Theo had picked an entirely different group of items for the Dallas store, better suited to their taste, lifestyle, and climate, and she had done the same for L.A., where she was going next. Her research had shown that women dressed up more in Dallas and were more casual in L.A., and she had chosen accordingly. She had sent the really high-style items to New York.

She was only planning to spend four days in Dallas, and they had arranged for a party there too. They had acquired the guest list from a prominent PR firm, and it included all the best-known big spenders and socialites in town. She didn’t attend the Dallas party either. She wandered around Neiman Marcus to check out their stock and merchandising, and the Dallas store in the Highland Park Village area looked beautiful once she set it up. She felt like a traveling handyman when she boarded the flight to L.A., to do the same thing there. She was going to spend five days in L.A., and then return to New York for one day and night. She was due to land in New York two weeks after the first opening party, and Mike had made careful note of the date that night when he met her. He didn’t know how to reach her, although she had his card, but he knew she’d never call him. She had no need for a New York “lawyer,” which she thought he was, and he suspected that she was too shy to call him anyway, and there was no reason for her to call him.

He called the store while they were breaking it down. She had given him that number when he made the purchase, and he spoke to Valentina. She was packing all the clothes in cartons to ship back to Paris. There wasn’t much left. The pop-up had been a huge success. They usually were, with the merchandise Theo picked. They had sold out of almost everything.

“I’m so sorry to ask you this. I’m trying to reach Theo Morgan, and I’m afraid I lost her number. She gave it to me the night of the party in New York,” he said, and Valentina sounded incredulous. “I’m the guy who wandered in the wrong direction and wound up buying the red bag from her in the back room.” Valentina laughed at his description.