Guess who’s taking today off?”
Mr. Tanner, Aly and Brooke’s dad, opened the blinds in the girls’ bedroom on Saturday morning, letting the sun stream in. During the week, their father traveled for work, so when the weekends came and he was home, it was always a little exciting.
Brooke reached for her Very Cherry–colored glasses. She had lots of different-colored glasses so she could match them to her outfits.
Aly rubbed her eyes.
“Mom!” he said, answering his own question. “Joan will run the Sparkle Spa today, and we’re going to have a family day at Frankie’s Fun Fair. So let’s get going.”
Brooke jumped out of bed at the words “Frankie’s Fun Fair.” “We’re going to Frankie’s?” she asked. “Really?”
“Really,” her dad said. “But it’s a bit of a drive, so brush your teeth and put on some clothes as quickly as you can.”
Brooke raced to the bathroom. Aly rubbed her eyes again and got out from under the covers. “How come we’re going to Frankie’s?” she asked. She was excited too, but going to Frankie’s wasn’t a regular weekend activity. The last time they’d gone was three months ago when Dad’s college roommate came to town with his three sons.
“I thought the family could use some fun,” Dad said. “That’s all. Come on, up and at ’em.”
After dropping Sparkly at True Colors with Joan, the Tanner family headed to Frankie’s, singing along to the radio, even when Dad didn’t know the words.
“You mean she’s not saying ‘I’ll get the weather’?” Dad asked.
Brooke laughed at him. “It’s ‘forget forever’! ”
Aly laughed too when Dad scratched his head and said, “Well, that does make a little more sense.”
When they got to the amusement park, each Tanner chose a ride for the whole family to go on.
Brooke loved the pirate ship that swung them back and forth, making her scream.
Aly picked the swings because it almost felt like she was flying.
Mom chose the carousel because the carved wooden horses’ colors were just like nail polish.
Dad picked the Ferris wheel, so they could all see the entire park below.
“This is the best,” Brooke said while they were sitting together, swinging in the Ferris wheel car.
Aly agreed but was still thinking it was weird that they were having this family day. Maybe her parents thought they needed to “store up” some happiness because something bad was going to happen.
It turned out Aly wasn’t all that wrong.
When the Tanners sat down for lunch—sharing pizza and cheese fries and nachos, which was the exact sort of food Mom didn’t like them eating that much—Mom said she had news to share.
“What?” Brooke asked, dipping a french fry in extra cheese.
Mom took Dad’s hand. “True Colors is going to move!” she announced. “And I decided to take the larger space you girls liked, the one that used to be a hair salon.”
Mom paused and looked at Dad. “I’ve also decided to ask Carolyn Washington to have her shop in there too. Suzy Davis’s mom.”
“Wow,” Aly said. Her stomach flipped a little. “When is the salon moving?”
“Probably the end of the month,” Mom answered. “We need to do construction first, to build a space for Carolyn.”
“And for the Sparkle Spa,” Brooke said. “Right? A big beautiful room with a window for the Sparkle Spa?”
Mom sighed. “I have to talk to the architects,” she said, “and Carolyn. To make sure we have enough space. She needs a lot of storage for sweatshirts and T-shirts and aprons and pencils and buttons and key chains. It’s amazing how many items you can ask to personalize on her website.”
Aly’s stomach flipped again, and all of a sudden she wished she hadn’t eaten so many nachos.
“So . . . there might not be a Sparkle Spa anymore?” Aly asked. She looked at Brooke, who already had tears shimmering in her eyes.
Mom ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m going to do what I can. But if it doesn’t work out, you girls had a great run. You ran your own business for months, and did a great job.”
Aly was finding it hard to breathe. Mom couldn’t take away the Sparkle Spa! Not after all the work they’d done building it up.
“But we want to keep running our business!” Brooke wailed. “Forever! Or at least until high school! We love the Sparkle Spa. And we have customers who count on us, like the Auden Angels. What would they do if we didn’t give them pedicures every Tuesday? They need us!”
“Your mother said she’ll try, Brookie,” Dad said. “She doesn’t want to take away the Sparkle Spa from you, but she has to do what’s best for our family. That means being smart about her business plan, finances, and space in True Colors.”
Dad asked if anyone wanted to go on more rides that day, but the girls didn’t feel like having fun anymore.
Brooke and Aly went straight up to their room once they got home. First they called Charlotte, then Lily, and then Sophie, and told them they needed to have an emergency meeting using their computers.
“Oh no!” Lily cried when they could all see one another’s faces on-screen. “This is terrible news.”
“It’s not a definite no to the Sparkle Spa,” Sophie said quietly. “I think it might be okay.”
“I think we should write letters,” Charlotte said. “And get our customers to write letters too. Then your mom will see how important the Sparkle Spa is to everyone, and hopefully she’ll make sure that there’s Sparkle space in the new salon.”
Aly nodded. “I like that idea,” she said.
“Me too!” said Brooke.
“Okay,” Charlotte said. “I’m on it. We should all write our own letters first, but I’ll get Caleb and he’ll help me spread the word. Don’t worry, we’re going to prove to your mom that the Sparkle Spa is the awesomest kid salon there is.”
After they all logged off, Aly felt better than she had since lunch. She sat on her bed to write her own letter to her mom.
Brooke asked to borrow one of Aly’s favorite feather pens and did the same.
Would a letter-writing plan really change their mom’s mind? The sisters had to try.