Page 6 of Grinch Girl

Eternally popular source of entertainment.

Planned a trip to every place I’d ever seen on that show.

After the show aired, so many people came that it turned things around.

Web series.

“Ohhhhh.” I breathed a long high-pitched note.

Sean eyed me strangely. “You OK, J?”

“I have an idea. A really bad idea.”

*

I concluded thebrief, fumbling presentation to the group and raised my eyebrows, waiting for feedback. In the corner of the diner, Sean gave me an unconvincing thumbs-up. While I was generally pretty patient and good at explaining things—you had to be patient to explain wireless internet routers to eighty-five-year-old women, which was something I did regularly—but this idea was a pretty wild stretch for the members of the Falworth Small Business Association. Especially at eight a.m. on Black Friday, pre-coffee.

I did a scan of the faces in the room:

Diane and Michael looked a little intrigued and a little puzzled.

Jim’s forehead frown lines were so deep he looked like a confused cartoon character.

Carol’s weathered face was placid. Had she heard anything I’d said? I’d shown a few clips from some of the most popular web series on the internet so everyone could grasp the concept, but…

“What do you guys think?” I demanded.

Carol leaned back in her chair. “Let me get this straight. You want us to create a—” she made finger quotes “—‘reality TV holiday dating show’ that we will—” more finger quotes “—‘stream on the internet as a web series’ to promote the town and attract tourists?”

“Yes,” I exclaimed. Didn’t quite appreciate the emphatic finger quotes, but I had to admit that I was impressed that she grasped it so quickly. She’d practically made me cry from frustration when I’d installed the diner’s point-of-sale system a few years back.

“Explain how the dating part would go,” Diane said, flinging the end of her purple silk scarf over her shoulder. “I’ve seen lots of different ones on TV. How would ours work?”

Ours.That was a good sign.

“So, I’m thinking we get like ten or fifteen people from the town to sign up,” I said quickly. “Hopefully, a couple of bunches in different age-appropriate brackets. We’ll film them going on dates that highlight things in our town: the pub, the bakery, the bowling alley, the diner, Greta’s shop.”

My head was spinning; we had to kick this offnowto have any impact on the holiday season. “Reality TV shows, likeAmerican Idol, do really well with audience participation, so I’m thinking we get viewers to vote on how people partner up fordates. That gets the audience invested and interacting on social media, and that’s how we’ll raise awareness.”

Jim raised his hand. “I don’t get it.”

I stifled a sigh. “OK. Let’s pretend that you all sign up to be a contestant.” Jim and Michael looked horrified, while Carol and Diane looked delighted.

“I could be a viewer at home,” I explained, crouching over my laptop and miming interest at the screen. “I think to myself: I want to see Diane and Michael go on a date, so I vote for that.”

Diane giggled, apparently thrilled with the idea of stepping out on the town with a man twenty-five years her junior. I did not look at Michael’s reaction.

“Maybe Sean’s a viewer also,” I went on. “He votes for Carol and Jim going on a date.” Never mind that Carol had been happily married for forty years.

She beamed at Jim across the room. “Bring a corsage when you pick me up, darling.” Jim rolled his eyes but tipped her an imaginary hat.

“We would tally the votes, and the contestants would have to go on filmed dates—to our places of business—and hopefully people will watch. Lots of them. And think:I want to go there and meet these crazy small-town daters and hang out where they’re hanging out.”

The room fell silent again. “It’s a long shot, I do realize. But what do we have to lose? I can organize it and try to find contestants,” I offered. “Sean has offered to be our cameraman.”

Michael looked doubtful. “What if…” He cleared his throat tactfully. “What if people don’t come across well? Like, what if our contestants act poorly or in a way that doesn’t represent the town well?”

My face broke in a wide smile, and I prayed it wasn’t too nasty.That’s exactly what we should hope for, Michael.“We’re not trying to win an award for behavior. We’re trying to savethe town.” Maybe that was a little dramatic, but who cared? “We want clicks, we want exposure, we want feet and butts in this town. If people get interested because someone acts like a jackass, that’s totally fine.”

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