Page 68 of Fire in My Heart

“I’m happy to help, work in a consulting capacity. The end of the season doesn’t mean that I won’t be available.”

Teddy shook his head. “But the truth is we don’t know if that’s what will happen. You could get a job anywhere.”

My face flushed. This felt like a personal conversation, but I couldn’t say anything in front of Al because we hadn’t discussed telling his family now. It didn’t seem like the right time for that when he wasn’t with me.

Al held up his hands. “Let’s just take things one day at time. The turnout for the festival was encouraging, and I like the changes Charlotte made to the logo and the website. I’m not on social media, so I can’t speak to those accounts.”

“I share images of me working on the farm, which our followers love, but I think it would go further if everyone shared their own photos with a little information about what they’re doing during the day. Even you could do this, Al. It personalizes your family, and it’s relatable. I’d encourage you to do it during the off-season when you’re planting or tagging the trees. It builds interest and anticipation for the season.”

“I’m not a fan of social media,” Teddy said unnecessarily.

“If you send me the image and little text about what you were doing, I’ll add it to the site. It’s not a big deal.” It was better if it came directly from them, but it was workable.

“Everything she’s done so far has been positive. The whole point of this experiment was to go all in. We won’t know if it works if we don’t try,” Al said.

“This is important to you.” Teddy inclined his head toward Al.

“I want to see the farm business grow. I want to give you boys something to be proud of. Everyone has worked so hardfor years. What if the additional money coming in could help not only the farm but all of you? It could lighten the load for Daphne and Cole. Maybe you could finally go on a vacation.”

“I think there’s huge potential,” I said. “I don’t think the Monroes have a monopoly in the market. This area is so busy in general; there’re enough customers for both of you, and you offer different things.”

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” Teddy asked, his voice a little testy.

“I almost forgot. I wanted to talk about this space.” I walked around the perimeter. “You have this huge area that you aren’t using for anything.”

“We used it for the Santa photos.”

“But we could do so much more with it.”

Teddy crossed his arms over his chest. “The Monroes already have a shop.”

“But what if we do it differently? We could sell tables to vendors or consign the goods and give them a portion of the sales that we sell. But I think what could set us apart from the Monroes is having the craftsman on site. Customers can ask any questions they want. I think it’s easier to sell something when you know the person who made it is sitting in front of you.”

“That’s an interesting idea,” Al said as I continued to build steam.

“We could expand our snack offerings and move the checkout counter inside where it’s warmer. The fact is that customers buy more when they’re warm and comfortable.”

“I thought you said you wanted people to have the tree experience,” Teddy said. “To me, that’s cold weather, winter coats, and boots.”

I laughed. “Sure. But in reality, people also want to be warm. They want to come inside and grab a hot chocolate, peruse the goods, and leave feeling like they brought a piece of it home.Marketing is all about understanding human psychology. You have to know what people want, how they think, and give it to them.”

“I think we should do it, and I have to be honest. Everything Charlotte has done has been spot-on, so I’m fine with continuing to implement her ideas.”

Teddy let out a frustrated breath.

Was it too much to ask that he support me in public? I couldn’t believe that after everything we’d shared, he was against my ideas. Did he not trust my expertise? Or had he changed his mind about telling his family about us? I didn’t think he was capable of that, especially since he said he was going to tell his family on Christmas. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Maybe he’d changed his mind.

“Are we planning to do this now or next year?” Teddy asked tightly.

“I can’t get everything up and running before Christmas. But I want to set up the vendors inside and maybe the snacks.”

“That’s not a problem,” Al said.

“Do you think we could move the checkout counter too?” I asked, knowing it was a big request with Teddy being so reluctant.

“I don’t see why not,” Al said, looking at Teddy for support.

“I think that would be confusing for the customers. We’ve always had the counter outside.”

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