"Kathleen Ann Goonan - The Bride of Elvis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goose Mother)

heard of such a thing, really. I had no idea. I guess I just never paid much attention to Elvis, that's all. You're cute,
though."
She was more than cute, she knew. She was gorgeous. They all were, with that long-legged, slim-hipped,
big-breasted Southern style. Most of them favored white-blond hair and spoke in that exaggerated accent that rolled
off the tongue so smooth and full. They matured fast, but didn't start looking old for a long, long time. Not unless they
wanted too, but a lot of them did. It kept the men away. Between shopping, cooking, and eating, they mostly watched
TV and kept up with things through their supermarket newspapers and KYNG. It made the time pass.
But she wasn't ready to look old yet. Roy was mighty attractive, she thought for about the tenth time. And very
sweet, too. Damn it!
She had to pee. She walked toward the bathroom, then paused at the end of the lunch counter.
A little black and white portable flickered at the end of the lunch counter, and she heard the word Elvis. An earnest
reporter stood in front of Graceland with a microphone in her hand.
"Not only has Elvis disappeared, but his caretaker along with him. Police suspect foul play. There's been a massive
power outage at Graceland and the surrounding area which a spokesman for the power company says can't be traced
to any known reason."
Idiots. Next thing you know they'd be flashing her picture around the state. If the other Brides got hold of her,
they'd tear her hair out by the roots. She turned around, went back to Roy, and leaned on the table. "I'm about ready to
go," she said. "Are you?"
He smiled, and she was drawn into those blue eyes. He pushed himself out of the booth. She swayed, and he
caught her arm. Had she only had three beers?

They walked out to the truck through a light rain which patterned the brown puddles in the parking lot, and she
could feel him walking next to her, almost as if he were some sort of twin she ought to return with to whatever it was
happened before you were born. Though it was only a little bit after noon, they both looked together at the flashing
motel sign the next parking lot over. A semi hissed by on its way down to the river.
They stood there for a moment, and he looked helpless as he gazed at her. Then, before she could say a word, the
hell with her purse and the bracelet inside, the hell with her Mission and being a Bride (but the King was gone anyway,
nobody needed Brides now), he reached across her and unlocked the door, stammered "Sorry" when his arm brushed
against her breast, as she'd intended, and hurried around to his side of the truck.
"Didn't mean to leave you standing in the rain like that," he said, and started up the truck and flipped on the heater.
"It'll be cold for a few minutes," he said, and took off down the road.
She felt pretty much on edge. She turned on the radio, which crackled with distant lightning.
"I get so lonesome when you're gone," He crooned, and she whispered, "Elvis."
"Now don't you go all dreamy-faced and eyes-rolled-up on me," he joked, stealing a glance at her. As he looked at
her, his smile froze.
She knew something showed in her eyes, then, a distant galaxy she barely remembered, and then only when she
heard His voice. Cold-sleep had blanked it out. She'd been just a kiddie. She blanked it out some more; she blinked,
then laughed.
"I'm OK," she said.
"You look pale," he said, and rubbed her arm with the back of his hand. Then he pulled off the road in a flail of
flying gravel and grabbed both her shoulders.
"Shit," he said, as the truck began to move. He let go of her and set the brake. Then he was kissing her, she was
kissing him, O God, O, Elvis...
"No," he said and pulled back. "I don't know why I'm doing this. I've never done anything like this before, believe
me. Well, not quite. Like this. What I mean--"
So what? But it seemed important to him for some reason. "I believe you," she said, which was what he wanted to
hear, and she did, she knew this man inside out. She could. She just never bothered. Humans were usually so boring,
especially the men who came on to her in the bars of Memphis.
She drew back and looked at Roy for a moment. She was breathing real fast and her chest felt funny.
He was full of beautiful resonance, with avenues of thought and being and pure kindness and innocence she could