"Kim Stanley Robinson - Sixty Days and Counting" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

тАЬMaybe I should move my van into the driveway,тАЭ Frank remembered. тАЬI didnтАЩt
want to shock you by driving in, and I left it out on the road.тАЭ
тАЬThat was nice. Yeah, go move it in. At least for now.тАЭ
He did so, his mind racing. It was definitely foolish of her to remain exposed like
this. Probably they should be leaving immediately.
He reentered the kitchen to find her sitting at the table before two glasses of iced tea,
looking down at the lake. His Caroline. He sat down across from her, took a drink.
She looked at him across the table. тАЬI was not EdтАЩs boss,тАЭ she said. тАЬHe was
reassigned to another program. When I first came to the office, I was part of his
team. I was working for him. But when the futures market program was established I
was put in charge of it, and I reported to some people outside our office. Ed kept
doing his own surveillance, and his group used what we were documenting, when
they thought it would help them. ThatтАЩs the way it was when you and I met. Then he
moved again, like I told you, over to Homeland Security.тАЭ
She took a sip of her drink, met his eye again. тАЬI never lied to you, Frank. I never
have and I never will. IтАЩve had enough of that kind of thing. More than youтАЩll ever
know. I canтАЩt stand it anymore.тАЭ
тАЬGood,тАЭ Frank said, feeling awkward. тАЬBut tell meтАФI mean, this is another thing
IтАЩve really wondered about, that IтАЩve never remembered to ask youтАФwhat were you
doing on that boat during the big flood, on the Potomac?тАЭ
Surprised, she said, тАЬThatтАЩs EdтАЩs boat. I was going up to get him off Roosevelt
Island.тАЭ
тАЬThat was quite a time to be out on the river.тАЭ
тАЬYes, it was. But he was helping some folks at the marina get their boats off, and we
had already taken a few down to below Alexandria, and on one of the trips he stayed
behind to help free up a boat, while I ferried one of the groups downstream. So it
was kind of back and forth.тАЭ
тАЬAh.тАЭ Frank put a hand onto the table, reaching toward her. тАЬIтАЩm sorry,тАЭ he said. тАЬI
didnтАЩt know what to think. You knowтАФwe never have had much time. Whenever
weтАЩve gotten together, thereтАЩs been more to say than time to say it.тАЭ
She smiled. тАЬToo busy with other stuff.тАЭ And she put her hand on his.
He turned his palm up, and they intertwined fingers, squeezed hands. This was a
whole different category of questions and answers. Do you still love me? Yes, I still
love you. Do you still want me? Yes, I still want you. Yes. All that he had felt briefly
before, during that hard hug on the garden path, was confirmed.
Frank took a deep breath. A flow of calmness spread from his held hand up his arm
and then through the rest of him. Most of him.
тАЬItтАЩs true,тАЭ he said. тАЬWeтАЩve never had enough time. But now we do, soтАФtell me
more. Tell me everything.тАЭ
тАЬOkay. But you too.тАЭ
тАЬSure.тАЭ
But then they sat there, and it seemed too artificial just to begin their life histories or
whatever. They let their hands do the talking for a while instead. They drank tea. She
began to talk a little about coming to this place when she was a girl. Then about
being a jock, as she put itтАФhow Frank loved thatтАФand how that had gotten her into
various kinds of trouble, somehow. тАЬMaybe it was a matter of liking the wrong kind
of guys. Guys who are jocks are not always nice. ThereтАЩs a certain percentage of
assholes, and I could never tell in time.тАЭ Reading detective stories when she was a
girl. Nancy Drew and Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky, all of them leading her down
the garden path toward intelligence, first at the CIA (тАЬI wish I had never leftтАЭ), then