“Not without checking with Myrna,” Elmer returned, though in truth he was tired of having a roommate. “I’m not inclined to pressure her into asking me to stay on in Grace Valley,” Morton said with a slightly injured air. “That’s not what I was suggesting,” Elmer said. “Call her up and say exactly that same thing to her and see how she responds.” Morton did so. He had no expectations whatsoever. With Myrna, it was best that way, for to call her unpredictable was an understatement. “If you leave, it won’t be long before someone is digging up my yard again, looking for you.” “The climate is a trifle…cool here.” “Oh, Morton, you’ve always been so high maintenance,” she said, but in fact it was she who was a lot to deal with. “Do you want to stay? I never bothered to divorce you because I assumed you were dead. Since you’re not, you might use that second-floor porch in the back for writing. Where you used to take your pipe. But it’s up to you, I won’t grovel.”
