Earthly Vows by Patricia Hickman Read Free Book Online Page B

man.
    “I’m starving,” said Donna.
    “May I suggest the Coffee Shop inside? You can enter from either the lobby or First Street. You’ll like the stores at the
     Skirvin too,” said the valet. “The ladies all hit the dress stores first here.”
    Jeb led the way through the glass doors into the marble-floored lobby.
    Fern was admiring the Gothic lanterns suspended from the ceiling, and she knew they were Gothic, of course. “There’s the Coffee
     Shop.”
    “Fern, since Brian has registered the rooms in my name, why don’t you and Jeb go and find us a table. I’ll check in,” said
     Donna.
    “Good. I’m up for some tea,” said Fern.
    Jeb and Fern took a seat near a window. Jeb looked out at the construction across the street. “No Depression going on in Oklahoma
     City.”
    “It’s because of oil,” said the waiter. “Plenty of work in the City, at least for us locals. Those migrants camped around
     the edges of town do give us grief.”
    Fern ordered vegetable soup and tea. “My sister will have the same thing,” she said.
    “I’ll have the chicken special,” said Jeb. “Coffee, black.”
    The waiter left to fill their beverage request.
    “Maybe Claudia could work here at the Skirvin,” said Jeb.
    “There’s also Packingtown. That’s where they slaughter and package meat. I hear tell the jobs are plenteous there too,” said
     Fern.
    “Where’s that?”
    “Southwest of downtown. Exchange and Agnew,” said the waiter, reappearing with their drinks. “Here, I got a cousin there that
     does all the hiring.” He wrote it down and gave it to Jeb. “But the jobs go fast and you have to ask for him, he’s the one
     who knows everything going on over there.”
    “Who wants keys?” Donna walked up, dangling two sets of room keys in front of her. She seated herself next to Fern and took
     a sip of tea. “If you two want to take one of the rooms, you’re safe with me. I’m here for the sightseeing.”
    Jeb took one of the keys out of her hand. “I’ll take one. Fern, you and your sister take the other.”
    “Where’d you snag him anyway?” Donna asked Fern.
    “We met in Nazareth,” said Jeb. “I think, though, I snagged Fern.”
    “You’re not the first, just the first to hold on to her.”
    “Look, our food’s arrived already,” said Fern. She shot Donna a look.
    “There’s a good dress store. That valet wasn’t lying. After we eat, I’m going to shop,” said Donna.
    “I think I’ll rest a bit and then clean up for the party. Fern, you?” asked Jeb.
    “Rest sounds good to me too.”
    “There’s a band here tonight. If I’m wearing something new, I’d best skedaddle. You old folks can hit the hay, but I’m out
     of here.” Donna picked up her key and headed out into the lobby.
    “Donna is spirited,” said Jeb.
    “That’s kind to say it like that. Walk you to your room?”
    “This is a fancy place, Fern. I like seeing you in your natural surroundings. You fit in here much better than Nazareth. Whatever
     made you decide to leave?” He stood and offered her his arm.
    “Oh, there’s that drugstore. Let’s stop in there and see what hair products we can pick up. It is nice to be back in the City.”
    Jeb walked her to the Skirvin Drugstore. Fern needed to rest, he could tell. The trip had made her anxious.

4
    B RASS CURTAIN ARMLETS IN THE SHAPE OF old ladies’ elbows restrained the mohair drapes in the Venetian Room. But it opened up the windows and gave the Skirvin Hotel
     guests seated at the better tables a view of the city by night. A bank of stormy-looking clouds threatened the horizon, but
     the locals had all given up on rain. The clouds draped the sky and erased any evidence of sundown; but down the main drag
     the streetlights and the neon signs of the better dining joints did the job of illuminating downtown Oklahoma City. Jeb thought
     it was a good place for minds to drift from the sight of the tent cities, where migrants camped around the town