Chapter 19
PETE
Pete’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He had silenced it before the parade started, but notifications were coming in fast and furious. He glanced at the screen to see Mom’s profile pic.
Ah, that must be it.
Shelby and Jim had started posting and tagging him.
Damn, it must be working.
Did that say two thousand DMs? What?
Pete squinted and read it again.
Yeah. Why was his inbox blowing up?
He didn’t have a chance to read any of them because the mayor handed Mom the keys to the city.
It was a Fall Harvest Fest tradition that one local business would be awarded the honorary role of ambassador for the weekend.
The Green Grocer had never received the keys to the city.
Pete wondered if Shelby had a hand in making it happen.
Either way, he loved seeing Mom beam and blush with a mixture of pride and embarrassment as the mayor stopped in front of the store to give her an oversized gold key.
The mayor gave a speech about the Green Grocer’s dedication to Half Moon Bay and encouraged everyone along the parade route to stop by and shop local while they were in town for the festivities. Shelby and Jim captured it all.
Elise squeezed his arm twice, clapping with delight along with thousands of other people after the mayor finished the speech. “Aunt Mimi is an icon. This is going to be great for our socials. I’ll ask Shelby if she’ll tag us in some of the posts.”
“I’m sure she will.” Pete allowed his eyes to drift toward Shelby, who was giving Mom specific instructions about how to pose in front of the store.
She was clearly in charge and had a vision for every shot.
Pete loved the way she kept tucking her curls behind her ears, or how she would close one eye while trying to make sure Mom was in the exact right spot.
“She obviously knows her stuff. My phone is already blowing up.”
“Really?” Elise reached for her phone. “Mine isn’t.”
“I think they tagged me.” Pete couldn’t tear his eyes away from Shelby. Working brought her to life. She was animated, gesturing with her hands and demonstrating poses she wanted Mom to mimic.
“Your personal account?” Elise checked her phone again. “Why wouldn’t they tag the store? I wonder if they tagged you by accident?”
Pete hadn’t even considered that. He grabbed his phone again. In the short time that the mayor had spoken and handed Miranda the key, his notifications had doubled. “Yeah, you’re right. They must have.” He showed Elise his phone and clicked into his messages.
The first message read:
Pete, I live in Minnesota, but I will book my ticket to Half Moon Bay today. Drinks and dinner tomorrow?
“What is this?” He handed his phone to his cousin.
Elise scanned the message and a few others. “Pete, oh, my, GAWD, these are all women who want to date you!”
“What? No.” He shook his head, trying to figure out what he’d missed. “They posted pics of Mom at the store and here at the parade. How does that have anything to do with me?”
Elise clicked on the post he’d been tagged in.
They huddled together on the sidewalk as she played the video.
Pete’s stomach dropped like he was plummeting in a free fall as he watched the conversation he’d had with Mom a few hours ago.
“Oh, no. No. No.” He buried his face in his hands and shook his head. “They didn’t share that.”
“Oh, yes. Oh, yes, they did.” Elise’s face broke out in a wide grin as she nudged him in the waist. “Dude, you’re a meme now. This is the best thing I’ve ever seen. My cousin is a certified hottie.”
“No, this can’t be happening,” Pete protested. This was not how he had anticipated things would turn out. He was fine with Mom having fun being a travel influencer for women her own age, but this. No. This was bad.
“My guy, you have a mob of women sending you their numbers. What could possibly be wrong with that?” Elise’s lip curled as she stared at him like he was losing his mind.
“I don’t want their numbers.” Pete scanned the crowd for Shelby. This wasn’t part of the plan. Was she in on this?
“Why do you look pissed?” Elise batted his arm twice with the back of her palm. “This is a golden opportunity. What if you end up finding love? I mean, how romantic would that be?”
Pete glared at Elise. “A golden opportunity, really? Okay, should I ask Mom to do you next?”
Elise stuck out her tongue and made a face. “Never mind. Forget I mentioned anything.”
“That’s what I thought.” Pete dropped it.
He knew the subject of dating was a sore spot for Elise.
She’d had a serious boyfriend all through college.
They had discussed moving in together after graduation, but he broke up with her and admitted that he’d fallen for someone else.
Elise had been devastated. The breakup had helped spur her return to Half Moon Bay.
He and Mom had done their best to cheer her up over the last few years.
She hid it well, but he knew she was lonely.
Mom had tried to set her up with a handful of guys—all to no avail.
He wouldn’t put his cousin and best friend through that, but he was going to find Shelby right now and figure out why she’d thrown him under the bus.