Page 47 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

Amelia’s face lit up into a big grin and Meadow knew it was taking every ounce of willpower she had not to say a word about that.

Amelia cleared her throat. ‘That’s good. Now, are we going to have a look at the clothes stall that is selling your clothes? I notice you’ve been assiduously avoiding that all morning.’

‘How did you know they were mine?’

‘Leah told me when I went over there to look at them. Come on, if I can’t interfere in your love life, I can at least interfere with this. Star, this way.’

Amelia practically frogmarched Meadow to Leah’s stall. Star ran on ahead to chat with Leah. Meadow had given Leah five women’s dresses to sell and twelve pairs of children’s dungarees in various prints and sizes. As they approached, she could only see one of her dresses on display and three dungarees. She felt a little disappointed in that, she totally understood that Leah had her own clothes to sell but she had worked hard to get the stock ready for the Dwelling event and to think they might be stuck in a box somewhere at the back of the stall out of sight was a bit disheartening.

Leah waved at Meadow.

‘How’s it going?’ Meadow asked.

‘Good, really good,’ Leah said. ‘We’ve had a very successful morning.’

‘Are people interested in Meadow’s clothes?’ Amelia asked bluntly, asking the question Meadow was desperate to but wasn’t quite brave enough to do so.

‘Yes, very,’ Leah said, happily. ‘What you can see is what is left. Everything else has sold out. People loved the dungarees and there was even a small fight that broke out over one of your dresses, the purple one. I took the number of the losing party and said I’d get you to call her so you can make another one for her.’

Meadow felt the smile filling her face. ‘Really?’

‘Yes. I have your money here. I’ll give it to you tonight as I’m pretty sure, the way things are going, you will sell everything you gave me by the end of the day.’

‘That’s wonderful. I wasn’t sure my clothes would appeal, thought they might be a bit too flashy for something as simple and chilled-out as Dwelling.’

‘Us women love to get dressed up, no matter what the occasion. And the dungarees are so cute, who could resist?’

Meadow couldn’t help feeling a huge sense of pride. Her dream of being a fashion designer had come true and, despite her little Etsy page, this was the first time it had felt real. She might not be making dresses for the rich and famous, but she was doing it and no one could take that away from her. She thought about Bear and how they’d matched the night before. Now all she had to do was work on making her other dream come true.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

Bear walked into the Dwelling area and it was clear to see the festival was well under way. There were food stalls selling sweets, cakes, and savoury items that smelt amazing. There were people playing music everywhere he looked, guitars mostly, but there were a few other unusual instruments too; a harp, an accordion and some pan pipes were all being put to good use. There was a man showing a small group how to weave willow into baskets. A woman was demonstrating to another group how to whittle wood and there was a generally happy relaxed vibe about the place.

He spotted Heath walking around the festival, holding Star’s hand. Star had a flower crown on her head and was sporting a very impressive wolf tattoo on her shoulder. She waved at him when she saw him and he went over to see them.

‘Love the tattoo, Star,’ Bear said. It really was very good.

‘Thanks, but it’s not real. It will wash off in a few weeks.’

‘Probably for the best. I’m not sure your school would be very happy if you go back in September with a big wolf on your shoulder.’

Star giggled.

‘I got a very exciting email last night,’ Heath said to Bear.

Bear smiled, knowing Heath was talking about the story Bear had sent him.

‘I started reading it and honestly I was hooked. If you’re happy for me to do so, I could send it to Star’s Kindle too.’

‘What’s this?’ Star said.

Bear smiled. ‘Well, I’ve written a book, for children around your age. It has a girl in it called Starlight who goes on some amazing adventures.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You wrote a book about me?’

‘It was inspired by you, a girl who is brilliant and brave. And maybe it will encourage you to go on your own adventures,’ Bear said.

‘I want to read it.’

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