Page 20 of Yule Party on Sunflower Street

‘About what?’ Sadie asked.

‘About what we need to do. I mean, we knew a Christmas pop-up shop was a risk, but we have the knowledge and the skills needed to make it a success. We can do this, but I think we need to… pivot.’

‘Pivot?’ Sadie frowned. ‘What? And sell something else?’

‘Not like that. I mean that we need to make Christmas bigger.’

‘Bigger?’

‘Can you stop repeating what I say?’ Tara said.

‘Stop repeating…’ Sadie sniggered. ‘Sorry. Just kidding. But how do we make Christmas bigger?’

‘We need an event.’

‘Like what?’

‘A… a party. We can organise it and get other businesses involved and that will attract more people to the village.’

‘OK.’ Sadie scrunched up her face. ‘We’ll organise a party.’

‘Yes. We just need to come up with a plan and then we can approach other businesses.’

‘Great! Now can we get inside because my feet are freezing and I don’t fancy getting frostbite.’

‘It’s not frosty.’ Tara looked around.

‘But it is freezing, so come on, inside now!’ Sadie placed a hand on Tara’s back and led her towards the shop, but Tara barely noticed because her mind was whirring.

A Christmas party to create a buzz for the month of December.

A party that would create a buzz around Tinsel and Twine.

Back inside, she put her empty mug on the counter then grabbed a pen and notepad.

‘We’ll party like…’ She chewed the end of the pen. ‘We’ll party. On the green…’

‘You’re invited to party,’ Sadie said.

‘Maybe…’

‘Who’s in the mood for a party?’ Sadie suggested.

‘I’ll party. We’ll party. You’ll party,’ Tara said. And then it hit her like a lightning bolt. ‘A Yule party.’

‘As in Y-U-L-E?’

‘Yes!’

‘Yule Party on Sunflower Street!’ Sadie laughed. ‘I love it.’

‘Me too.’

She wrote YULE PARTY on the notepad then held it up.

‘I think we have a plan,’ Sadie said.

‘I think we do.’