Page 81 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

He nodded, opening a can of soda. “How long is your presentation?”

“I’ve got about twenty minutes to talk, and then ten for questions. I don’t need to take up all the time, though, and honestly, I wasn’t planning to—I figured I would be concise and hopefully hit enough great points and ideas that it was memorable.”

“Alright. Start from the beginning and give me the presentation.”

Okay. I mentally regrouped, taking a deep breath as I pulled out the stuff forthispresentation, then I started. It was a little rough, but I explained the tours I wanted to run, showed Finn some pictures I’d taken, talked about how there would be adjustable timelines for all the tours based on how long a vacation would be, and then went into the top locations and seasons for visiting. My goal was to paint the picture so well it almost made the company executives want to go on the tour themselves.

When I finished, after approximately seventeen minutes, I looked at Finn with raised brows. My confidence that came when I was talking about something I was passionate about slipped from me like water from a faucet. “What did you think? Was it terrible?”

“You’re a natural,” he said, grinning.

My shoulders relaxed at the praise, and I picked up a pen. “What if I did something like what you’ve done for me on this tour? Partnered with a tour company to simplify our overhead. Then my company wouldn’t need to do all the legwork of booking tours and taking groups, but rather would just find the customers and take a percentage.”

“When I first learned why you were here, I actually wondered if you could do that for my grandparents.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Gram had mentioned selling, and I thought, what if I could get Lucy to partner with them and then they wouldn’t need to sell. It would cut their work in half as well as yours.”

“So, you like the idea?” Earlier, he’d seemed on board with his grandparents selling for the first time in over a week. But what if he wasn’t? “I could easily recommend your grandparents if that’s something you still want.”

He tapped his fingers on his soda can. But after only a few seconds’ hesitation, he said, “No. They’re selling. But I can get you in touch with some other groups.”

I felt inexplicably proud of him. “Okay.”

He set down his soda. “Should the presentation only be about this tour? What if you included some general thoughts on marketing and the team that would be needed to run the literary tours?”

“Yes, that’s a great idea. I actually considered that in my plans and have several thoughts, but didn’t add it to the presentation because I didn’t want to appear like I was overstepping.”

“But if you present it as how you would do all those things for this particular tour, then you don’t need to worry about overstepping—yet everything you say could be used in a broader, more general way for the other tours.”

I pointed my pen at him. “Great idea.” Then I tucked it behind my ear and started typing. This was what I’d been needing the last week and a half as I’d been planning the tour: someone to bounce ideas off of and get reassurance from. It was a synergy that always left me excited.

“Okay, so with marketing, I’m thinking we’ll partner with some local photographers and videographers. And then wouldn’t it be so fun to have something like a video introduction on our site for each location? Something short—maybe one to two minutes or so that talks about the location in cinematic detail and really makes it feel like you’re there.”

He sat up. “That sounds great. What if we got that ready for your presentation? Could that be what you’re missing?”

I nodded without even thinking. “It would be pretty amazing, but I don’t know that I can do that in less than twenty-four hours.” Plus, I didn’t want to take any time away from the U-pick.

Emotion crossed his face, almost like disappointment. Had he, like me, just realized how little time was left? “I know people. Trish does videography, she may already have some work we could use. How soon after you get home do you do your presentation?”

“It’s next Wednesday.”

“So, we have almost a week. Easy! Anything we don’t get done before you leave, I can send to you.”

I pushed to a stand and started pacing, unable to stop my feet from mimicking my mind’s movement. “Okay, okay, this could be perfect. I’ll need to compile possible shot lists. And find a voiceover? Or just text. No, a voiceover would be better—you’d actually be great, with that low voice.”I spun, standing in front of two floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and pointed at Finn.

His brows lifted, but he splayed his palms in front of him. “I’m all yours.”

A little smile lit my face. A larger warmth exploded in my stomach at the words. But I forced myself to keep thinking about the work. Once that was out of the way, I could think about us. About what those kisses we’d shared meant. About what next week would look like and the week after that.

Had it been in the back of my mind that, in organizing the U-Pick, I was ensuring I’d get to keep in touch with Finn? It wasn’t my main priority… but it had definitely been there.

Back to work, though. “And then I’ll need to find someone who can edit it all together. I’m terrible at that stuff, but maybe I can find someone who’s willing. Maybe Avery… though she’ll grumble about it taking her from wedding planning. If not, I’ll hire someone. I don’t know that I can consider this a business expense right now unless Apex goes for it. How much do you think Trish will charge?”

“I’ll see if she’ll handle it as a favor to me. Maybe you have her logo in the video?”

“Yes, yes, that would be amazing, and I could totally do that.” I paced back to the table, then immediately back to the shelves.

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