Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(87)

“You have excellent timing,” Bear told her. “I’m feeling pretty good about Sophie these days. That’s going to spill over to her cousin.”

Kristine laughed. “Okay, I don’t know what it means, but I’ll accept the spirit of your statement. As I explained on the phone, I’m opening a bakeshop in town. I’m going to be selling cookies and brownies. I’ve sold out of a cart and through the winery gift shops, so my customers have always simply taken their orders with them. Now I’m looking at shipping. I’d like your advice on that.”

Bear nodded. “I can see how you’d have a big market for shipping. For gifts and the like. You know before I worked here, I ran a few fruit warehouses back in Yakima. Different from cookies and brownies.”

“They are.”

He turned around and took a small box off a shelf, then handed it to her. The box was white, with the CK logo. It was about six inches square.

“Open it,” he told her.

She did and saw a mug inside. But what really caught her attention was the box itself. It was shaped to hold the mug securely in place with no additional protection.

“This is clever,” she said.

“It works. The customers get a mug that isn’t broken and we can save time on the packing. The boxes cost double what a standard box would cost but I’ve run the numbers and it’s worth it. Nobody wants to get a broken mug and have the hassle of getting it replaced. Cookies are different. Broken tastes the same.”

“But they’re not as nice and my clients won’t be as excited if the cookies are always broken.” She thought about the YouTube videos she’d watched on how to ship cookies. “You’re saying I should spend a little extra up front to make sure my products arrive the way they’re supposed to.”

“Yes. You’re going to have to test out your methods. Toss them around a few dozen times to see what happens to what’s inside.”

“I was going to use a box inside of a box method I saw online. Testing how that works is a really good idea. I have three boys. They’ll be happy to help with that.”

He showed her how cat beds were boxed. All of them were in a box printed with the CK logo. “When it’s a custom order, we wrap it in CK tissue paper. More expensive, but if the customer is buying something special, we should treat it that way. You might want to look at custom paper or bags or whatever. Give them the experience, then charge them appropriately. You’re going to have to start building your mailing list.”

“I know. I wish I’d been collecting names and addresses for the past year or so, but I didn’t so I’m starting from scratch.”

“You can buy mailing lists. Physical mailing lists. It’s not cheap and then you have to have something printed. But it might be worth it. You give a discount code and then cross your fingers. If you buy a truly targeted list, then you should get a reasonable return. You might want to talk to Elliot about that sort of thing.”

“Elliot?”

“Our marketing guy. That’s more his area of expertise.” He hesitated. “Sophie’s not going to give up the CK list. Just so you know.”

“I’d never ask her for it.”

“Cat people probably like cookies.”

“Yes, but this is Sophie’s business. I need to find my own way.”

He talked to her about different label programs and which ones worked best, then took her out to the warehouse and showed her how they went about packing up their orders. An hour later she thanked him and left.

Once she was in her car, she paused to make notes while the information was still fresh in her head. She wanted to talk to Sophie about scheduling a meeting with Elliot. Once that was done, she tucked the pages into her briefcase and glanced at her watch. She was right on time to go pick up the boys from school.

On her way she thought about how great the day was going. Just that morning she’d had a meeting with the owners of the Blackberry Island Inn. Michelle and Carly had been excited about her new retail space and had loved her samples. They’d agreed to sell cookies in the gift shop. If that went well, they wanted the option of offering the cookies to guests in the lobby, in the evening. Kristine was going to keep her fingers crossed for that.

Things were moving forward, she thought happily. Jerry was due to start working on the remodel. In the meantime, she had plenty to do. Bear had given her a lot to think about. Buying a mailing list scared her, but she would run the numbers and see if it made sense.

The only dark cloud in her otherwise sunny sky was Jaxsen. Although she supposed he was more a storm than a cloud. She hadn’t heard a word from him—not since he’d come by the house to ask if she was “ready to give up.”

The boys knew she’d leased the property, so she assumed they’d told him. Was he even more upset now or did he understand what she was doing and why? Were they ever going to talk about any of it?

She knew they had to. They couldn’t simply ignore each other indefinitely. But he was waiting for her to cave and she was waiting for him to show a little understanding. She didn’t know who was going to give in first.

Maybe she should find a therapist and talk to him or her about what was going on. Maybe she could get some advice and figure out what to do next.

She spotted JJ and Tommy racing toward her. She unlocked her SUV.