfect,” she admitted.
“And authentic!” Drew said. He was standing next to a historical placard on the wall of the station. He read: “When the Lehigh Valley Railroad expanded its line to Buffalo in the 1890s, Geneva was chosen as the place for the railroad’s largest, most ornate station between New York City and Buffalo.”
“I love the Romanesque Revival red brick. Look at the leaded glass windows, fanciful roof with several peaks, valleys, and miniature towers and dormers,” Vera enthused. Ivy and Drew looked impressed. Vera just shrugged. “Art history major at Bard. If I didn’t make it as a director, I was going to work at a museum.”
“I’ll see if there’s someone I can talk to about getting permission to film here,” Lane said.
