Blueberry Wishes by Kelly McKain Page B

control myself from going “Yes!” and punching the air or doing a happy dance or anything.
    After that, Massimo spent time chatting with us and showing us some of the other new products he’d got in recently from different suppliers. “Florals mixed with citrus are trending right now,” he told us. “Here, smell this.”
    â€œCitrus – see?” said Saff smugly to Grace, as he handed us all little bottles of hand cream.
    I was soon lost in the heady scents of orange, jasmine and… “Is that rose?” I asked, breathing in the delicious scent.
    â€œYes,” said Massimo, looking impressed. “They’re free samples. Take them if you like.”
    Then he showed us a new men’s range he’d ordered. “It’s good quality,” he said, “but I don’t like their scrub as much as yours.” (He’d displayed our Zingy Lime and Ginger Sea Salt Body Scrub in the men’s section as well as the women’s and now it was all sold out.)
    That was when I happened to glance at Grace and found her doing a goggly eyes thing at me. After a few seconds, I caught on to what she was getting at. “Oh, I’m sure we can make you some more, no problem,” I told him.
    â€œThat would be fabulous,” said Massimo. “Put me down for ten.”
    â€œThank you. We really appreciate your support,” Dad said.
    â€œIt’s a great product,” said Massimo. “And it’s a pleasure for me to encourage new talents like Abbie. Young people like her are the future of the beauty business.”
    Erm, the FUTURE of the BEAUTY BUSINESS? Me? OMG, with bells on. It really hit me then – I’d started off creating a few products at the kitchen table to try and cheer up Mum and my sisters, and now I was standing here selling them to one of the smartest beauty shops in London. I stared at a wall display of moisturizers and tried to act normal and not have a total hysterical freak-out.
    â€œDo men spend a lot on tarting themselves up then?” I heard Saff asking, when I came round from my OMG moment.
    â€œOn grooming , yes,” Massimo said, giving her an amused smile.
    â€œThat’s something we should look into for the future,” said Grace thoughtfully. “We could do a whole men’s range.”
    â€œWell, it’s probably just in London,” said Saff. “I bet some of the hippy blokes down where we live don’t even use soap !”
    â€œOh, you’d be surprised,” said Massimo. “Male grooming is big everywhere now.”
    â€œMaybe we could market some of our products as unisex and sell to men too…” said Grace, thinking aloud.
    â€œYou remind me of myself at your age,” Massimo told her, “always looking for the next business opportunity.”
    â€œAnd me. Like father, like daughter,” said Dad proudly.
    While Grace was blushing about a zillion degrees but trying to look cool about the compliments, Massimo said, “I’m creating an autumn display themed around berries or spices for the men’s window, and if you can provide something along those lines, I’ll include it. I really like your Red Spicy Delight Bubble Bath, but it’s a bit too sweet for men, and they don’t really buy bath products, as such.”
    We all gaped at each other. Being asked to make a bespoke product – what a massive opportunity! Then I realized that Dad and my sisters were staring at me, not just to go “Wow!”, but because they were waiting for me to come up with something on the spot.
    I know a lot of things my mouth comes out with on its own are embarrassing, but for a change it said something sensible, i.e., “We could make it into a shower gel instead.” As Massimo nodded approvingly I found myself thinking of Marco’s spicy, woody smell. “And, erm, we could keep the frankincense and ginger as they’re the deeper notes