67. A sign, part 2.

"Why did you say that?" Nan asked. Sid looked at her, but didn't respond. She went on. "We're their guests. I think you really offended him." She was finished. She pushed the plate of fruit forward. As much as she'd been enjoying it, the flavors in her mouth were sour, a little bitter.

"There isn't any way to hide from the truth," Sid said. "This family is poisoned by secrets. It eats all of them up from the inside. Their ignorance is deliberate."

"And you're going to fix that for them," Nan said, a note of harsh sarcasm entering her voice.

"No. I can't do that."

There was a long silence. Nan sipped her tea, and watched as the faraway look once again entered Sid's eyes, or perhaps it was that his presence departed somehow. He watched the table in front of him, or a plane directly beyond it, and was quiet.