Earthly Vows Read Online Free PDF Page A

he went on to become the president of this country.”
    “Does a stained past disqualify you from the ministry, though?” asked Fern.
    Jeb could not get comfortable in the chair.
    “Not at all,” Rachel mouthed. “Don’t worry yourself.”
    “I mean, are we talking about a past or a reputation?” asked Jeb. “The difference is in what men know about us versus what
     God only knows.”
    Jonathan laughed.
    “Everyone’s got something, don’t they?” asked Jeb.
    “Goodness me, you men all do,” said Rachel. “Ladies aren’t allowed, though, are we, Fern?” Her hand was on top of Fern’s now
     and she kept patting her.
    Jeb got up and reached for the tea pitcher.
    “Oh, let me,” said Rachel.
    Jeb stopped her. “My fiancée’s glass is empty. She’s always doing for me.” He filled Fern’s tea glass.
    Fern looked up at him. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at Rachel’s white rug. “You be careful, Jeb. We don’t want to
     stain Mrs. Flauvert’s rug.”

    “Angel, Angel, come quick!” Abigail ran through the house.
    Angel lazed on the screened-in back porch. She had taken to a hunting dog named Baxter, a sleek brown dog that inched his
     way into her lap, his large bottom half hanging down onto the porch. She was massaging his ears when she heard Abigail’s shouts.
     “I’m back here,” she hollered.
    Abigail opened the door to the porch. “There you are! Look what came to the door, this instant!” She held out a telegram.
    Angel pushed Baxter onto the floor. “What is it, Miz Abigail?” She was acting like someone had died.
    “Girl, you know when you told me about your sister Claudia?”
    Angel nodded.
    “I started inquiring at that café in Norman, I telephoned there and I had them on the line and we were talking. They gave
     me the name of a man who might know the Drakes, and they kept saying ‘might.’ One thing led to another, Angel, and I got an
     address. I didn’t want to get your hopes up, so I sent her a telegram telling her that you were here in Oklahoma.” She held
     out the telegram. “Claudia replied. Look.”
    “You saying you found my sister?” Angel didn’t know what to say.
    Abigail threw her arms around Angel.
    Ida May and Willie came bounding up the back steps. “What’s all the hollering about?” asked Willie.
    Angel read the telegram:
    Heard you was in OK. stop Have to see you soon. stop Coming on a bus. stop Friday 8 a.m. stop Pick me up, will you? stop Claudia
    “Angel, what is it?” asked Willie.
    “It’s a letter from Claudia!” Ida May jumped up and down and grabbed Angel.
    Tears ran down her face. “I can’t believe you did this for us, Miz Abigail.” She hugged Abigail Coulter. “I had given up.”
    “Let me see it,” said Willie. He snatched the telegram from Angel. “It doesn’t say whether or not she has kids. I hope she
     has a boy.”
    Angel plopped down on the settee. Abigail gave her a handkerchief and said, “I’ll make cookies, how about? We need to celebrate.”
     She went back into the house.
    “What does Claudia look like, Angel?” asked Ida May.
    “That’s right, you were young when she left.” Angel counted the years on one hand. “You weren’t but two or so. Is that right?”
    “Everybody said she looked like Momma,” said Willie.
    “Brown eyes, dark hair, long and hanging in curls around her shoulders. She was always pretty,” said Angel. “Men were always
     fighting over her, according to Granny.”
    Willie sat down cross-legged on the porch floor. “Angel, does this mean we won’t be going back to Nazareth?”
    “We’re going back next week, Willie,” said Ida May. “Aren’t we, Angel?”
    “This changes a lot, doesn’t it?” Willie took Baxter by the ears.
    “Claudia probably has herself a house by now. Her husband lost his job, but maybe he’s got a good one now. Aunt Kate told
     me he’s a railroad man,” said Angel.
    “We can’t leave Dud, can we, Angel?” asked Ida May. “What