"Asaro, Catherine - Echea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asaro Catherine)

had already placed the food on the table,
each dish on its own warming plate. The
scrambled eggs had the slightly runny look
that indicated they had sat more than an
hourЦnot even the latest design in warming
plates could stop that. In addition, there
was French toast, and SusanТs favorites,
waffles. The scent of fresh blueberry
muffins floated over it all, and made me
smile. The household staff had gone to
great lengths to make Echea feel welcome.

My husband was already in his usual spot,
e-conferencing while he sipped his coffee
and broke a muffin apart with his fingers.
His plate, showing the remains of eggs and
ham, was pushed off to the side.

"Morning," I said as I slipped into my
usual place on the other side of the
table. It was made of oak and had been in
my family since 1851, when my motherТs
people brought it over from Europe as a
wedding present for my many-great
grandparents. The housekeeper kept it
polished to a shine, and she only used
linen placemats to protect it from the
effects of food.

My husband acknowledged me with a
blueberry-stained hand as laughter made me
look up. Kally came in, her arm around
Susan. Susan still didnТt look herself.
She had deep circles under her eyes, which
meant that Green Eggs and Ham hadnТt quite
done the trick. She was too old to come
get usЦI had known that when we left her
last nightЦbut I hoped she hadnТt spent
the rest of the night listening to House,
trying to find comfort in artificial
voices and imagery.

The girls were still smiling when they saw
me.

"Something funny?" I asked

"Echea," Kally said. "Did you know someone
owned her dress before she did?"