But when the week was over, Lydia arrived to collect Hans. I was expecting her driver to arrive alone, so I was surprised and a little dismayed when she slipped from the back seat of her silver BMW. She’d left her other children behind with the nannies.

“You’ve been spending so much time down here,” she said, as we sat around the kitchen table. “I wanted to see what the place was like.”

I set a cup of chicory “coffee” in front of her, then took the chair opposite her to drink my own. I scanned the kitchen, trying to see it through her eyes. I’d given her only scant details about the lake house, knowing she’d picture something grander if left to her own imagination.

“It’s been a godsend for us to be able to reconnect while Jürgen is busy with work.”

“And he’s coming today?”

“That’s the plan. He was due last weekend, but something held him up.”

“Did he not tell you? That’s the main reason I wanted to come by. I wanted to congratulate you.” She seemed conflicted, her gaze darting around the room as she gnawed on her lip. “I assumed Jürgen would have told you himself.”

“What happened?” I asked her, bewildered.

“He’s humble, that’s all. That’s why he doesn’t tell you these things. Or maybe he wanted to tell you in person…”

“If last week is anything to go by, he might just cancel the trip at the last minute anyway. Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“They are never really sure until they process the results and it seems to take them such a long time. So much math.” When I nodded, impatient for her to continue, she drew in a deep breath and nearly knocked me off my chair in surprise when she blurted, “But Karl says that from what they know so far, it looks like the test launch last week made it all the way to space.”

If this was true, it was remarkable—a world-changing achievement. I was immediately stung that Jürgen hadn’t so much as called to let me know, but hot on the heels of that hurt came concern, and realization.

Jürgen always sheltered me from the worst of his work. That he didn’t call to let me know about the success of his launch likely indicated there was a dark side to it—something he couldn’t talk about over the phone, or maybe something he wasn’t yet ready to talk about at all.

Jürgen arrived later that afternoon and was immediately co-opted by the children.