Page 24 of A Fall to Remember

Elise scanned the message and a few others. “Pete, oh, my, GAWD, these are all women who want to date you!”

“What? No.” He shook his head, trying to figure out what he’d missed. “They posted pics of Mom at the store and here at the parade. How does that have anything to do with me?”

Elise clicked on the post he’d been tagged in. They huddled together on the sidewalk as she played the video. Pete’s stomach dropped like he was plummeting in a free fall as he watched the conversation he’d had with Mom a few hours ago. “Oh, no. No. No.” He buried his face in his hands and shook his head. “They didn’t share that.”

“Oh, yes. Oh, yes, they did.” Elise’s face broke out in a wide grin as she nudged him in the waist. “Dude, you’re a meme now. This is the best thing I’ve ever seen. My cousin is a certified hottie.”

“No, this can’t be happening,” Pete protested. This was not how he had anticipated things would turn out. He was fine with Mom having fun being a travel influencer for women her own age, but this. No. This was bad.

“My guy, you have a mob of women sending you their numbers. What could possibly be wrong with that?” Elise’s lip curled as she stared at him like he was losing his mind.

“I don’t want their numbers.” Pete scanned the crowd for Shelby. This wasn’t part of the plan. Was she in on this?

“Why do you look pissed?” Elise batted his arm twice with the back of her palm. “This is a golden opportunity. What if you end up finding love? I mean, how romantic would that be?”

Pete glared at Elise. “A golden opportunity, really? Okay, should I ask Mom to do you next?”

Elise stuck out her tongue and made a face. “Never mind. Forget I mentioned anything.”

“That’s what I thought.” Pete dropped it. He knew the subject of dating was a sore spot for Elise. She’d had a serious boyfriend all through college. They had discussed moving in together after graduation, but he broke up with her and admitted that he’d fallen for someone else. Elise had been devastated. The breakup had helped spur her return to Half Moon Bay. He and Mom had done their best to cheer her up over the last few years. She hid it well, but he knew she was lonely. Mom had tried to set her up with a handful of guys—all to no avail. He wouldn’t put his cousin and best friend through that, but he was going to find Shelby right now and figure out why she’d thrown him under the bus.

20

SHELBY

Everything was going better than planned. Shelby wanted to pinch herself. She and Jim were collaborating seamlessly. Miranda was taking direction well, and the photos and videos of the parade were sweet and charming. She had plenty she could work with. Maybe this was going to work. Maybe Miranda had the potential to be a brand influencer after all.

The schedule for the remainder of the day was dizzying, though. She consulted her calendar. First there was the costume contest, followed by the pie-eating contest. There were four stages throughout downtown and the festival grounds, each with different bands and performances throughout the evening. Tonight was the Fall Feast—a ticketed harvest dinner under the stars. An organic farm dinner outside was social media gold. She couldn’t wait to capture that, and she wasn’t going to complain about having a chance to sit next to Pete for dinner.

Speaking of Pete, she spotted him and Elise scrolling furiously on his phone as the parade ended. Was it her imagination, or did he look pissed?

She waved with her fingers.

In response, he scowled, pointed to his screen, and shook his head.

What did that mean?

She was lost.

He was obviously upset.

That was evident by his rigid body language and the hard scowl.

But why?

Unfortunately, she couldn’t go talk to him because her phone rang at that moment. It was her boss, Nadine.

Why was she calling now?

Something must be very wrong.

Her mind immediately went to every worst-case scenario.

Had her mom’s creditors tracked down her workplace? What if they’d shown up at the office, trying to find her? What if Nadine was going to fire her?

Panic splintered across her chest. Goose bumps erupted on her arms.

This couldn’t be good. Nadine never called.