Until the End of Time Read Online Free PDF Page A

radiant in the tiny church with a few friends. Her mother and grandmother were happy for her, though concerned about her unpleasant in-laws.And Bill’s family was as chilly as possible to Jenny and her family and gave restrained toasts at the luncheon, that made their disapproval clear. Bill and Jenny were both relieved when it was over, and they went to the Bahamas for a week and had a wonderful time, although the atmosphere in the office was painful when he returned to work. They treated him like an outcast and never mentioned his wife, as though she didn’t exist. And they wished she didn’t.
    It made Bill’s next decision easier, when he completed the three theology classes he’d been taking. And as he did with everything, he told Jenny first. He wanted her approval before taking such a major step. He hoped to enter the seminary, get a master’s of divinity, and become an Episcopal minister when he graduated. He had already explored the possibility, and he could do his coursework at Columbia. It would take three years, or four or even five if he stretched it out. He wanted to leave his father’s law firm and go to school full time. It was a huge decision and a complete change of course. He had no idea how Jenny would feel about it, but he was sure now that it was right for him.
    “I think I have a vocation,” he said, looking embarrassed. “That sounds so holier-than-thou. But I’ve loved everything I studied for the past year. I thought about it a lot, and it feels so right. But I don’t know what you think about being married to a minister.” He looked worried, but she smiled tenderly at him.
    “Will you still love me when you’re a minister?” she asked gently.
    “More than ever,” he said, and kissed her.
    “Will you object to my working in something as superficial as fashion?” She looked concerned, and Bill seemed startled by the question.
    “Of course not, silly. I’m proud of what you do. I’m not going to turn into some righteous prig if I become a minister. I just want to do some good in the world, and I think that’s the right way for me.”
    “I think so too,” she said gently, “and I’m proud of you too. I think it’s a wonderful idea, if that’s what you want to do and it makes you happy. I’m behind you a thousand percent.” She always was, which meant the world to him. He told her then that he was planning to quit the family law firm, and she was worried for him about the explosion it was likely to cause, and possibly a serious rift with his father and brothers.
    “I’m ready for it,” he said calmly, looking wise and mature. Making the decision to do what he wanted had already grounded him. And he looked more peaceful and sure of himself than she had ever seen him. It was obvious to both of them that it was the right thing for him to do.
    The ensuing explosion, when he told his father and brothers that he was leaving, was entirely predictable. He told them that he believed he had a vocation, which they brushed off as immature and irresponsible. No man in the Sweet family had ever not become an attorney or quit the law firm, and none had ever joined the church. His brother Peter told him he was psychotic, and Tom just looked pained. And for good measure, they all blamed Jenny.
    Bill left the law firm in February, and began his coursework at Columbia in March, toward his master’s of divinity, and he had never looked back after that, or regretted it for a moment, although his family still acted as though he was doing something truly crazy,and even dishonorable. Bill stayed on his path, with Jenny’s support, and stretched his studies to the full five years.
    As they headed downtown to the second fashion show she was doing that night, he was five months away from graduation. He was going to be a minister. Jenny had encouraged him all along the way, just as he had done for her when she left Vogue and began consulting. And if anything, he had become more tolerant and