There was all the psychic weight, sure, but it was also just that he was a guest, and she didn’t have many of them. Because, she reasoned, they were usually an inconvenience. They showed up and created work for you. They asked you about your feelings, your day. They asked if you maybe had a beer in the fridge. They asked if you could adjust the air-conditioning just, like, two degrees. They asked if you knew the location of any legal papers that might speak to the true identity of the father you had not seen in over twenty years. And you just had to nod and smile, because this was hospitality.
