CLAIRE

One week later, I stood in the production facility watching Maria fold the last blazer for Nordstrom. "That's five hundred pieces," Nina announced, checking her tablet. "Complete."

Relief washed through me. We'd done it, ahead of schedule, exactly to specifications. "Everyone, can I have your attention," I called out.

The twelve seamstresses stopped their machines and looked up. "We're done," I announced. "The Nordstrom order is complete."

Cheers erupted across the floor. Maria hugged her sister Elena, both of them grinning. Rebecca high-fived Amanda, nearly knocking over a rack of dresses.

"This is amazing," Sofia, Maria's daughter, said. "I can't believe we actually did it."

"We absolutely did it,"...