Page 45 of Don't Go Faking My Heart

And this is where these women shine.

Jane is a big picture person, so as Ash shares her ideas, Jane asks questions that only expand it. Millie emphasizes the emotional side of each idea, Lou gives it all a uniquely lyrical flow, and Parker translates the whole thing into actionable steps. And I contribute, too. I give feedback on the visuals we can use to best grab attention.

Soon, we're all up and off with our own assignments. Ash and I leave the office at the same time, but we're heading in opposite directions.

"Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye, lovah?" Ash asks, a teasing tone to her question that is like a knife to the gut.

"You can't call me lover."

"If you can call me gorgeous, I can call you lover."

"No you can't."

"Give me one good reason."

"Mine is the truth, yours isn't," I say. Ash narrows her eyes. I let her get away with almost anything, except murder. And her calling me lover will kill me. "Calling me 'lover' has connotations the town will not be okay with outside of wedlock, if you catch my drift."

"GASP."

I shake my head. "You are too much."

"Am I?" Her brows thread together.

"No," I say quickly. "Not for me. You're exactly enough. You're perfect."

She bites her lip, hesitating for a second. Then she smiles softly. "Thanks, Farm Boy." She turns and bounces away.

"Anything for you, darlin'," I say.

She spins around and grins with enough volts to jumpstart a car. "'Darlin'? It's okay, but not as good as 'Gorgeous.'"

I take my cap off and hold it over my heart as I watch her go.

I don't know how I'll ever come back from fake dating the love of my life.

Hours later, we’ve all sent Ash our videos, and she’s put together a rough draft of a reel for socials.

It's a GoPro style video of various businesses along Maple Street, as well as clips throughout town that have been spliced together.

Ash starts the video and talks over it.

"Imagine a POV reel, like 'You wake up and realize your lamp is broken, but you want a new one with style, so you drive to Sugar Maple, South Carolina to go antiquing. You find the cutest end table to go with the new lamp, but in taking it to your car, you spot a fudge shop. You walk into Jorge's Fudgerie and get the chocolate lava fudge, and fall madly in love with the cayenne kick, but then you realize you're thirsty, so you go to Sugar Maple Diner, where they have the McDonald's Diet Coke of Cheerwine. And because you're only human, you order the shrimp and grits to go with it. Then you take your drink to go and wander toward the riverwalk. But on your way, you see fishing signs, so you circle back to the bait and tackle shop and accidentally spill your Cheerwine on you as you walk because you're so distracted by all the cute shops. Luckily, you spot the best thrift and vintage store in the Southeast, get a little bit barked at by the owner for interrupting him watching a soccer match, put on your cool new outfit, finally make it to the bait and tackle shop, and go fishing. After a couple of hours, you're flat out starving, so you go to Food Truck Friday at Sugar Maple Farms, decide you never want to leave, and end the night in the cottage of an influencer's dreams.'"

It's ingenious.

Instantly, everyone is both complimenting Ash and adding ideas. Speed up the walking segments, slow down the parts highlighting shops and attractions. Try a video with the voice sped up while it's popular, but do some with a slower voice. Different lengths of videos, various flows. They share ideas with the bookshop and bakery and others where the car breaks down and someone goes to a mechanic and walks through the historical society. They plan a video of things to do in town with children, highlighting the splash pad and pool, various nature walks, and the petting zoo at the farm.

Within a few hours, we've storyboarded dozens of different videos, each one as good as the last.

"And Sonny, Duke, and I can all be collaborators," Lou says. "Make sure we get as many eyes as possible as quickly as possible.

"I don't know," Ash says. "That feels like cheating."

"It's not a competition," Lou says. "Who would you be cheating against?"

Ash looks at Lou. "Come on."

Lou groans. "Philip? Ash, that guy would use AI to make it look like Dolly Parton and Post Malone both have houses here if he thought it would help him beat you. It's not cheating to use resources to sell a product, it's business. If this were any other company, you'd use every connection available to you, right?"

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