Page 29 of If You Give a Grump a Christmas Tree Farm
I grab his hand in a wrestler’s hold and clasp his shoulder. “Thanks, VP. Couldn’t have done it without you guys.”
Soon, they’re pulling out, and Rebecca and I stand, watching them go.
Once the roaring engines fade down the road, it's quiet again.
“We need to put up flyers in town.” Rebecca nods toward the field of orange pumpkins. “Advertise we’ve got these for sale.”
“How much do we sell them for?” I ask, totally clueless.
“I have no idea. Maybe I need to see how much the grocery store sells theirs for or that tractor supply place. I think they had pumpkins out front.”
“You think people are really going to drive all the way out here if they can get one at the grocery store in town?”
She bites her lip. “We need something to make it worth the drive. Got any ideas?”
My brows lift. “This is your deal.”
Her hand lands on her hip. “My deal? Why is it my deal?”
“Because I want to sell the place, and you want to make a go of it.”
“Regardless, we’re partners now, so help me think of something.”
I fold my arms and try to think what would get me to come out here. “If we can get the kids to want to come, then the parents will bring them.”
“How do we do that?”
I think a minute. “Hayrides.”
“Hayrides?”
“Yeah. Gramps has a tractor and a flatbed we can line with straw… if the tires aren’t flat and if the tractor still runs.”
“Okay. That’s one thing. Maybe we can come up with some more.”
“You could sell apple cider or caramel apples.”
“I know.” Rebecca snaps her fingers. “We could have a bonfire and get stuff to make s’mores.”
“This is all gonna cost us.”
“JJ, we’ve got to unload these pumpkins.”
She’s right about that. I sigh. “Fine. Let’s go buy some stuff and print some flyers.”
After another run to town, we’re both exhausted from putting flyers up all over, but we garnered some interest. On the drive back, Rebecca looks over at me. “You think there’s a way we could rig up some music?”
“Gramps always had Christmas carols playing, so I know he had some speakers wired up by the barn. Why?”
“We could play some Halloween music. You know, like Monster Mash and stuff like that.”
“I’ll see if it still works,” I reply.
“We’ll want it working by Christmas tree time for sure.”
I glance toward the barn and the road that leads toward the acres of Christmas trees. “You know we still need to find time to shape all the trees, like that guy told us.”
“After Halloween. We don’t have time now.”
