Page 61 of A Fall to Remember

Miranda’s original bad travel photography had been sweet and innocent, but this made her look completely unaware of her surroundings while delivering one of those ridiculous punny lines that she had axed. Was Jim intentionally trying to sabotage her? She had felt better after last night, but now…

Ugh.

She massaged her temples, her scalp prickling with anger.

It just got worse with every rewatch. Miranda was licking a freaking ice cream cone like a toddler and cutting straight through the would-be groom’s perfectly planned proposal.

“Shelby, what’s up?” Pete asked, jogging down the sidewalk with Miranda behind him. “We got your text and came straight here.”

“Have you two seen it?” Shelby asked, not wasting a single second. She tapped her phone screen and held it for them.

“Seen what?” Miranda looked genuinely confused.

“The video you and Jim staged,” she said, unable to disguise her rage. She trusted Jim. She confided in him. She cried in front of him. And then he’d done this. He’d gone behind her back. She had no doubts now—he was after the promotion and using dirty tactics to sweep in and take it from her. She’d confirmed as much with corporate. They’d offered him a budget and bonus for Pete’s footage. Why hadn’t he mentioned anything about that to her?

“We didn’t stage anything,” Miranda protested. “We did have a little fun with the pumpkin puns, but I was in full agreement.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Shelby scowled and pressed her phone closer to Miranda’s face. “Check it out.”

Miranda and Pete watched intently as the video of Miranda stumbling through the proposal played. When it was finished, Miranda threw her hand over her mouth and gasped. “Oh, dear. I swear we did not stage that. I’m so mortified. I never even saw the couple. I was so focused on making sure I was walking past all the pumpkins, like Jim suggested. That’s it. He wanted to get B-roll to use later. I swear that wasn’t staged. I wish it were. That poor couple. How embarrassing.” Miranda glanced around the sidewalk as if she expected to see the couple among the tourists out for sunny Saturday coffee strolls.

Pete wrapped his arm around his mom’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s Jim’s,” Shelby said, unable to mask her irritation. “He obviously set you up, Miranda.”

“But how?” Miranda shook her head like she didn’t want to believe it.

“Did he tell you where to walk?” Shelby asked, putting her phone away. “He must have seen what was about to happen and intentionally encouraged you to cut through the proposal.”

Miranda wrinkled her brow, thinking it over. “I suppose, technically, he did direct me where to go, but I think this must be my blunder. As I said, I wasn’t paying attention. I was having the time of my life. We were joking and laughing. The pumpkin puns were cracking us up. I would never intentionally ruin something as special and monumental as a marriage proposal.”

“We know you wouldn’t,” Shelby said, trying to reassure Miranda. “This has Jim written all over it. I think he used you to capture this. It’s gone viral. Your most viral video yet, but I’m afraid this time not for the right reasons. It doesn’t exactly show you in the best light.”

“Can you take it down?” Pete asked, standing protectively next to his mom.

“I considered it, but it’s probably worse. It’s already been shared so much, it’s out there. There’s no taking it back now.” She’d already considered several possibilities, but removing the video was out of the question.

“So you’re saying this is bad for my image?” Miranda asked, looking at Pete for help.

He squeezed her tighter. “No, Mom. It’s not bad.”

“But it’s not great either,” Shelby countered. She wanted to be honest with Miranda. Viral content was one thing. But this video had clearly been staged. And she maintained it wasn’t sweet or endearing to have Miranda plow through a proposal with a drippy ice cream.

“Okay, what do we do now?” Pete asked.

Shelby stuffed her phone in her pocket. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of Jim. He’s not answering. Shocker. He knows I’m upset.”

“I can’t imagine Jim would do this on purpose,” Miranda said again.

“Look, I don’t think he’s being malicious, but he definitely is using you to catapult his career.” Shelby thought she and Jim had had a breakthrough last night. She had been wrong. He obviously wanted the promotion, too. This video was the only proof she needed. “Listen, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there’s a big promotion and bonus riding on the content from both of you. I didn’t want to believe it. I’ve always liked Jim, but there’s no getting around it now. Jim is using you, Miranda. He’s trying to get views. Get you to go viral so he can land the promotion.”

Miranda gasped, clutching her chest and stumbling backwards. “What? Jim? No.”

Shelby hated seeing Miranda look devastated. The color drained from her cheeks as she processed the news. “Has he mentioned anything about the promotion?”

Miranda shook her head slowly, not meeting Shelby’s eyes.

“Well, what do you want to do?” Pete stared at Shelby like he expected her to have an answer. “We need to do something.”