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.If I were a young man—or an old one, or one in between—I would have said she had thighs to die for.Santa’s audience, mostly cut off from my downward view by the edge of the café’s roof, seemed not to realize that they were sharing the show with any passing sailboat—or hidden observer.But in fact, you’d have to be up in a crow’s nest, or up where I was, to get just the right angle.If the bachelors had thought of that, they sure didn’t care.As I watched, Frank Sanjek sat heavily on the floor at his comrade’s feet, and someone invisible to me poured a beer on his head.He didn’t appear to notice.I could see why.Dipping and swaying, always in motion, Santa dropped the jacket off one smooth bare shoulder, then the other, each time letting the white fur border of the garment slip lower and lower down the curves of her breasts.Then, perhaps responding to some climax in the music, she suddenly turned her back to the boys and her front to me, bent forward, and flipped the jacket up behind.If she was wearing much of anything under the jacket, it was too small for the binoculars to pick up.Frank fell over sideways.I was hastily putting the binoculars down—honest, I was— when my phone rang again.Something told me it wasn’t Jason this time.It was my erstwhile hostess, wondering when I’d be home for the night.“Oh jeez, Lily, have you been waiting up for me?”“No, but I’m going to bed now, and I wanted to be sure you have your key.”“Yep, I’ve got it.I’ll probably be there soon.”“Did you find your photo?”“No, I should have given up hours ago.Then I wouldn’t have gotten dragged over to the Hot Spot.” I told her about Jason’s summons, and the arrival of Santa.“So did you stay to watch?” she inquired archly.“Of course not!” I glanced over at the binoculars.The back of my neck was damp.“Why would I do that?”“Just kidding.Seriously, though, you didn’t happen to see Darwin, did you? I shouldn’t worry but I can’t help it, I still feel like he’s my baby brother.And he was so out of control before he got this job—”“Actually, I talked to him,” I told her.“He seemed OK.Come to think of it, he seemed sober.Doesn’t he drink?”“Not any more.He’s been in A A for a year now.”Lily had never disclosed this about Darwin before, and I wasn’t sure how to reply.“Oh…well, I wasn’t at the party for long, but honestly, he was fine.”“Forget I asked, OK?” She hastened to change the subject.“Did you see Aaron?”“Aaron Gold?” I almost dropped the phone.“Are you in love with some other Aaron?” I could hear the wicked smile in her voice.“Dar said he was invited tonight.”“You know perfectly well I’m not in love with Aaron.I’m not sure I ever was.”Just to prove it, I should have changed the subject myself.But I couldn’t.“I thought he was still in Boston, anyway.How does he know Frank?”“I don’t think he does, really,” said Lily.“Darwin told me Aaron’s working on some book about the CEO of Meet for Coffee.He’s gotten friendly with the guys in Creative Services, so they asked him to the party.I guess he didn’t go, though.”“I guess not.” Unless he was in that side room shooting pool with Jason.I wonder…“Um, Lily, I’d better get back to work here.I want to make one more pass through the files, and then get some paperwork done.This TV thing tomorrow has really thrown me off.”“Good luck.I’ve set the VCR for you.”“Thanks, Lily.Good night.”I did spend some time downstairs in my borrowed office— but not much.Aaron was on my mind, and so were those binoculars.Rolling my eyes at my own foolishness, I took the elevator back up and focused on the window again.Not that I cared whether Aaron was there.Not that I cared about Aaron.Not that I could see him, either.Santa had left the area near the lighted window, and the revelers seemed to be milling aimlessly inside, as if the party was winding down.I spotted Mr.Garlic, but no one else familiar—until a sudden tangle of movement drew my attention to the grassy slope below the deck.There in the frost and the shadows, two tall, lanky figures were struggling together, dodging and flailing in clumsy counterpoint.I had no trouble recognizing them: Jason Croy, and Lily’s baby brother.The best man was obviously drunk; maybe Darwin was taking his car keys away?It was hard to tell if this was a ritual male scuffle—elk clashing their antlers—or a serious fight.Either way, I can’t say it bothered me to see the supercilious Jason getting knocked around a little.The third figure was less ambiguous: Frank Sanjek, the bridegroom, was kneeling on the grass and being hideously sick.Another male ritual.I sighed and shook my head.Time for me to go.But once I went downstairs and finished some genuine work, a nagging question kept me from actually walking out the door.I had assured Lily that her brother was fine, and now he was apparently in the middle of a fistfight.Shouldn’t I check on the outcome?For that matter, shouldn’t I make sure that the amiable, sensible bridegroom wasn’t unconscious and abandoned by his drunken friends, out in the freezing night? Eddie tells me I fuss too much about our clients, and maybe it’s true, but I couldn’t wait to see Sally Tyler walk down the aisle and out of my life.And to that end, I needed Frank Sanjek safe and sound.So I rode the elevator up to the storeroom one last time, and pulled out my illicit spyglasses.I had forgotten to turn the radio off, so as I scanned the scene across the canal the talk station provided an incongruous sound track: several snooty-sounding people debating the situation in Northern Ireland.There was even less to see this time.The café’s windows had gone dark, which made it hard to get a clear view into the shrubbery.But Frank was definitely gone.In fact, I couldn’t see anyone at all except for Santa Claus [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]