“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked down.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“When you met me, I really was a construction worker.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“That’s who you fell in love with. The guy wearing boots and dusty work clothes. The man who came home exhausted and didn’t know which fork to use at your mother’s dinner table.”
“Edward…”
“I thought if I became something else, maybe I wouldn’t be the person you loved anymore.”
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
He nodded.
“It sounds cowardly because it was.”
“You didn’t trust me.”
He was quiet.
Finally, he said,
“No. I didn’t.”
The woman from the car appeared again.
“I’m going upstairs,” she said. “Take your time.”
Then she left.
I looked after her.
“Who is she?”
“Margaret Chen. My business partner.”
“You started this company together?”
“Yes.”
“And she knows about me?”
“Yes.”
“How long has she been telling you to tell me?”
Edward almost looked embarrassed.
“Since the first week.”
I laughed once, without humor.
“So she knew this would become a disaster nine years ago.”
“Yes.”
“She was right.”
“Completely.”
I looked around at the architectural models.
“Have I ever been inside one of your buildings?”
Edward hesitated.
“Three.”
My head snapped toward him.
“Which ones?”
“The children’s hospital on Grant Street.”
I stared.
“The library extension on the east side.”
Then he paused.
“And the pedestrian bridge.”
My stomach dropped.
“I’ve walked across that bridge.”
“I know.”
“I sent you a photograph when it opened.”
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