“Well, you don’t have to say it like that.” I crossed my arms against my chest. Farther down the boardwalk someone shouted about cotton candy and popcorn. I could smell the butter and salt, but for once there wasn’t the pang of hunger that came with it. “How are Mom and Dad?”
“They’re okay. Hanging in there. It’s been a long year.”
“Do you think it would help them if I talked through you, I guess?”
“I don’t know,” Paul Michael shrugged. “They’ll ask me if I’ve seen you sometimes. Dad jokes about whether you know winning lottery numbers. Mom asks whether you ask about her. They would sense you if you tried to talk to them. I don’t think they’d see you, but they could probably feel you. They really want to, anyway.”
“And Laura?”
“Laura’s angry.”
I was too afraid to ask Paul Michael any more about my sister. Instead, I asked about a few friends from high school who I wanted to visit, but Paul Michael told me they were all back at school.
“And Greg?” I asked, after a moment of quiet between us.
“He’s still single.”
I nodded to myself, unsure of the socially acceptable way to react. Should I want him to move on or mourn me for the rest of his life? I mean, I knew what I wanted, but it wasn’t exactly fair or reasonable.
“We can go see him if you want, if you think it would help you make up your mind.” His voice was sincere.
I tried not to agree too quickly.
As we turned north on the boardwalk, Paul Michael walked directly in front of me so I didn’t have to deal with people slipping through me. It was the kind of considerate thing that only he would ever think