BooksBarbecue
Back The Summer Cottage
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. About the Author
  6. Dedication
  7. Quote
  8. Prologue
  9. Part One
  10. ONE
  11. TWO
  12. THREE
  13. Part Two
  14. FOUR
  15. FIVE
  16. SIX
  17. Part Three
  18. SEVEN
  19. EIGHT
  20. NINE
  21. TEN
  22. Part Four
  23. ELEVEN
  24. TWELVE
  25. THIRTEEN
  26. Part Five
  27. FOURTEEN
  28. FIFTEEN
  29. SIXTEEN
  30. SEVENTEEN
  31. Part Six
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. NINETEEN
  34. TWENTY
  35. TWENTY-ONE
  36. Part Seven
  37. TWENTY-TWO
  38. TWENTY-THREE
  39. TWENTY-FOUR
  40. TWENTY-FIVE
  41. Part Eight
  42. TWENTY-SIX
  43. TWENTY-SEVEN
  44. TWENTY-EIGHT
  45. TWENTY-NINE
  46. Part Nine
  47. THIRTY
  48. THIRTY-ONE
  49. THIRTY-TWO
  50. THIRTY-THREE
  51. THIRTY-FOUR
  52. Part Ten
  53. THIRTY-FIVE
  54. THIRTY-SIX
  55. THIRTY-SEVEN
  56. THIRTY-EIGHT
  57. Part Eleven
  58. THIRTY-NINE
  59. FORTY
  60. FORTY-ONE
  61. Part Twelve
  62. FORTY-TWO
  63. FORTY-THREE
  64. FORTY-FOUR
  65. Part Thirteen
  66. FORTY-FIVE
  67. FORTY-SIX
  68. FORTY-SEVEN
  69. EPILOGUE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  71. AUTHOR NOTE
  72. Reader’s Guide
  73. Questions for Discussion
  74. The Heirloom Garden
  75. Abby

“I didn’t know my phone could do all of this. I just learned how to increase the font size on my text messages,” I say with a laugh.

“Consumers want a more personalized experience these days,” Evan says. “We can use before-and-after footage on your website and Facebook page, videos of you doing a lot of the work yourself. People love that. It’s why shows like Fixer Upper are so popular,” Evan continues. “And we can add historical photos of the cottage—and even pictures of us and Grandma and Grampa—on Instagram. That way people feel a deeper connection, and, thus, are readily willing to spend their money for that experience.” He stops. “And all of this might even generate some local or national media attention for you.”

Evan leans over with his cell again. “Look,” he says, tapping furiously on his screen. “We can hashtag the heck out of this on Instagram to get you not only new—but the right—followers, and isn’t word of mouth still about the best advertising?”

I nod. “You’ve learned a lot in college,” I say. “Besides how to drink.”

“Hey, I had water last night with dinner,” he says.

“That’s because you were hungover from the night before,” I say.

“Well played, Mom,” Evan says. “Now, I want you to give this all a shot for a little while.”

“What?”

“I want you to create accounts for this inn on social media,” he says. “I’ll walk you through each app, but I want you to do it and get each started, so you’ll know how to do it when I’m not here.”

I stare at him.

“C’mon,” he says. “If you learned how to go from typewriters to Macs and did it all on your own, this should be a snap.” He stops before adding, “chat.” He smiles when I don’t. “Just a little tech humor. Get it? Snapchat.”

For the next hour, I am the student, and my son is the professor, and my heart quickens and my creativity is sparked with each new thing I learn.

“Now let me teach you a thing or two about design,” I say, picking up my paintbrush. “My app is a bit more old-fashioned.”

I stand up and start to paint the walls of a guest room that will be themed around the cottage rule Everyone Must Be Present for Sunset. With each brushstroke, the wall brightens, a beautiful Creamsicle orange making the room glow like a sunset.

“That’s a bold color, Mom,” Evan says.