"Duncan,.Lois.-.Summer.Of.Fear" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Lois)

When I went back downstairs Mike was sitting in the living room with the family, telling them about a job he had just been offered as lifeguard at the Coronado Club pool.
"I had my name on the list since last fall," he said, "but I never expected to get it, not with every other guy in town applying. But this afternoon they called and said it's mine if I want it. If I want ifЧwow! The perfect summer job!"
"What about your lawn jobs?" I asked him. "Aren't you supposed to be doing Professor Jarvis's yard every week?"
"I'll pass that to Bobby. The professor doesn't care who does it as long as it gets done." He got to his feet. "We'd better get going or well miss the start. It's good to have you folks home again. It was nice meeting you, Julia. I live nest door so you'll have to get used to having me around."
"Thank you," Julia said politely, and Mike and I left.
"Well, what did you think of her?" I asked when we were in the car.
"I didn't think anything. I hardly saw her." Mike turned the key in the ignition. "What do you think?"
"She's not what I expected," I said. "She's sort of strange. She has an odd way of talkingЧwhen she talks. Which isn't much. She uses funny wordsЧ'pussy' and 'jakey' and things like that. Slang, I guess, but not like the kind we use around here."
"What did you expect?" Mike asked. "She's from another part of the country. She probably thinks we're the ones who talk funny."
"But she only spent summers in the Ozarks," I said. "She went to school in New England. And it's not just her accent and the odd terms. She has a way of pausing before she speaks as though she's afraid she's not going to say the right thing. She seems so tense andЧwell, almost afraid of us."
"Probably shy," Mike said. "Who wouldn't be, moving into a house with a nut like you in it?"
"I'd have to be a nut to date you!" I said, reaching over to ruff up his hair.
And so we kept on jabbing at each other and kidding around, the way we always did when we were together, and it wasn't long before we had both forgotten about Julia completely.
The movie was a good one. We ran into Carolyn there with her boyfriend Rick, and we all went out afterward to Frank's Drive-in and had cokes and french fries, so it was eleven-thirty or so by the time we pulled up in front of the house and parked to say goodnight.
The house was dark, and when Mike switched off his headlights everything was black for a few minutes. Then slowly things became visible once moreЧthe maple tree in the front yard, the brick planter, Bobby's bike leaning against the side of the garage. The curve of the half-moon looked as though it were caught in the branches of the maple, and the sweet breath of early summer came softly through the open windows, and Mike put his arm around me and pulled me over and kissed me.
"Why didn't we start doing this sooner?" he whispered.
"At the movie?"
"No, you nut. Last year. Or the year before. How long did we know each other before I ever got around to kissing you?"
"I'll figure it up sometime," I said. "After all, we've known each other since we were on tricycles. You never even used to notice me except to tease me about my freckles."
"Well, there wasn't that much to notice," Mike said. "Let's face it, there've been some changes in the past year, all in the right places."
"You're awful!" I exclaimed, not meaning it at all. I lifted my face so he could kiss me again, and he was just about to when there was a squeak and a click from the direction of the house. We both stiffened and the moment was gone.
"That was the screen door," Mike said. "Was somebody sitting out on your porch?"
"I can't imagine who," I said. "It's too late for my folks to be up and all the lights are off inside."
We got out of the car and walked together across the yard, Mike with his arm around my shoulders, and as we approached the porch we saw that there was indeed someone there. It was Peter.
"Hi," he said. "How was the show?"
"Pretty good," Mike said. "Did you have a rehearsal tonight?"
"Nope. Stayed home."
"What are you doing out here?" I asked. "Waiting for us?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Then what?"
"Enjoying the moonlight. Is there any rule that says a guy can't sit on his own porch?"
"None at all."
I could not see his face in the shadows, but there was something strange about his voice. Pete usually had a sort of deadpan voice, the kind that can tell jokes, and you don't even know they're jokes until you think about them for a while. But tonight there was a different note, a sort of lift.
"Have you been out here long?" I asked.
"Not too long. Why?"
"We thought we heard the screen door close."
"That was Julia," Pete said. "She went inside as you drove up."
"She was out here with you?"
"Well, sure. How else could she go inside?" He sounded defensive. "What is this anyway, a third degree?"
"Hey, you two, cut the squabbling," Mike said. "Somebody might think you were brother and sister." He tightened his arm around my shoulders in what would have been a hug if Pete hadn't been there. "See you tomorrow, Carrot-top."
"Good night, Mike," I said, wishing Pete would go in ahead of me. But he didn't, so Mike went striding off across the lawn to his own house. The moonlight tumbled into his hair as he came out on the far side of the shadow of the maple tree, making it look like a tangle of silver.
He turned once and waved back at us and crossed on into his own yard. I went up the steps and across the porch and put my hand out for the door. I realized suddenly that Peter was not coming behind me.
I stopped and turned back. He was still sitting there on the porch swing, gazing out at the moon in the tree branches.
"Hey, Peter," I said. "Aren't you coming in?"
"In a few minutes," he said. "It's nice out here. I want to sit and think a while."
That tone was back in Ms voice again, soft and happy. I stood there wondering, and then thought, well, let Mm sit if lie wants to. What's the difference?
So I said, "Good night."
"Good night," Pete said, and then, just as I was going inside, he said, "Rae, you were wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Dead wrong. In fact, crazy." He didn't turn his head. "You said she wasn't pretty."