Chapter 47
Half-term was suddenly with us, and with a sold-out pumpkin patch to manage, we were busy all day every day for the week.
It felt amazing though to see so many families and visitors flock to the farm and leave with an array of pumpkins.
It had been an exhausting week but it gave me hope that the patch had done what we wanted it to for the farm.
It was also the sixth and final week of the pact I’d made with Dad and Dylan. I would soon know if we’d done enough to save the farm.
Anticipation was high then for the night of the Birchbrook lantern festival.
Dad had persuaded Mayor Taylor to let the LED lantern trail finish at the farm and in advance, we had made the patch look as spooky as possible, setting up LED lights all over, putting them in lanterns and carved pumpkins, and draping fairy lights over every space possible.
Along with Paul’s Birchbrook Café van, we’d also invited a couple of other local food businesses to set up vans, and the craft shop in the next town over was going to have a stall for the night.
As the day faded into evening, everyone came over to set up and we closed the pumpkin patch to visitors for the last time.
As I left Dad and Maple outside putting through the final pumpkin sales to last-minute buyers, I found Dylan with his laptop at the kitchen table in the farmhouse. The last visitors had walked through our trail and they left with big smiles on their faces.
I walked over to him nervously as I knew he’d been inputting numbers for the past hour once the last booked slot had been and gone.
My limbs ached and I was bone-tired, but tonight was an opportunity to show the town how great the pumpkin patch was and to make it a part of our annual Halloween celebrations.
If I was able to keep the farm going for another year, it hopefully would be even more popular next autumn.
‘How did we do?’ I asked, walking over to sit beside him.
He looked up from his laptop with a serious expression on his face. ‘I think we should wait for your father to come in so he can hear this and you both can decide what to do.’
I swallowed hard. ‘Okay,’ I said shakily.
Dad came in a minute later with Maple barking excitedly. ‘Well, that’s it until tonight. The last customer has left the farm.’ His smile faded when he looked at my face. ‘What’s wrong, love?’
‘Dylan wanted to wait for us both to be here to tell us how well we’ve done this month,’ I said, my nerves now tenfold.
Dylan was giving nothing away and I had no idea what I was going to do if I’d been wrong and it hadn’t been quite the smash hit it had felt like it was.
Dylan had asked if we should sell tickets for the lantern festival but it had always been a free event, unless you bought food or drink or something from one of the shops of course, and I wanted to make sure everyone thought of the patch in a good way so we had made all the money we were going to this year now.
‘I’ve crunched all the numbers, and I’ve also done a forecast based on how we’ve done this year for the following five years to look at the long-term profitability of the pumpkin patch, and whether it means you can pay off your debts and turn an annual profit,’ Dylan said as my dad sat down next to me.
Even Maple wandered over and sat quietly down by my feet, sensing a tense atmosphere in the room.
Dad quickly squeezed my hand. ‘Whatever happens, we will be okay, love.’
I nodded but I couldn’t speak. I just looked at Dylan.
He broke into a smile. ‘It looks great, guys!’ He spun the laptop around so we could see his spreadsheet but if I was honest, the sheer amount of numbers made my head hurt.
‘You’ve turned a profit this year that will pay off your current debts and leave some spare that you could invest. If Willow goes ahead and starts growing pumpkins to sell next year then I anticipate with increased ticket sales and making more from pumpkins, plus you could charge for food and drinks vans to have a pitch on the farm, you could easily double the profit from this year.
Obviously, we don’t know if pumpkin patches will continue in popularity past the next five years but I can’t see it dying off any time soon.
With the profit you’re making in autumn coupled with what you make in spring/summer, the farm is definitely sustainable for the next five years. ’
‘Really?’ I squealed as relief washed over me.
‘That’s brilliant news,’ Dad said, grinning at Dylan. ‘You really think we can keep the farm long-term?’
‘I do. And as we discussed, if we look into other revenues like the Airbnb business, and think about how we can increase your profits in the pick-your-own season too then I think this farm has a really solid future ahead.’ Dylan turned to me. ‘You did it, Willow.’
I was finding this hard to take in. ‘We can keep the farm?’
‘Honestly, I wouldn’t be advising you to sell to anyone,’ Dylan said, smiling at my stunned expression. ‘This is a great business. And I can’t wait to help you with it, if that’s what you still want.’
‘Actually, I have something to say about that…’ Dad said before I could respond.
He cleared his throat. ‘Willow, I am so proud of you, love. This past month has been stressful but you have thrown yourself into saving our farm. And I know you did it because you love living and working here but also because you know I do too, and that this place meant the world to your mother.’ He glanced at Mum’s necklace, which still hung around my neck, and his eyes grew a little bit misty, but he ploughed on.
‘We all know, however, that the farm is getting harder for me to work on. I’ve loved helping the customers this week and I would want to keep doing that but some of the manual labour is too difficult now.
That’s why I’m so happy you want to stay here, Dylan, and help my daughter.
And hopefully, with the increase in profits, you can bring in more help through the year too as I think I will have to slow things down and reduce my day-to-day involvement in the business. ’
‘But Dad—’ I began.
‘Willow,’ he stopped me. ‘I’m not upset by this.
I want you to take the farm over. You’re so passionate about it.
That’s what this place needs. I lost my passion when your mother died.
I should have pushed you back then to take on more responsibility.
Instead, I let us struggle on and we almost lost this place.
I won’t make that mistake again. This month, you have more than proved that you’re capable of running the farm even better than I ever did.
Even better than your mother. So…’ He got up stiffly and went over to the sideboard where he opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope.
He carried it back to the table and passed it to me.
‘Another scary envelope,’ I said, looking at it with apprehension as I thought back to last month when Dad had made me read the letter from Henderson Homes. I couldn’t have foreseen that turning out as well as it had but I was still nervous to know what my dad was giving me now.
‘Not scary. I promise. Open it, please.’
I took a breath, aware of both my dad and Dylan watching me closely.
I pulled out the document from the envelope and my eyes scanned it. I was so shocked, I re-read it. ‘I don’t understand,’ I said slowly. ‘Are these…?’
‘The deeds to the farm,’ my dad confirmed. ‘I’ve signed it over to you, love. The farm now belongs to you. You own Birch Tree Farm.’
I looked up at him, my eyes wide. ‘Really, Dad?’
He nodded, smiling. ‘Really. It’s all yours, Willow.’
‘Oh my God.’ I jumped up and gave him a big squeeze over his shoulders. ‘You didn’t have to do this.’
‘I know. I wanted to. You deserve it.’
My eyes welled up with tears. I looked over at Dylan, who was beaming happily at us. ‘I get to stay here,’ I said as a tear rolled down my face.
‘You do,’ Dylan said. ‘You were always meant to stay here, Willow.’
‘Thank you, Dad. This means the world to me.’
‘I know it does.’ Dad sniffed and wiped away a tear of his own. He waved me off and got up. ‘I’ll go and start dinner.’
I went to Dylan. He jumped up out of his chair and wrapped me in a tight embrace. ‘You’ll stay too?’ I whispered into his ear.
‘I’m not going anywhere, Willow,’ he whispered back.