Blueberry Wishes (5 page)

“You're welcome, Mrs. Green,” said Ben (SUCH perfect son-in-law material, that boy).

Marco shrugged and said, “No worries.”

“We can stay and help too, if you like,” Ben said to me, when Mum had gone back inside.

“Will I have to wear a hairnet again?” asked Marco, wrinkling up his nose.

I gave him a wicked grin. “Much as I'd enjoy seeing that, we're not making huge amounts or anything, just a couple of samples of each to send up to Dad. The main thing we need to do is get the colours right and decide on the final packaging for each one.”

“You mean it's going to be a lot of girly stuff with ribbons and going ‘Oooooh, smell this one. It's divine!'?” asked Ben.

“Yeah,
very
girly,” I said. “And no heavy lifting involved.”

“In that case, shall we give it a miss and go for that burger?” Marco asked Ben. He gave me his gorgeous smile. “You don't mind, do you?”

“Of course not,” I said. “I was worried that you'd be off with me because I couldn't come out.”

“No way,” he insisted. “I know how important your business is.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my vain, selfish mate Marco?” Summer cried, with a teasing look on her face. To prove he was still the same, he called her a cheeky cow. Then I gave him the longest hug I could get away with without looking like a total nutter, and the boys headed off.

Summer and I helped Mum finish up at Rainbow Beauty, and then we went upstairs with her, where we found my sisters cleaning down the kitchen and getting everything ready. They greeted Summer with big hugs and we scrubbed and aproned and hairnetted ourselves with mucho giggling.

Then Mum, Saff and Grace started adjusting the colours on our chosen products, and Summer and I got to work creating our new blueberry body butter. Because I hadn't made any before, and I didn't have a recipe to follow, it was a bit trial and error. We made a nice base of cocoa and shea butter and then added the blueberry oil. While it's great for dry skin, it doesn't have a smell, so we fiddled around with the blueberry fragrance oil that had arrived in the post that morning from our supplier, until we had something that smelled nice, but wasn't overpowering. The blue camomile mixed with alkanet gave us quite a good indigo colour in the end.

As we worked, Summer said, “Hey, I've been trying to think about how else you can advertise yourselves, to help you compete against this new spa, and I've had a thought. Instead of just helping out at the Autumn Fayre, you could have your own Rainbow Beauty stall.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” said Mum eagerly, overhearing. “You could do loads more of the leaflets, Abbie, and give them out. And if you take some products to sell, we could give, say, 20% of the profits to the charity. Oh, I hope that's enough? I wish it could be more, but—”

“Mum, with our slim profit margins that's really generous as it is,” Grace cut in.

Summer smiled. “That would be amazing,” she assured her.

“What if we could get the ingredients to make something for free…” I said, thinking aloud. “Then we could create a product especially for the Fayre and give
all
the money to charity.”

“That's a great idea, Abbie,” said Mum. “But where are we going to get free ingredients from?”

“I bet I can persuade our greengrocer to donate some stuff,” said Summer. “You know, Tom, who let us do that photo shoot in his shop? He's always given a big fruit and veg box for the raffle, so I'm sure he won't mind.”

“Great!” I cried. “How about having a theme? Like blueberries? Everyone likes those!”

“Oh, we could do fresh blueberry smoothies in that case,” said Saff, “if we get a free box of bananas thrown in.”

“And Blueberry Burst Fresh Face Masks,” Grace suggested. “You could whizz them up right in front of people to create a bit of theatre, too.”

Saff grimaced. “You'd have to take both blenders! No one wants face mask in their smoothie!”

“Obviously!” Grace tutted. “I'm not an idiot, you know!”

“Alright! Keep your knickers on!” snapped Saff.

“Great idea,” said Mum quickly, before my sisters could blow it up into a full-scale row. “We can certainly donate the other ingredients for those, like the almond oil and so on.”

“That would be fab,” said Summer. “And hey, I know, we can sell Blueberry Wishes! We can get a load of sweet bags and put ten blueberries in each, then charge a pound a wish!”

She seemed surprised to find us all peering blankly at her. “Erm, what are you on about?” asked Saff.

Summer was peering back at us, looking equally confused. “Don't you know about Blueberry Wishes?” she cried. “I thought everyone did. Oh, well, maybe it's just my mad family. We've always done it, ever since we were little. You eat ten blueberries and make a wish, but you have to wish out loud or it won't come true. Come to think of it, it probably
was
just a way for Mum and Dad to get us to eat our fruit, but I swear it worked at the time. I got a bike for my birthday that year, just like I wanted.”

Grace grinned. “The fact that your mum and dad heard you wish out loud for one must have helped!”

“Well, I think it's a great idea,” I said. “Who are we to say how the mysterious powers of the universe work?”

I just said that to wind Grace up, and indeed she
did
mumble something about codswallop and try to swat me with a spatula, but then Mum said, “I might try it now, actually, though I'd have to eat about two hundred to wish away that new spa!”

“Oh, Mum, it'll be okay,” I said.

She smiled. “I'm sure it will, love. Sorry, girls, I don't mean to put a downer on things. I'm just tired, that's all. It's been a busy day…thank goodness! And I've got my first client at half seven tomorrow morning. She asked if she could come before work and I didn't want to say no. We need every booking we can get at the moment, especially now we've got competition.”

“Why don't you go and have a bath?” Grace suggested. “We can get on with this. The Blueberry Body Butter is sorted, and we've just about adjusted the colours on the other products, too. We're only going to play around with packaging now. You can have a look at everything when you come out and give it your seal of approval.”

Mum stifled a yawn. “I wouldn't usually leave you to it, but I think I'd better or I'll be hopeless at work tomorrow.”

When she'd headed off to the bathroom, Summer, Saff, Grace and I tried out different packaging. It all had to be transparent, of course, to show the colours, but we had a big selection of sample bottles and jars that we'd got from our supplier to play around with when we'd first set up the business. We put the body butter in a lovely glass jar with an almost round base in the end, and we all agreed that it was the best choice.

“Wow, it suddenly looks really classy and expensive,” Summer remarked.

“It'll have to,” I said, “what with the prices Grace will want to charge the London boutiques for it!”

Grace took that as a compliment and smiled proudly.

“And we could create beautiful little vintage-y labels,” Saff suggested, “to complete the look.”

“And could we borrow your wish thing for the name, Summer?” I asked. “Blueberry Wishes Body Butter?”

Summer looked really pleased. “Yeah, sure,” she said.

A while later, when we'd settled on the best fit of bottles and jars for the rainbow products and lined them all up in colour order on the table, Mum came out of the bathroom in her dressing gown, looking much better. “Oh, they look wonderful,” she exclaimed.

“Glad you like them,” I said.

“We just need to get the body butter tested, as it's a new product, and then that's everything done,” said Grace. “Saff's going to pop it in to the cosmetic chemist in Paignton tomorrow before college.”

“And if everything's okay with it, I should be able to pick up the certificate afterwards,” Saff added, “so we'll have it ready to give to Dad with everything else when Abbie briefs him at the weekend.”

“That's great,” said Mum. “You girls really have got everything covered.”

“Hey, I know, I could come and do nails at the Fayre,” Saff offered. “I bet you'd make stacks of extra cash that way.”

“I'm sorry, love, but I need you here,” said Mum. “You'll have loads of manicure appointments, thanks to our offer. And, Grace, I'll need you out front to welcome people, and sell products once they've had their treatments, otherwise they tend to just leave without browsing.”

“Oh, yeah, course,” said Grace, and Saff gave a little nod too.

Summer's brother Jim beeped the horn of their Land Rover outside, so we said our goodbyes and had lots more hugs. (Ben's right – we
are
totally girly!)

Then we sat round the table and looked at our beautiful new rainbow of products. “The London shops will love these,” Saff said excitedly. “And we'll have to think of ways to tell our local customers about them too – they
are
unique to us, after all. You can't just walk into
any old place
and buy them.”

We all smiled, knowing that
any old place
actually meant the
brand-spanking-new
place
down the road.

Mum smiled. “My clever, wonderful girls,” she sighed.

Grace grinned. “I know that the new spa opening isn't great news, but I really think we've got it covered now,” she said. “Between our promotion and the stall at the Autumn Fayre, I'm sure we've done enough to keep our customers, and hopefully get some new ones too. Things are going to be fine, I can just feel it. And of course, the London side of the business should be growing too, so soon we won't just be relying on income from Rainbow Beauty itself.”

We looked at each other and smiled. If
Grace
thought things would be okay – cautious, careful Grace – well, then, surely they would be.

On Wednesday when I got back from school, I was supposed to be doing my History homework. In fact, I'd accidentally let slip that it was due in on Friday and so Mum was insisting on it (I am quite famous in our family for leaving schoolworky things until the absolute last minute and then driving everyone mad by stressing out about them). Instead I slouched around Rainbow Beauty, looking for a job to do.

“You won't find anything that needs to be ordered, cleaned or sorted out down here,” said Mum smugly, as she dried up the smoothie glasses, leaning on the door frame of the kitchenette. She'd had a steady stream of customers who'd seen our offer leaflets, and people were booking in for the next few days too, so she was looking very happy. “I've made sure everything's done, so you've no excuse not to go and get on with that homework.”

It was just looking like I
would
really have to go upstairs and get on with it when I decided to see if her happy mood was happy enough to let me go and see Marco, just for a little while.

“No way,” she said flatly, when I suggested it.

“But, Muuuum,” I moaned, “I can't stop thinking about him. I mean, there is literally, probably
medically
, no actual room for History homework in my head right now! Once I've seen him, I'll be able to stop
thinking
about seeing him and concentrate on my work.”

“But you've seen him all day!” Mum said, looking unconvinced.

“No, I haven't,” I insisted. “Well, only for a tiny while, at first break. Apart from that I was far too busy Engaging Fully With My Education to give any time to my personal relationships. I do take my future very seriously, you know.”

I leaped out of the way as Mum swatted at me with her tea towel. “Go on, then. But make sure you're back by seven and straight to work, or I'll ban you from seeing that boy!”

“Oh, that would be soooo romantic, like Romeo and Juliet!” I cried as I swanned over to the door. “Which I've been paying full attention to in English, you'll be pleased to know!”

“Cheeky madam! Seven, and not a second later!” Mum called, and I gave her an angelic smile and hurried out before she changed her mind.

I was going to text him first, but Saff had gone out with Emily and taken our shared mobile, so I decided to just turn up at his flat, and then try the rehearsal studio if he wasn't in.

My heart jumped as Marco's front door opened and I saw him standing there.

“Hey, Abs,” he said, giving me his lazy smile, which was actually going a
tiny
bit towards grinning idiot.

I was doing
total
grinning idiot, of course, and it was a relief when he pulled me into a hug. I was just thinking about kissing him (well, of course I was) when his mum leaned out of the kitchen doorway. “Oh, Abbie!” she cried. “Come in, come in.”

Marco wrinkled his nose at me. “Do you mind?” he asked.

“Course not,” I insisted. I really liked Sienna – I guess to Marco she was just his embarrassing mum, but to me she seemed more like a movie star or something.

As we walked past the living room, I glanced in and spotted Marco's guitar propped against the wall. Even the sight of his
stuff
gave me a happy glow inside, for goodness' sake.

In the kitchen, there were three places set for dinner. “Would you like to stay, love?” asked Sienna. “It's my famous chicken risotto.”

“Oh, yes, please,” I said, remembering that it was help-yourself-to-salad night at home. It smelled delicious and I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since that apple at last break. “But how did you know I was coming?” I asked, gesturing at the place settings.

Sienna smiled. “Oh, I didn't. It's for…”

“…my dad,” Marco finished, just as Luke walked in.

I couldn't help staring at him. Luke, I mean. I'd seen an old photo, but even if I hadn't, I'd have known he was Marco's dad. He had the same piercing blue eyes, the same slow, lazy smile. He held out his hand and I stared at it for ages before coming to and realizing that I was supposed to shake it. “I'm Luke, nice to meet you,” he said.

“I'm Abbie,” I managed to stutter. My mind was racing. Marco hadn't mentioned anything about his dad at school that day. Had he just turned up out of the blue? Did Sienna mind? How did Marco feel about it?

“Oh, I guessed,” Luke was saying. “Marco can't stop talking about you…”

Marco emerged from the fridge, where he'd been rummaging for the Parmesan. I grinned at him. “Oh, you can't, huh?” I teased.

He looked so cute standing there blushing, holding this massive wedge of cheese, that I wanted to leap over and wrap him up in my arms. But I didn't, obviously. Not in front of his mum. And dad. His mum and dad. Wow, that sounded weird.

Luke emptied a bag of rocket into a bowl and got some salad servers from a drawer, then pulled a few bottles of wine from the rack on the counter and looked at them before choosing one. I couldn't help thinking that Mum would kill Dad if he just started helping himself to this or that (she barely even let him have a
coffee
when he came to our flat), but Sienna acted like everything was normal. I guess it was, for her. The way Marco had explained it, his dad came and went like this.

“You didn't tell me he was coming,” I said softly to Marco, as he poured orange juice for us two.

“I didn't know,” he said. “I walked in after rehearsal and…” He motioned towards Luke.

“What, with no warning, nothing? Isn't your mum annoyed?”

Marco shrugged. “She's used to it.”

At that moment, Luke came over to put the salad and the wine on the table then, so we couldn't talk about him any more. Next, Sienna put a huge pot of risotto in the middle and we all sat down to eat.

I thought it would be really awkward, trying to think of things to say, but Sienna mentioned Rainbow Beauty to Luke, and he asked me about it and soon I found myself telling him about the problems we were facing with the new spa on our doorstep, and how we'd come up with our own promotion to counter it.

I tried to stay on my guard, but when he said how much he admired us for starting our own business I couldn't help smiling, and he beamed back at me. “I'm sure that Haven Spa issue's just a blip,” he added. “People like to try new things – but they'll soon find they prefer your personal service and home-made products.”

“Absolutely,” said Sienna. “No one can resist the kind of introductory offers they're making, but they can't possibly afford to keep that up. You'll soon be able to compete with them on an even footing again.”

“I hope so,” I said.

“And you can create more new offers all the time,” added Marco. “We can help put posters up and stuff.”

I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

“That Avocado Body Butter I bought last time I was at your place was amazing,” Sienna enthused. “You could give one away with each treatment.”

“That's an idea,” I said, giving her a smile. “And you're right, you all are. We probably shouldn't be too worried about it. After all, plenty of people are coming in because of our offer already.”

By the time we got to the panna cotta (this yummy Italian set-mousse thing) I found myself liking Luke despite trying not to. Well, he was so like Marco, it would have been hard not to warm to him.

Then we started talking about the band, and Luke was really keen to hear all about their last gig at the cafe and all the website and Facebook and SoundCloud interest they'd had. “Next time you rehearse, I'd love to come and have a listen if that's okay,” he said.

Marco looked at the table, but I didn't have to see his eyes to know there was hurt in them. I could feel it radiating from him. I knew he was remembering all the times Luke had promised to come to things, then not turned up, and all the times he'd seemed interested in him, then dropped him like a stone and gone off again. “We're not booked into the studio until Friday so you probably won't—” Marco mumbled.

“I'll be here,” said Luke. He sighed. “Look, I know I haven't stuck around in the past, but it's different this time. I wanted to come down and be closer to you while I've got the chance. In a couple of years, you'll be all over the place doing who knows what, touring with your band, probably. You'll be way too busy to see your old man.”

Marco glanced up at him, then had another good stare at his pudding. “Yeah, heard it before,” he muttered.

“Seriously. I mean it this time,” Luke insisted. “I've got somewhere nearby to stay, and another mate might have a job for me at a venue in Exeter, so I'm planning to stick around for as long as you're here…if that's okay?”

All three of us were looking at Marco then. He just shrugged and said, “Whatever.”

Luke sighed. “I know it's hard to believe in me, son,” he said. “But it's different this time. I'll prove that to you. You'll see.”

Marco didn't say anything at all to that. I glanced at Sienna, because it seemed like someone ought to be saying
something
, but she was concentrating very hard on her plate, being careful
not
to react. I was so glad when Marco ended the awkward silence by changing the subject.

After supper, I offered to help clear up, and Marco dragged his dad into the living room to play him some new song he couldn't
believe
he hadn't heard yet. (“Call yourself a muso?” he'd sneered.) As I cleared the table, I heard Marco talking about another new band.

“Oh yeah, they played at the club a few weeks back,” said Luke.

“Wow, that's… I wish I'd seen them,” Marco stuttered, clearly impressed. “Hey, I bet you haven't heard of these guys yet, though. They've just started trending but I've known about them for months…” And he put on another song.

“CHOON!” cried Luke, which I didn't know dads were allowed to say, but maybe Luke didn't count as a proper dad anyway.

“Luke's really nice,” I said to Sienna as I stacked the plates up beside the sink. I glanced at her, still looking for a reaction to the news that he was staying. I wondered if she'd known that already, or whether it had been just as much of a surprise to her as to Marco.

“Yeah,” she said, pulling on a pair of washing-up gloves and filling the sink, revealing nothing.

“It's nice that he's sticking around,” I ventured.

“I'll believe it when I see it,” Sienna mumbled. There. That was the reaction I'd been scared of. Huge great alarm bells started going off in my head.

“Oh, don't worry. Marco won't fall for it either,” she assured me, seeing the look on my face. “It's just the way Luke is. He's all or nothing. And at the time, he really means it, about changing, and sticking around. But he'll go again. Marco knows that.”

“Shouldn't you, like,
say
something?” I said. Yikes, I was only supposed to
think
that.

Sienna stopped the taps, glanced towards the door, then turned to me. She sighed. “Look, I can't keep them from each other,” she said, in a low voice. “I wouldn't want to – they're father and son. And of course I really hope Luke keeps his promises this time.”

She smiled at me and I managed a small smile back, while thinking,
So do I
.

“And it's great that Marco's got you,” she added. “I was so pleased to hear you two had sorted things out. He's been so happy since you've been back together.”

I couldn't help grinning then. “Me too,” I said. I managed to shut my big mouth before it added,
I'm crazy about him. Whatever happens with Luke,
I'll
never let him down.

“Oh, I've got something for you,” Sienna said when we'd finished the washing-up. She peeled off her pink rubber gloves and vanished down the hallway. A few minutes later, she came back with a gorgeous purple scarf with tassel ends. “I loved it so much that I couldn't resist getting it, but it's not my colour,” she explained. “It makes me look like I've got the norovirus.” She held it up to herself and pulled a face.

“No, it doesn't—” I began, but she waved my words away.

“Anyway, I thought it would really suit you,” she said, “so here.” She handed it to me.

“Wow, are you sure?” I asked. I put it on straight away and Sienna nodded approvingly.

“I knew it would look great,” she said. “But then, you'd look good in a bin bag.”

I really wanted to hug her, but I didn't quite (note to self: get more Italianly expressive!) so instead I ended up thanking her loads instead.

Sienna was going to make us all coffee to have in the living room, but I knew I really ought to be back by seven if Mum was going to let me out anywhere ever again.

I explained about my History homework and thanked her for dinner, and then told Marco I had to make a move. We did hug then, and do the Italian three-cheek-kissing thing. And I did the two-cheek-kissing thing with Luke (even though what I'd really wanted to do was the I'm-watching-you thing where you point to your eyes and then their eyes while pulling a Face of Suspicion).