"Eddings, David - High Hunt" - читать интересную книгу автора (High Hunt)

"Well, sweetie," Jack said with an overdone joviality, "what do you think of him?"

I stood up. "Hello, Margaret," I said, smiling at her as winningly as I could.

"I'm very happy to meet you, Dan," she said, a brief, automatic smile flickering over her face. She was sizing me up carefully. I don't imagine the pint and the half-full beer can on the coffee table made very many points. "Are you stationed out here at the Fort now?" I could tell that she had visions of my moving in on them as a semipermanent houseguest.

"Well," I said, "not really what you'd call stationed here. I'm being discharged here is all. As soon as they cut me loose, I'll be moving back up to Seattle." I wanted to reassure her without being too obvious.

She got the message. "Well, let me get this stuff put away and then we can talk." She pulled off the light coat she was wearing and draped it over one of the kitchen chairs.

I blinked. She had the largest pair of breasts I've ever seen.

I knew Jack liked his women that way, but Margaret was simply unbelievable.

"Isn't she something?" Jack said, leering at me as he wrapped a proprietary arm about her shoulders. The remark sounded innocent enough, but all three of us knew what he meant.

"Come on, Jack," she said, pushing him off. "I want to get all this put away so I can sit down." She began bustling around the kitchen, opening cupboards and drawers. The kitchen area was separated from the living room by a waist-high divider, so we could talk without yelling.

"Dan just got back today," Jack said, coming back and plunking himself on the couch. "He's been in Germany for a couple of years."

"Oh?" she said. "I'll bet that was interesting, wasn't it, Dan?"

"It's got Southeast Asia beat all to heck," I said.

"Did they let you travel around any Ч I mean visit any of the other countries over there?"

"Oh, yeah. I visited a few places."

"Did you get to London at all? I'd sure like to go there." Her voice sounded a little wistful.

"I was there for about ten days on leave," I told her.

"I never made it up there," Jack said. "When I was with the Sixth Fleet, we stayed pretty much in the Mediterranean."

"Did you get to see any of the groups while you were in London?" Margaret persisted. She really wanted to know; she wasn't just asking to have something to say.

"No," I said. I didn't want to tell her that groups weren't particularly my thing. She might think I was trying to put her down.

"My wife's a group-nut," Jack said tolerantly. "That one cabinet there is stacked full of albums. Must be twenty of the damn things in there."

"I dig them," she said without apologizing. "Oh, Jack, did you get the kids to bed OK?"

"All fed, bathed, and tucked in," he told her. "You know you can trust me to take care of things."

"Patsy's been getting a little stubborn about going to bed," she said. "She's at that age, I guess."

"I didn't have no problems," Jack said.

"Are you guys hungry?" she asked suddenly. Woman's eternal answer to any social situation Ч feed 'em. It's in the blood, I guess.