work on a new social media campaign. Would you like that?”
Ashley gave her a shaky nod, then buried her face in the sofa cushions.
Feeling about two inches tall, Tara went and grabbed the first-aid kit and got Ashley’s knee cleaned and bandaged, then went back out to put the bike away before returning to the house. It took some effort, but she managed to put aside her guilt and focus on Ashley and making her happy again.
“What theme should we focus on today?” Tara asked, getting out her camera equipment and setting it up near the windows for the best light. “More rainbows? Or something new? I saw the hydrangeas are blooming outside. Maybe we can cut some of those and do a flower motif?”
Ashley seemed to consider this, then said, “Both! Flowers and rainbows!”
Glad to see her excited again, Tara grinned. “Both it is. How about you work on the backgrounds again, and I’ll go collect some flowers for our shoot.”
“Sounds good!” Ashley ran back to her bedroom for her art supplies.
Tara went back out front and cut several bouquets of flowers from the bushes in front of the porch. The previous owners had done a great job with the landscaping, putting in these gorgeous hydrangea bushes in various shades of pink and blue and white. She took some of each color and returned inside to find Ashley had created more vivid backgrounds for them to use.
Together, they set up several different motifs for Tara to shoot and by the end of the afternoon, Tara had uploaded them all to her social media account. She and Ashley crashed back on the sofa to watch as the reactions poured in.
“Look!” Ashley pointed to the computer screen. “That’s a good number, right?”
Yep. It was. Tara’s pulse sped as the number of likes kept rising exponentially. Seemed people really loved their bright, upbeat content, and soon the new posts had gone viral. They got so wrapped up in watching the likes increase that they barely noticed when Clint walked in later.
“Hey,” he said, tossing his keys on the side table and bending down to kiss the top of Ashley’s head, then Tara’s lips. “How are my girls doing today?”
“Good, Daddy!” Ashley squealed, pointing at the laptop screen. “Look! We went viral again!”
“Wow.” Clint leaned in closer, sending Tara’s already racing heartbeat skyrocketing, darn him. He didn’t even have to try to make her acutely aware of him. “That’s fabulous.” He gave Tara a side glance and a wink. “I’m not surprised, though. I already knew you both were awesome.”
“Oh, Daddy.” Ashley giggled when he reached over and tickled her. “I rode my bike without the wheels today!”
“You did?” Clint scooped her up to carry her with him to the kitchen. “How’d that go?”
“Good. Until I fell.” She pointed at her knee. “I hurt myself and everything.”
Tara’s buoyant spirts sank once more. She winced and followed them into the kitchen. “Sorry. I tried to keep an eye on her, but it all happened so fast, the bike hit the ground before I could stop it.”
Clint grabbed a soda from the fridge and faced her once more, holding his daughter in one arm while opening his can with the other. He kissed Ashley’s cheek and let her have the first sip of his soda before taking a huge gulp himself. “Well, if a scraped knee is the worst that happens to you, I’d say you’re a lucky kid. Did you know your daddy broke his arm once, falling out of a tree house?”
“Really?” Ashley’s eyes got big as saucers. “Did that hurt?”
“Oh yeah. It hurt a lot.” He grinned over at Tara, giving her another coy little wink that made her toes buzz and her nerve endings spark. “But I learned to be more careful. Sometimes it’s not fun getting hurt, but that pain can teach us something, if we look at it the right way.”
Ashley quieted, then said, “That’s true, Daddy. Can you put me down now so I can check our stats again?”
Laughing, Clint kissed her once more and put her down. “Six going on thirty-six, that one.”
Tara bit her lip as the little girl streaked past her and back into the living room. “I’m really sorry about the fall. I didn’t—”
He cut her off with a kiss, then leaned back and drank more soda. “Don’t be. She’s just fine and seems overjoyed to be the new Internet sensation with you, so it’s all good. And thank you for watching her today.