“Certainly, Mr. Falco,” she said. She glanced at the two of us. “Any dietary restrictions?”

“None for any of us, thank you,” Viv said.

I smiled at her and Emily smiled back. She had a saucy dimple in her right cheek that gave her expression just the right amount of impudence.

“Mr. Falco, I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to meet with us,” Viv said. She clutched her hands to her chest. “I have been an admirer of yours my entire life.”

“Please call me Dominick,” he said. “And let’s pretend you’re only sixteen so I don’t feel so old.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean—” Viv stammered. She was rarely flustered so this was a treat for me. I loved Viv dearly but sometimes her placidity could be annoying, especially when I tended to skew dramatic.

Andre knocked on the back door, and I hurried over to open it for him. He wiped his feet on the mat outside and stepped into the room.

“Here, join us, young man.” Dominick waved him over to us.

Andre slid into a seat and said, “I’m afraid our horses have made themselves at home in your yard.”

We all glanced out the window and saw a big pile of horse droppings. Viv looked mortified but Dominick laughed. “No problem, we’ll shovel it right into the flower beds.”

He was smiling and I sensed there was very little that upset Dominick Falco. I wondered if that was the beauty of retirement. Speaking of which.

“Forgive me if I’m talking out of turn, Dominick,” I said. “But I was under the impression that you’d given up hat making.”

Viv shot me a warning look, but that seemed ridiculous since we were sitting in what was clearly a studio and there were hats right over there.

He shrugged. “I still do special-occasion custom designs.”

“For very important clientele, I’m guessing,” Andre said.

“Queen Silvia of Sweden needed a hat for an event here in London,” he said. “She was a longtime supporter of my work, so when she reached out, how could I refuse?”

I glanced back at the table and saw a bright blue hat with a vibrant yellow trim. I knew those were the colors of the Swedish flag, so I assumed that was hers.

Dominick turned to Viv. “Once the craft is in your blood, you can never really retire.”

She nodded. “Our grandmother never retired. She worked in the shop right up until she passed.”

“I was a great admirer of her work,” Dominick said. “Just as I am of yours.”

“You’ve seen my work?” Viv asked. She looked like she might swoon.