sold through, and Iâd like to go back soon and offer them something else. Of course, they wonât want more of the summer-themed products, not with the seasons changing, but perhaps you could come up with something autumnal?â
âWe could ,â I began, my mind whirring as I spoke, âbut then weâd just have the same issue of having to change the product range with the next season.â
âBeauty and the Beach was great!â cried Saff.
âOh, I know,â I said quickly. âAnd it was the right thing to go in with at first, because a seasonal range was different and irresistible to the shops. But now weâve got our foot in the door, I think we should offer them a core Rainbow Beauty range.â
âGood idea,â said Dad. âThat way we can make sure weâre in the shops all year round.â
âI agree,â said Grace. âAnd we can always introduce themed ranges and one-off special products later.â
âWeâll have a think about which products to include and send you some samples to show to the shops. How does that sound?â I asked him.
âGreat!â said Dad. âYouâre doing such an amazing job, girls. I canât tell you how proud I am.â
I quickly glanced at Mum and saw that she was smiling a little.
âGrace is going in for Young Apprentice next year,â Saff teased.
âShe should,â said Dad. âSheâd win, I bet.â
Grace absolutely glowed at that, which was nice, seeing as she wasnât even speaking to Dad only a couple of weeks ago (and had said that she never wanted to see him again and didnât 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, whoâd 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 â as Grace said, it was another £40 a month towards our rent money for the October deadline.
âYippee! Weâre going global!â Saff cried, dancing around.
Dad laughed. âWell, I wouldnât go that far, but we could certainly go national!â
I glanced at Mum, thinking sheâd have something to say about him using the word âweâ. Sheâd made it more than clear to him that Rainbow Beauty was ours â me, her, Grace and Saffâs â and that he was just the delivery man. But if she was annoyed, she wasnât giving anything away.
âGreat. Letâs get the ball rolling then,â said Dad. âWhen you get this core product range together, we could start with that. As soon as itâs finalized, Iâll get a web page up, and meanwhile Iâll find out about the legal wording we need, and what our returns policy should be, and things like that. Oh, and Iâve been thinking about expanding the London shop sales. Iâm looking at other areas with a similar profile to Kensington and Chelsea â Marylebone, for exampleâ¦â
âOoooh, bags I come to the pitches with you,â said Saff, her eyes lighting up. âI love the little shops on Marylebone High Street.â
âWell, I guess if your mum can spare youâ¦â 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 wasnât there. âYes, Iâll have to check with her, when sheâs here, which she isnât,â said Saff, more woodenly than an oak tree. She really is the worst actress in the world.
âOkay, well, I was thinking, once the core range goes into the shops here and weâve got some good sales