The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope Stokes Read Free Book Online Page A

for her, Tish smiled to herself at the look of admiration that settled on his handsome features. His eyes lit up and he smiled, showing the little dimples that always took her breath away
    They were going to have a wonderful life, Tish was sure of it. And beautiful children.

    The sanctuary of Downtown Presbyterian Church was already beginning to fill up with the Christmas Eve crowd by the time Tish and Philip made their entrance. But the music hadn't started yet, and a ripple of hushed admiration ran through the congregation as the handsome young couple made their way down front to the second pew.
    Adora Archer slid over to make room for them, and when they were seated, Adora squeezed Tish's hand. "You look beautiful!" she whispered and reached over Adora to pat Philip on the arm.
    "Thanks." Tish smiled and winked at Adora. "I worked at it. Believe me, it isn't easy when you've got a fellow like Philip."
    "Well, you make a lovely couple," Adora said. "Are your parents coming?"
    "They'll be here. Mother had some last-minute preparations for the party. You are going to join us, aren't you?"
    "I wouldn't miss it. Daddy will be late, of course, because he has another service after this one." She nodded toward her father, who sat in his customary seat on the platform looking over his sermon notes. "Mama will come with him. What about Little Eleanor?"
    Tish craned her neck around and waved a hand toward the back of the church. "Here she comes now. Oh, gosh, you don't think her mother intends to sit with us, does she?"
    "Big Eleanor? Your favorite person?" Adora giggled. "I'll just make sure she sees us." She stood up and started to motion to Ellie's mother, but Tish grabbed her hand and jerked her back down into the pew.
    "Stop that! Sit down, will you? Ellie will find us. I'd rather her mother sat somewhere else."
    "You don't like Big Eleanor much, do you?"
    "She's so stuffy. And so pretentious. She's always talking about her money. And she's always riding Ellie. I don't agree with everything Ellie believes, but does her mother have to nag her all the time?"
    "Your father talks about money all the time too."
    "That's different. That's professional. He's supposed to talk about it. Big Eleanor is just a snob about her wealth."
    "But she will be at your parents' party, won't she?"
    Tish sighed. "I don't see any way around it. She is one of Daddy's most important clients. We'll just keep our distance."
    Ellie, minus her mother, slid into the pew on the other side of Adora just as the organ music began to play. "I love Christmas," she whispered to Tish and Adora. "It's such a sacred time. Listen."
    The organist was playing "O Holy Night," and as she concluded the interlude, a young man stood up and began to sing. His voice, a clear, effortless baritone, rang out over the hushed congregation with such power and warmth that Tish almost imagined she was hearing an angel's song.
    Adora poked Tish in the ribs with an elbow. "Who is he?"
    "His name is Jack something—Bennett, I think. He's the new music director."
    "Shhh," Ellie reprimanded.
    "Shhh yourself." Tish turned her attention back to the singer. "He's wonderful."
    "Leave some for the rest of us, how about it?" Adora muttered. "You're practically engaged."
    "I didn't mean it like that," Tish protested. "I just—"
    "Sure you didn't." As the last notes of the song died away, Adora turned and grinned at Tish. "Take my word for it; you're better off if you steer clear of professional Christians."
    Tish settled back in the pew and laced her fingers through Philip's. From everything Adora had told her, it was probably good advice. People like Pastor Archer, Adora's father, tended to be strait-laced and unyielding. And most of them were married to the ministry. They were at the beck and call of their parishioners twenty-four hours a day, and their own families often got left behind to fend for themselves.
    Tish wasn't sure how much of this information had been filtered through the