"Karawynn Long - Adjusting the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Long Karawynn)

though it were cheating to use a machine to recreate her missing lover. But
the incredible thoroughness of the reproduction had given her the beginnings
of an idea, which she worked out on the drive home. If the virtual Jason had
the complete personality of the original -- and he certainly seemed to -- then
he would react to any situation in the same way the real Jason would have.
In effect, Melanie realized, this gave her the opportunity to turn back
time. She knew she could have kept him from leaving her, somehow, if she'd
just done or said something differently that night. She'd gone over it a
thousand times in her head in the three days since, wanting to take it back,
do it over, trying to guess where she'd gone wrong.
What had made it so awful was that it came completely without warning.
If they'd been fighting, well, at least she could have expected it. But
they'd been happy -- and somehow, she thought sarcastically, she'd overlooked
the possibility that that might be the problem.
It was Friday night; Jason had come over and they cooked a spaghetti
dinner together, set it up with candles and everything. Afterward they sat
for a while in the living room and talked. It was one of the things she liked
best about him, that they could talk to each other so easily.
Jason had just graduated from the University of Texas in May, with a
B.S. in biology -- they'd met in a class his sophomore year, her junior. But
unlike Melanie, he had no real idea what he wanted to do next. She wanted a
Masters degree in biofarming, and had been saving for the past year so she
wouldn't have to work full time while in school. A&M had already accepted
her, and she would be moving up to College Station in the fall.
Jason was a year younger and had never been as directed. Then a few
weeks ago he'd started talking about teaching high-school to inner-city kids.
He'd grown up in Chicago, and had begun to toss around the idea of moving back
there and getting certified as a science teacher.
For her part, Melanie had never cared much for big cities, and she
couldn't understand why anybody would want to live in Chicago; it was a dirty,
polluted, ugly place with the second-worst crime rate in the nation. But she
could tell Jason loved it. He got so excited, talking about all the ideas he
had for capturing the kids' interest. She thought he'd be a great teacher.
That night in bed she watched the moonlight slide over his sleeping
form, and thought she couldn't be happier. She loved him -- it couldn't be
anything else. Every time he looked at her she thought her heart would
explode. It was there in that look, that he loved her too -- she knew it was,
even though they'd never said it, and they'd been together nine months. There
was an unspoken agreement, that they wouldn't say the words, as though it
might jinx the relationship somehow. They'd both had things turn out badly
before.
But this time would be different -- was different. She remembered
thinking that last before falling asleep beside him. This time was different.
And sometime a couple of hours later, he awoke her by kissing the side
of her neck, and caressing her breast under the t-shirt. She rolled over and
kissed him back, willing enough though she still felt half-asleep. It wasn't
one of the best times, probably because she was having trouble getting
completely awake, but she was happy just to be near him, happy that he wanted
her. At the end of it, they snuggled together for a while, whispering
occasionally about silly, inconsequential things that later she couldn't