Page 7 of Set In Stone

“Come in,” Icalled.

Regina poked her headin.

“Sorry to interrupt, Miss Cole,” my secretary apologized. “But I wanted to tell you this in person rather than just buzz yourline.”

My stomachdropped.

Please don’t give me more badnews.

I quickly exited out of my inbox and gave Regina my fullattention.

“No worries. What’s up?” I asked, attempting to come off casual. Like I wasn’t terrified of losing yet anotherclient.

She flashed me a bright, if not a somewhat devious, smile and the corners of her eyes crinkled. I took it as a good sign. If she were giving her notice, she wouldn’t be smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary. I tried to relax abit.

Regina sat down in the chair across from me and smoothed out her long floralskirt.

“Mr. Tremaine called,” she informedme.

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, hoping beyond hope that it was the Mr. Tremaine I wanted it tobe.

“Sheldon Tremaine, the owner of Beaumont Jewelers?” I asked just to besure.

“The one and only. He read over the proposal you sent to him on Wednesday, and he wants a meeting. I offered to schedule one with Clive, but he wants to meet with youdirectly.”

I tried to keep my jaw from hitting thefloor.

“Regina, that’s great news! Did you set itup?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s already in your calendar. You are set to meet a week from today. He seemed very anxious to sit down with you, actually. He’s going to come here, despite the fact that I told him you would go tohim.”

I relaxed and leaned back, trying to absorb what she was saying. A meeting with Sheldon Tremaine of Beaumont Jewelers was a huge deal and exactly what I needed. He was one of the largest diamond distributors in the city. If I signed his jewelry business as a client, I could rest easy knowing that the expenses for Turning Stone would be covered for the next year, including the buyout payments to Stone Enterprise. I couldn’t afford to screw thisup.

“We are going to need all hands on deck next week to get ready for this. Turning Stone needs this contract,” I told Regina. “Please schedule a mandatory staff meeting for Monday morning. We’ll need to prepare a full portfolio, including mockups, before I meet with Mr.Tremaine.”

“Consider itdone.”

“Thanks, Regina,” I said and beamed at her. It was a relief to finally have something positive in theworks.

“It’s good to see you smile, Miss Cole. I knew this would brighten your day. I know it’s been a crazy first week back, but things will get better. I just don’t want to see you kill yourself in the meantime.” She paused and gave me a tentative smile. “Try not to do everything alone. Accepting a little help from the fiftieth floor when it’s offered isn’t a badthing.”

I cocked my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at her. When Alexander found out how buried I was, he offered to send his personal assistant, Laura Kaufmann, down to my floor. He thought she could help me get caught up, but I refused him. This was something I needed to do for myself. Turning Stone was my baby and it was my job to fix it. The fact that Regina noticed was surprising. I didn’t think she was soobservant.

“Am I that obvious?” I askedher.

“When I leave for the day at five, you’re still here burning the wick at both ends,” she pointed out. “The time stamp on your emails tells me that you’ve been pulling at least twelve-hour days. I don’t want to see you worn down. If there is one thing I learned while you were out, it’s that this place needsyou.”

“I’m a big girl,Regina.”

“I know you are,” she said and stood to leave. “But I’m old and Iworry.”

I laughed. Regina was barelyfifty.

“You’re not thatold!”

“I could be your mother, so I say that’s old enough,” she joked back. “I’m headed out in about a half hour. Is there anything you need before Igo?”

I glanced at the clock. It was nearing four-thirty. I had to meet Alexander in the lobby atfive.

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