Page 4 of A Fall to Remember

How do you find someone who doesn’t even know you exist?

He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the spreadsheet, wishing that somehow this might be the day that he spotted a tiny clue that would give him the breakthrough he desperately needed.

If he just had more to go on. But Mom was like a vault when it came to her past.

A knock sounded on his bedroom door, causing him to startle.

“Pete, it’s me. Can I come in?” Elise asked, already bursting in.

He slammed his laptop shut and swiveled around in his chair, hoping he sounded casual. “Yeah, hey, what’s up?” Not much got by his cousin. They were more like siblings, having grown up next door to each other. Elise’s parents, his uncle Gareth and aunt Kathy, had run the Green Grocer with Miranda until Elise left for college. One day, in her sophomore year, they, seemingly out of nowhere, decided they were bored with Half Moon Bay and sold their share of the store to Miranda and moved to Florida.

Elise still wasn’t over it. “Seriously, who moves to Florida?” she would ask at least once a week. Usually, after a long FaceTime session with her parents, who tried unsuccessfully to convince her that the South Florida sun and humidity were perfect for her. Elise wasn’t budging. Half Moon Bay was her home. She’d made that abundantly clear to Pete on numerous occasions, reminding him how much she loved running the store. “There’s nothing not to love about Half Moon Bay,” she would say anytime the subject of Florida came up. “How can you not be caught up under a spell by the thick fog that rolls in most mornings, shrouding our little village in a blanket of gray? I mean, yeah, I miss my parents. But they want me to trade our foggy mornings that give way to cornflower-blue skies for cockroaches and venomous spiders? Not to mention alligators. Uh, no thanks. Hard pass. Our sleepy beach town is my kind of heaven.”

Pete selfishly didn’t want Elise to move to Florida either, so she didn’t get any resistance from him.

“Whatcha doin’?” Elise asked with a touch of suspicion as she approached Pete’s desk, eyeing his laptop. Her bracelets jangled together as she leaned closer and ruffled his hair. “Secret stuff, huh?”

“No. Nothing exciting. Just work.” Pete cleared his throat. He hadn’t told anyone about his search, not even Elise. He wasn’t sure why. Probably because he didn’t know exactly what he wanted from his birth father. Sure, he had a thousand questions, like was the guy into technology? Pete must have inherited his interest in tech from one parent, and it certainly wasn’t from Mom. Was his dad athletic, geeky, or some combination of both? Did he have an allergy to bees or an aversion to shellfish? He had conjured up images of what his father might be like over the years, picturing them grabbing beers and watching a soccer match or bingeing every movie in the Star Wars franchise over a long weekend. But it all felt like a fuzzy dream. Out of his grasp, so far from reality that he couldn’t allow himself to believe it was possible, and telling Elise or Mom might bring his hopes crashing back to the ground. “What’s up?” Pete asked his cousin, pushing all his questions away for the moment.

Elise plopped on the foot of his bed. Pete and Elise had taken over her parents’ cottage when they moved to Miami. Pete’s room served a dual purpose—half living space, half work-from-home office. He’d arranged his desk in front of a set of tall, black bookshelves to create separation between the two. The bookcase was stuffed with his geeky collection of action figures, sci-fi prints, and graphic novels. The shelves were full of mementos and trinkets from his childhood and his favorite films, whereas the other side of his room was slightly messier. Elise reached for one of Pete’s comic-themed pillows and propped it under her as she grabbed her phone. “You have time to chat about Operation Aunt Mimi Becomes An Influencer?”

Pete’s shoulders relaxed a little and he grinned. Good. She wasn’t going to grill him about his quest. “My mom, an accidental influencer. Who would have thought it?” He moved to the window and opened it halfway. The warm scent of red spider lilies and honeysuckle from the garden wafted inside. The garden was Mom and Elise’s domain. They spent hours creating a sanctuary for pollinators and a private oasis in the shared yard that attached the two cottages.

“That should be her tagline. It’s perfect for this pitch.” Elise made quick notes on her phone as she kicked off her Birkenstocks and ran her tongue along her lips. She always did that when she was concentrating.

Elise was a marketing genius and had had offers to work for several PR firms in San Francisco when she graduated, but fortunately for Pete, she opted to put her persuasive powers to work at the Green Grocer. Between the two of them, they were bringing the boutique shop into the modern era with Pete’s technological skills and his cousin’s ability to spin a story and frame a stunning shot of their in-store seasonal displays.

Pete returned to his desk, opened his laptop, and pulled up a new spreadsheet. “I started ranking the offers you sent. I think Voyager Travel is the best. What about you?”

“Agreed. I mean, they have brand recognition. They work with top advertisers and some of the most famous travel influencers. I’ve been stalking their social media, and I see why they’re interested in recruiting your mom. They have a real gap in her demographic. It’s a major missed opportunity.” Elise sat up and tossed the pillow aside. “Check it out. Almost every single influencer they work with is our age. All these travel feeds are highly curated—aspirational.”

Pete scooted his chair closer to the bed to get a better look. He was far from a Luddite like Mom, but he couldn’t care less about a curated social media aesthetic. He followed illustrators, his favorite movie directors, and entertainment sites on social media, exclusively to get the scoop on new releases and what projects were in production. Pete’s room was filled with framed posters he’d collected from attending premieres. His most prized possession was his bookcase filled with curated DVDs. He preferred old media—there were too many choices when it came to streaming. It was exhausting.

“Your mom is the opposite of Voyager’s current influencers. She’s warm. She’s kind. She’s authentic.” Elise counted out Mom’s qualities on one hand. Every finger had a different ring. His cousin was like a walking jewelry store with her rings, bracelets, earrings, funky belts, and accessories. “But, man, she can’t take a selfie to save her life.”

“God, no.” Pete chuckled. He practically had to force technology on Mom, from her phone to finally upgrading the Green Grocer’s point-of-sale system. “I swear, I’m not sure she knows how to turn off her phone. I don’t think she’s ever installed a new update. Anytime I check her phone, she’s at least five operating systems behind.”

“Right.” Elise grinned. “But see, that’s why she’ll be so great at this. I’m shocked that Voyager hasn’t tried to tap into the middle-aged-mom demographic sooner. Think about it, most women her age have way more discretionary income than we do. They’ve raised children. They’re solid in their careers. They have the time and money to travel. It just makes sense.”

“Yeah, the only thing is, I hope they’re not trying to exploit her.” A tiny flutter of concern rumbled in his stomach. His mom was his world. She’d created a wonderful, magical life for him. “She’s so easygoing and always happy to be in on the joke, you know. But how do we make sure she stays in on the joke and doesn’t become the joke?”

“Fair point.” Elise nodded seriously. She scrunched her nose, making her dimple pop as she thought about it for a minute. “You’re right. It’s a fine line. I’ve read through Jim Cole’s pitch and done a deep dive into his backstory. He’s been with Voyager for nearly thirty years. He’s your mom’s age, which I think is a good thing. And he seems like he gets it. He wants her to build connection and community. We know that she can do that in her sleep, right?”

Pete considered it. “For sure. I guess I feel slightly protective, though.”

Elise scowled as she tucked her golden-brown hair behind her ears. “Dude, me too. I would never let anyone take advantage of Aunt Mimi. That’s where we come in. I think we need to help control the narrative. Act sort of like her agent. You and I can make sure we’re reviewing everything from Voyager first. The good thing is that they want to come here for the Fall Harvest Fest. Did you see Jim’s last email that I forwarded?”

Pete shook his head. “I haven’t had a chance yet.” To be fair, he’d let Elise take the lead. This was her department. Not his. Plus, he’d been distracted again. The search for his birth father had gone in starts and stops over the years. But that might be changing. He’d stumbled upon a lead he wanted to follow—a new detective agency that specialized in this type of thing. But if he moved forward, he wasn’t sure he could keep hiding it from Mom. His palms started to sweat at the thought.

Thankfully, Elise distracted him. She pulled the email up on her phone and went over the details. “Instead of sending her to a far-off travel destination, they want to film here in Half Moon Bay. Jim will come himself and guide and coach her for this first round of videos and social posts. It sounds like maybe one of his colleagues is even going to tag along.” Elise paused for a minute, scrolling through the email. “Yes, Shelby Bowerson. Her official title is Senior Specialist for Partner Communications Content.”

“That’s a mouthful.” Pete made a face.

“It just means that she’s responsible for their partners’ content. Partners like your mom.” Elise shot him her signature crooked grin as she shimmied her shoulders with excitement, doing a little happy dance. “You can’t ask for better content than the Fall Harvest Fest. It’s the best time of the year here, and your mom will get to show off our little seaside town with its rustic hay bales and cornstalks on every corner and the gorgeous autumnal displays in all the shops. Can’t you already see her taking us on a tour of the organic pumpkin patches and the moonlight bonfire?”

Pete couldn’t argue with that. He could picture it, and felt genuinely excited for his mom. He knew she would love nothing better than getting to show off her beloved small town. But he intended to keep his guard up. She had always been his steadfast champion. Now it was time for him to do the same for her.

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