“Get out. Take your papers and never come back.”
I gathered the envelope against my chest and walked past him without another word.
***
Weeks later, after the lawyers finalized probate, I took the train into the city.
Simon waited outside the small shop on a quiet corner, a gentle man in his 50s with kind eyes and ink on his fingers.
“You must be Addie, the one who visited Marianne every Sunday,” he said softly. “She told me you’d come.”
“She talked about me?”
“Constantly. She said I’d recognize you by the way you held your shoulders. She was right.”
I followed him inside, breathing in the scent of fabric and lavender. Bolts of silk lined the walls. Half-finished gowns hung from wooden forms like patient ghosts.
“So… how is this going to work?” I asked as I ran my fingers over a bolt of cloth.
“Marianne asked me to teach you everything I know,” Simon replied. “She told me you were a bright and honest woman with a ton of unfulfilled potential. She said you needed a chance to prove yourself and build something special, so that’s what I’m giving you.”
Tears burned my eyes. Marianne hadn’t just shown me love.