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‘Nonsense. Of course you will. I have every faith in you.’
Seren was glad someone did, because she didn’t have much faith in herself. ‘I think I’ve rushed into this with my eyes closed,’ she said. ‘I’ve used all my savings on it – or I will have done when Tobias sends me his invoice. And I don’t even have a name for it. He suggested calling itWheelie Good Gifts.’
Nelly bared her false teeth. ‘That’s awful.’
‘I know, but I don’t have anything better.’
‘I do.Serendipity.’
Seren’s mouth dropped open. Why hadn’t she thought of that? The name was perfect!
It was dark by the time Seren headed back home with her van loaded with boxes from those people who had enough faith in her to trust her with their valuable stock.
She was shattered. It had been a long day, starting with doing an early shift at work (seven a.m. start), picking the van up as soon as she’d finished, followed by a quick visit to her Aunt Nelly, then a great deal of driving around to make sure she had enough things to sell at the very first market in three days’ time. It was rare to have a Saturday off, but she’d traded shifts with a member of staff who had a day trip to London booked during the week, and she also had the following Saturday off so she’d booked into a Christmas Fayre in the grounds of a posh manor house. She should head off home and start labelling the stock up and arranging it in the van, but she wasn’t due to go into work until the afternoon tomorrow, which meant she had all morning to do that, so she decided to drop in to see Nicole and show off Serendipity (or Dippy, for short, as she decided to call it). She knew Freya would love it, and she couldn’t wait to see the little girl’s reaction.
The child’s squeal of excitement made Seren’s ears hurt, and even Nicole was impressed.
‘It’s gorgeous,’ her friend said when Freya had calmed down enough so they could hear themselves think.
‘Fancy a quick ride in it?’ Seren asked the little girl. ‘If that’s OK with your mum?’
‘Please, Mummy, can I?’ Freya hung off Nicole’s arm, a pleading look on her face.
‘Only if you’re quick,’ Nicole said. ‘It’s your bedtime in ten minutes and you’ve got school tomorrow.’
‘We’ll just go around the block,’ Seren said, and as soon as Freya was safely strapped in Seren drove slowly to the end of the road, turned left, then turned left again. It was only a short trip, but Freya was ecstatic, and she nearly squealed herself out of her pretty pink trainers when Seren let her play one of the tunes.
‘Can I do it again?’ Freya asked, as the final notes of ‘Ding-Dong Merrily on High’ ended.
‘Sorry, sweetie, I’m only allowed to play it once and then I have to go somewhere else if I want to play another one.’ The regulations on playing the sort of tunes ice cream vans played were surprisingly strict.
‘Can we go somewhere else?’
‘Another time. Mummy said it’s your bedtime and I’m really tired too, so as soon as I’ve dropped you off, I’m going to go home to bed.’
‘My mummy doesn’t go to bed when I do,’ Freya said, suspiciously.
‘Your mummy has to stay up to make sure your uniform is ready for school tomorrow,’ Seren said, improvising wildly.
Freya seemed happy enough with Seren’s explanation and when Seren parked Dippy outside Freya’s house, the little girl shot inside to tell her mum all about her adventure.
Nicole came outside to speak to Seren before she left. ‘I’ve told her to put her PJs on,’ Nicole said, ‘but I bet she won’t. Procrastination is her middle name: she’ll do anything to delay going to bed. Whereas I, on the other hand, can’t wait to lay my head down on the pillow.’
‘Me, too. I’m exhausted, and I’ve still got so much to do before Saturday.’
‘I was thinking about popping along to offer some support and to help out for a couple of hours if you want me to, considering it’s your first one. Freya will be with her nan for the day because—’ Nicole glanced over her shoulder, then whispered ‘—I need to do some shopping for presents for you-know-who.’
‘That would be fantastic. I’m dreading it.’
‘You’ll be fine,’ Nicole said. ‘What could possibly go wrong?’
‘Don’t get me started. How about the van breaks down? Or I don’t sell anything? Or everyone hates the idea. Or—’
‘Or an alien might come down and steal all your baubles,’ Nicole finished. ‘This is the start of what could be a great opportunity. The hard bit is done: you’ve got a fantastic travelling shop and you’ve got lots of stuff to sell.’
Seren wailed, ‘I keep getting cold feet.’ She couldn’t believe how quickly her emotions swung like a pendulum from happy and confident, to anxious and scared, and back again, with a couple of stops at panic-town along the way.
Nicole rubbed her arm. ‘I expect you do, and it’s going to be hard juggling your job and your van, but once you are established you can jack your job in and concentrate on this new chapter in your life.’
‘I suppose by doing it this way it might take longer to get the business off the ground but at least I’ve got some income coming in,’ Seren mused. ‘I’m not shelling out for stock to sell at the moment, either. It might mean I don’t make much of a profit on each item, but over time it should all add up. I do make a decent profit on my wreaths and garlands though, so I need to get off home and make a couple more. It’s quite therapeutic.’
‘I’ll take your word for it,’ Nicole said, hugging her goodbye. ‘Now, chin up. It’ll be fine.’
It’s got to be, Seren thought as she got in the van. Her life savings were sunk into this and she didn’t know what she’d do if it all went horribly wrong.
