Page 9 of Sunset Tides
“Lucy,” Claire said slowly, “I heard you’re planning to raise money? How?”
She was already walking away. “I’ll show you!”
They followed her out of the tasting room, across the apple orchard and into the farm shop. It was closed to visitors, but it appeared Lucy had been hard at work. The displays were pushed away from the walls, some crowded into corners while others were rearranged and under a bright spotlight.
“What’s going on in here?” Claire asked, admiring a shelf of neatly organized jams. Each jar had a strip of white ribbon tied elegantly around the top, and they were stacked in a perfect pyramid.
“Photoshoot. I decided to go with a new color scheme I found on Pinterest, too. It photographs better.” Lucy walked behind the counter and spun a laptop around. “I started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the farm. So far, we’ve raised twenty thousand dollars! And that’s just in a week!”
Claire pulled the screen closer. “Lucy! That’s incredible! How did you do that?”
She spun the laptop back around and frowned. “I’m kind of disappointed, honestly.”
Marty let out a laugh and Lucy turned her glare on him.
He quieted and pretended to zip his lips.
“So,” Lucy said, “I made a couple of videos about the history of the farm, how it’s changed, what we make – all that crap. People love it, they love a small town farm. It spread all over the internet and got picked up by a local news website on the mainland. That helped a lot.”
Claire thought that was quite impressive. “How nice.”
“It’s not enough, though!” Lucy slammed the laptop shut and stood. “We need a lot more if we’re going to make a dent at the auction.”
“How much more?” Claire asked.
“At least thirty times that,” Marty said quietly.
Claire took in a sharp breath. “Oh.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lucy said. “But Marty so kindly offered to help me update the website, and Emma is going to help me make more videos.”
“Yes!” Emma said eagerly. “Anything you need!”
Marty picked up a wooden slingshot from a pile of children’s toys, tugging and pretending to aim at the pyramid of glass jars. “What use are more videos?”
Lucy snapped the slingshot out of his hands. “For the Kickstarter we’re making. And that is not a toy, Marty.”
“Actually, it is,” he countered. “A dangerous one. I’d like to buy one, please.”
She tossed it back in the pile and turned to Claire. “Do you know what Kickstarter is?”
Claire shook her head. “Can’t say I do.”
“It’s a fundraising tool, except it’s a little different because when people donate, it makes them more like partners of the cause. At different levels of donation, they get a different reward. Say you donate ten dollars, and to thank you, I email you a picture of the farm to use as your phone background.”
“No, of the goats!” Emma said. “I love the goats.”
Lucy nodded, grabbing a notepad off the counter. “Pictures of goats…” she muttered, scribbling on the page. She then looked up. “The more they donate, the bigger the rewards. Maybe if someone donates fifty dollars, I’ll send them a calendar of the farm. I don’t know yet.”
Claire suppressed a smile. This was just the sort of thing where Lucy excelled. She was creative – she took after her Aunt Becca in that way. “I think I get it. How can I help?”
Lucy flipped through her notebook, stopping at an entirely full page. “I was thinking that our top tier donors would get something even better. Maybe if they donate, like, five hundred dollars, they get a free night at the hotel?”
Claire shrugged. “Sure. No problem. That’s easy.”
Lucy clapped her hands together. “Yay! Perfect. I just came up with that five minutes ago. I want to meet with other business owners to see what we can come up with, but first I need to sit down and brainstorm – ”
Marty interrupted her. “No, don’t do that. If you stop moving, I’m pretty sure your brain will overheat.”
