“I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations.”
—Penelope Keith
After leaving the store with her offer letter in hand, Amanda walked back to the Grange, where she’d parked her rental car. It was such a beautiful sunny day, and more than anything, she wanted to see Landon to share the news about her new job. But first, she had her meeting with Mildred. After that, she’d go find Landon.
Mildred lived in a tiny house on the outskirts of Butler and welcomed Amanda into her cozy home with a friendly smile. At a quick glance, you’d never know the woman was in her nineties. She had snow-white hair and lively hazel eyes. “You must be Amanda. Come in.”
“Thank you so much for seeing me, Mrs. Olsen. I really appreciate it.”
“Please, call me Mildred, and I’m delighted to have the company. Could I offer you a cup of tea or coffee?”
“Tea would be wonderful.”
“Right this way.” Amanda followed her through the living room to a galley kitchen. “Have a seat and make yourself at home.”
“Thank you.”
Mildred prepared the tea with an expert-level attention to detail, brought the delicate china pot to the table to steep and went back for teacups, cream and sugar and shortbread cookies. When everything was set up to her satisfaction, she took the other seat at the small table.
Amanda took her notebook out of her purse and stirred cream into her tea.
“You have to try the cookies,” Mildred said. “They’re from the store. Some of our most popular.”
Amanda took a bite of a cookie, and the lemony, buttery sweetness exploded on her tongue. “Oh wow. That’s good.”
“Don’t tell anyone, but I eat a box of them a week.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
She leaned in to add, “The good thing about being ninety-two is you can eat whatever the heck you want, within reason, of course.”
“Of course,” Amanda said, delighted by her. “So tell me how you got started with the company.”
“I was eight when Elmer’s daddy hired me to sweep the floor for a dollar a week. That doesn’t sound like much these days, but at the time, it made a big difference for my family. I came every day after school to sweep, and every Saturday morning. After I finished school, I joined the bookkeeping department, and I’m still there more than eighty years later.”
Amanda took notes as Mildred spoke. “That’s an amazing accomplishment.”
“It’s been a wonderful life, to be sure. I’m the last remaining first-generation employee of the store. I’ve seen it all, I’ll tell you.”
“What’s the greatest change you’ve witnessed during your tenure?”
“The sheer volume of customers that come through our door, and with the catalog coming, I imagine that number is only going to get bigger. Our company is growing in leaps and bounds, thanks in large part to Lincoln’s leadership. He’s such a nice boy, and so very smart. Elmer will tell you he’s injected so much energy and passion into the business.”
Amused to hear Linc, who was at least sixty, referred to as a “boy,” Amanda said, “How do you feel about the changes?”
“While I’ve always loved the nostalgic atmosphere in the store and don’t think that should ever change, I understand that times change, and we have to do the same to stay relevant.”
“That’s a very evolved attitude.”
“It took me a while to come around, but Linc’s an inspirational leader. He’s committed to keeping the business moving forward. You didn’t hear this from me, but there’s even talk of a second store in Stowe.”
“Is that right?”
She nodded, her eyes twinkling over her teacup. “The kids don’t know yet.”
“That’s a big scoop.”
“Sure is. Linc, Elmer and I talked about it over lunch last week, and it sounds to me like Linc is pretty far down the road with the idea. He’s even located a space he’s interested in.”
“When will he tell the kids?” Amanda asked, intrigued by the family dynamics.
“When he has all his ducks in a row. The kids tend to be more conservative about new things. If it was up to them, there’d be no website, no catalog, no warehouse, no intimate line. They prefer to keep things the way they’ve always been, whereas Linc sees the bigger picture.”
“That’s the exact opposite of how you’d expect it to be.”
“For sure.”
“Tell me more about you. Did you grow up in Butler?”
“I did. We lived three streets over from Elm, right near where Hunter and his Megan live now. I could