 |
АвтоАвтоматизацияАрхитектураАстрономияАудитБиологияБухгалтерияВоенное делоГенетикаГеографияГеологияГосударствоДомДругоеЖурналистика и СМИИзобретательствоИностранные языкиИнформатикаИскусствоИсторияКомпьютерыКулинарияКультураЛексикологияЛитератураЛогикаМаркетингМатематикаМашиностроениеМедицинаМенеджментМеталлы и СваркаМеханикаМузыкаНаселениеОбразованиеОхрана безопасности жизниОхрана ТрудаПедагогикаПолитикаПравоПриборостроениеПрограммированиеПроизводствоПромышленностьПсихологияРадиоРегилияСвязьСоциологияСпортСтандартизацияСтроительствоТехнологииТорговляТуризмФизикаФизиологияФилософияФинансыХимияХозяйствоЦеннообразованиеЧерчениеЭкологияЭконометрикаЭкономикаЭлектроникаЮриспунденкция
KIM BALDWIN. She prayed the dream was only her anxieties working themselves out in her subconscious, and not a premonition of things to come
|
Читайте также: |
4:12 a.m.
She prayed the dream was only her anxieties working themselves out in her subconscious, and not a premonition of things to come. There would be no more sleeping until she talked to Erin.
v
Gable paced back and forth, glancing out the front window every now and then, listening for the sound of Erin’s truck. She was wound up tight.
The woods outside her home were alive with birds—bright yellow goldF nches and indigo buntings, rose-breasted grosbeaks and her favorite of all—ruby-throated hummingbirds, mesmerizing in their aerial acrobatics. But today Gable was oblivious to all of it.
When she F nally heard the familiar rattle of the red pickup as it bounced up the rutted two-track driveway, a rush of anticipation skittered through her, a mixture of fear and excitement.
“Hi there! How you feeling?” Erin said when Gable opened the door.
“Better. But bored. Come on in.”
“I brought you something for that.” Erin stepped through the doorway and held up a DVD. “I rented us The Terminal since we both like Tom Hanks. Have you seen it yet?”
Gable shook her head.
“And I know the doctor told you to keep to bland food, so I got us macaroni and cheese for dinner. Some rolls, and cottage cheese and fruit. Hope that’s all right.” She held up a paper bag.
“Sounds great. Can I at least pay you back for all this?”
“Yeah, right. I’ll put it on your tab.” Erin rolled her eyes. She was wearing a low-cut V-neck blouse that hugged her breasts much too provocatively for Gable to keep her mind entirely on the task at hand.
Why do you do this to me? She groaned inwardly, and for a brief moment considered delaying her revelation for a day when Erin didn’t look quite so delectable. Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen any timesoon.
“Are you hungry?” Erin asked. “Or do you want to wait a while?”
“Let’s wait, if you don’t mind. How about I make us some tea?”
Gable couldn’t eat until she got this over with.
• 130 •
FORCE OF NATURE
“I’d love some, but let me make it. I know where everything is.
You go sit and relax.”
“Erin, I can boil water.”
“Indulge me for another day. I want to play Florence Nightingale.”
Erin headed for the kitchen and Gable took a seat on the couch.
They made small talk as they sipped their tea, sitting a few feet apart on the couch. Chief Thornton and Carl both had called to check on Gable. Erin had run errands in Cadillac, picking up more essentials for the house. Gable waited for the right opening, gathering her nerve, but it was a good half hour before she steeled herself for her leap-of-faith pronouncement.
“Erin, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” She was forced to take a sip of tea; her mouth was parched.
Erin seemed to sense something was up. She set her tea down and gave Gable her full attention.
“I don’t want to make a big thing out of it,” Gable continued as offhandedly as she could. She took a deep breath and let it out. “And I hope it won’t in any way hurt our friendship, which means an awful lot to me.” She heard a slight tremor in her voice and took another sip of tea. Damn, this is hard.
Erin stiffened.
“Look, I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I should. It’s just that you never know how someone is going to react.”
“Gable, what is it?” Erin was looking at her curiously, her body rigid, tense.
“I just thought you should know that I’m gay.” There it is. You’vedone it. You can’t take it back now. Gable held her breath. She couldn’t look directly at Erin. She felt too vulnerable. She watched Erin out of the corner of her eye.
Erin didn’t immediately respond, but her posture relaxed slightly as the news sank in. Gable took that as a favorable sign.
“I know it’s got to be difF cult to share that information with someone you haven’t known very long,” Erin said. “So thank you for trusting me with it.” She sipped her tea. “And I want you to know—and I only say this because I’m sure you’ve had some bad experiences—it makes no difference to me whether you’re gay or not.”
Gable let out a long breath as relief washed over her. “Good. Glad to hear it.” I hope that’s the truth, Erin.
There was a short awkward silence.
• 131 •
Поиск по сайту: