Blueberry Wishes (3 page)

On Sunday morning we all woke up late and eventually gathered in Rainbow Beauty for our weekly meeting. Over the holidays we'd been leaving it until Monday, but we couldn't do that any more as Grace and I started back at school the next day. We usually looked at which products we needed to make more of in the coming week, and what had to be ordered in, like leg wax or nail files. We also deep-cleaned the treatment rooms, sorted out the washing and took any fruit and veg that was looking a bit past its best upstairs to make soups and fruit salads.

And this week, we started off talking about our nights out.

“So much for being asleep in the corner at half eight,” Saff teased, as Mum walked in. “You didn't get in until nearly midnight!”

“I hope
you
were back on time—” Mum began.

“Summer's dad dropped me home at about twenty past ten, and Saff and Grace were in a few minutes after me, bang on half ten as promised,” I reported truthfully.

“So how was it?” Grace asked Mum.

Mum smiled. “I'm really glad I went,” she said. “Trish's friends are lovely and we had a real laugh. Did you girls enjoy yourselves?”

Of course, as predicted, Saff and Grace hadn't been able to decide on a film and had tossed a coin for it in the end, before they killed each other. And when I told them all about Marco writing the song for me, Mum and Saff dissolved into girly squeals and even Grace couldn't help smiling, before saying how objectifying of women the whole thing was, of course.

Just then the bell over the door jangled and Liam walked in. He was looking extra muscly and tanned after a summer spent swimming in the sea (and a week clubbing in Ibiza). “Ooooh, Kim, you dirty stop-out!” he cried. “What time did
you
get in last night?!”

Mum grinned at him. “You only
know
I was out because you got in right after me!” she said.

He beamed back. “I've come to look at that leaky pipe,” he told her. “I should be able to do something with it – otherwise I'll get my mate Gordon to come and look tomorrow on his way home.” Liam was a builder, and had done the shop fit for us for just the cost of the materials. He'd got Gordon to plumb in our washing machine for free too. It was fair to say that, without Liam and his mates in the building trade, Rainbow Beauty would have stayed just a dream.

“Oh, Liam, you're a lifesaver,” said Mum. “Let me know when you've got a spare hour and I'll book you in for a massage in return.”

Liam smiled. “Now
you're
the lifesaver!” he told her.

Then he stayed to chat for a while. He asked Grace and me how we were feeling about school starting again (answer: me – excited about seeing Marco every day; Grace – excited about Maths Club and the unlimited studying opportunities in general). Then he fixed the pipe, and had just left when the phone rang.

We knew it would be Dad – he'd arranged to call while we were having our meeting so that he could chat to us on the landline.

I raced to be the one to pick up. “Hi, Dad,” I cried. “How are you?”

“Good, thanks,” he said. “Well, missing you all something rotten, but keeping busy. You?”

“My life is fairly nice, thank you,” I announced, ignoring Saff's sniggers. “Apart from missing you, of course.”

“Well, good,” he said. “I'm just calling with an update on how things are going this end.” Dad, Grace and I had been on a crazy, roller-coaster sales drive in Kensington and Chelsea over the summer, showing London boutiques our specially created Beauty and the Beach range. Dad had been in charge of delivering the products they'd ordered too.

“Hold on,” I said. “Right, now you're on speakerphone.”

“Cool. Hi, girls!” called Dad.

“Hi, Dad,” my sisters chorused.

Mum came back in and I was about to mention that she was there too when she put a finger to her lips and cupped her ear, which I took to mean that she just wanted to listen in. I thought that was probably a good idea, considering the way she and Dad always started arguing whenever they tried to talk to each other. Grace had been really upset by them fighting before, when Dad had come down to see us, and Mum probably didn't want to risk it happening again.

“Well, I've got some good news,” Dad was saying. “I've been back into the shops we sold to, to get feedback, and their customers
love
the Beauty and the Beach stuff. It won't be long before it's all sold through, and I'd like to go back soon and offer them something else. Of course, they won't want more of the summer-themed products, not with the seasons changing, but perhaps you could come up with something autumnal?”

“We
could
,” I began, my mind whirring as I spoke, “but then we'd just have the same issue of having to change the product range with the next season.”

“Beauty and the Beach was great!” cried Saff.

“Oh, I know,” I said quickly. “And it was the right thing to go in with at first, because a seasonal range was different and irresistible to the shops. But now we've got our foot in the door, I think we should offer them a core Rainbow Beauty range.”

“Good idea,” said Dad. “That way we can make sure we're in the shops all year round.”

“I agree,” said Grace. “And we can always introduce themed ranges and one-off special products later.”

“We'll have a think about which products to include and send you some samples to show to the shops. How does that sound?” I asked him.

“Great!” said Dad. “You're doing such an amazing job, girls. I can't tell you how proud I am.”

I quickly glanced at Mum and saw that she was smiling a little.

“Grace is going in for Young Apprentice next year,” Saff teased.

“She should,” said Dad. “She'd win, I bet.”

Grace absolutely glowed at that, which was nice, seeing as she wasn't even
speaking
to Dad only a couple of weeks ago (and had said that she never wanted to see him again and didn't care about him). Then they had to talk about the new website they were putting together, and it was lovely to listen to them. The site was to showcase products for the London shop managers, who'd be able to request samples and order online. All that had been made possible because Dad had been loaned a laptop by a charity that helped people get back on their feet. And Liam had given us his old one, as he was upgrading anyway. It was already set up on his broadband, which he said we could use to save money. That was great – as Grace said, it was another £40 a month towards our rent money for the October deadline.

“Yippee! We're going global!” Saff cried, dancing around.

Dad laughed. “Well, I wouldn't go that far, but we could certainly go national!”

I glanced at Mum, thinking she'd have something to say about him using the word “we”. She'd made it more than clear to him that Rainbow Beauty was ours – me, her, Grace and Saff's – and that he was just the delivery man. But if she was annoyed, she wasn't giving anything away.

“Great. Let's get the ball rolling then,” said Dad. “When you get this core product range together, we could start with that. As soon as it's finalized, I'll get a web page up, and meanwhile I'll find out about the legal wording we need, and what our returns policy should be, and things like that. Oh, and I've been thinking about expanding the London shop sales. I'm looking at other areas with a similar profile to Kensington and Chelsea – Marylebone, for example…”

“Ooooh, bags I come to the pitches with you,” said Saff, her eyes lighting up. “I love the little shops on Marylebone High Street.”

“Well, I guess if your mum can spare you…” Dad began.

Saff was about to ask her, but Mum waved her hands at her and put her finger to her lips. She obviously still wanted to pretend she wasn't there. “Yes, I'll have to check with her, when she's here, which she isn't,” said Saff, more woodenly than an oak tree. She really is the worst actress in the world.

“Okay, well, I was thinking, once the core range goes into the shops here and we've got some good sales figures behind us, and perhaps an endorsement or two, I want to approach some bigger stores,” said Dad. “Liberty has a reputation for showcasing small, artisan suppliers, and Selfridges—”

“What? You mean the massive one…on Oxford Street?” I gasped, staring at the phone with my eyes goggling out.

Dad laughed. “Yeah, Abs, I mean the blooming great giant one. Think BIG, girls!”

Us three got really giggly and over the top then, thinking that we could end up with this massively famous beauty brand. And that's when Mum finally spoke. “Well done, Al,” she said simply.

“Kim?” stuttered Dad, sounding a bit startled. “I didn't realize you were there. I hope you don't think I'm interfering. All these things are just ideas…” He trailed off, probably waiting for Mum to give him an earful about how it was
our
business and he could keep his lying, cheating hands off it. We were all waiting for it too.

But actually, she just said, “Not at all. You're doing good work.” We all stared at her as if she'd been replaced by someone else. Then she pursed her lips and added, “If only you'd been this proactive when your own business was on the ropes, instead of burying your head in the sand and going off with that
bimbo
, perhaps—” There, that was more like it.

I gave her a sharp look and she stopped herself, probably remembering how she'd upset Grace before. She sighed. “Look, Al, just go for it, that's what I'm saying,” she finished.

“Right. Thanks. Great. I will, then,” said Dad, sounding bewildered, but pleased.

“Dad, I could really do with coming up to see you soon,” said Grace. “We need to go over all this web stuff face-to-face.”

“And I'd like to go through our new core range with you when we've got it sorted,” I added, jumping in. “Make sure you're up to speed for pitches.”

“If you two are going to London, I'm coming,” Saff told us. “I haven't seen my mates since we moved down here.”

“Hang on!” cried Mum. “
No one
is going to London. It'd have to be a weekend because of school and college, and I really need all of you at Rainbow Beauty on Saturdays, especially you, Saff – you've got clients booked in.”

“Oh, come on, Kim, it's one day,” Dad grumbled. “I'm desperate to see my girls.”

I cringed, waiting for Mum to go mad. But instead she took a deep breath and said, “They'd have to go up on Saturday and come back Sunday, so it'd be a whole weekend,
actually
, Al. And I'll be really rushed off my feet here as it is.”

We all gave her pleading, puppy-dog looks.

“Oh, please, Mum,” said Saff. “We haven't seen Dad for ages.”

Dad, sensibly, was silent.

Mum sighed. “Look, I'm not trying to come between you girls and your dad,” she said. “And it's true that you need to sort the online side of things out together, Grace. I suppose you can all go up on the early coach this Saturday. I'll manage – it's only for one day. You'll need to ask Emily to cover for you on the manicure side, Saff. I can't pay her much, though.” Saff had met Emily at the college open day and they were about to start the beauty course together.

Saff leaped onto her, squealing, “Thanks, Mum! You're a legend! And Emily won't want any money – she's just desperate for more experience.”

Grace looked really pleased too, but I felt torn. I didn't want to leave Mum on her own, but I was desperate to see Dad. I just missed him so much. I always have, ever since he left, even though I was angry with him every single day at first (and I still am a lot of the time). I turned to Mum, about to say that I wouldn't go, but she saw the look on my face and said firmly, “You go, Abbie. I'll be fine.”

“Thanks, Kim,” said Dad.

Mum didn't say anything back, but she nodded slightly.

After we'd all said goodbye to Dad and hung up, we talked about what to create for the London shops. Saff started talking about a citrus theme, and Grace wondered whether we could showcase different essential oils. I was just staring down at the little rainbows painted onto my nails and listening to them argue about which was better when I realized that we already
had
a signature theme – I mean, we were
called
Rainbow Beauty, after all!

“Rainbows, of course!” I cried. “We can have one product for each colour, and put them in gift kits in rainbow order as well as selling them individually. I'm sure we can find something for each, even if we have to fiddle around with the colourings a bit to get them perfect.”

“Fab idea!” said Saff. “Much better than
essential oils
.”

“Much better than
citrus
,” Grace snapped back.