“Put the tree over your shoulder, babe,” she instructed her fiancé. “Like you just cut it and hauled it down the mountain.”
He obediently balanced the tree over one shoulder, and she handed the phone to Kerry, before posing herself beside him, hand rested on one hip.
Kerry clicked off a few frames.
“Now get one of us standing by Spammy,” Ashley instructed. “And then another by your sign, so my fans will know where to find you.”
Kerry did as requested. Ashley took the phone and studied the photos. “Mmm. Not bad.” She looked up. “Now let me take one of you and your boyfriend in front of the sign. Good publicity, right?”
Kerry felt the heat rise in her neck and cheeks. “He’s not my—”
“No problem,” Patrick said cheerfully. He whistled and Queenie trotted over, then he took Kerry’s arm and steered her over to the sign.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Just smile and act like you adore me,” he said under his breath,flinging an arm around her shoulder, as Ashley clicked the camera’s shutter. “I’ll fill you in later.”
When the impromptu photo shoot was done and the happy couple were walking away with their bargain Christmas tree, Kerry turned to Patrick. “Okay. What was that all about?”
“The girl, Ashley. I knew I recognized her from somewhere. Then it struck me. That’s Ashley, from AshleyActually. She’s a huge social media influencer.”
Now it was Patrick’s turn to consult his phone. He opened the Instagram app, typed something in the search bar, and showed Kerry the results.
AshleyActually had 1.2 million followers, and her feed featured an endless stream of artfully styled shots of her shopping, strolling, sipping, nibbling, and sightseeing.
“How do you happen to know about someone like her?” Kerry asked.
“One of our clients paid a lot of money recently to have her do a paid promotion for their new coffee brand.”
With his fingertip he scrolled through Ashley’s feed, pausing at a backlit photo of the girl sipping from a mug of coffee, with a Siamese cat resting in her lap. She was dreamily looking out a window through a gauzy curtain.
Morning Musings with my #KoolBeansRoasters coffee and my bff #SillyBillyCat. Two things I can’t do without—my #KoolBeansRoasters coffee and my Billy. Link in bio to get a 20% discount and enter to win a KoolBeans giveaway.
“She got paid for that?” Kerry asked.
“Major bucks. And our client was deliriously happy. Look at the number of likes and comments. The account netted like two thousand new followers and the discount got them a nice sales bump.”
“Huh.”
“If she actually mentions Tolliver Tree Farms on Instagram it could be huge,” Patrick said. “Ashley and Shaun won’t promote just any product. They’re pretty picky.”
Kerry was pondering the possibilities when Patrick’s cell phone rang. His easy smile tensed. “Gretchen. Wonder what she’s mad at me about now?”
He tapped Connect on the phone.
“Hi. What’s up?”
His face softened as he listened. “Okay. Yeah. Glad you caught me. I’ll come right up.”
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Austin wants me to come up and read him a bedtime story. Gotta go.”
“See ya,” Kerry said. “And thanks, by the way, for the intel about Ashley.”
“Happy to help,” Patrick murmured. He leaned in and kissed her, very lightly, on the lips. “Hope something comes of it.”
chapter 19
