Page 52 of Lilly

"For the last time, she will not be there. Goodbye, Katherine."

On Wednesday I arrive at the record label at three twenty-five and take the elevator to the top floor.

A woman at the reception desk greets me. "Pearce Kensington?"

"Yes. I'm here to see Dean Ashford."

"He's on the phone. He'll be out in a moment. Please have a seat."

Instead I walk over to the wall of windows and look out at the city. I feel a man staring at me and look over.

"Pearce Kensington?" he asks, his brows raised in surprise.

"Yes." I try to think if I know this man but I can't seem to place him.

He walks up to me, his hand extended. "Curt Shankle. VP of Finance. We met at a speech you gave in New York last year."

I shake his hand. "Yes. Forgive me. I meet a lot of people and I'm not the best with names."

"It's no problem. So what brings you here today? Are you wanting to make a record?" He chuckles.

I smile. "No, I'm afraid my musical skills are lacking. I'm actually here to see Dean."

"Oh," he says, sounding perplexed. "Is this about business?"

"No. It's a personal visit. Dean's son is dating my daughter."

"Reed." He smiles. "He's a talented young man. I've seen some of his work. He's going to go far with a talent like that."

I check that Dean's door is still closed, then say to Curt, "So how is Dean liking his new position? I haven't talked to him since he received the news."

"I don't know if he likes it. You'll have to ask him yourself." He lowers his voice. "But just between you and me, I'm disappointed they chose him for the job. They had many more qualified applicants."

"It's my understanding that Mr. Ashford has worked here for almost thirty years. That has to make him at least somewhat qualified."

"Dean is a tour manager and has been for his entire career. That's all he knows. He was a music major back in college. He doesn't have a business degree. No experience in marketing. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the man doesn't have skills in other areas. I certainly admire his ability to handle our musicians and manage them on tour. Many of them act like children so keeping them under control is a skill that many people don't possess. They get fed up and quit. Dean is one of the rare few who has been able to do this for years and still keep his sanity. But as for taking over marketing and promotions, he's in over his head. He never should've been given the job."

"Maybe they wanted to promote from within. Give him a chance to prove himself."

"He lacks the education and experience to do so. He doesn't know the first thing about marketing. The other day in a meeting, we gave him the latest analysis of our target demographic and he didn't know how to interpret the data."

"Pearce?" I hear Dean's voice behind me. I turn and see him waiting at the door to his office. "Sorry for the delay. I was on the phone."

"It's no problem." I turn back to Curt. "It was good seeing you."

"You as well." He returns to his office.

"Do you know Curt?" Dean asks as we take a seat on the leather chairs next to his desk. He has a very large office with a sitting area on one side and a long table meant for meetings on the other.

"He attended one of my speeches. I don't know him personally."

He nods. "Can I get you something? Coffee? Water?"

"No, thank you."

"So...what brings you by today? Was there something you wanted to discuss or were you just stopping by to say hello?"

"A little of both, I suppose." I clear my throat. "As I'm sure you've noticed, the relationship between our children is becoming more serious, so I thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know each other better. I know we don't have much time today, but since I was in the area I thought I'd come by so we could talk."

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