Chapter 125

• The week after the white silk line sold out, the boutique settled into its usual rhythm. Orders were still coming in steadily, but the loud rush had softened into a calmer flow, the kind that didn’t have us checking the numbers every few hours. I liked it better that way. The hum of the sewing machines, the soft scrape of fabric scissors on the cutting tables, the gentle sound of pages turning in the design books on the shelves. The air felt steady.
• Yet, steadiness in the space didn’t always mean the people inside it were steady too.
• It was a Wednesday morning when I first noticed it. Simone was at her workbench, shoulders slightly hunched, her hands moving slower than usual over a length of ivory linen. She wasn’t humming like she normally did when she worked. Normally, she kept up a quiet tune that matched the movement of her hands, but today there was only the small sound of her scissors and an occasional sigh she didn’t seem to notice herself making.