“Edward,” she said softly, as if testing the word to see how it curled around her mouth. It was a good, strong name, as her grandmother would say. She knew a few Edwards before, it was nice to know one again. She smiled wanly, her gaze softening at his little confession. There was a time she might have said the same of her nickname, but the presence of family in the building had fixed that recently. “Then it’s what I will call you. It’s wonderful to meet you, Edward.”
The real one, he said. She wondered what the real one might look like and she found her lips were pursuing as she tried to imagine it. His grimace made her frown ever so slightly and she found her hand reaching toward him, pale fingers taking on healthier and warmer tones as they brushed against the slight creases of his forehand. “Was?” Another quick and quiet blink. “You don’t sound so sure now. What changed? ”