Olivia shook her head. “Ivy and I don’t have to see that movie!”
“It’s our life,” Ivy agreed with a grin. The sisters had switched places a few times since they’d met. Sophia even had photos of Ivy in Olivia’s outfit at a cheerleading practice, which made Ivy want to be buried alive.
“Yeah, but there’s this one part I keep thinking about,” Camilla went on. “In order not to get separated again, these sisters have to get their parents back together. They have to make them fall in love again.”
Olivia’s face brightened, but Ivy frowned. “That won’t work,” she said. “Our mother’s not around anymore.”
“Wait a second,” Olivia interrupted. “Maybe Camilla’s onto something. We might not have our mom, but there are tons of eligible women in Franklin Grove we could set your dad up with.”
Sophia shut one eye and pursed her lips. Then she opened her eye and shook her head. “Nope, I can’t see it,” she said. “I’ve known Mr. Vega for my whole life, and I’ve never seen him go on a single date.”
“He’s shy!” Ivy said, surprised by her own defensiveness. “He could have a girlfriend if he wanted to.”
“What about Georgia Huntingdon?” Olivia suggested. “That lady from... that magazine.” Ivy could tell her sister was being discreet for Camilla’s benefit—Georgia was the flamboyant editor of Vamp.
“I don’t think that would work,” Brendan said skeptically.
Ivy nodded. Every vamp in America knew Georgia Huntingdon had a very on-again/offagain relationship with a TV soap star.
“We need someone perfect,” Ivy said. “He’s our dad, after all.” In fact, Ivy had always thought that the right woman might help her dad relax a little bit.
“So, are we agreed,” said Sophia, “that the only thing that might be more killer than a killer job is a killer romance?”
“Agreed,” everyone chimed, and Brendan started playing footsies with Ivy under the table. If she were a bunny, she would have blushed.
Instead, the bell rang for the end of lunch.
“The second emergency meeting is now adjourned,” Sophia declared as everyone gathered up their trays. “Let’s go find Mr. Vega his Miss Right!”
For the rest of the day, Ivy tried to think of women who might be a good match for her dad. She kept a running list on the back page of her notebook, where she usually wrote ideas for the school paper.
Valencia Deborg from the Vampire Roundtable? Too cold.
The lady at the adoption agency? Too loud.
Marie the florist who specialized in dead flowers? Too weird.
The list went on and on, but Ivy couldn’t come up with anyone she thought her father would be interested in.
After school, Olivia had to meet with her algebra study group to prepare for midterms. Ivy went over to Brendan’s. The door swung open the moment she touched the doorbell.
“Don’t let him see you!” Brendan’s little sister, Bethany, whispered in a panic and pulled her inside. Bethany was wearing enormous aviator sunglasses. She ran to the window, pulled aside the curtain, and peeked out at the street.
“Who?” said Ivy.
“The vampire hunter!” Bethany replied. Ivy took off her jacket and hung it by the door.
“Seriously?” Ivy asked.
“FREEZE, VAMPIRE SCUM!” a voice com
manded. Ivy’s stomach lurched, and she turned
to look. Standing in the door that led to the
kitchen was Brendan, wearing a long trench coat
and a yellow hard hat. In his hand, he held an