He nodded once.
I turned to Dylan, who was having a break from the cottages and had come over to secure one of Sabrina’sStrawberry Fields Trailwooden signs as it looked a bit wobbly. Apparently, in autumn, they’d had issues with a storm and didn’t want to take any chances. ‘Is he always like that?’
Dylan grinned. ‘Yes. He seems to hate Birchbrook and all of us who live in town but he never leaves so we all think it’s just an act.’
I remained unconvinced but if Paul did as I asked then I’d ignore his grumpy attitude.
* * *
‘What will people use to carry the fruit and veg they’ve picked?’ I asked Willow when we were all having a quick break for iced coffees that Dylan had made us. He was pretty good at making coffees and although Blake had wanted one from the Birchbrook Café, he admitted this one came in as a close second. Willow had informed him there was too much to do for him to leave the farm just for coffee and the look on her face had made him quickly agree and drink what Dylan had made without comment. I had to smile at how my cousin was able to get people to do things for her. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Every time Dylan looked at her, I could tell how much he admired her and was proud she was his. That was something I longed for one day.
‘People either bring their own things or use paper bags we leave out.’
I wrinkled my nose. ‘That’s not a great aesthetic.’
‘You’re right. What can we do?’ She looked immediately panicked. ‘We didn’t have this issue with the pumpkin patch; people just carried them or we used wheelbarrows to get the pumpkins to their cars. I didn’t think about anything for summer. Will this put people off?’
‘No, but if you’re trying to get people to share the farm on social media and spread the word then something cute to carry the fruit and veg in would be an extra bonus, wouldn’t it? I wonder if we could get some cheap baskets or punnets from somewhere? Or make something?’ I mused, pulling out my phone. ‘I’ll do some research. Oh, you know who might be able to help? Mary. Her wholesaler might sell something.’
‘Go and ask her,’ Willow instantly urged me.
‘Hey, I was told we couldn’t leave the farm!’ Blake complained, earning himself a glare from Willow.
‘This isforthe farm,’ she told him shortly.
I held back a grin but when Willow walked off with Dylan, I let Blake see it. ‘You’re in trouble,’ I teased him.
‘Your cousin is intimidating,’ he said with a smile. ‘No wonder Dylan gave up on his plan to buy the farm and ended up helping her save it instead.’
‘She knows what she wants, for sure. I wish I did.’
‘You’ll figure it out,’ he replied confidently. ‘I better go and get the ponies ready; Willow wants us practice-walking the ponies around the enclosure. Her friend Sabrina is bringing a couple of kids from her school to see if the ponies do okay. I don’t want to be told off for slacking.’ He strode off and I giggled. Willow did run a tight ship here.
I wanted to feel as passionate about something as she did about the farm. Willow was inspiring me. The farm was too. I looked around at what I’d helped create. I was sure visitors would love coming here over the summer. I couldn’t wait to see. As I left the field, I couldn’t help but hope Blake might do what he’d mentioned during our star-gazing and stick around to see them arrive too.
I headed off into town in Willow’s car and parked outside the florist’s. The pretty, pink exterior and colourful blooms put an instant smile on my face.
I jumped out of the car and went inside, the doorbell jangling as I entered. The sun streamed in through the window, pooling on the pink and white flowers by the till table where Mary was tying up a bouquet of roses.
‘Mary, can I pick your brains, please?’
‘Of course, dear. But while you do that, do you have any time to help me? Or are you in a rush to get back to the farm?’ Mary asked, looking a bit frantic.
‘Don’t worry, we can help each other, and I’ve finished all I needed to today. Willow wanted me to come here.’
‘Thank goodness! I’ve had an order for twenty bouquets of roses for a proposal and he wants them in an hour,’ she said, her eyes wide. ‘I rushed to the wholesaler and found the flowers I needed, but I’ve only made two so far. But with two of us, hopefully we could do it.’
‘Of course I’ll help.’ I hurried behind the counter and looked at the buckets of roses, the pink paper and ribbon, and gathered up what I needed to make up a bouquet. I stood next to Mary and we both set to work making them up. Her customer had asked for pink roses mixed with baby’s breath and greenery, all done up in pink.
‘He’s going to fill up the house he’s rented for the weekend with the roses and he’s also bought pink balloons so when she arrives and walks in, it will be a big surprise. It’s so sweet but very last minute. He said he kept chickening out of proposing, although he’s had the ring for ages. She told him her parents got engaged in Birchbrook decades ago so that gave him the idea to do it while they’re on holiday here. It’s all very lovely and I couldn’t say no; I’m a hopeless romantic at heart,’ Mary said with a shake of her head. ‘But I forgot how much time bouquets take to make and I must admit, I’m slower now than I used to be. Sometimes, I forget that too. And without any part-time help… I was just about to phone him and say he needs to find another florist, although I would have felt terrible letting him down. You walking in was like a little miracle.’ She beamed across at me and I felt a bit emotional at how grateful and happy she was to have me here helping.
‘I remember watching my mum making up bouquets of roses. She helped with a proposal once too. It made her so happy to be part of something so special. She wanted the flowers to be perfect.’ I looked down at the roses I was tying together. I understood why she’d been so excited now. ‘We’ll make these perfect too.’
As we busied ourselves in making up the bouquets, laying them on the counter as we did them one by one, Mary turned to me. ‘So, what help did you need from me?’ she asked.
‘We were thinking we’d like to find some baskets or punnets or something cute that people coming to the farm could use for the fruit and veg they pick up. They haven’t really offered anything before but Willow is trying to encourage more visitors this year and maybe this is an extra bonus that people might like. Obviously, we wouldn’t want to spend too much. We’d get them to leave them once they’ve paid for everything so they can be re-used through the day but we’d need a fair few for busy days to make sure we don’t run out.’
‘Hmm. I have an old friend outside of town who’s a grocer and they have punnets from the wholesaler I go to, so we could have a look together and you can see if they would work?’ She looked excited. ‘I can take you tomorrow before I open up the shop? You know what would be lovely: if you could label them with the farm name somehow…’
