Page 66 of Give Me a Reason

“But if the son isn’t on board, aren’t we wasting our time?” Ireland said.

“We’ll see,” Gia said as a woman opened the door to the side of the barn and approached us with a smile.

“You must be the wedding planners. I’m so excited you’re here.” The woman clasped her hands together as she met us on the lane.

Gia introduced her to us as Lori Monroe.

“I run the farm, along with my husband and sons. I have a couple of nephews who chip in during the busy season, too.”

“I can’t even imagine what it takes to run a place of this size,” Gia said. She was always interested in other people’s business practices. She hoped to glean tips whenever she could.

“We started out just selling the trees, and then I convinced my husband to let me use the barn to sell holiday crafts, decorations, and hot chocolate. I’d love to have the shop open year-round and see if we can expand the business to more than just trees, but I’m getting some resistance. These things take time. Especially when your husband and sons are stubborn.”

“We are interested to see if this location could work for some of our brides who are looking for a holiday wedding. I have to say, it’s beautiful, but we have some challenges with the weather, and we wouldn’t want to interfere with your main business.”

Harrison’s truck pulled up and parked next to Ireland’s car. When he stepped out, he said, “Sorry, I’m late. I had some trouble getting my daughter to school this morning.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Mrs. Monroe, this is our supply guy, Harrison Cain. He wanted to tag along to see if the property was conducive to putting up tents. We’d need heat for the time of year we’re talking about.”

Mrs. Monroe shook his hand. “The more the merrier. I was going to show you the barn first, and then we’ll walk the property.”

We followed her inside.

“In season, we put our largest tree in the middle of the store and decorate it with the crafts and lights we’re selling. Then we have more ornaments in the baskets under the tree. We place smaller trees around the store, decorating them in a theme. We also have other wares, the larger yard decorations against the wall, and hot chocolate and cookies at the window on the left.”

The place was adorable inside. I could just see the trees lit up, decorated by theme. “I bet it’s lovely during the holiday season.”

“It is, but I’d like to branch out into the other holidays too. But you’re not here for that.”

Gia clutched her tablet to her chest. “It’s possible your property could work for us year-round. We have to see what you have to offer. We do a lot of weddings at Lily’s Rose Farm near Annapolis, but we’re getting inundated with requests for farm weddings, and we can’t accommodate them all.”

“I’m happy to hear that farms are the main attractions for weddings these days.” Mrs. Monroe led us back outside to the pond and showed us the few flat areas that she thought we could use to set up.

Gia asked her questions about parking, bathrooms, and the logistics of holding a wedding during the prime tree-selling season.

“That’s the problem, you see. I need to talk to the guys about this. See if it’s feasible. I’d love to hold weddings on the property. But there’s a lot to consider.”

We were standing outside the main farmhouse in front of the pond when a man approached on one of those small Jeep things that look a little like a golf cart. He’d barely stopped before he was out of the vehicle and stalking toward us.

My first thought was that he was huge. The very definition of a mountain man. His shoulders filled out his shirt, making him seem even more imposing.

“What is this?” he asked Mrs. Monroe by way of greeting.

“This is my son, Emmett.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Emmett, these ladies are with the wedding planning service I was telling you about, Happily Ever Afters.”

“I told you we don’t want to have weddings on the property.” His jaw was tight, and his shoulders were tense.

She placed a hand on his chest and said firmly, “And I said I was going to look into it.”

His jaw clenched, and I wondered if he was grinding his teeth. I couldn’t help but think that this was a common reaction to anything new. Emmett said no to everything, and his mother brought him around to the idea. I knew Gia was watching their interaction closely. She wouldn’t want to waste her time on something that wasn’t likely to happen.

She dropped her hand and turned to face us. “Let me introduce you.” As she went through the introductions, he crossed his arms, nodding his head at each one of us, not offering to shake our hands.

“I already showed them around the property, and we discussed possible locations, but we still need to discuss the logistics. The weddings would need to take place during the busy season,” Mrs. Monroe said.

“That’s why I said no,” Emmett grumbled.

“We’ll discuss it as a family. One person doesn’t say no for everyone.”

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