The Ivy House - By Drea Stein Page 0,12

been delivered by a courier service from the lawyer’s office in New York. She had opened the package and first read the typed note from Savannah’s lawyer, the one who had informed her about Ivy House.

Dear Ms. Ryan, your grandmother asked that you get this letter after you had a chance to visit Ivy House. As I understand you have done this, I am now releasing the letter to you.

The letter wasn’t dated, but it couldn’t have been too recent because Savannah’s script was firm and legible, before her body had been ravaged by the cancer.

My Dear Phoebe,

If you’re getting this, it means I’m gone. I don’t know how much will be left, but I have ensured that I have one thing to leave you. Ivy House. I found it hard to live there after Leland’s death, and after your parents died, it seemed cruel to move you away from the only home you had ever known. But Ivy House was always special to me. It always seemed to have a touch of magic about it. I am told it needs some repairs. And probably some love and care after all these years. Leland Harper was very special to me, and the time we spent at Ivy House was some of the best, though all too brief, years of my life. How it ended with Leland was a tragedy, a twist of fate.

Ours was a passionate affair and our love burned brightly. I do not know if it would have lasted, but he was the love of my life, even though the press had the world believe otherwise.

I know that I have not always been the best mother or grandmother. To be an artist requires a bit of selfishness, I always felt, especially an actress. You belong to your fans and it’s hard to be everything to someone else, especially a child. I didn’t always do right by your father, but he turned out fine—better than fine. My only regret is that he too was taken from this world too soon.

And he and your mother did just fine by you, giving me the most precious gift. I know you haven’t always enjoyed the life you had to lead with me, and, to be frank, I am not sure it suited you. But you did the best you could with it and that is all anyone asks.

So now, when I can bear to part with it, I give you Ivy House. It was a safe port for me and Leland when times were rough. I hope you may find it to be your own safe haven and a place of happiness and magic. While I was there, I found out who I was…I hope it holds the same promise for you.

Phoebe dropped the letter onto the desk. She was in her room in the Osprey Arms. It was a decent size, with a nice view, and the feeling it was supposed to encourage was one of colonial charm, but the mix of toile and floral fabric was a bit overdone and dated.

She flopped down in the wingback armchair and looked out the window. It was a sunny day. Gulls wheeled in the sky and there were boats leaving the marina heading out for a day on the water.

I give you Ivy House… How very Savannah, Phoebe thought. I hear it needs a little work… Also very Savannah-like, Phoebe thought, to give something that wasn’t quite fit for gifting. Savannah had left her with many obligations.

Phoebe looked at her phone. The story had hit the papers just as she was getting ready to leave Los Angeles. She didn’t want to endure the pity of all her friends. But there it was, in black and white: “Savannah Ryan Dies Broke…” was the most succinct. After Savannah died, Phoebe had faced a mountain of paperwork and bills, which the Los Angeles lawyers had summed up for her nicely: sell everything or come up with a mountain of cash to keep it.

While Phoebe wasn’t broke herself, Savannah, what with her illness and the nursing home costs, had depleted all her savings quickly. She had already moved out of the house in Malibu and had been living in an apartment. It was on a lease, but the landlord had been happy to let Phoebe out of the contract. That had left furniture and clothes, most of which Phoebe had put into storage, and the rest she had arranged with a dealer friend to sell.

At the end