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I lifted my brows. “That’s it?”
Emily nodded. “I thought that was a rather small radius myself. If we can get enough people interested, I think we can offer to cover a much larger area. We might have to hire one or two people to help deliver.”
“Agreed. What about a pick-up subscription as well?”
“That’s a great idea,” Emily stated.
I pulled out the notebook I’d left in Lou’s office and wrote it down.
“Oh,” Emily said with an excited grin. “I also found a lady on Facebook Marketplace who’s trying to downsize and move into a retirement building. She used to be big into canning, and she needs to get rid of a lot of her supplies. She has boxes and boxes of Mason jars she wants to get rid of—for free!”
“What?” I asked, setting my coffee down. “Are you sure she wants to just give them away?”
“Positive. I messaged her, and she said we can pick them up anytime, but that we’ll need a truck or an SUV.”
“That’s wonderful! That will help a lot, budget wise.”
Emily nodded. “I thought so as well.”
“Okay, so let’s make a list of things we need to do first. Mom is giving us space to plant in this greenhouse, so we can get started now. And my father will have our own greenhouse built on a designated space on the ranch side. With the money I’ve saved up and your contribution, we should have a decent-size greenhouse to be able to grow flowers year-round. If we can do that, we can offer subscriptions all year if we wanted to. Well, maybe we take the winter months off? What do you think?”
“I think if we can sell enough spring, summer, and fall subscriptions, we could easily take the winter months off. Get things geared up for spring. Or, we could offer a few pick-up subscriptions like you suggested.”
“Great idea!”
As Emily and I worked on our business plan, I struggled to contain my excitement. I had such a wonderful feeling about this business.
Lou knocked on the door, and we both looked up. “Ready for me to join in?”
“Yes,” I said, as I stood and grabbed my notebook. We followed Lou into the greenhouse and over to the area that Mackenzie and my mother had set aside for Emily and me to start growing.
“This is the space we cleared for your new business. Do you have a name yet?” Lou asked.
Emily and I shook our heads. “Not yet.”
“The first thing I think you need to do is start getting some seeds in. Spring will be here before you know it,” Lou advised.
Glancing at Emily, I said, “I think we should start with a summer subscription. We’re too late for spring, but if we start now, we should see a great yield for summer.”
Emily nodded in agreement.
“What flowers are you thinking of planting?” Lou asked.
“Everything we can think of. The new greenhouse my father’s having built will be heated, like this one, so I don’t see why we can’t grow whatever we want,” I stated. “Zinnias, cosmos, feverfew, strawflower, salvias…the possibilities are endless.”
Lou smiled. “Vegetables are my thing, so when it comes to the flowers, I’ll let you girls take the lead. Let me show you the setup we have.”
Lou took us around the greenhouse, showing us everything it takes to manage plants indoors. A good portion of our growing would be in the greenhouse, since time outside was limited, thanks to the colder weather. But that just meant we could offer flowers year-round, and not just during the summer months. It was a huge advantage, and one I wouldn’t take for granted.
After Lou went over everything, I felt like my head was spinning.
“My dad was going to show us the area of the ranch he’s set aside for the new greenhouse. You feel like getting cold?” I asked Emily.
“Let’s do it! I want to visualize it.”
We were soon dressed in our winter gear and driving to the ranch side. I knew the only reason I was able to do this business at all was because of my father and mother. The fact that they were giving us a huge chunk of land to utilize was making this dream a reality.
Tears built in my eyes as I thought about how they had let Bradly and me both follow our dreams and never once held us back. Even when I wanted to go to another country and live. I blinked back the tears and slowly drew in a breath so Emily wouldn’t notice my change in emotion.
I pulled up in the ranch truck and put it in Park. There were dozens of sticks with orange flags sticking out of the ground, cordoning off a huge area, and Emily and I simply stared, both lost in our visions.
“That’s all ours?” Emily asked in a stunned voice.
