Page 26 of A Fall to Remember

Damn.

He’d outplayed her.

Was all of it a lie?

The whole shtick about being happy in his career. Not wanting to keep rising up the corporate ranks?

Had he set her up?

She couldn’t believe she’d been so naïve.

Her bosses might be happy with his results, but Shelby wasn’t going to let him get away with this. No way. She’d worked too hard for the promotion. It belonged to her. She needed it. And Jim Cole wasn’t going to win.

21

MIRANDA

The weekend was already magical, and the Fall Harvest Fest had barely begun. Miranda chatted with friends and other business owners, returning to their shops or heading toward the park for the costume contest. To think that all of this was due to her terrible picture-taking skills. If she hadn’t done a bang-up job snapping pics of her toes, none of this would be happening now. It was more proof that Jim’s philosophy on showing up authentically was working.

She parted ways with Jim, Shelby, and Pete, who were off to film the costumes and get some extra B-roll. “Duty calls, see you at the park in an hour or so?” Jim said, giving her a warm smile as he reached out his hand to help her to her feet. “I’ll scope out the best spot to film the contest,” he said, pulling away and clearing his throat as if he were trying to compose himself, too.

Miranda knew her cheeks were flaming, but she didn’t care. Jim made her feel like she was floating on air. She watched him leave and began picking up their things.

“Miranda, I have just the woman for Pete,” Astrid Jenkins, the owner of Happy Hounds, a dog bakery around the block, said, catching Miranda’s arm.

“A woman for Pete?” Miranda took off the tape they’d put up to reserve their viewing spot.

Astrid bobbed her head enthusiastically. She was a free spirit, an artist who had retired to Half Moon Bay to open a shop dedicated to four-legged friends. “She’s extremely intelligent—a chemical engineer, but she also does stand-up comedy on the weekends. Well-rounded, wouldn’t you say?” She didn’t wait for Miranda to respond. She stuffed a bag of leaf-shaped peanut butter dog treats into her tote. “I’ll get them in touch ASAP. It could be the love connection he’s looking for. Here’s hoping.” She crossed both her fingers and continued on her way.

“Oh, okay.” Miranda waved as the owner crossed the street. “Great,” she mumbled under her breath. Was Pete looking for a love connection? Since when? He hadn’t mentioned anything to her. Could that be what had been bothering him lately? She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but she knew something had been off. He’d been quieter, more distant. But she didn’t want to pry. He was an adult. If he wanted to talk, he knew she was always ready to lend an ear.

The chef at the Italian restaurant three doors down, Mangiamo!, stopped her next. “Hey, Miranda, just so you know, my best friend’s daughter’s cousin would be perfect for Pete. Tell him to come by on Sunday. She’s been filling in a few shifts as a favor to me, and I’ll introduce them.”

“Uh, sure, yeah.” Miranda nodded, curious about Pete’s sudden popularity. Not that he shouldn’t be popular. Any woman would be lucky to date her son. He was kind, curious, thoughtful, and funny. Not everyone got to see his dry sense of humor. He’d always been more internal. He was a careful observer and inherently intuitive. Once he opened up and felt comfortable, he became a secret prankster and had a natural ability to let the people around him shine. She was about to ask the chef at Mangiamo! more, but he was already headed for the popular restaurant.

She finally clued in when Kat Webb, the high school honors English teacher, flagged her down. “Miranda, ooh, I’m so glad I caught you. Please let me help set Pete up. I have a student teacher who needs to meet him immediately. Are you going to the harvest dinner? Is Pete?”

“Yes, we both are.” Miranda tossed the bundle of tape into the garbage can. Something weird was definitely going on.

“Great. I’ll make sure to swing by your table.” Kat patted Miranda’s arm and then pressed both hands to her chest. “We’re all like you. We just want our kids to meet someone great, and Pete has always had a special place in my heart. He’s such a gem. I’m with you, we need to find him a lovely young woman.”

“Hold on a second.” Miranda stopped her. She brushed her hands on her jeans and grabbed the camp chairs. “Have I missed something? You’re the third person in the span of about five minutes who’s offered to set Pete up.”

“You haven’t seen it?” Kat asked, making room for a group of tuba players to pass.

“Seen what?” Miranda had a bad feeling about this.

“The video.” Kat pulled her phone out of her book bag that was designed to resemble a library card catalog. She scooted closer to show Miranda the viral clip.

“Oh no.” Miranda threw her hand over her mouth and hung her head. “Oh, no. Poor Pete. He’s going to kill me.”

“Why?” Kat tapped the screen to play the video again. “Tell him we all love it. Half Moon Bay is on a mission—find Pete Brown a girlfriend.” She winked. “See you at dinner.”

An uneasy feeling washed over her. Miranda took a minute to gather her thoughts before heading inside.

She might need to be more careful. She wasn’t used to having cameras in her face. A tiny seed of doubt planted itself in her head. She was caught up in the excitement of Voyager and “crushing on Jim,” as Elise would say. But this was a glaring reminder that she needed to take a beat. She was working with professional marketers. It wasn’t like the video was bad, but she didn’t want to put Pete in an uncomfortable position. In fairness, Jim had asked her if it was okay, but the music had been loud, and he said something about a fun video. She hadn’t pictured this or considered that Pete would be involved.

This felt like an overstep of a boundary.