"Littleford, Clare - Death Duty" - читать интересную книгу автора (Littleford Clare)

The house was cold. I flicked on the lights in the front room, drew
the curtains and then lit the gas fire. Alex shrugged off his coat and
sat down on the sofa.

I said, "You don't have to stay, you know."

"Someone's got to," he said. "They wouldn't have let you come home
alone. Anyway, I don't mind."

I looked at him, trying to judge whether he really meant that, but he
had bent down to unlace his shoes and I couldn't see his face. I said,
"I'll make up the spare bed for you."

"No," Alex said. "Leave it. I'm supposed to be looking after you.
I'll do it later."

He pulled off his shoes, then examined a hole in the toe of one of his
socks. I lit myself a cigarette and sat back as the nicotine rush from
half a day without a smoke flooded into my brain. It made me feel
slightly nauseous, but I persevered.

Alex had taken his mobile phone from his pocket and was pressing his
way through the menu. The sound of the beeps cut right into the centre
of my brain. He said, "I've got to make a phone call."

He looked at me pointedly, so I said, "I'll put the kettle on," and
went into the kitchen. As I filled the kettle from the tap, I looked
down through the dining room and the archway into the front room and
saw him huddled over his mobile, talking. He had half-turned away from
me and I couldn't hear what was being said, but I assumed he was
phoning Simon to say he wouldn't be back that night.

I made a couple of mugs of coffee and carried them through into the
front room. Alex put his mobile away and smiled at me as he took the
mug from me. "How do you feel now?" he asked.

"Okay," I said. "Headache." I had a couple of paracetamol in my hand
and I broke them in half and swallowed them quickly with my coffee. I
lit myself another cigarette. "I hope you didn't have to rearrange
anything to stay here."

"Oh, just some friends," he said. "It's okay, I can see them another
time."

I forced a smile. I wanted to ask which friends -there was a time when
I would have had automatic knowledge of his social calendar. It was
strange to think of him with a life I knew nothing about. I was very
aware that I didn't have any plans for that night, there was nobody
worrying about me and Alex knew that, Alex was acting as stand-in, Alex
was taking his responsibilities seriously even when they were no longer