Wybaczcie, że po angielsku, ale może to nawet lepiej dla tych, co nie mogą czytać w oryginale, bo z pewnością byłybyście załamane, że nie wydali tego po polsku
“You’re disgusting,” Will said, looking down at him.
“What did I do now?” Jake asked, not caring.
“It’s what you don’t do.” Will passed him a mug of coffee and sat down
beside him to stare out at the lake.
“Hey, I keep this place looking good,” Jake said, pushing his hat back with
one hand while he balanced his mug in the other. He looked at his brother
with a total lack of concern. “The grass is cut, the weeds are pulled, the golf
courses look like artificial turf, the stables are—”
“I’m not talking about outdoor management,” Will said, shaking his head as
he warmed his hands on his own coffee mug. “You are the king of the riding
lawn mower. I’m talking about your life.”
“I like my life. Stay out of it.” Jake turned back to look at the lake and sipped
the hot coffee carefully.
“You could be rich,” Will said, looking at him with disgust.
“I was rich,” Jake said. “Then I gave it all to you and you built this place.” He
shook his head. “That’s the last fortune I give you.”
“If you gave it to me, why do you own half of this place?” Will asked.
“So you’ll be forced to support me in my old age,” Jake said, grinning. “I’m
not as dumb as I look.”
Will shook his head again. “You’ve got a law degree. You were a tax
attorney, for God’s sake. And you gave it all up to mow lawns for your little
brother. You should be ashamed.”
“I don’t actually mow the lawns,” Jake pointed out “I grab one of the college
kids you hire for the season and say, ‘Kid, mow that lawn.’ It’s not—”
“I don’t understand why you quit,” Will said.
“They bitched about my mustache, and they wouldn’t let me wear my hat,”
Jake said. He looked back out over the lake and relaxed a little more. “
Helluva sunrise, isn’t it?”
“The sunrise was hours ago,” Will said. “It’s nine.”
“Well, it’s not all the way up yet,” Jake said, slumping a little farther down in
his chair. “So it’s still rising. So it’s still sunrise.”
“Knock it off. I’m worried about you.” Will frowned at him. “I think it’s great
that you’re back home, and I couldn’t run this place without you, but let’s
face it, you’re wasting yourself here.”
“I’m considering my options,” Jake said lazily.
“You’ve been considering your options for five years,” Will said bluntly. “
And frankly, at the rate you’re going, you don’t have that many options to
consider. It’s time you made something of yourself again. One lousy
marriage and you’re down for the count.”
Jake stared out at the lake and shook his head. “Boy, you sure don’t see
sunrises like this very often.”
Will glared at him. “You see sunrises like this every damn day here.”
“I do,” Jake said, looking at him with equal disgust “You don’t. You’re too
busy being Mr. Hotel. If I’d known you were going to take this resort stuff so
seriously, I would never have given you that money. Hell, you’re going to
have a heart attack any day now. Then I’ll have to run this place.”
“Well, somebody around here has to be an adult,” Will said.
“And if you do croak on me, the first thing I’m going to do is blow up the
golf courses.”
“That’ll piss Dad off.”
“I think it’s the clothes they wear that bother me the most,” Jake began.
“We need to talk about this,” Will said.
“No, we don’t.”
“Damn it, Jake...”
“Okay, okay. Get to the point. I’m missing a sunrise here.”
Will shifted uneasily in his chair. “Look,” he said finally. “You’ve always been
my...well...?”
“Hero?” Jake suggested. “Idol?”
“Let’s just stick with role model,” Will said. “I spent my formative years
trying to be just like you. It got to be a habit after a while.” He looked over at
his brother. “You were always the best. At everything.”
“No, I wasn’t,” Jake said, irritated. “You just thought that because you were
my younger brother.”
“Jake, you haven’t done anything for five years,” Will said. “Nothing. Not
since you moved back here to help me.” Jake started to speak and Will cut
him off. “I know, you run the outdoor staff. But hell, you could do that without
getting out of bed. In fact, that’s practically the way you do run it.”
“Hey,” Jake said.
“Listen, I need you here. You are a great help, and I will hate to see you go,
but you’ve got to go back to the city.”
“No,” Jake said.
“You’re not doing anything with your life,” Will started, but this time Jake
broke in.
“And that’s the way I like it,” Jake said. “Don’t get the idea I’m sacrificing
myself for you and this place. I’m not. I like it here. I’m staying.”
Manhunting Jennifer Crusie
Edit:
Jeszcze jeden, właściwie mogłabym tu wkleić całą książkę
“I can’t believe Penny doesn’t want to work.” Kate shaded her eyes and
looked at Jake. “She wants to be a housewife.”
“So?” Jake tilted his can and drank. “It’s not prostitution. Leave her alone.”
“Women fought for years so we could have careers,” Kate said. “She’s
throwing it all away.”
“I thought women fought for the right to choose to work,” Jake said, putting
his can back in the cooler. “I thought it was all about choice.”
“You don’t understand,” Kate said.
“Sure, I do.” Jake leaned back on the cushions. “In the bad old days, men
kept women from choosing to work. In the bad new days, women keep
women from choosing to stay home.”
Kate opened her mouth and then shut it again.
“Come on,” Jake said. “Tell me I’m a sexist pig.”
“I’m a sexist pig,” Kate said. “And a snob. And I’m not too bright.”
“Oh, hell,” Jake said, lying back down. “I like you a lot better when you’re
calling me names.”
“I’m trying to do better,” Kate said.
“Well, stop it.” Jake pulled his hat over his eyes. “You were fine before.”
Kate watched him try to fall asleep. He was right. Self-pity was boring. So
she’d made a few mistakes. A lot of mistakes. She still had more than a
week of vacation in front of her. She had Penny to laugh with, and Nancy to
plan with, and Jake to drift on the lake with every morning.
She nudged him with her foot.
“What?” he said.
“Can I come out on the lake with you again tomorrow?”
He tipped his hat back. “Depends. Are you going to be over this
poor-little-me fit by then?”
“I’m over it now. Thanks for the sympathy.”
“You need sympathy like you need Derek and Terence and Paul. Are you
playing pool with me tonight or not?”
“Yes,” Kate said. “But I’m going to win.”
“Oh?” Jake looked amused. “And what makes you think that?”
Kate batted her eyes at him once. “I’m not going to wear any underwear.”
Jake looked at her for a moment and then pulled his hat back over his face.
“Me neither,” he said.