‘Don’t worry,’ Olivia whispered back, pulling her twin out through the front door. ‘I have a really good idea.’
The trip to Holly’s house was just long enough for Ivy to hear Olivia’s whole plan. Ivy was still feeling nervous about it as they walked up the front steps, but all it took was a glance at the pink corsage on Olivia’s shirt to remind her what was really important.
Her twin had chosen to trust her. Ivy couldn’t do any less for Olivia now.
She pushed the doorbell and fixed a smile on her face. No more grumpy Ivy, she promised herself.
‘Hey.’ Holly opened the door, looking from one twin to another. ‘What are you guys doing here? It’s kind of early for a visit.’
Olivia beamed, reminding Ivy what a good actress her sister really was. If the Hollywood industry strikes ever ended, her twin would become a true star. ‘Can we come in to talk for just a minute?’
‘Of course.’ Holly stepped aside to let them in. As usual, she was wearing her trademark hippy clothes: a tie-dyed T-shirt and jeans with flowers and suns embroidered all over them. Not exactly what I’d expect from a vampire hunter, Ivy thought.
Then she stepped inside, and her eyes widened. The bookshelves in Holly’s front room were lined with rows and rows of Bare Throats at Sunset. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘You must really like that book!’
‘Yeah, well . . .’ Holly’s face coloured. Her long blonde hair fell over her eyes as she looked down at her feet. ‘You said you wanted to talk?’
‘We wanted to invite you to a party at our house this afternoon, at three o’clock,’ Olivia said brightly.
‘A special kind of party,’ Ivy added meaningfully.
‘Sorry?’ Holly frowned.
‘Lots of people are going to be there,’ Olivia said. ‘Lots of different kinds of people.’
‘That’s right.’ Ivy lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘It’s, um, super-secret. With a very exclusive guest list. That’s why we’re having to use a special menu.’
Come on ! She urged Holly mentally. Get the picture !
Between her tone of voice and the thing she was doing with her eyebrows, it had to be obvious what she meant: Vampires !
Holly’s lips twitched. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘That does sound . . . interesting.’
Had they done it? Ivy felt her muscles tense up as she waited for Holly to continue. Please let the plan work ! It all depended on what Holly did next. Had she figured out that the twins knew she was behind the blog? Or would she remain under her deep cover of a normal girl of Franklin Grove?
Not that anyone in this town is normal anyway, Ivy thought ruefully. Still, she held her breath as she waited for Holly to make up her mind.
Finally, Holly nodded, and Ivy let out her breath in a whoosh.
‘OK,’ Holly said. ‘I’d love to come!’
‘See you this afternoon!’ Ivy said. Job well done.
As soon as she and Olivia were safely out of sight of Holly’s home, they gave each other a high five – then they both started to run for the Vegas’ house.
They had a lot of work to do in the next few hours.
Chapter Ten
Ivy had never seen her dad look quite so happy. When she’d announced that the whole family would pitch in to get the house ready for the engagement party, she could have sworn she saw tears of joy in his eyes. Less than a minute later, he was in full Groomzilla mode, snapping orders and striding around the house with a bounce to his step and a determined gleam in his eye.
It was just what the twins needed.
By that afternoon, an enormous balloon arch surrounded the front door, bursting with colourful balloons that Olivia and the Count had inflated while the Countess had worked on the flower arrangements. Horatio had been cooking for hours, and the scent of delicious food filled the house.
Even Ivy had spent time in the kitchen, making special burgers to try to tempt Brendan into recovering his appetite. Remembering the last time she’d tried that, at the ill-fated baking party, she winced – then added more meat to the burgers.
At least there won’t be any garlic in these ones !