Page 112 of Don't Call Me Daddy
Then, I fill him in on everything because God knows I need any help I can get right now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ivy
I rub my sleepy eyes as Leo loads the last of the supplies in the car, and I try to wake myself up. It’s the morning of the Phantom Festival, and we’ve got a big day ahead. Everything seems to be accounted for and going surprisingly smoothly, but I still can’t seem to shake this feeling that something is missing.
Maybe it’s just exhaustion. I hardly slept a wink last night as my brain spiraled, thinking of everything that had happened the night before. I still can’t believe his family knew we were lying this whole time. I can’t get over the relief I feel to finally be honest with them, but there’s still this ping of sadness that the charade’s up.
It’s not like it really matters. My flight to Romania leaves in twelve hours anyway. Maybe it’s better like this. We get a clean break, and I won’t have to feel guilty for hurting anyone when I leave. Leo won’t feel responsible for his family’s disappointment, which will keep him from spiraling, and he’ll be able to move forward.
I’m so proud of him for how far he’s come. He’s finally going to have the title he’s spent his whole life preparing for. When I set out to help him, I had no idea the impact my silly antics would actually make, but in a lot of ways, I think we’re both coming out stronger on the other side of this. It’s a rare thing to have a front-seat view of watching someone catch the dream they’ve been chasing, and I think it’s shaken something awake in me too.
For the first time in my life, I’m starting to think of what I’d do without Fern’s list guiding my every step. I find myself considering the type of career I want, dreaming of the life I want to live, places I want to travel … and maybe even starting a family someday or settling down somewhere that feels a lot like Ashford Falls.
I wouldn’t be having any of these thoughts without the not-so-gentle shove from my dead sister and the silly list she’d created all those years ago. Maybe that was her plan all along. Maybe she really has been my guardian angel all this time.
Which reminds me, I have a few more things I need to check off.
“We’re leaving in five minutes if you still want to stop for coffee on the way,” Leo calls from the living room as he finishes loading the iPads I had charging overnight for everyone to have the live schedule I created.
“Be right there. I’m just double-checking I have everything,” I call back.
I know five minutes really means ten, but Leo is nothing if not prepared for me to get sidetracked. The man always inflates every timeline he gives me, and it’s one of the things I love the most about him—he helps corral my squirrelliness. I don’t know how I’ll survive a real job without him … but I guess I’m going to have to learn.
I open the top drawer of my dresser to grab my inhaler and my sister’s list, like I always do before I leave the house these days. Leo’s all but drilled it into my mind by now, making it a habit more than anything else.
I slide open the drawer to find my inhaler, but my sister’s list isn’t there beside it, like it’s supposed to be.
That’s weird. I always put it here after I change. Maybe I forgot to remove it from the pocket of my overalls the last time I wore them.
I rush to my overly stuffed suitcase, dumping the contents out on the floor. I begin searching through the pockets of all my overalls, growing more and more panicked by the second.
It has to be in here. I always keep it with me. What am I missing? It couldn’t have grown legs and walked off.
“Hey, baby, are you rea—whoa, what happened in here? Did your suitcase explode? I told you I thought overalls and sneakers were the best option. It’s going to be a long day, and you’re going to want to be comfortable?—”
“Have you seen Fern’s list?” I say, cutting him off. “It’s not where I remember leaving it. I’ve searched everywhere I can think of, but it’s not here.” My voice comes out shaky and panicked, and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep it from quivering from the fear of losing the last piece I have left of my sister, her final wishes for me.
Leo rushes to my side, rubbing his hands down my arms in soothing strokes. “It’s got to be around here somewhere.” He falls to his knees, digging through the pile of laundry and checking every pocket just in case I overlooked it. “Try to think back, when was the last time you remember having it? Where were you? What were you doing?”
He lies down on the floor, using his phone’s flashlight as he searches under the bed.
I close my eyes and will myself to think. My heart races, and I have to take a hit from my inhaler to relieve the tightness forming in my chest.
Think, Ivy. What were you doing the last time you remember having it?
A vision of myself standing in the middle of the factory in the old mine pops in my head. I pulled out the list to mark offVisit the home of the Ashford Falls Phantom.
“What’s wrong? Do you remember where you had it?” Leo’s voice breaks through as my heart drops to my stomach.
The alarm on Leo’s phone goes off, the real one indicating we only have exactly enough time to make it. He doesn’t know that I figured out his code, but the man’s not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is. He hits silence as he waits for me to respond.
I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “I remember having it when you brought me to the mines a few days ago. I guess I was so busy that I didn’t realize it was missing before now … but it could be anywhere. I mean, we had to climb the fence and hike to get back there. It could’ve fallen out of my pocket anywhere. It could be long gone by now …”
“Don’t worry, baby; we’ll find it. As soon as we get the first chance, we’ll go look for it?—”
I shake my head. “We don’t have time. We have to leave right now. We have everyone’s schedules and the passes … they can’t open the gates until we get there … and it’ll be dark by the time it’s over … and my flight … my flight leaves as soon as the festival is over. We don’t have enough time or daylight, Leo.”
