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I smiled shyly. “I love talking business. I’m good at monetizing things.”
Ireland’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“You’re talking her language,” Sebastian teased as he nodded in Ireland’s direction.
“There are so many things you could do on the farm that would make it a year-round place to visit, but keep it limited. You’re not open every day; you have events on your calendar that keep people coming back. If you have items that your customers love, you could even have an online store. They buy tickets to events and come back and buy their favorite items from the shop,” I said.
Ireland waved a hand at me. “Yes, keep talking, Marley. I’m writing it all down.”
“I like the movie nights the best. We could invite musicians to play here, too, but then we’d have to pay them for their time,” Knox said.
“Movie nights would be something we could do maybe once a month, and if it catches on, every Saturday,” Ireland said.
“What about a farmers’ market? They pay you for the space, and you allow them to sell their wares for a few hours every Sunday. Again, it brings people into the shop,” Lori said.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Knox said.
“I’ll look into the insurance and make sure we have coverage for something like this,” Sebastian said.
Emmett held his hands up. “I’m willing to try one movie night. We need a projector and the food, and we’ll tell people to bring their own chairs and blankets.”
“Will you help me plan it, Marley? I’d love your help,” Ireland asked sweetly.
My heart soared at the idea of helping her, but then I remembered I was only here temporarily. “I’m going back to California soon, so I‘m not sure I can.”
Ireland smiled, undeterred. “I need to bounce ideas off you, so we can talk by phone or via email, whichever is more convenient for you.”
“I’ll send you her contact information,” Heath offered.
I enjoyed the Monroe family. Yeah, Emmett was grumpy, and they disagreed on a lot, but I felt the love at the table. I’d never sat down to eat a meal as a family like this, and I certainly never shared ideas like this.
My parents had trouble holding down jobs and felt like they didn’t need to because Gram would always help them if they needed it. I think it was because of me and Aiden that it was the case. Otherwise, Gram would have kicked them out and forced them to stand on their own. I suspected that’s what she’d done when I graduated even though my parents made it seem like it was their choice, and they wanted to get away from me. Gram only tolerated them on our behalf when we were growing up. She figured we needed our parents, but I wasn’t so sure.
“You ready to head home?” Heath asked me when everything had been cleaned up, and we’d eaten dessert in the living room while watching TV.
“I’m tired,” I said, the exhaustion from the day creeping up on me.
“That’s right. You flew in today.” Heath stood and kissed his mother’s cheek. “We’re going to head out.”
I hugged Lori, and she said, “You keep my boy in line. You see how crazy they get when they’re all together.”
“I don’t think they’re crazy. They’re a lot of fun,” I said to her softly, hoping Heath couldn’t hear what we were talking about.
“I think so, too.”
When I turned to Heath, Knox said to him, “You two be good.”
“We’re hardly going to be snowed in, and Marley’s not running from her wedding,” Heath said.
I barely suppressed a shudder. I couldn’t imagine being close enough to anyone to get married. The only one I’d ever let in was Heath. That’s why I needed to be extra careful around him.
“Thank you for inviting me. I had a really good time,” I said when Heath let me into his house.
“You were impressive tonight. The way you talked about those events? You have amazing ideas. Ireland loved them. Mom did, too,” Heath said as he shut and locked the door.
“I’m not so sure that Emmett did.”
“Emmett hates all new ideas, change, people, pretty much everything you can think of.”
