"Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor - Diamonds are Forever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

love ofтАФMamma Bea, you didn't!"
"I just sent Adam down for a little extra."
I couldn't believe this. "Mamma, you can't possibly be telling me we were broke again?"
She was slicing the roast in perfectly even slicesтАФsomething I never did learn how to do, even though I
was in some ways a better cook than Mamma. "Broke? Clint, darling, of course not. But ain't nothing
wrong with thinkin' ahead, is there? Takes a powerful lot of money to keep the Slades running, and what
with building Helen her new houseтАФ"
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. I could see where this was going. The Slades had always been
rich, but never learned to keep it. Spend it like water, that was the Slade way. Why learn about
investment and things like that? Need more money, just go get some. I suppose I should have expected
something on those linesтАФthe last time the family refilled the vault was, as Mamma said, when Grandpa
Marlon took his last trip, and besides all the living expenses there'd been additions and enhancements to
the house, all the gadgets that the Slade clan lovedтАФMamma couldn't get enough of the home theater
and DVDs (she had just about the complete Dark Shadows collection, an expense big enough to show up

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 - Chapter 2

in the budget of any third-world country), and even Father seemed to enjoy his own time with a
computer almost as much as he liked doing his woodworkingтАФand of course putting the first Slade in a
century or more through a real expensive college with no scholarship.
" . . . so you see, Clint dear, weren't much choice. And no point putting things off, so I sent Adam off."
"You knew I was worried about this happening! Couldn't you have waited a week or so, until after me
and Jodi left?"
"Clint. Enough, now."
I hadn't heard Father enter. "Yes, Father."
Father took up one platter, I took up another and followed him out. "Your Mamma is who she is. Works
hard to be a Slade even though she weren't born one. Sometimes that's not all to the good. 'Taint no point
worryin'. Trouble usually doesn't come here, even bad times. Scared of the Hollow. Keep her busy here,
shouldn't see anything. Right, son?"
I smiled reluctantly. Father always reminded me of Unc Nunkie from the Oz books; this was a long and
involved conversation for him. "Right, Father."
Mamma's voice suddenly boomed from the intercom she'd had strung through the whole house. "Dinner!
Come an' get it!"
Even though Jodi was an extra, Mamma had taken out one leaf from the table since Nellie and Helen
weren't here, so it wasn't hard to join hands to say Grace. Jodi looked slightly uncomfortable, but the
Slades knew a lot of people who weren't of the Faith, so it didn't cause a bad moment like it might with
some familiesтАФno pressure on her to follow along with the prayer.
Then we all got to eat, which was what we'd all been waiting for. The roast, as should have been
obvious, was only the centerpiece. Potatoes, green beans, salad (which didn't used to be a fixture, but me
and the girls pushed for it), sweet potato pie, biscuits, well, just so much food we had to eat fast before
the table broke. And then there were the desserts! When Mamma set out to show off her cookin' skills,
she didn't stop until you surrendered. Luckily, one thing Jodi wasn't traditional about was food; I hadn't
had to face the horror of tryin' to tell Mamma that she'd have to change the way she cooked.
Jodi had done the wise thing, and eaten small servings of everything. I just plowed ahead and ate from
one end of the table to the other, and paid the price with pain in my stomach later. Then again, I always
eat more when I'm nervous, and damn-all but I was nervous tonight. Bad enough I was watching them
decide what to think about my fianc├йe, but I had to worry about what Adam had stirred up at Mamma's
orders.
I started to relax as the dinner wound down. Jodi got up and insisted on helping Mamma clean up. Even