Emma caught Ginny’s fingers. “Are you coming to the barn with us?” she asked
It would’ve been nice to try and catch a glimpse of Tucker, whom Ginny hadn’t seen since he got back, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. “I have to meet someone at the greenhouse,” she informed her niece.
Emma patted her hand sadly. “Don’t work too hard.”
Ginny was still snickering about the serious tone in the little girl’s voice as she made her way across the yard and into the warmth of the greenhouse.
Devjeet and Janae Singh were waiting for her, their concern clear even as they welcomed her back.
Ginny hurried to put them out of their misery as quickly as possible. “I have heard nothing but good things about how well you ran the CSA boxes the past years,” Ginny assured them. “I want to know if you’re interested in continuing to run it going forward.”
The couple exchanged glances before turning back with both excitement and confusion. “Don’t you need to run it now for your family?” Janae asked.
Ginny wiggled a hand from side to side. “I have an opportunity to make some changes. I thought maybe we can work together and come up with some new plans that will work for all of us. But I don’t want you to carry on unless it’s something you want.”
“We’re interested,” Devjeet said instantly.
“Very interested,” Janae echoed. “But what kind of changes are you talking about?”
“This conversation requires a pot of tea.” Ginny gestured them toward the small kitchen at the side of the building.
The one good thing about Tucker being buried in work was that Ginny had spent her past evenings coming up with ideas. Between her friends’ suggestions and everything that had percolated during her time away, she was ready to lay what she hoped were interesting options on the table.
Ginny dove in. “I still want CSA boxes available to Heart Falls and all the communities you’ve reached. I plan to focus more on growing herbs, both for the teas I used to make and possibly branching into skincare and bath products.”
Devjeet nodded slowly. “We’ve done limited herbs to include in the boxes. The perennials you established are still there, but not that well-tended, I’m afraid.”
“That’s okay, I’d like to do a bit of a revamp, but it means I will need some space in the exterior gardens until we have time to expand. Plus, I’ll need room for seedlings here in the greenhouse.”
“We’ve already ordered vegetable seeds for this year,” Janae told her. “The same way we have every year, based on how you set us up that first time. So you’ll need to order anything new. I have all the records for you.”
Ginny thought quickly. “We can go over them, but the idea isn’t for me to take over. You two still make the decisions, and I get to start brand new mischief.”
“But we can overlap a little, yes?” Devjeet suggested. “If you have enough herbs to include in the boxes?”
“We’ll discuss that.” Ginny promised. “Also, you know my sister-in-law, Ivy, assistant principal at the school?”
Janae nodded. “She teaches our daughter in Grade Two. Our son is in Grade Five.”
“I’d forgotten how big they are.” Ginny shook her head. “Anyway, she asked about starting a garden at the school this spring. I’ll line up some help from a few local organizations to build raised beds, but the school kids would get the garden started. We’ll open it up to the community to continue running over the summer.”
Devjeet look surprised but nodded. “That sounds like a good community builder.”
Ginny nodded. “It shouldn’t affect the sales of your boxes. In fact, you might possibly get more subscribers when the kids start asking for local carrots.”
“Local carrots taste better,” Janae recited in a childish voice, obviously imitating their daughter.
The three of them talked for over an hour, and the longer they brainstormed, the more ideas kept coming up. More adjustments were made to the plans as Devjeet and Janae caught some of her fire and got more and more excited about Ginny’s ideas.
In the end, Devjeet shook her hand and Janae outright hugged her before they left.
Ginny wandered back to her cottage, hands shoved into her pockets, whistling into the cold, her breath rising in puffs of white on the chilly air.
It was a plan barely started, but something deep inside said it was the right place. She might not get everything right, but this one might end up making a difference.
Down near the barns, two familiar outlines appeared on horseback. Tucker and Ashton returning from wherever they’d been working that afternoon. Ginny was getting anxious for a chance to see Tucker. To catch him up on where she was at with Operation Prove It…
Oh, who was she kidding. She just missed the guy. She wanted to talk to him and hold him and jump his bones.
She slipped into the cottage and topped up the wood in the stove, trying to beat back the winter chill that seeped through the little wooden walls far too easily.
She typed off a quick message.
Ginny: your evil overlords need to give you some time off.
The paperwork Janae had given her took up the rest of Ginny’s afternoon. She made up a new order for the additional herbs and the supplies for the community gardens.
She was washing up her dinner dishes when her phone buzzed, and she opened up Facetime to discover Tucker smouldering back at her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t accept video calls from total strangers,” she teased.
“Good to know. I’ll be sure to warn off all the total strangers who keep asking for your number.” He leaned back on the couch in the trailer and rolled his neck gently from side to side. “The evil overlords on this ranch have somehow added extra hours to the regular daily rotation.”
“Poor, baby.” Her fingers damn near twitched with the urge to head over there and give him a neck rub. “How’s it going, though?”
He drank half a bottle of water before responding. “Good, I think.” Tucker leaned forward on his elbows, considering hard. “Let’s see. You said for Operation Prove It we got to bitch about one thing and celebrate one thing, right?”
“Top points, Mr. Stewart,” Ginny said. “You bitching or cheering first?”
“Both at the same time. Silver Stone operations are set to run like clockwork. Which means there’s a lot of people who really know how to do their job well.”
Ginny made a face. “This sounds ominous.”
“Yeah. Part two, there’s a few people who don’t know how to do their job, but they’re pretty damn sure they do, so I’m anticipating a few fights in the future.”
Which was one of the things they’d talked about. “You’ll manage them.”
He shrugged. “I will. I would prefer they got their shit together instead of having to fire them.” He looked her over. “How about you? How are you conquering your project?”
She caught him up with her ideas for the greenhouse. “My thing to celebrate? I made a plan. I’m not going to be a garden goddess anymore.”
He blinked. “Really?”
“Really.” It had taken putting everything down on paper to see it clearly. “Not a kitchen garden goddess, at least. I’m diving into specialization. Herbs—for teas and cooking to begin with, then branching into bath and beauty products.”