Family Ties — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

”

“Yes, dear. And I’m sorry. I know you live together, but when you’re in our house…”

“Good. Now, I’m going to say goodnight.”

“I’m going to bed too,” Lynne said.

The two women left. Christy and I talked to Danny and Sabrina for a while as we finished our drinks. Then we decided to go to bed ourselves.

Danny and I walked them to Christy’s room like we were on a double date.

We even kissed them goodnight at the door.

He grumbled about his mother’s rules all the way out to the screen porch.

Part of me wanted to laugh, but I understood where he was coming from.

but was probably still thinking about it when the door to the house opened. A small figure slipped out to the porch and closed the door.

He sat up. “Birdy? Is everything okay?”

“You mean it, Birdy? You don’t mind?”

“No, of course not.”

He threw back the covers and found his pants. A moment later he was fully dressed and ready for his assignation.

“You have your watch?” he asked me.

“Gimme a sec… got it.”

“It’s eleven thirty-five… mark.”

“Give me an hour. Okay?”

“Dude, you just got engaged. Take two.”

He disappeared into the house.

“And lemme guess,” I said to Christy, “you did that purely out of the goodness of your heart.”

I patted the cot beside me. The night air was chilly, so I put on my shirt.

My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could see that Christy was wearing her plaid pajamas and a pair of plain slippers, which she kicked off before she climbed onto the cot and sat with her legs under her.

“I had a wonderful day,” she said after a moment.

“Me too. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Everyone loves you.”

“Everyone but Rich.”

“He likes you okay. He just isn’t as friendly as Danny.”

“I… um… I wanted to spend some time alone with you. I thought we could… you know…”

“Yes, but… maybe we could talk first?” She sounded serious.

“I think I know why you were upset yesterday.”

“About the flight?” I blew it off.

“No, not that. Earlier. When we were walking home.”

I thought back. It seemed like a week had passed since then, but it had only been thirty-six hours.

“It was what I said, wasn’t it? At the party?”

The memory clicked into place with a thud.

“When I introduced you as my future husband.”

“I feel guilty, but I wanna explain.”

“I was pretty drunk, and—”

“Uh-uh. I told you: don’t use alcohol as an excuse.