‘Do you remember when I went on that business trip to Dallas?’ he asked.
Olivia nodded, wanting to keep up the pretence, but Ivy blurted, ‘You didn’t go to Dallas.’
Mr Vega was just about to take a sip of his drink, but the cup slipped between his fingers and he fumbled to catch the smoothie before it spilled over the table. He carefully put the drink down and stared at Ivy. ‘How did you know?’
‘I saw your luggage tag,’ Ivy confessed. ‘It said LAX.’
He nodded. ‘Indeed, I went to Los Angeles.’
Olivia looked relieved that their bio-dad was finally coming clean.
‘What possible reason could you have to go to one of the sunniest places on earth?’ Ivy asked. None of it made sense. Mr Vega’s secret trip to LA, all this relaxed chatting and laughing, suggesting a trip here in the first place … Ivy much preferred the dad who hung heavy velvet drapes to keep the house cool and dark.
‘I was on a mission,’ he said. ‘I know how important family is to you both.’
Ivy looked at her sister. She had only met her twin at the beginning of the school year and it had taken ages to work out who their real parents were. Once they had realised Ivy’s adoptive dad was actually their real dad, they had convinced him to take them on a trip to Transylvania to meet their vampire relatives. It had been so amazing to meet their grandparents, the Count and Countess.
‘Having access to your … Transylvanian … family was relatively easy.’ The three of them had just spent a week in their grandparents’ goth-gorgeous mansion. ‘But I thought it was important for you to connect with the other side of your family too.’
Olivia gasped. ‘Our mother’s?’
Ivy’s mind was reeling. All she’d known about her mother’s family was that they lived in a place with big trees, called Owl Creek. She’d always wanted to know more. ‘Is that why you were in Los Angeles? I can’t keep up. I didn’t know our mom had any family in LA,’ Ivy said.
‘She doesn’t.’ A female voice made all three of them jump.
Ivy looked up to see an oddly familiar-looking woman, about her dad’s age, with soft brown curls and blue eyes. She was slim and wearing faded blue jeans and a fitted red-checked shirt.
She looks like she strolled in right off the farm, Ivy thought. So why do I think I’ve seen her before?
Mr Vega stood up abruptly, knocking over the orange napkin holder. ‘I’m so glad you could make it.’ The woman didn’t make any move to shake his hand. She just stared down at Ivy and Olivia. ‘But you’re early,’ Mr Vega whispered.
‘Gosh, Charlie,’ she said out loud, looking down at her watch. ‘Seven minutes is barely early!’
Charlie!? Ivy thought. No one called her dad Charlie. Well, no one got away with doing it. Why hasn’t he corrected her?
His cheeks were colouring and Ivy could see that he was stopping himself from saying anything.
‘Besides,’ the woman went on in her soft southern drawl, ‘I’m not going to stand on the street – there’s a crazy woman shouting on her cell phone.’
‘I was just going to tell the girls about you,’ Mr Vega said, fumbling to fit the napkins back into the holder. ‘If you’d given me a little more time …’
‘Well, now you don’t have to tell them!’ the woman said brightly. ‘They can see me for themselves.’ She smiled, but the smile didn’t travel all the way to her eyes – she seemed nervous.
Olivia looked like she’d been forced to join a rival cheerleading squad and didn’t know any of the moves.
Just what is going on? Ivy had only felt this odd sensation once before, when she had come face to face with her twin sister for the first time.
Mr Vega turned to his daughters. ‘I’d hoped to prepare you better for this moment. But seeing as she is already here … Girls, I would like you to meet your Aunt Rebecca.’
Ivy finally understood. The reason this woman looked so familiar was because she looked just like their biological mother.
Olivia gasped. ‘You’re our mom’s sister.’ ‘Not just her sister.’ Rebecca paused and looked from Ivy to Olivia. ‘Her twin sister.’
Chapter Two
‘That’s me,’ said Aunt Rebecca, smiling warmly. ‘And you two are the spitting image of your mother.’
She was older, obviously, than the photo they’d seen of their mom and her hairstyle was different – but there was no denying it. She looked just like their mother, the same mischievous smile, the same oval chin. Ivy was so surprised, she couldn’t think of anything to say.