“Good morning,” Summer said, grinning at her friend.
“What brings you to town today? Feed run?” Sunny said with her normal smile. In addition to the bakeshop, she also played violin in a trio that often performed in the area. Summer wasn’t sure whetherthe cello or baking was her true passion, since she seemed to be equally passionate about both.
“No. I signed the papers at the real estate office to put the farm up for sale. It should be hitting the MLS later today or tomorrow, Frederick said.”
“You’re selling the farm?” Sunny stopped bustling around behind the counter and focused on Summer. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Summer said, hating the ache that seemed to reverberate through her chest.
“But it’s been in your family for generations.”
“I know.”
“Is it because of your mom and her renovations?”
“Mostly. I’ve been chipping away at the mortgage, but when Princess had her surgery this summer, I just…couldn’t do it all. And I probably should have let the surgery go unpaid, but that was going to get turned into a bill collector too. I just…can’t do it.” She lifted her shoulder. She didn’t want to go into all the details, all of the bills that her parents had left. It wasn’t just the mortgage, and it was far more than one person could afford to pay. She wasn’t even sure when she sold the farm whether she would be out from underneath everything.
She hoped so; with the amount that they were asking, she’d be free and clean with a little something left. Probably not enough to buy another farm, but enough to live somewhere.
But if the buyer tried to get her to come down on her price, she could be left with nothing.
“Here, have a blueberry muffin.” Sunny grabbed the muffin and a napkin and set them on top of the display case. “I’m not selling these today, since I just tried a new recipe. I was trying to get a little crumbly crunch on top. You can let me know if I did okay. I want the inside to be nice and moist.”
“Are you sure?” Summer asked with her brows raised. She didn’t come into her friend’s shop to get handouts. And she hadn’t told her tale of woe because she was hoping to get something out of it. Sunnyhad asked.
“Yes. I’m positive. All the payment I require is your opinion on how they taste and what the texture is like.”
“All right.” She took the blueberry muffin and took a bite out of the top, chewing and swallowing before she spoke. “That’s perfect. That’s a great, almost crunchy top, but it’s very moist and chewy in the middle. I say it’s a keeper.”
“All right. Three votes yes, one vote no so far today.”
“Oh my goodness, who voted no?”
“Mrs. Tucker. She said they were too…sinful, I think that was her word.”
“Oh. Well, I think maybe you could throw her vote out,” Summer said before taking another bite. They were so good.
Summer didn’t have any beef with Mrs. Tucker, although she was known as the town busybody. Summer figured that she just tried to keep things going in the town, and every small town needed a few people like that, people who pushed others to help out, to keep all the things that made a small town fantastic going.
That was Mrs. Tucker’s position, for sure, and there were various people who ran when they saw her coming, but Summer had never crossed her.
“I’ve been thinking about it. It does seem for now that she is the only dissenting vote, and it wasn’t because it didn’t meet my standards. It was because it didn’t meet hers.”
They laughed a little together before Summer thanked her and left, walking to her truck and getting in. She shoved the rest of the muffin into her mouth and figured that would tide her over until she had a break around two or so that afternoon and could grab a bite to eat in the kitchen.
On the way home, she thought about all the time she’d spent on the farm. Growing up, the family get-togethers they used to have there, until the family went all of their different directions after her parents died, and the good memories that were still associated with it. She’d never lived anywhere else and really didn’t want to.Although, the house was big, far bigger than what a single woman needed. With six bedrooms, each of them completely redone and beautifully appointed. Her mom had even taken the seventh bedroom and turned it into two bathrooms so that there were three master bedrooms and three bedrooms that shared a bath.
The downstairs was just as nice, and her mother had entertained there for a while before she died. Her father passed away in a freak accident while riding a horse on the farm, and her mother passed away not long after. Some people said it was because of a broken heart, but Summer figured it was probably because of the financial stress.
She doubted her mother knew exactly what kind of financial issues they were having until after her husband passed away and it was her job to take care of it.
It certainly had been a big blow to Summer, but she’d shouldered it and had been carrying it for the last five years. But it was just more than she could do.
Regardless, she would need to start thinking about telling her clients, although who knew when the house would sell. Fredrick had indicated he thought it would go pretty quickly, but that was probably the job of a real estate agent, to be the cheerleader and the optimistic one. Summer knew some houses had sat on the market for years without selling, until someone had purchased them. So she wasn’t holding her breath. Although, maybe it would be best to just have it happen fast.
Lord, help me to be okay with Your timing. Fast or slow. I could go either way. And You know what’s best.
She had been raised to be a worker, someone who put their heart into everything they did. Sometimes it was hard to leave things in the Lord’s hands, although when there was nothing left to do, she didn’t have much choice. That was the point she was at.
