"Kate Wilhelm - Happiest Day Of Her Life" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




Kate Wilhelm - The Happiest Day Of Her Life

THE DAY BEFORE THE HAPPIEST day of her life did not have an auspicious start for Reba
Cameron. She heard her bedroom door open and opened her eyes enough to see a dim light coming in
from the hall; she closed her eyes again. Her mother had slipped into the room; she could smell her. Still
dark outside and Sonya was already doused with perfume, and, no doubt, had all her makeup perfectly
in place. Reba did not stir as she tracked her mother's soft steps around the room; she would finger
something or other, put it down, straighten something, move something else, pause at the mirror to smile
at her reflection, move on.... When the door closed again, Reba looked at the clock. Six-thirty.

She groaned and pulled the blanket up over her head, desperate for at least one more hour of sleep, but
now she could hear her mother's voice in the hall outside her door.

"Of course, I didn't wake her up. She's sleeping like a baby.... "Reba drifted as the voice faded, then it
sounded closer again. "I have a right to look at my child, for heaven's sake!...trying to sneak in her
wedding without letting me know a thing about it." She was walking back and forth in the hall, apparently,
the sound of her voice rising and falling as she neared the door, then drew away. Talking to Aunt
Rebecca? Someone whose voice was too low to carry into the room, through the blanket.

Reba put her fingers in her ears.

"...ages ago! How was I supposed to know she'd still be engaged after such a long time?"

Reba had written to her four months ago, announcing her engagement, the date, everything, and in return
had received a postcard with her mother's scrawl:

Darling, I am so excited...(illegible) Me, too. Mr. Wonderful... (illegible)...

(illegible). Sonya. Yesterday Sonya had called, and last night she had arrived with Mr. Wonderful, the
New Guy. They were always the New Guy, this was number five. Maybe six. It didn't matter. He was
the New Guy.

"I know we were all just a little excited last night, but it's perfectly clear that Bob should give her away.
After all, he's her stepfather, and he brought his tuxedo...."

This time Sonya's voice faded away and didn't return. Maybe Aunt Rebecca had dragged her
downstairs. Pushed her down the stairs? Reba shook her head. No such luck. Reluctantly she sat up,
well aware that she would not go back to sleep that morning. She added items to the mental list of things
she had to get done that day, and headed the list with the number one in importance. Tell her mother to
butt out; the wedding was planned down to the last detail, and not a single thing would be changed.
Uncle Walt, the only father she had ever known, her mother's brother, would walk her down the aisle,
not the New Guy, whose name

Reba couldn't even remember.