Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Patrice Lewis (best large ereader .txt) 📕

“But there were a lot of things you might consider. Eggs, for example. Why aren’t you selling eggs?”

He looked bewildered. “Everyone sells eggs.”

“And everyone sells out. Bring what eggs you have. Trust me, they’ll sell.”

He rubbed his chin. “I’ll have to get cartons. They sell empty cartons at the feed store in town. What else did you see?”

“A few things you might think about for next year, but too late for this year. For example, you’ve seen glass gem corn, right?”

“Ja.”

“One booth had ears for sale, and the vendor was selling lots of them. The Englisch like to use them for decoration.”

“Hmm.” He looked thoughtful. “It would be easy to plant that next summer, though I’ll have to check the pollination timing. I can’t have it crossing with my sweet corn. What else?”

“Flowers.”

“Flowers?”

“Ja, cut flowers. Zinnias, daisies, black-eyed Susans, sunflowers, sweet peas, that kind of thing. All the Englisch women were buying them by the armfuls. Of course, that’s more for next year too, but it’s something to think about.”

“Gut, gut. I can plan for next year. But what about this year?”

“Herbs. People are crazy for herbs. I notice you have some in the garden, so you might pot some cuttings and sell those. Rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, mint, basil. It’s a little late in the season, but I’ll bet they’ll sell. And dried herbs as well. I saw a lot of demand for dried herbs.”

He nodded. “That wouldn’t be hard to do.”

“And baked goods. I saw people selling bread, cookies, cupcakes, rolls, muffins, cinnamon rolls, all kinds of things.”

He shook his head. “That’s not something I can do. I’m no good at baking.”

“But I am.”

He glanced at her. “You’re doing enough, Jane. Not only are you taking care of Mercy, but you’re doing the housework and making jam.”

“Ja, sure, but you’ve got some hospital bills to pay off. Right now I think we both need to do as much as possible to sell things and pay off those bills. You don’t want to make Mercy’s hospital stay a burden to the rest of the community unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

He looked troubled. “I know. You’re right. But it’s a lot of extra work.”

“Of course it is. But what we need to do is sit down and plan out each day’s work. I can establish a baking schedule and make things to sell. Same with the jam. You can add dried or potted herbs to your schedule as well as picking fruit for me to make into jam.”

“That sounds gut. I wonder too—would your aunt and uncle like to send some of their dry-goods inventory over and we can sell some of those for a small commission?”

“You know what might work better? How about if we start looking at some of the things women in the church make already—dolls or small quilts or other sewn goods? You could buy them wholesale and sell them at your booth.”

“Ja.” He gave a dry chuckle. “I just bought this new booth. But I have a feeling I’m going to have to get a bigger one.”

“What about your old booth? Is it still usable?”

“Ja, but it’s too small.”

“But can you add it to your new booth?”

“Hmmm.” His brow furrowed. “Not to the side—the spaces on either side of me are rented. But maybe I can go deep. I could connect both booths into a deeper space. Fresh produce and baked goods could be up front, and dry goods and other things like that could go farther in.” He looked out into the distance, and Jane could almost see the gears in his brain churning. “I’d have to make new signage inviting customers to walk all the way to the back, but it would open up a lot more display space…”

“We’ll make this work, Levy.”

He sighed. “I’ve never had a partner before. Always, I’ve been on my own.”

She was startled. “I’m not your partner, Levy. I’m just Mercy’s nanny.”

He went silent. She worked so well with him, sometimes she suspected he forgot.

And, if she were truly honest with herself, so did she.

* * *

Jane set herself daily tasks toward providing more products to sell at the market. Levy busied himself with combining his old and new booths into one larger booth.

“Come see what you think!” he called into the house on a Wednesday afternoon.

Jane picked up the baby and walked out to where he had set the booths up near the barn. “Ach, it looks gut!” she exclaimed.

He had reconfigured the two structures to allow display racks down the length of both sides, with a small area in back where non-sale items such as chairs, the diaper bag and other personal things could be stored behind a screen. The booth was now ten feet wide and twenty feet deep.

“See, these curtains will hide the unsold produce.” He lifted a length of cheerful red gingham skirts tacked across the bottoms of the displays. “I can stack crates of fruits and vegetables under here, and they’ll stay cool and shaded and out of sight. But everything will be easy to restock. The sales table and scale will be here. Your jams can be displayed there. These shelves above will be for potted herbs. Next year if I have more to sell, such as cut flowers or decorative corn, I can add bins to this area.” He pointed. “And I’ll put up signs here and here with arrows pointing inward, so people know they can walk all the way to the back.”

“It looks wunnerschee,” enthused Jane. “It will make a huge difference in your sales, Levy, I’m sure of it.”

“I can’t wait to try it out this Saturday.” Levy looked up at the slatted roof topped with burlap, which offered shade but allowed breezes to flow through. “I think it will work.”

“By the way, don’t forget Mercy has a follow-up appointment with the doctor this afternoon.”

He groaned. “I forgot.” He took off his hat and scratched his head in frustration. “And I have a lot