“Yes, precisely. You are lonely.”
“Marcus...”
“Yes, Laia.”
I paused, not entirely certain of how to put this nicely. I couldn’t think of a way, so I simply said what was on my mind. “I think it might be best if I didn’t come to visit you while my sister and the others are here. I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that...”
“Yes, I understand, and I believe you are absolutely correct. It is not seemly.”
I laughed at his choice of words, as if I were meeting an ordinary man in private each night instead of the ghost that he was.
“But I don’t know how long they plan on staying,” I said, noting a touch of a whine in my own voice.
“However long. You do what you must.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Of course you do. This visit is going to do you good. I’m glad that they’re here.”
I s
