Lucky Break (2 page)

‘A twist in
Romeo and Juliet
?’ Mr Vega asked. ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’

‘Did somebody say
twist
and shout?’ Ivy said innocently.

‘No!’ shouted Mr Vega and Olivia at the same time.

As Mr Vega sipped his smoothie, Ivy watched him carefully.
Why has he brought us back to Mister Smoothie?

‘How’s your drink?’ she asked.

Mr Vega forced a smile. ‘Ah, it is terrific.’

Now I know something is up
, Ivy thought.
Dad never says terrific. Tragic, tortuous, traumatic … but never terrific.

She didn’t know how to pry it out of him. Maybe Olivia had a plan? She nudged her sister’s foot. Mr Vega was staring out of the window, so Olivia mouthed, ‘What?’

Ivy motioned with her eyes towards their dad. Olivia looked confused. Ivy jerked her head more forcefully but Olivia just shrugged, not understanding.

So much for twin intuition
, Ivy thought.

‘Hey,’ Ivy started at the same time as Olivia said, ‘Well,’ and Mr Vega began, ‘Girls.’

‘You go,’ Olivia and Ivy said in unison to their dad.

Mr Vega sighed. ‘I have something to tell you.’

Here it comes
, Ivy thought.
At least I didn’t have to torture it out of him.

‘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.’

‘
T
hat’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.

‘I didn’t know she was a twin,’ Olivia said, grabbing Ivy’s hand under the table.

A few months ago, when Ivy learned that their
mother had died in childbirth, it had felt hollow, like something was missing. Aunt Rebecca was the closest she would ever get to her real mom, and she couldn’t get closer than a twin. Ivy squeezed Olivia’s hand back.

‘I wish you’d known about me,’ said Aunt Rebecca, casting a glance at Mr Vega. ‘And that I’d known about you.’

Uh oh.
Ivy realised that there was some tension between the two adults.
That’s why he brought us to Mr Smoothie: the First Law of the Night.
No humans could ever know that vampires existed – Olivia being a rare exception – so Mr Vega had to be extra careful that Rebecca didn’t get any hint of the truth. You couldn’t get more un-vampire than neon lights and cow-shaped straw dispensers.

And Ivy guessed that was why Mr Vega never told Rebecca about the twins and separating them.

Ivy jumped in to try to break the tension.

‘Well, it’s good to meet you now.’

Mr Vega started to explain, ‘I knew she used to live in LA, but –’

‘But I moved years ago,’ Rebecca interrupted. ‘Now, can I give you both a hug?’

Ivy nodded and the twins stood up at the same time. Their aunt smelled like hay and coffee and hugged like a warm, comfy quilt. Ivy wondered if that’s what her mom’s hug would have felt like.

‘Once I realised I was in the wrong place –’ Mr Vega started but Rebecca cut him off again.

‘I want to know everything about you two,’ she said, her eyes glistening as she sat down in the booth next to Mr Vega, but with a distance between them. ‘Tell me the whole story!’

‘Well,’ Olivia began, ‘I moved with my parents – my adoptive parents – to Franklin Grove at the beginning of this school year and couldn’t believe it when I met Ivy.’

‘I bet!’ Rebecca said.

‘We were completely different but loved each other right away,’ Olivia went on. ‘It turned out to be quite useful having a twin at times.’

Aunt Rebecca’s eyes twinkled.

I wonder if she and our mom got up to some good tricks switching
, Ivy thought.

Twin swaps were one of the best parts of being a twin. ‘I bet you’ve got some great stories to tell us about our mom,’ Ivy said.

‘I sure do,’ Rebecca said gently. ‘And I’ll exchange them for thirteen years of your stories.’ Her glance flickered over to Mr Vega, who had folded his arms and was frowning.

Ivy could tell that Rebecca was taking swipes at their dad, but that wasn’t fair. He had good reasons for doing what he did – he thought that humans and vampires being together only led to disaster, so he separated his daughters in order
to protect them. Even though they could never explain this to Aunt Rebecca, Ivy and Olivia understood and Rebecca shouldn’t judge him for doing the best he could.

‘Dad,’ Ivy said, deliberately giving him a chance to speak. ‘How did you find Aunt Rebecca once you found out she’d moved?’

‘Well, I couldn’t give up at the first obstacle,’ he said, clearly pleased to have a chance to change the subject. ‘So I did a little asking around in the building. Eventually one of her neighbours told me she’d moved back to –’

‘I’ve been in Beldrake for the past six years,’ Rebecca said, holding the smoothie menu in her hand, but not actually looking at it. ‘At the ranch where your mom and I spent our summers as kids.’

Ivy could see that her father was struggling not to look annoyed at constantly being talked
over.
After all
, Ivy thought,
he has gone out of his way to track Aunt Rebecca down.

‘Beldrake is really nearby!’ Olivia exclaimed. ‘It’s less than half an hour away.’

Rebecca nodded. ‘I missed life with horses when I was in LA, and when I heard that the ranch was up for sale, I couldn’t resist.’

‘Would you like a drink, Rebecca?’ Mr Vega asked, standing up, but she waved him off. ‘I’ll just grab some cookies for all of us, then.’ He shuffled back to the counter.

‘Even though I couldn’t afford it, I had to buy it.’ She tossed her curly hair. ‘That ranch meant so much to me and to your mom. Your mom’s favourite horse is still there, you know – his name is Lucky.’

Olivia looked so happy that Ivy wondered if she was going to break into a cheer. ‘That’s so exciting!’ she declared.

Ivy wasn’t as enthusiastic. She’d never really had a way with animals. The only pet she’d ever owned, a white-and-tan hamster named Spotty, had run away at every opportunity. She hoped the horses wouldn’t turn out to be giant versions of Spotty.

Aunt Rebecca clapped her hands together. ‘Oh gosh, I’ve just had the best idea. You should come to stay next weekend!’

Mr Vega, returning to the table, almost dropped the plate of cookies. ‘We were going to discuss this, Rebecca. I haven’t had a chance to ask the girls yet if they want to.’

‘Well, girls,’ she said, her eyes shining. ‘Do you want to? I’d love to get to know you and I do need a little help around the ranch.’

Ivy felt bad for her dad, but she did want to see a place from her mom’s childhood – and to hear Aunt Rebecca’s stories.

‘Oh yes, please!’ Olivia said. ‘I’ll have to check with my parents, though.’

‘I wouldn’t mind,’ Ivy admitted.

‘I will allow it,’ Mr Vega said, softening, ‘as long as your homework is done and it doesn’t interfere with Olivia’s audition.’

‘Oooh!’ Rebecca squealed, full of enthusiasm. Ivy wondered if Olivia would look like her when she grew up. ‘Auditions! What for?’

‘I’m trying out to be Juliet,’ Olivia said, a little shy to tell her. ‘But the auditions are on Monday, so it wouldn’t interfere.’

‘Oh, I love
Romeo and Juliet
!’ Aunt Rebecca clapped her hands together. ‘You can do lots of rehearsing on the ranch once you get the part; it’s so peaceful. And I’ll make sure you’ve got time for homework. Oh, this will be so much fun!’

Mr Vega sighed.

Olivia beamed.

Ivy jumped as someone tapped on the window.

Then she grinned as she realised the black hair and beautiful smile belonged to her boyfriend, Brendan Daniels. He crossed his eyes and made a silly face, so Ivy stuck her tongue out at him. Then he waved at everyone else at the table.

‘Who is that?’ Rebecca frowned. ‘Should I call security?’

‘No, no!’ Mr Vega chuckled. ‘That is Ivy’s boyfriend.’