"Richard Wadholm - From Here You Can See The Sunquists" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wadholm Richard)

Mrs. Sunquist squeezed his arm the way she always did when she was trying to make
him behave. Oh, but her eyes shone. Even before she said it, he knew she must be
exulting in their perversity.



He might have skipped the proposal at this point. He had no need to fight the crush of
other Sunquists, all hurrying out to see the same thing. He had seen what he wanted.
Only courtesy made him remind his wife why they had come here in the first place.



"Right out there on the porch," he told her, "I'm proposing marriage to you."
Mrs. Sunquist had her eyes on Roger Swann. He had to nudge her for attention. "You
still want to see this, don't you?" She laughed then, like she always did. She assured him
that she was all right, as if he had asked.



They had managed to snag a prime parking spot from the clutches of their own grasping
iterations. From here, the Sunquists looked on as Bill Sunquist dug in his coat pocket and
came up with something small, wrapped in velvet and chintz.



Even now, Mr. Sunquist remembered the moment. He remembered the way Melanie
drew her hands to her face, and looked from his hands to his face as if to catch him in a
lie. He remembered the feel of her fingers in his palm as she took the box, the little
breath as she opened it and turned the ring toward the light.



Mr. Sunquist tried to remember what was going through the mind of the young man on
the porch. Maddeningly, all he could think of was Roger Swann. People like that, you
humiliate them and they think they can win you over. Any minute, he had expected the
door to open and a myopic smile to appear beneath the wall sconce.



The realization made him anxious for something to say. "We look like we're very much in
love." In truth, Mr. Sunquist had no idea what people in love were supposed to look
like.



"I hate to tell you what I was really thinking." Mrs. Sunquist gave a glance over her
shoulder. There was another couple in a car just a few spaces down. She leaned forward
so they would not hear what she had to say. "I had just downed a glass-and-a-half of
cheap white wine and all I could think about was finding someplace to pee."