🌸 Side-story: Meanwhile, at the Real Estate Office… 🌸
Janette had finally finished dealing with the morning’s paperwork and was looking forward to a few quiet minutes before the afternoon rush.
She’d barely settled into her chair when there was a knock at the door.
Emily walked in, followed by Daniel.
“Hi, Mum.” Emily giving Janette a kiss on the cheek
They were both familiar faces around the office, so their visit wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the look on Janette’s face.
Emily closed the office door.
Emily exchanged a glance with Daniel.
“We need to tell you something,” she said. “But it can’t leave this office.”
Janette raised an eyebrow.
She gestured towards the chairs.
“Now you’ve got me interested.”
Emily sat down, with Daniel beside her.
Janette looked between them.
Emily placed a set of keys on the desk.
Janette looked down at them.
“Those are the keys to Edwardson House.”
“Why do you have the keys to Edwardson House?”
Emily looked at Daniel, then back at Janette.
Janette sat back in her chair.
“Wait… you own Edwardson House?”
“But I thought it was sold years ago.”
“That’s what the community thinks.”
Janette looked completely bewildered.
“Not in the way the community thinks.”
Emily explained that Edwardson House had been in Daniel and Emily’s maternal family for generations.
Their maternal grandparents, the Edwardson's, had originally owned the property. It had passed down to their parents, and when their parents passed away, Daniel and Emily inherited it.
“I had absolutely no idea.”
“That’s because we’ve kept the ownership private,” Daniel said.
Janette looked at the keys again.
“So what happens with the house?”
“I’ve signed the lease,” Daniel said.
“I want it to be our home, but I’m not going to pressure her. She has to be ready.”
“There’s also an orchard.”
“Yes, the flower orchard on the outskirts of town.”
Janette slowly leaned back in her chair.
“I genuinely had no idea.”
Emily explained the scale of the operation.
The independent stall owners.
The commercial side of the business.
“Yes. They are our bread and butter. We also co-own an orchard in
New South Wales."
“How do I not know this?”
“We don’t exactly advertise who owns it.”
“Most people don’t know,” Daniel said.
“Nothing about the house?”
“There’s another reason we wanted you to know.”
“We advertise under the ‘Edwardson Flowers’ name.”
“It’s always been us. The brand name is just the public face.”
Janette let out a slow breath.
"I always thought Shelley Edwardson owned it."
"She does" Emily replied.
"She Does?" Janette questioned the answer.
"Actually, the three of us do." Daniel stated matter-of-factly.
"Yes, Shelley, Daniel and I co-own it," Emily replied.
“So all those vans I see around town… all those deliveries…”
Janette shook her head again, almost laughing in disbelief.
“I feel like I’ve been living under a rock.”
“We don’t want attention,” Daniel said simply. “We just want the business to run.”
Janette looked between them.
“And Angela still doesn’t know any of this?”
Janette leaned back, processing it all.
“She’s going to absolutely love this.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
She glanced down at the keys sitting on her desk.
“I still can’t believe you’ve both been keeping all of this so quiet.”
“That’s the whole point.”
Until next time,
Angela Jane 🤍
🌸 Dream. Create. Inspire. 🌸
