Chapter 16
SHELBY
Shelby prepped her content layout for the next thirty minutes.
The first series of posts would be a “Get to Know Miranda Brown” theme.
She would let Jim handle the introduction.
They just needed to cover the basics—photos, a couple of short videos of her in her element at the Green Grocer, and then pictures of downtown.
She ran everything through a fall filter and then sent Jim captions and questions for engagement.
Engagement drove the algorithms. As soon as the posts were live, she would monitor the comments, making sure to respond quickly to boost views.
But before they could begin posting, they still needed to set up Miranda’s social media accounts.
Shelby had never had a client who had zero—as in zero—social media pages.
They needed profile pics, a bio, and to link to the original video that Pete had shared on his social.
She inhaled the soup and sandwich. They were fantastic.
The best thing she’d eaten in days. No competition for the stale bagel and banana she’d grabbed at the hotel.
Jim had floated a number of potential options for Miranda’s brand.
Mom-osphere.
Mama-verse.
Momselor.
Mom-ager, which he claimed was like Voyager, but with mom. No one would get that. If you had to explain the name, it was a pass in her book.
Travel Around with Miranda Brown.
No, no, and nope.
Shelby opted for something simple, clean, just like Miranda Brown.
Three text messages, each from a different collection agency, buzzed on her phone. She ignored them all, feeling slightly sick. How long could this continue?
As if losing the house wasn’t enough, there were piles of other unpaid bills—credit cards, the car payment, her student loans, and her sister’s next tuition and housing payment. She felt like she was drowning, and there was no chance of coming up for air.
It’s like her body could feel it, because without even realizing what she was doing, she gulped in a long, deep breath and finished the soup.
Pete was lucky. Miranda seemed like the kind of mom who would make him homemade soup and warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies to cheer him up.
Not the kind of mom who would let her oldest daughter bear the burden of finding a way out of crushing family debt.
Her entire body shuddered at the reminder of what was waiting for her in Seattle and why the stakes were so high this weekend.
She couldn’t lose sight of that.
She set her spoon on the plate and folded her napkin.
Giving Jim an easy project would let her concentrate on how they were going to position the parade.
There was a sweet spot between hometown nostalgia and corny.
Knowing Jim, he would lean hard on the cutesy, small-town angle.
That wouldn’t work to attract the audience she wanted.
No, this was going to take some finagling.
She could hear the wail of police sirens and the thrum of drums in the background. That had to mean the parade had begun.
Time to work your magic.
She gathered her things and went outside to join everyone.
Jim and Miranda were chatting happily in camp chairs while Pete and Elise looked on from beneath a fluttering oak tree.
Her mind immediately went to what Pete had said about the trees cheering for her.
She could really use their support right about now.
“Hey, Jim, can I steal you for one minute before it gets too wild out here?”
Jim nodded, whispering something to Miranda before he stood up, which made Shelby flinch. Was he talking about her?
Shelby couldn’t believe how many people had filled in outside.
Every inch of sidewalk space was taken up by parade watchers.
Across the streets, more people gathered on second-story balconies and shopfront windows to get a view.
“How’s it going?” she asked Jim. “Did you get my shared note and AirDrop?”
Jim shook his head. “No, I haven’t checked my phone for a little while. Miranda was just telling me about one year when a herd of goats got loose on the parade route, and everything had to grind to a halt until they could all be wrangled up. That would have made for some good social content, huh?”
Shelby didn’t have time for this. “I sent you photos with the filter we’re going to use on everything. That’s in the shared note. Make sure you run every photo and video through the filter before you share it.”
“No problem.”
“I also sent you captions and post ideas. I think we should start with a gallery of photos—a get to know Miranda—then maybe a few short reels and some stories of the parade.”
“Sure. What do you want me to do?”
“That. And we still need to set up her profiles. You can do that, too.” Shelby gestured with her hand like she wanted him to keep up. “If you can do the introduction, I’ll film the parade and work on how we position Miranda.”
Jim frowned. “What do you mean by position?”
“You know—the hook. How we upsell Half Moon Bay and the Harvest Fest.” Why wasn’t he getting it? Was he intentionally playing na?ve?
“I don’t think that will be much of a challenge.” Jim swept his hand toward the street. “This is about as idyllic as it gets. Half Moon Bay is doing our job for us.”
Shelby was non-committal. “Okay, but you’re good to work on the intro?”
“Of course. I know the drill.” He nodded seriously.
“Don’t forget to tag Voyager and our ad partners. Those are in the shared note, too.”
“Got it.” Jim gave her a half smile that made Shelby feel like she was on the outside of a joke she didn’t understand.
“Just be sure you stick to the script, okay? I want to make sure we have a cohesive voice since we’ll both be posting. I was planning to respond to comments. Unless that’s something you want to take on.”
“I’m fine either way.”
“I’ll do it.” Shelby’s attention was pulled away from the flashing red, white, and blue lights coming toward them. The local police were leading the march. “It’s a plan. I’d better start filming this.”
“I’ll take some candid shots on my phone for backup.” He patted the camera slung over his shoulder.
“Okay. Cool. Cool.” Shelby was glad he wasn’t putting up a fight.
Not that she expected him to. Jim was about as easygoing as they got.
Nothing rattled him. She’d never heard him so much as raise his voice or complain about a single thing in their team meetings.
Out of everyone they could have assigned her to work with this weekend, he was by far her top choice.
She just needed him to stick to the script and not try to put his own spin on Miranda’s soon-to-be-established travel influencer brand.
She felt bad for clashing with him earlier.
It wasn’t his fault. Honestly, Jim had been one of the only people at work who had even noticed her stress.
He’d gone out of his way to check in with her several times.
He brought her coffee on multiple occasions—always her favorite.
She didn’t know how he managed to figure out her drink of choice—a spiced honey latte with soy milk.
But that was Jim. His kindness came through in everything he did.
He’d made a point to invite her to happy hour with the team and ask how she was doing. But could she trust him?
Unclear.
Probably likely. But he could also be after the promotion.
She needed to remember that. If there was anyone she might have opened up to about her struggles, it would have been him.
But it was easier—safer—for her to compartmentalize her life.
No one needed to know about her personal problems. The more she focused on work and made Miranda Brown’s campaign successful, the closer she was to solving those problems.