Pages of Promise Read Online Free PDF

temples. For this occasion he was wearing an evening tail suit that consisted of narrow gray trousers, a gray cutaway jacket, a white silk shirt with wing collar, a white-and-gray-striped waistcoat, and a black bow tie.
    “You look great, Gavin,” Jerry said. “If you drop dead, we won’t have to do a thing to you.”
    “What an awful thing to say, Jerry!” Heather, Gavin’s wife, still retained a trace of her British accent. Her hair was blonde, and her blue eyes were as large and brilliant as ever, and she looked ten years younger than her fifty-six years.
    Phillip Stuart was twenty-seven and looked like his mother. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was very tall, six feet two. His wife, Irene, was a small, dark-haired woman, and the two of them had produced three sons whom they had named Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Phillip joked that he wanted to name them after the twelve apostles but Irene felt that was too ambitious. Phillip’s sister, Sidney, was two years younger than he. She was a very attractive woman, with her father’s dark hair. Sidney was engaged to her college sweetheart, Nolan Cameron, a tall, handsome blonde who was in medical school. They planned to get married next year. Gavin was particularly proud of Sidney—she was the first of the Stuarts to graduate from college.
    Phillip was wearing an air force uniform and had first-lieutenant’s bars on his shoulders. Jerry turned to him with surprise and said, “The air force doesn’t seem to care who flies their airplanes. When did all this happen, Phil?”
    “Well, since I’ve always been a flier, when I volunteered, they snapped me up. I guess they’re raking the bottom of the barrel.” He stepped across and put his hand out to Richard saying, “I hear you’re gung ho for the marines, Streak.”
    “Yes, sir, Phil. I don’t leave til after graduation, though.”
    “You picked a rough outfit,” Phil shrugged, “but those are the fellows that get the job done on the ground. Good luck at boot camp. I hear you’ll need it.”
    Stephanie was wearing a sapphire blue taffeta evening gown that had long sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It cut in tight at the waist, and the long full skirt fell nearly to the floor, where blue satin slippers peeked out. Phil stepped forward. “If my wife will look the other way, I’m going to dance with a beautiful young lady.”
    “Why, I’ll be happy to entertain the troops.” Stephanie smiled back and drifted off in his arms. She was a fine dancer and so was Lieutenant Stuart.
    “You’re worried about your brother, I suppose.”
    “Yes, I am, Phil. It’s not just that he’s going into the service but into the marines. You know what they do. They’re always the first ones to hit the beaches.”
    “I know,” Phil said soberly. He shook his head. “He’s so young. It seems like just yesterday he was collecting baseball cards and excited about a new bicycle. Now he’s going out to do the roughest job in the world.”
    Across the room, Jerry was dancing with Bonnie. He regarded her dress with a lifted eyebrow. “That dress ought to be illegal.”
    “Oh, hush! I’m forty-five years old!”
    “Why, Grandma, what big eyes you have,” Jerry grinned. He held her closer and tried to do a fancy turn and managed to get his feet tangled up.
    Bonnie laughed aloud, her eyes sparkling. “You can’t dance any better than you ever could. I thought pilots were supposed to have balance, and you fall over your own feet!”
    Jerry ignored her comment. “Your beauty drives me mad,” he said calmly and pulled her closer.
    “Don’t hold me so tight.”
    “You shouldn’t smell so nice and feel so good.” He kissed her hair and said, “Do you realize that in a few years, we’ll be grandma and grandpa? Does that make you feel old?”
    “I’m looking forward to it,” Bonnie said. “I hate it that Stephanie’s gone, Richard is about to leave, and Bobby’s hardly ever home. Nothing would make me happier than