“I mean, this is my organization! I’m the one who started it!” She grimaced. “Does that sound petty?”

Dini swiveled in Blew’s mirror, squinting at herself in the cashmere wrap sweater. Did the olive make her face look green? She turned to the right, then to the left.

The response in her head was in her mother’s voice. “Nice cut, but olive?? You know it always makes you look washed-out!”

Dini wrinkled her nose. Should she try the mustard? She slipped back into the dressing room. Shopping for her winter wardrobe would be so much more pleasant if she didn’t have to photograph and send every last item for her mother’s approval.

Of course, Ma would shudder at the word “approval.” “I just want to see what you’re wearing this season!” she always insisted. “Since I can’t see you in person.”

Dini sighed as she tried on a camel-colored pleated skirt. She supposed, in all fairness, that Ma deserved to see what she was paying for. Besides, her mother really did have fabulous taste. Growing up, she and Ma used to have a blast shopping together; it was one of those mother-daughter bonding activities that belonged uniquely to her. Eliana would stick her nose in the air and declare she’d rather spend her time on more important things than clothes shopping. Back then, Dini had believed her; looking back, she realized Eliana probably couldn’t handle the unflattering comparison between her looks and Dini’s. She’d assumed Eliana was perfectly happy to receive the bagfuls of clothing that they would bring home for her to try on in the privacy of her room. If someone had suggested to her that Eliana might be secretly jealous of Dini’s special relationship with their mother, she would have laughed in their face.

Now Dini wondered when sharing her shopping experience with Ma had turned into a burden.

“I used to love going shopping with Bubby,” she commented later that evening, as she tried on her new outfits for her daughters. Would they relate? Somehow, Dini doubted it.

“Cute,” Chaviva murmured as she fiddled with her camera settings. She’d recently started a photography course and Dini’s parents had bought her a professional-grade camera. Which meant that instead of snapping a few quick shots and being done with it, Dini was now forced to play model for a full-blown photo shoot.

“Turn this way, Mommy. No, not so much to the left. Tilt your head up, you need to catch the light.”