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Chapter 13
Ivy had woken that morning in her childhood bedroom wishing she had spent the night with Drew. But professional meant professional. It didn’t mean sleeping over at the hotel with her producer boyfriend. Now Drew was late. Fifteen minutes late. She was waiting for him in the parking lot of Watkins Glen Park. It was their first day off. It was Saturday and there was no filming. Week one of shooting had ended, and they had plans to spend the day together. They would drive in separate cars.
The weather was beautiful, but where was Drew? She had written down the directions for him in case he lost a GPS signal. But Drew didn’t want it. Ivy dialed Drew’s phone again, and he didn’t answer.Yep,she thought,he got lost.
Twenty minutes later, Drew finally arrived. “Sorry. I got lost. No GPS, and cell service in this place is nonexistent.”
“That’s why I wrote down the directions.”
They began the hike. It was chock full of stairs and paths cut into rocks. Drew talked fast but walked slow. Ivy had to keep waiting for him. She wondered if he loved the sound of his own voice.
“You and Amari really do look alike. I never noticed that.”
Maybe it was because she was spending too much time with her psychoanalytic sister, but what Ivy heard wasI always knew Amari was a bombshell beauty—but I never thought of you that way.
Drew continued talking (no surprise there). “Maybe we could use you as a stand-in on the set. Amari doesn’t like the one she is working with now.”
A stand-in! A stand-in was used in place of the actor while the cinematographer would light the scene. She would wait until the shot was ready before they would bring in Amari. There was no way Ivy was going to do that. “Can we not talk about work? Or Amari?”
“What should we talk about?”
“We don’t really have to talk about anything. Look around you, Drew. Look at those waterfalls. Isn’t it amazing how the rocks created stairs?” They were walking on the bridge underneath rocks that produced a waterfall. “This goes on for miles.” And it did. “We’re going on the Gorge Trail. My favorite. It’s only a two-and-a-half-mile trail, but we’ll climb eight hundred steps. Not like the one in Santa Monica. That’s, like, one hundred fifty.” Drew climbed and sweated as they hiked through and around the gorges. At one vista they could see seven waterfalls. They walked through caves that led to a path behind a waterfall. They got soaked. For Ivy, it was a theme park. She loved it. Drew did not. He was drenched and didn’t want to laugh about it. He was more concerned about his phone.
“You told me this was an easy hike,” Drew whined. Some people looked his way.
“It is.” Ivy started hiking a trail that meandered away, through a small passage behind two opposing rocks. “See if you can keep up.”
Drew was having a hard time walking. It was slippery, and he had the wrong footwear.
“I told you to wear sneakers. Not your Cole Haans.” Water cascaded over the rocks they were walking on.
“Where are we going, Ivy?” He was getting impatient as they walked through a cave. Drew could hear rushing water. Ivy was awaiting him, arms displaying the waterfall and a swimming hole behind her. They had to dive off the rocks to go swimming.
“Ta-da. The secret swimming hole.” Ivy was already taking off her T-shirt to reveal her bikini top underneath. “Don’t you love it, Drew? Better than any trail in LA.”
“Too bad you can’t hike it in December. That’s what I love about LA. An endless summer.”
“I don’t know. I kind of miss the seasons. Maybe because we’re filming a Christmas movie, I’m feeling nostalgic. You know what would be fun? If you came back with me this Christmas. Hang with my family.”
“Here? No way. Sorry.”
She hadn’t expected him to shut down the idea so quickly. “My parents really like you, Drew. It’s pretty amazing here when the real snow is falling. There’s no winter in LA.”
“Ah, yes, my college roommate was fromNew Yawk. He also made that argument. That four mediocre seasons are better than a never-ending superior one. Where else but LA can you hit the beach on Christmas morning?”
“Stop with the Beach Boys. Your endless summer never started. You dress like this cool surfer film producer, but you never even go in the water. We go to the beach. You roll calls from the sand.”
“I go in the water.” He did. To a small degree. Drew didn’t like lakes. He didn’t like rivers. He despised bays. Hated oceans. He only liked an in-ground pool that was heated to 86 degrees.
“Great, go in now. Jump in. Don’t be afraid,” Ivy urged him.
“You’re really acting different since we got here. Maybe it has something to do with Nick.”
“Nick? Leave Nick out of this. I asked you to come home and hang with my family this Christmas, and you said no. Without even thinking about it. We wouldn’t even have this conversation if you would just jump in the swimming hole.”
“You really are a New Yorker. You’re so pushy.”
“You think I’m pushy?” Ivy smiled. Drew didn’t really have time to answer because she shoved him off the rocks into the swimming hole below.
