Chapter Two #2
Her dad had loved his favorite flowers, so that’s what they grew.
Roses were his favorite, and now Sunny, the middle of the three Bloom sisters and the real horticulturist in the family, had just come up with a new variety, which was making all the people in the rose world stand up and pay attention, garnering more business for the farm.
That could be a stumbling block with her suggestion to her sisters, because now wasn’t the time to expand.
But the idea had taken hold, and she wanted to call Chrissy immediately and present it to her.
Obviously, there was no way they’d get poinsettias ready for this year’s holiday, seeing as Christmas was only a few weeks away, but if they started looking at all the processes now, they’d be able to have a bumper crop for next year.
“Although maybe I can source a place where they grow and then get Chrissy to buy them and sell them this year.”
“Buy and sell what?” Zach asked, his brows drawing together in confusion.
“What?”
“Where what grows?”
It took a second for her to realize she’d voiced her thoughts out loud, which was fine when she did it at home, but not so fine when she did it in front of a handsome man. “Oh, sorry, just thinking out loud.”
“Is it something to do with what you’re filling that form out for?”
“No, but it could be.” Tilly liked the idea of covering the stage for the Carols by Candlelight event with red and white poinsettias.
How pretty would that look? And they could advertise that, starting next year, Bloom’s Flower Farm would be stocking them.
It would be a way to get their farm’s name on national television and give them even more exposure, which would mean more business.
Oh yes, I love this idea. And because I’ll need to source a place to buy them, I can have a fully formed proposal to present to Chrissy.
If there was one thing she knew about her accountant oldest sister, Chrissy liked everything presented to her in a way that would show how beneficial it would be to the farm’s operations and bottom line. Details that would substantiate that the initial outlay would be worth the risk.
A moment of doubt hit her. What if Chrissy dismissed her?
Her track record of starting things and giving them up after a couple of weeks was well known.
Working at the diner was an early example.
Not to mention the guitar she’d assured her parents she wanted to learn.
The Easter bonnet parade she’d convinced the school principal would be a good idea. And then . . . Houston.
Nope, not going there.
Nothing good ever came of her revisiting that particular part of her life. It was over, and she needed to forget how dismal her six months away from Marietta had been.
“What is going on inside of your mind, Tilly?”
He was studying her intently. Curiosity lit up his brown eyes, but there was no judgment in them at all—something she liked seeing an awful lot.
“A lot of things,” she admitted, and finished the last mouthful of her dinner. She pushed the plate to the side and grabbed the papers again. “But the most important thing is making sure that my idea is so spectacular that everyone in Marietta gets on board and makes it a huge success.”
“You don’t think they will?”
Tilly shook her head. “Oh no, that’s one thing I can count on. The people of Marietta love to support everyone. I just have to convince them that I can pull this off. That I can do it.”
“Why do they think you can’t?”
Did she want to tell an outsider how the town looked at her?
Zach was new and didn’t know that the good citizens of Maritta were aware of Tilly’s reputation of never following through on her plans or ideas.
Over the years she’d tried to figure out the reason why she tended to flit from one idea to another.
The only one she could come up with was that when things got too hard, it was easier to give up than to go on.
Her dad was a gentle soul and had always told her, as he tended the flowers he’d loved so much, that she should try as many things as she wanted, because how else would she know what she liked and didn’t like doing.
Maybe his strategy hadn’t been a good one, considering how that philosophy turned out for her.
Not this time, though. No way in hell was she going to embarrass the town by only having an event that was half put together. Not to mention, showing the committee that they were right in giving Marietta a chance after another town had to pull out of the statewide event.
“There are many reasons for them to worry about me, but this time is going to be different.”
“Why don’t you tell me about what you have planned?”
Was he really interested?
Zach was focused on her. He hadn’t asked his question and then looked around the room so he wouldn’t have to listen to her talk about her plans. She’d had that happen to her a few times in the past. Her date would appear to be interested in her but wasn’t really.
Excitement swelled up as she thought about her idea again, one that she’d come up with on the fly during her meeting with the mayor. Not the most ideal thing to happen, but this was how she rolled.
“I want to do a live-action Nativity play and get the whole town involved so every place of business is spotlighted and gets a boost in publicity. Mary and Joseph will knock on the door of the Bramble House B&B. The Graff Hotel. Grey’s Saloon.
And whatever other businesses want to be a part of it.
I’m pretty sure there won’t be too many who will say no.
The judges will also see how much the town gets involved and how community spirit-minded we are, which will work in our favor.
” She paused to catch her breath. She was excited, which always made her talk faster than usual.
“The fairgrounds will be where the ‘manger’ will be set up, and then once the play is over, we will do a Carols by Candlelight event.”
“That sounds ambitious. And you’re only just starting to plan it now?”
There wasn’t any censure in Zach’s voice, but she couldn’t help but feel judged. “My initial application was knocked back.” She wasn’t going to say it was probably because the idea she’d pitched in the application form wasn’t original or that exciting.
“Did they reconsider?”
“No, a town pulled out, and so they called and offered me another opportunity. I told them that we’d love to do it and would have the new application to them by the end of the week.”
Zach nodded. “I see. It does sound like a fun event. What was your initial idea?”
Nope, she wasn’t going to tell him about her Ugly Christmas Sweater Idol contest idea.
What had she been thinking? “It doesn’t matter.
It wasn’t very good. But this one is much better.
To really make it special, though, to elevate it from okay to fantastic, I need a big name to narrate and emcee the carols event.
Someone who everyone knows and loves.” She tapped her pen on the table, getting excited about her project.
“I was researching celebrities before I started filling out the form. Getting someone big on the rodeo scene would be too easy. This town is full of rodeo stars, my sister being one of them. Obviously, movie and television stars are out of the question, as they’d likely want to be compensated for their time, and we don’t have the funds to cover that.
I could go for an unknown, someone waiting for their big breakout role, but that’s not going to make our event stand out.
” She paused and finished off her drink.
“Which led me to look at talk show hosts. You know the ones that have the popular daily afternoon talk shows with live audiences? They give away big prizes, and people are always clamoring to get tickets to their shows? And I believe I’ve found the perfect person. ”