Page 96 of Forever Enough
“Me too, Em. Me too.”
I opened the door to see Avery standing there with a huge smile on her face. “Are you and Emily ready?”
“We are.”
Avery did a little jump and reached for my hand. “Come on, then! Let’s get our girls’ day started!”
Turning, I called over my shoulder. “Em! Avery is here!”
“I’m coming!” My sister called out seconds before she appeared. “What’s the plan for today?”
Avery grinned. “Shopping, lunch, and girl talk.”
Emily clapped. “That is the perfect day.”
We headed out to Avery’s Subaru Outback and made our way into Hamilton. Emily and Avery talked nonstop about fashion and a common love of flowers.
“Will you miss France?” Emily asked.
Avery thought for a moment before she replied. “I think I’ll miss bits and pieces of it. I’m really blessed that my parents allowed me to follow this path in life. I thought modeling and fashion were what I wanted to do, but turns out it was a phase. I’ve loved doing it, don’t get me wrong. I’ve been to so many places that I would never have dreamed of visiting. That part was so much fun, but I wouldn’t want to do this for a living. To be honest, I can’t wait to be home and digging my hands back in the dirt. I’ve really missed the farm and the gardens.”
“Gardens?” Emily asked from the back seat .
Avery grinned. “Oh, Emily, you wouldn’t believe the flower gardens my grandmother had. She had a green thumb, like your sister, and could grow anything. Since my mother and uncle took over the farm, she was able to focus on her gardens. She’s the one who taught me about arranging flowers. I love doing it. You’re so lucky you work in a flower shop in New York. I mentioned maybe having a booth at the local farmers’ market in town. Offering already-made bouquets or even make them on the spot.”
“Avery, you should open up your own flower shop,” Emily said.
“Oh, I could never do that. I have no idea how to run a business, and that’s a huge step.”
“Have you thought about offering bouquets to people as a delivery subscription?”
“Kenz, that’s an amazing idea,” Emily said.
Avery pulled into a parking spot behind her cousin’s store, A La Chic Boutique. She turned off the car and faced me. “What do you mean, a delivery subscription?”
Emily had unbuckled and was grinning like a fool as she looked between me and Avery.
“You could make up bouquets of flowers, like in Mason jars, or something that represents you or Montana. Then sell them to people as subscriptions. For example, maybe I sign up for a fresh bouquet every two weeks. I could put the Mason jar at the front door, so when you deliver the next bouquet, you take the old jar to recycle it and be reused. Have each customer do that. You could offer deliveries either as often as people want them, or however often you want to do them. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly. Whatever. And since your mom has the farm, you could even add in baskets of fruits and veggies as package deals.”
“Oh, Kenz, this is the best idea you’ve ever had!” Emily enthused. “Avery, you could do that as a steppingstone to maybe owning your own flower shop someday. I could help. I’ve got a business degree, and I’m the manager of the flower shop. I know how to run one like the back of my hand.”
Avery let out an excited chuckle. “This is a great idea! When I mentioned the farmers’ market to my mother and father, they said I could have some space on the farm and ranch for flower gardens. I can talk to my mom and dad about building a greenhouse just for the flowers once we get things going. That way it wouldn’t have to just be seasonal.”
“That is a wonderful idea,” I said with a smile. “You could grow year-round like we do. The you-pick-it farm does amazing, but your mom and uncle still sell produce year-round. We make up baskets each week for clients who come and pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m hoping next year to offer delivery. I’ve also been writing up a plan to expand the greenhouse, and maybe even sell our vegetables and fruits locally to some of the smaller grocery stores. I was going to present the idea to your mother and uncle.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that we sold baskets like that.”
“You didn’t, before I came up with the proposal and presented it to Michael and Merit. They loved the idea. Lou and I adjusted the crops in the greenhouse, and I promoted the baskets on the website. We had a great response for them, considering it was rather last-minute. I’m hoping next year we’ll triple the amount of people who come in for baskets.”
Avery slowly shook her head, then asked, “Will you help me come up with a business proposal to share with my mom and uncle? Maybe I could buy the food for the baskets from the farm at a wholesale price or something.”
“Yes! Of course I will.”
Bouncing in her seat, Avery clapped her hands. “I’m so excited for this! Ever since Mom and Dad told me I could have space for flowers, it’s all I’ve been thinking about. I’ll probably still need to work at the boutique with Morgan and Georgiana until things take off. But this would be working toward and doing something I truly love!”
“It would. Kenz, you’re amazing.”
Blushing, I waved off my sister’s compliment. “Come on, let’s go in and see what we can spend our money on.”