“So you skipped the part where you actually practiced them.”

He gave a sad laugh. “Yes.”

Carter Heritage survived. It became smaller — the failed Indiana expansion closed, the home collection postponed, independent directors joined the board.

Daniel stayed in an operations role under an experienced chief executive. For the first time, he held authority he had to earn rather than inherit.

I used part of the returned funds to buy a condominium near Lincoln Park — three bedrooms, wide windows, a small terrace over the trees. One bedroom became my sewing studio.

My first new client was the daughter of a woman whose wedding gown I’d made twenty-seven years earlier. She carried the original dress in a preservation box.