Page 43 of Sherry and Sunflowers
Alara let out a breath. "I'm fully aware of just how much is riding on it. And I won't screw you over. More importantly, I won't screw Charles or the House of St. James over. You'll see."
Delaney grinned. "Then I'll get out of your hair and let you get to it."
"Wait. There's one thing I do need to ask you, because it'll affect how I do this."
"Fire away."
"Do you think the budget would cover the use of gold leaf?"
Delaney's eyebrows drew together, a sharp, calculating look on her face. Alara pushed up from the desk to stand as she waited for her answer.
Delaney raised an eyebrow. "What? Something else?"
"Yeah. I realized that it's not a question—or at least, I asked the wrong one. I'm not asking you for permission depending on how much it costs. I'm telling you that I need it to be gold leaf, and you have to figure out how to make it work. That's your job, right?" she added with a tentative smile.
Delaney burst out laughing. "Now I'm finally convinced that we can work together, no problem. Yes, absolutely. You want gold leaf; I'll get gold leaf. I'll make sure it works."
Alara stared at her for a moment, wondering if she was being sarcastic.
Delaney reached out to touch her arm. "I know I can be a lot. Some people will even tell you that I'm a bitch. I don't come across as all warm and fuzzy, because I'm not. But I'll never mock you, Alara. I can see what you're thinking, and you don't ever have to worry about that, okay? I'll tell you straight. I might be too sharp, but I will never mock you. And that's not what I'm doing here. You just earned my respect. You do your thing, girl. I'll talk to you later."
It was only when she turned for the door that they spotted Zia standing there, watching them.
"Hey, kid. I hope you're gonna be good and let your mom work today."
Zia looked up at her and blinked, then looked down at her sneakers. Eventually she looked up again, put her little hands on her hips and jutted her chin as she spoke. "I'm always good. I know what my mom needs.Youdon't."
Delaney looked a little taken aback. "Yeah, I'm sure you do. I was trying to help your mom, that's all."
"I know." Zia glowered at her.
Delaney shrugged and gave Alara a wry smile. "Yep. You definitely have no worries about the kidnapping thing. I'll talk to you later."
~ ~ ~
"So, you think it's all going to work out with the new distributors?" asked Ollie.
Reaves stirred his coffee and nodded. "I'm hopeful. The one guy, Aaron, already loves the wines." He chuckled. "He gets thevibeof the place too."
Ollie rolled his eyes. "That word seems to have hung over everything. I understand it, but I hope we can work our way past it somehow."
Reaves nodded, and this time he didn't call his friend out for including himself in thatwe.
"Yeah, those guys know Delaney, and they seem to have every confidence in her to deliver a brand they can sell well."
"That's good," said Ollie. "Or is it? Your dad still didn't seem convinced about her last time I talked to him."
"I think she's growing on him. But at the same time, I think he's classified her as part of the whole business side of things that he doesn't really understand." Reaves smiled. "But she's less important in his mind than Alara is. I know he's not exactly an artist, but it's the same kind of thing, isn't it? That whole creative side. Alara gets the visual side of things, and she gets the feeling too—and for my dad it's all about the feeling. Those two relate to each other, and I just know she'll be able to come up with something that works, and works well."
Ollie smiled. "Are you guys getting anywhere yet?"
"No. I'm not even thinking about it."
Ollie raised his eyebrows.
"Okay, so I'm trying not to think about it, and that's pretty damn hard. But Ollie, there's so much going on. She's waiting for her follow-up appointment. She can't afford to think about anything else until she knows what's going on."
"And what about you? Do you feel the same?"
