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“Looking through your inventory. We need to make a spread sheet that lists your costs and time, and then upscale that by forty percent plus shipping.”
Holly came back with the computer and calculator stacked on top of each other, placing them on the table in front of their mom. “I can make a pre-order sheet online and a link tree.”
“Don’t you have to go back to the shop? It’s only three,” Merry said.
“I put up a sign. Family emergency.” Holly sat down next to Victoria and pulled out her phone, thumbs flying across the screen.
“But…I don’t even know if I want to do this.”
Holly scoffed. “Then why are you filling Mom and Dad’s place with inventory?”
“Because I was bored?”
“Then let’s turn your boredom into money,” Holly said, shooing her. “Go put on your dresses and model them for us while we work on this. Oh!” Holly looked up from her phone screen to address their mom, who was typing away on her laptop. “She’s also going to need an ecommerce site and I’ll have to teach her how to take pictures with her phone.”
Merry’s gaze shifted between her mother and sister, concentrating on their screens and talking about her as if she wasn’t there.
“You’re not upset with me?” Merry asked, her gaze locked on her mom.
Her mother looked up, confusion knitting her brow. “Honey, as long as you aren’t doing anything illegal or that would hurt others, I don’t have a problem with how you want to live your life. You might get some push back from internet prudes, but you’ve always loved crafting and if this is what sets you apart, I am going to support you. I’ll also need to teach you how to do your taxes if you’re going to be a small business owner.”
“What about Dad?”
Holly snorted and their mother shot her a look. “Your father…well, he’ll probably need a minute or two to acclimate.”
“I figured as much,” she said with a laugh, holding up the dresses in her hands. “I’ll go try these on.”
“Do the blue one first!” Holly hollered after her. “Oh, and Merry?”
She braced herself for another slightly embarrassing announcement. “Yeah?”
Holly beamed at her. “I got Declan Gallagher to buy a tree.”
Merry blinked several times. That put them at seventy-five trees in town and five more from neighboring rescues and businesses she’d recruited.
“I take back every mean thing I ever said about you. You…are my hero.”
Her sister went back to looking at her phone screen, but Merry could see she was grinning from ear to ear. “I’d believe it more if you sang it, but that will do.”
Merry sang the chorus of “Wind Beneath My Wings” down the hallways until she slipped into her old room and closed the door on her family’s laughter. The room still held her old dresser, bed, and nightstand, but when she’d built her tiny house, she’d helped her mom clean it out. Since the room had gone unused for months, Merry had asked if she could store some things in it. Four large blue totes were stacked in the corner of the room, containing blankets, teddy bears, hats, and peens. She’d never imagined anyone would want to buy her crafts until Holly asked her if she could put a few in her shop. She’d idly thought about an online store, but this was the first time she’d believed it was her path. The reactions of her sister and her mother…they believed in Merry.
The front door opened and slammed shut and she heard her dad’s voice. “What’s going on here?”
Oh my God. Her dad was home and there were yarn penises all over the table, in plain sight!
Merry scrambled to get her dress on and zipped, racing for the door of her room. She’d barely cracked it open when her mother answered, “Your daughter’s new side business.”
Could this day get any more embarrassing?
Merry entered the kitchen in time to see her mother holding up the Christmas tree peen, making it dance in the air.
Welp, there’s no going back now.
“There is a switch in the balls that makes the Christmas lights turn on,” Merry said.
Her dad stared for several moments, then shifted his glance between Merry, Holly, and his wife.
“I could have gone my whole life without seeing that.”
