‘Seriously though,’ said Minnie, ‘I think I was too quick to give it up. I even thought of an idea for how I could make the finances work without needing funding from charities. It’s no good thinking of these things six months too late though, is it?’

Minnie had been in the chemist buying shampoo when she’d had the idea. There was a ‘buy one get one free’ offer on haircare products. It reminded her of a silly pun Greg had pitched for the business last year – Pie One Get One Free. Then it hit her – what if she got the corporates to fund the pies for those in need? For every pie they bought for themselves, they’d buy another one for someone in the community who needed it. Businesses were always looking for ways to bolster their corporate responsibility, right?

She’d been frozen to the spot in the aisle, with Coconut Bliss in one hand and Passion-Fruit Explosion in the other. She’d felt that fizz of excitement that only comes with a genuinely good idea. Then she remembered the minor obstacle to enacting this genius plan; she’d dismantled the business, sold all her equipment and given up the kitchen lease. Even if she wanted to, she’d never get another loan to start all over again.

Minnie found herself telling her parents about the idea, even going into detail about how she would make it work. She didn’t usually talk to her parents about ideas like this; normally she wouldn’t be able to get to the end of a sentence before her mother pointed out a flaw in the plan. But today, sitting on the step in their garden, both her parents listened to her talk until she had finished. When she ran out of things to say, she looked back and forth between them.

‘Sorry, was I going on a bit?’ she said.

‘Sounds like you have to do it, Minnie,’ her mother said softly. ‘I’m sorry if I wasn’t supportive enough before. I didn’t see how important it was to you.’ Her mother reached over and put her hand on Minnie’s knee. ‘Maybe I didn’t always say the right things, you know. No one gives you a manual on how to be a mother.’

She looked pained at the effort of getting the apology out. Minnie patted her hand.

‘I know, Mum, it’s OK.’

‘So, you’re going to do it then?’ her mum asked, wiping the corner of her eye with a finger.

Minnie wrinkled her nose as she shook her head. ‘I should have thought of it earlier. I couldn’t get the funds together now.’

‘Couldn’t you get an investor, someone who believed in the idea?’ asked her mum.

‘Dragons’ Den,’ said her dad, his eyebrows shooting halfway up his bald forehead.