Chapter 178

• I had not planned on going. The invitation had come weeks earlier from the local arts council, asking if I would be willing to speak about the boutique’s work with traditional artisans. Before I could even reply, Julian had already said yes — not for me, but for himself. It was the first time he had agreed to speak publicly about what we had built together.
• When he told me, I was surprised. Julian was not the kind of man who enjoyed standing in front of a room and delivering prepared remarks. His strength was in the work itself, the quiet persistence, the unseen decisions that shaped the direction of our life. Yet here he was, telling me with a calm certainty that it was time.
• The evening was cool when we walked to the small cultural center where the event was being held. The building was old but well kept, the kind of place that smelled faintly of wood polish and paper. Inside, the main hall had been arranged with rows of chairs facing a modest stage. A podium stood at the front, a single microphone waiting.