Joanna moved to the edge of her seat and peered through the windscreen, her eyes settling on a plaque embedded in one of the stone columns supporting the gates. Even though its surface was dulled and green with age, Joanna could still read the raised letters on the thick plate of copper. Confused, she looked over at Fran. “Egerton Oaks?”

“That’s what the estate used to be called back in the day,” Fran said. “It was built by one of the first families in this area almost three centuries ago. The sign is embedded in the mortar, so no one ever bothered to take it down, but most of us just call this place The Oaks.”

“Wow,” Joanna said, looking back at the gates. Having paid more attention to the sign, than to what existed beyond the barred entry, her eyes grew large as the iron bars swung open.

The gravel driveway was entirely bordered in majestic English oaks. Stately and thick, with ragged crowns of branches filled with orange-brown leaves, tiny streams of sunlight struggled to reach the car as it drove under the density of the numerous branches covering the path. In the blink of an eye, they drove from shadow to sunlight, and blinking at the brightness, it took Joanna a few seconds before she saw the mansion. It was massive...and it was almost entirely entombed in ivy.

Once used as a ground cover in the gardens surrounding the base of the home, the English ivy had gone unchecked since Oliver Kane had bought the estate over three decades before. Appearing as if it had been poured from the heavens, the green, woody vines draped over the parapets of the roof, cascading down the walls until they puddled over the gardens and across the strip of lawn between the drive and the house. The windows, entryway, and front terrace had been kept clear of the invasive plant, but everything else...everything else was completely covered in ivy.

“Jesus,” Joanna said as all the air left her body.

“I hope you like green,” Fran said with a chuckle.

“Apparently, Miss Kane does. I’ve never seen so much ivy,” Joanna said leaning even closer to the window.

Before Fran could respond, the car door swung open. She took David’s outstretched hand and climbed out of the car, and then leaned down and smiled at Joanna. “You’d better wake up your father because...you’re home.”

“I’m awake,” Robert Sheppard murmured as he looked out the window. “But I think I had too much to drink. The sky is green.”

Joanna giggled as she gave her father’s hand a squeeze. “That’s the house, Dad. Stay here, and I’ll come around and help you.”

David offered his hand as Joanna exited the car, and after graciously thanking him, she stood straight and filled her lungs with the clean country air.