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The biggest dream Riley DeLuca had been dreaming for years was finally coming true. Her favorite band in the entire world was getting back together for a reunion tour.
Riley couldn’t believe her luck. She’d spent the last ten years running the Maine Event fan page which still manages to amass several hundred daily users. It wasn’t much, she knew, but it was exciting to her. The pet project she’d started all those years ago had led Riley to become a successful social media manager. She had even started her own company, The Maine Thing, as a way to expand her social media skills.
Granted, those skills were mostly limited to the small businesses in Moonflower Cove, Maine. Riley either managed or did occasional content creation for several places around her hometown. She had been lucky enough to have her work recognized by companies and brands outside the Cove, which had helped get her name out into the world. But so far, that hasn’t resulted in more work.
Things were about to change though. Riley could feel it in her bones.
Well, actually, all she could feel were her nerves bubbling up inside of her. She had finally talked herself into asking Skylar Ford if she could run the social media accounts for Maine Event.
Skylar had been the band’s lead singer, and Riley had been starstruck by her for years. She still fumbled over her words when she ran into Skylar around town. It didn’t matter how often it happened—which in the small town was a lot—Riley still had to compose herself to act cool in front of Skylar.
Checking herself in the mirror once more, Riley adjusted the buttons on the shirt to align them down her chest. She’d chosen the coral-colored button down and black pants because it had been her power outfit for years now. Although Riley was confident in her skills, she knew that Maine Event would undoubtedly have a more well known social media manager. Her only hope was that her fan page website had been the primary source of band related news for years. And Riley hoped that would mean something to Skylar and the rest of Maine Event.
Snatching her backpack up from the top of the stairs, Riley bounded down excitedly as she opened the door into the flower shop. Her cousin, Maddie Carlson, was behind the counter preparing a bouquet of roses. Little Miss Happy Plants had been bustling as winter finally gave way to spring and everyone was in search of colorful flowers to fill their home. Riley plucked one of the flowers from the vase as Maddie swatted her hand away.
“Give me that back.” Maddie grabbed the flower back and returned it to the vase. “There’s some extra ones in the box if you want one.”
She nodded toward a box on the floor behind the counter. Riley walked around and examined the discarded flowers. Most were missing petals or near death, thus being rendered useless to use in a bouquet. Maddie always used the discarded flowers in her compost heap at the greenhouse, but Riley knew she wouldn’t miss the daisy that was missing a few petals.
“Where are you off to so early?”
“I’m hoping to talk to Skylar today.”
“About time,” Maddie chuckled. “Walker and I assumed you’d already be packing for the tour by now.”
“Well, I’ll have you and your wife know that I’m trying to be respectful of Skylar’s space and not bother her. No one likes needy fans bothering them.”
“Do you have your speech ready?”
“I’m just going to offer my services to her.”
Maddie arched an eyebrow at her. “Don’t word it like that.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Riley grimaced. “I just can’t imagine anyone out there more perfect to run their social media accounts than me. I mean, I’ve been running the Maine Event unofficial fan page for years and I’m a successful content creator. I’m a win-win.”
“You definitely have your mother’s confidence,” Maddie laughed as she added a few more flowers to the bouquet.
Riley’s mom, Lauren, was the oldest of the four Carlson siblings. She was as headstrong as she was loving, and Riley always took it as a compliment when she was compared to her. Well, except when they said she had her mother’s attitude. That was never a compliment.
“Let me know how it goes.”
“I will.”
Waving goodbye to Maddie, Riley walked out the shop’s front door and made a beeline to Set the Record Gay. The record store was only a few shops down from the flower shop, so the walk was brisk. Riley pushed open the door as a chime went off, signaling her entrance. She looked around the shop, only seeing Steven Ford behind the counter.
“Hey, Miss Riley,” he called out with a wave. “I saw that video on the blog. They still sound good together, don’t they?”
Steven was referring to the video Riley posted on the Maine Event fan page a few nights ago. Elena Cruz, the other half of the lead in Maine Event, had shown up in town unexpectedly. Riley had assumed it was to talk with Skylar about the tour, but she hadn’t gotten the full scoop yet. In fact, she was worried her biggest Maine Event fan card would be revoked because she didn’t know Elena was in town, let alone singing with Skylar at Straight to Ale, until Emily Crawford had texted her.
Riley had bolted out of the apartment and down to Straight to Ale so fast she could have competed in the Olympics. She pushed her way through the crowd for a front row view of the iconic duo singing together once more. Goosebumps were all over her body as she watched them perform together as if no one else was in the room.
Although the video had only been up for a few days, the views were already close to half a million. And climbing.
“They sure do, sir.”
“How many views is it up to now?”
“It was just over a half million last night.”
