Chapter Fifteen #2
That earned her first real smile from Zia. "Okay. I'll help you with that—I’ll tell you when you’re being dumb. And how are you going to help Mom?"
"Like I said. I'm going to make sure that all your mom needs to think about is her design work. I'll deal with everything else." She turned to Alara. "Sound good?"
"It does, thanks. But I don't want you to cut me out of the loop completely. If there's anything I can do, I want to know; I want to help."
Reaves came farther into the room from the door where he'd been lurking. "How about we figure it all out between the three of us? If I'm in the loop as well…"
Alara was about to protest—he had enough of his own to deal with.
"That sounds perfect," said Delaney. "If you're going to be stepping up to help your dad out, you need to be in the loop." She shot Alara a quick smile. "And I'll leave the two of you to figure out how you want to handle things between you. So. Are we straight?"
"We are," said Alara.
"Sounds good to me," said Reaves.
"Maybe," said Zia, making Delaney laugh.
Delaney got to her feet. "You're turning out to be my kind of person, kid."
"I don't know yet if you're mine," said Zia.
Delaney let out a laugh. "You just proved my point exactly." She came toward the desk. "But I'm running out of time before I need to get out of here. Can I finally see the designs?"
"You can."
Alara hated that her hands shook as she reached for the papers.
She hadn't minded that they did it when she showed Charles—that was emotion, not nerves.
It had really mattered to her that he should like them.
But this, with Delaney? Actually, no. It wasn't nerves about what she thought.
Alara knew damn well it was good. It wasn't about the quality of her work.
It was about whether it would serve the purpose Delaney needed it to.
"Go on, then. You can't keep me in suspense any longer. I'm excited to see."
"Okay. Well, like I told you, I think the gold leaf is key. And this is obviously not how the real thing will look."
Delaney waved a hand at her. "I'll figure out the gold leaf. You had it right the other day. You tell me what you need; I make it happen."
Alara smiled at that. "That helps. It really does."
"Good. So quit with the build-up and show me what we have."
She laughed. "It's not just build-up. I need you to understand. I did this by hand. Obviously, it's not real gold leaf. But I needed you to get the…"
"I know." Delaney's smile was softer now. "It's about the feeling. I might let on that I don't have any. But I wouldn't last a minute in this business if I didn't." She smiled. "But I'm going to be relying on you guys not to give me away. Okay?"
Alara nodded. "Okay then. Here it is."
She slid the paper with the label and logo across the desk.
Delaney picked it up. She didn't say anything—just turned it slowly toward the window, so that the light caught the gold and ran along the vine motif. Then she tilted it back the other way and watched it catch again.
She stared at it for long enough that, for the first time, Alara started to doubt. She shot Reaves a look, but he nodded encouragingly.
It was Zia who eventually broke the silence. She'd slid down from the sofa and come to stand at Delaney's elbow, up on her toes to see. "So, do you like it? Isn't it wonderful?"
"It is." Delaney lowered the paper so Zia could see it properly. "I'm not sure wonderful is a big enough word, even."
Zia smiled at that. "I know. But if you know bigger words, you can share them with me."
"Honestly, right now I can't think of words big enough.
This is…" She set the label down on the desk, squared it in front of her with her fingertips, and looked at it again.
"It's perfect, Alara. It does everything we need it to.
And that Rooted in Stillness—" Her hand came up to cover her heart. "It does what the market needs it to."
She looked around then, as if taking in the office—the window, the vines beyond it—for the first time.
"But it does what this place needs it to as well.
This place might have stood still in time, and that could be viewed as a negative.
But it's not. The tide's turning." She turned back.
"It sounds too trite for what you've captured here, but old-school cool is back in.
I can guarantee you Aaron will love it."
"What about Caleb?" Alara asked.
"I expect he will." Delaney tapped one nail against the edge of the paper. "The only reason I didn't guarantee both of them is that Caleb thinks from a numbers perspective. It's all about logic with him. Aaron's the creative in that team, and I know he'll get this."
"So you think I'm on the right track?"
"Absolutely. This we can work with." She smiled at them, then picked the label up again and held it at arm's length, the way someone might hold a photograph. "And the gold leaf? You hit it out of the park. It's exactly the kind of premium move that will tip the scales for Caleb."
"But you just said he works from the numbers. Won't he think it should be produced more economically? Gold embossing, maybe?"
"No!" Delaney said it forcefully enough that Zia's eyebrows went up.
"Damn, girl, I need to teach you about premium marketing.
Raising the cost of production by using something like gold leaf raises the perceived value five times over.
" She frowned. "What I mean is, yeah—you have to spend a lot more.
But it means you end up making a whole hell of a lot more. "
Alara smiled. "Then good. I'm glad."
"So you should be." Delaney laid the label down on the desk between them and looked around at them all. "We're onto something here. I know it. And this is a whole new beginning for House of St. James. And I'm glad to be a part of it."
"You really think it's enough to get us included in the Provenance line?" Alara asked.
"I believe it is." She picked up her purse from beside the sofa and slung it over her shoulder. "But what I can guarantee you is that even if Sterling Hartman passes, with this branding we'll have no problem getting you picked up by someone else."
Alara didn't understand when she turned to Reaves and said, "So I hope you meant what you said."
"I meant every word of it."