Page 64 of Where Are You Now
“MaybeI’manother reason you were supposed to live.”
There were so many reasons for Ava to live. And to think she’d made her decision without knowing any of this. It’s almost as if God had given her a choice, but she’d really only had one option. He knew what she needed, and maybe, deep down, she knew it too.
Later that evening,Ava had just finished wiping down the counters after dinner when her mom put themail away in the office and came out with a new quilted bag. She handed it to Ava. This one was in mauves and dusty pinks with a satin print interior in cream-and-pink geometric shapes.
“This is beautiful,” Ava said.
“I thought it would go nicely with your pink church outfit.”
“It’s for me?”
“I’ve been working on it for a while now. I wanted to surprise you.”
Ava admired the silver button clasp that sparkled with her movement. “Oh, my goodness, it’s gorgeous.” She gave her mom a squeeze. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
With a gentle touch, Ava ran her hand along the stitching.
“I actually finished it just in time. I got an email from a lady from one of the craft shows who wants another ten bags. She’s asking to carry a few in her boutique. And she said I should up my prices.”
“Wow, ten bags. How long will that take you?”
“One bag usually takes me about three days to a week, depending on how busy I am. But, usually, I make them on my own time and enter the craft shows when I’m ready. I’m going to have to work quickly to give her all ten at once. She’d like them sooner rather than later.”
“I wonder if there’s a way to streamline the process for yourself, to scale it. How much do you charge per bag?”
“Usually somewhere between twenty-five and forty dollars, depending on how much time it takes me. Most of the time, I offer them for twenty-five to be nice.”
“Twenty-five dollars?” Ava widened her eyes at her mom.
“Well, I usually get fabric that’s on sale, and it only costs me about fifteen dollars to make.”
“You only make ten dollarsa bag?”
“Yep.” Her mom fluttered her hands in the air. “But it’s more about doing something that I enjoy than the money.”
“Yeah, but you could do something entertainingandpay yourself for the time and effort. You could easily get seventy or eighty dollars for them. Maybe a hundred if you added a few embellishments like wooden handles. And if you bring someone on to help, you’ll need to charge more.”
“What do you mean, bring someone on? Why would I do that?” her mother asked.
“Say, for example, you found someone who would measure and cut squares of fabric and the interior batting for you. You could add the cost of that service to your price, and it would save you time.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea.”
“Just thinking out loud, you could have that same person put the batting and fabric together and pin them for you or even sew the whole thing.”
“Who could I get to do something like that?"
“Well, right now, it could be me. But I could call around and help you find someone. You wouldn’t have to make it a full-scale business, but it might help you make a few more bags than you usually could.”
“That would be wonderful,” her mother said.
Ava had learned a lot from her dad over the years—how to fish, change a tire, drive a stick shift—but it occurred to her then that her mother hadn’t had a chance to share her talents with Ava.
She held up the beautiful new bag. “Would you teach me how to sew like this?”
Her mother’s face lifted. “Of course. I’d love to.”
