Blueberry Wishes (16 page)

While Saff and Mum were serving the tea and coffee, ‘ totted up how much we'd made. (Okay, Grace did, and I watched.)

“That's another £302, which makes £353 more to go,” said Grace excitedly. “If we can keep selling products and raffle tickets right until the end – and there's the money from Annie's plants and cakes, remember – it might just be enough. And even if we don't have
quite
enough, if Mum agrees to us staying, maybe we can try and save the last bit over the next week…”

“That's fantastic,” I began, but then my heart sank into my shoes as the door opened and a familiar – and very unwelcome – figure in a hideously patterned shirt lumbered in.

Mr. Vulmer.

Mum was walking out of the kitchenette with a tray of coffee cups in her hands and when she spotted our landlord she almost dropped them. “What's he doing here?” she hissed. Shakily, she handed the tray to Maisy and hurried over to us, with Saff hot on her heels.

“If you want a free treatment, you're out of luck!” Saff snapped at Mr. Vulmer as he reached us.

He gave her a nasty look. “I haven't come for a
treatment
,” he sneered. “I've come for my rent money.”

We were all stunned. “But it's not due until next week!” I stuttered.

“That's not fair!” cried Grace.

Liam appeared by Mum's side then. “What's going on?” he asked her. “Do you want him to leave?”

Mum clutched Liam's arm. “He wants the rent
now
,” she murmured.

“We don't have it. Not quite. Not yet,” Grace said, as sweetly as she could manage. “If you could come back next week, as we agreed…”

“No can do. I'm off to Malaga tomorrow,” he said. “If you can't pay, well, I'll just give you your notice right now. It's my right.”

A hush had fallen over Rainbow Beauty and I realized that everyone was watching us by then, and listening. I really thought it was all over. And glancing at Marco, seeing the pained look on his face, I knew he did too.

Mum took a step towards Mr. Vulmer and smoothed down her uniform. When she began to speak, I was completely sure she'd say,
It doesn't matter. We're leaving tomorrow anyway.

But instead she drew herself up and looked him straight in the eye. “We're not going anywhere,” she announced.

I gaped at her. “But Mum, we don't have—” I began.

“You were right, Abbie,” she said, cutting in. “All the magic, all the inspiration for our Rainbow Beauty products…well, it's right here. Things have been so difficult I'd lost sight of that. But I realize now how much support and goodwill we have from the community.” She turned to our guests and friends. “From all of
you
. We've
already
settled here, and it feels like home. So, no, we're not giving up, not until the very last minute.”

Mr. Vulmer rolled his eyes. “Nice speech and everything, but this
is
the very last minute. And if you don't have the full amount, I'm giving you notice.”

In a daze I leaned down and grabbed the red cash box from under the reception desk. Grace and I had put all the rent money in there and now she unlocked it and showed him the wad of notes. “We're only missing the last £350,” she told him. “Well, £353, to be precise. If you could call back in a few hours, perhaps…”

“I told you. It's now or never,” he snarled. “And it looks like you don't have the money, so—”

Ben suddenly leaped forward, digging in his pocket. “I want two strips of raffle tickets, so that's the three quid sorted anyway,” he said, dropping the coins into the cash box.

I gave him a grateful smile. It wasn't nearly enough, of course, but it was sweet of him.

“I haven't paid for my goodie bag yet,” said Annie, stepping forward, “and I'm treating Summer to one too.”

“Oh, Annie, that's really kind, but you don't have to—” Mum began.

“Kim, I was planning to buy them today. I just hadn't got round to it yet,” Annie said firmly, and pushed three £10 notes into Grace's hand. Grace stared at them, then put the money in the cash box too and smiled.

Mr. Vulmer looked bewildered for a moment, and then he looked very, very angry. “No, hang on. You can't just—” he began.

But he was drowned out because suddenly everyone was crowding round the desk, trying to talk to Mum.

“I'm booking next week's massage,” said Trish, “and I'd like to pay now, in advance.”

Mum gave her a stern look, but Trish just said, “What? It helps me keep track of my money.”

Mum smiled at her. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Saff and I started talking to people too, and Grace handled the cash box, and soon lots of others had booked up for treatments and paid in advance, or were insisting on paying for treatments they'd already booked, or were lining up products on the reception desk to buy. Annie had to rush back outside to help John with the cakes and plants, because there was suddenly a rush on those too. For the next few minutes, Mum, Saff and I were just in a frenzy of booking things in and Grace's hands were flicking in and out of the cash box, taking money for sales and giving change. Mr. Vulmer just watched, with his mouth open and his eyes goggling out.

Then Summer hurried over with all the takings from the cakes and plants, which was just over £50, and Grace waved her hand in the air for quiet and handed Mr. Vulmer the red box. “
Now
it's all there,” she told him, with a satisfied smile.

Of course, being him, Mr. Vulmer stood there and slowly and deliberately counted it, while everyone watched him. Then he smiled slyly. “It's a tenner short,” he announced. “Here, count it yourself.”

“What? I'm
never
wrong—” Grace stuttered. But obviously, in all the mayhem, she had been, just a little bit.

The next thing I knew, Marco was by my side, putting a crumpled fiver and a heap of change down on the reception desk. “I want one of those man manicure thingies you demonstrated on me,” he told me, then glanced at Mum. “Honestly, I really do,” he insisted. “Look, my cuticles are in a terrible state.”

Everyone burst out laughing as he wiggled his fingers in the air. As Grace handed Mr. Vulmer Marco's money, another huge cheer went up. I pulled my BOYFRIEND close and whispered into his ear, “I love you, terrible cuticles and all – which I am now going to have to see
every single day
.”

“I love you too,” he said to me – well, more like
announced to the room
. But no one heard – there was way too much hugging and cheering and general celebrating going on. And then there was more laughter as Mr. Vulmer dropped £1 and instead of just leaving it, he got down on the floor and scrabbled around under the sofa for it. The biggest cheer came as he left, slamming the door so hard that the bell almost jangled off its hook.

Suddenly Marco and I were jumped on by Ben and Summer. Emily was still hugging Saff, Maisy and Aran were mobbing Grace, and Liam actually picked Mum up and swung her round and round.

“Yes!” cried Saff, punching the air. “Devon rules, cowpats and all!”

Grace grinned. “Hear that? Saff's signing up for more country walks!”

“Woah, steady on…” Saff began.

“Thank you, Abbie!” Mum cried. “Thank goodness for you! Thank you for seeing the truth and helping me to see it too, before it was too late. Thank you for not giving up, even when it all seemed hopeless.”

I grinned. “You're welcome,” I said. Then in my head I found myself repeating,
We're staying. We're staying. We're staying
. Each word was delicious – a spell cast, a wish granted, a dream come true.

“Okay!” Mum said, detaching herself from us and turning to address our guests. The room fell silent. “Thank you,” she said. “From all of us, our heartfelt, sincere thanks for all your support and friendship. We look forward to being part of this community for many years to come.”

She got a huge round of applause then, which made her go all flushed and flustered and grin about a mile wide. “Let's all move over to the smoothie bar and Grace and I will show you the secrets of beauty from the inside out!” she said. “We've got a great new smoothie recipe lined up that's bursting with vitamins for health and vitality. And we'll also demonstrate how to make a quick and easy fresh face mask, because of course, what's good for you on the inside can be great for your skin too.”

She grabbed Grace's hand and strode over to the counter, all traces of nerves gone. They stood behind the blenders and Grace said, “So, for this beautiful blueberry smoothie, which is just bursting with antioxidants, you'll need…”

“One punnet of gorgeous blueberries,” Mum continued, holding them up.

They gave a great presentation, and everyone got a little cup of the smoothie to try, and a sample of the avocado fresh face mask they'd made to take home.

Soon after that it was almost time to finish, so we did the raffle, and Ben went crazy when he won the luxury handmade chocolates donated by the little sweet shop in town. “Yes! That's three things I've won now!” he whooped. Then he grinned at Summer. “My luck is definitely changing!”

Saff and Emily had just about finished all the mini-manicures by four, when Mum did her last head massage, so we all thanked everyone again for coming and buying and booking so generously.

Maisy finished helping Grace cash up, and then she went over to Ben and Marco, who were handing people their jackets. “When Aran's finished drying up, we'll head off—” she began.

“No way!” cried Liam. “You're not going anywhere! We are going to celebrate! I'll just pop and get some tunes!” And with that, he did a comedy dance out of the door.

Just as the last guest was leaving, with warm hugs for Mum and a promise to come back soon, the phone rang.

I grabbed it and almost-sang, “Good afternoon, Rainbow Beauty!”

It was Dad. “You sound very cheerful!” he said. “How's the pamper day going?”

“Great. Brilliant!” I cried.

“Excellent. Good to hear it,” he said. “Listen, do you know when you're getting to the house tomorrow? I was hoping there'd be time for me to come over and see you, before school starts and everything…”

My heart started pounding. Of course, our news wouldn't be good news to Dad. But still, I had to tell him.

I took the phone from the stand and hurried to the kitchenette, where it was quieter. “Dad, we've managed to raise the money to stay here, and Mum's agreed to it,” I told him. “I'm so sorry – I know this isn't what you wanted…”

I thought he'd be really upset, or get angry, or maybe just hang up. But instead there was a silence, and then he sighed deeply. “Of course I would have liked you to move back up here, but I want what's best for you all, and I know your mum does too. So if staying is best…then I'm very happy for you.”

“That's really big of you,” I told him, feeling a surge of love and admiration for him.

“That's being a parent for you,” he said. “Although part of me wants to stamp my feet and
insist
you come up here, of course!”

“We'll still see you loads,” I assured him. “Someone's got to make sure you're keeping your place up to me and Saff's standards. Oh, actually, I've just had a thought – Janine won't be able to get professional house-sitters at such short notice. I'll ask Mum to suggest you as a replacement when she calls her.”

“Oh, yes, please!” said Dad eagerly.

“Then we'll have somewhere nice to stay when we come and see you,” I added. “I've recently learned that distance doesn't matter, not when you love each other.”

“Oh,” he said. “So, hang on, what's this about love—”

“Gotta go, Dad, speak soon!” I gabbled, and hung up the phone before he could ask any horribly embarrassing parental-type questions about me and Marco.

Back at reception, I put the phone down in its stand and went to mention the Dad idea to Mum, who hurried straight off to ring Janine. Then I helped Grace to clear up and sort out the smoothie bar.

As we stacked up the paper cups for recycling, she said, “Seeing this place buzzing today…I mean, we
did
this, Abs, all of it. It makes me feel like I can do
anything
.”

“So it's not just Saff who's going for world domination now, then?” I joked.

I felt the same, though, and I was buzzing with new ideas for the business too.

Mum came up a moment later. “I've spoken to Janine,” she said. “She was a bit surprised about our change of plans, but she's really happy for us. And she's happy for Dad to stay in the house, too – we've both known her and Peter for years.”

“Oh, fantastic!” I cried. “I'll text him in a minute.”

“Yes! No more sleeping in that vile saggy old bed!” cried Saff, who'd come over too.

Mum smiled and had begun to walk away when I said, “By the way, I've had some new ideas for the business – we can offer pamper parties in people's houses, and do mini-treatments in retirement homes, and put on a special men's night, and find more events to have a Rainbow Beauty stall at, and then there's the Devon County Show…”

Mum giggled. “Good thinking, Abbie!” she cried. “I just know we'll be okay here now, with you coming up with such great plans. I won't forget what's happened today. Whatever we have to face in the future, however tough it gets, we will
not
give up. Not again. Not ever.”

I dashed round the smoothie bar and gave her a big hug then, and Saff and Grace joined in too. “Go, Green girls!” cried Saff, making us all giggle.

A few minutes later, when the clearing up was finished, I slipped off upstairs to change out of my uniform. When I came down again, I found everyone with blueberry smoothies in their hands, and Summer setting up her camera on the timer to take a picture of us all.