"Nancy Kress - Stinger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

river-smelling darkness. тАЬIndict those chiggers.тАЭ
His arm stung, and he slapped at a mosquito.
Then another. The third one drove him back inside.
тАЬCanтАЩt even stand on the deck, the damn bugs are
so bad.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs all the rain this year,тАЭ Judy said. тАЬThe
Benadryl Itch Index is way high. But IтАЩmтАФтАЭ
тАЬThe what?тАЭ Cavanaugh asked.
She grinned at him. тАЬThe Benadryl Itch Index.
There really is such a thing.тАЭ
 тАЬI believe it,тАЭ Cavanaugh said moodily. It fit right
in. Saint MaryтАЩs County had the most roadkill of any
place heтАЩd ever seen; it ranked second in Maryland
countiesтАЩ hog production, and it paid serious
attention to an itch index.
тАЬAnyway,тАЭ Judy persisted, тАЬIтАЩm glad youтАЩre back
inside because IтАЩd like us to talk.тАЭ She put down the
knitting and looked at him.
Immediately Cavanaugh wanted to be somewhere
else. He loved Judy. She was very important to him.
She was intelligent, pretty, sexy, warmтАж She also
had the acquisitive instincts of a Medici. тАЬMad in
pursuit, and in possession soтАжтАЭ Cavanaugh had
graduated from college as an English major, a fact
he tried not to mention at the Bureau.
Looking at Judy curled in one corner of their
joint sofa, Cavanaugh wondered yet again where in
that tiny body she kept all that steel. Five-two, a
hundred twenty pounds tops, her red hair currently
in a boyish crop, she looked about twenty-five, not
thirty-six. She looked as different from his ex-wife,
Marcy, as it was possible for two women to be. Not,
of course, that that was a bad thingтАж
тАЬRobert,тАЭ Judy said, her hazel eyes bolted to his
face, тАЬweтАЩve been together for two years nowтАФтАЭ
тАЬNo, only about eighteen months,тАЭ he said
hastily.
тАЬIтАЩm counting from our first date, when youтАФтАЭ
тАЬBut those first six months we hardly saw each
other at all. You were in Boston and I was in D.C.
andтАФтАЭ
тАЬRobert, the exact number of months isnтАЩt the
point. WeтАЩve been living together for a yearтАФтАЭ
This was incontrovertible. Cavanaugh said
nothing. тАЬтАФand itтАЩs time to think about where we go
from here.тАЭ
тАЬWhy do we have to тАШgoтАЩ anywhere?тАЭ
тАЬBecause I love you. Because IтАЩd like a permanent
commitment to, and from, you.тАЭ
тАЬJudy, sweetheartтАж nothingтАЩs permanent.тАЭ