Tide and Tempest (Edge of Freedom Book #3) by Elizabeth Ludwig Read Free Book Online Page A

broke the silence with “What’s up with her? She feeling all right?”
    Sister Agnes’s spoon stopped dragging across the bottom of the pot she was stirring. “Well, she has been a touch distracted most of the afternoon.”
    “Did she say why?”
    “Wouldn’t I say so if she did?”
    Tillie looked up at them.
    “You all right, lass?” Sister Mary asked.
    Both nuns peered at her, worry drawing their brows into identical peaks.
    She started to nod, then stopped and shook her head. No longer able to contain her unhappiness, she put down her knife. “May I ask you something?”
    Their heads dipped in unison, and then Sister Agnes circled the table, clasped Tillie’s hands, and drew her to a stool near the counter. “Ask anything you’d like.”
    Embarrassed, Tillie swallowed a lump that rose in her throat. “Well . . . uh, neither of you ever married, ain’t that so?”
    They glanced at each other and shook their heads.
    “But if you had, if you’d married and then decided you wanted to become a nun . . . could you have still done it? I mean, would that have been allowed?”
    “Ain’t no rule against it.” Sister Mary gave a puzzled frown,then shot a questioning glance at Sister Agnes, who tightened her grasp on Tillie’s fingers. “Why are you asking, dearie?”
    Her gaze bounced back and forth between the two sisters. “Oh no, it’s not . . . I mean, I’m not—”
    “Not thinking of making your vows anytime soon?” Sister Mary gave a bark of laughter and smacked Sister Agnes on the arm. “Relax, Agnes. No novices here.”
    “As if you weren’t assuming the same thing,” Sister Agnes retorted, though it appeared a bit of the hopeful gleam in her eyes had faded. She released Tillie’s hands and claimed a stool next to her. “So, if it’s not the order you be thinking of . . .” She trailed into questioning silence.
    Tillie’s shoulders drooped. Now what? She’d unwittingly dashed their hopes, and her real question still lingered unasked on her tongue. Her thoughts went immediately to Braedon and the fact that they’d never married. “What I really meant to ask . . . uh, I guess what I want to know is, if God wasn’t your first choice, and you didn’t . . . well, how much is He willing to forgive?” She blurted the last, sensing rather than seeing the two nuns exchange a glance.
    Sister Agnes’s voice lowered to a soft murmur. “Something in particular you’d like to talk about?”
    Tillie fidgeted uncomfortably on the stool. Much as she loved these two women, she’d never found the courage to tell them about Braedon or the child she’d conceived out of wedlock. Fear snaked up from her belly. What if they felt differently about her once they learned the truth?
    Sister Agnes’s chin jutted slightly while Sister Mary retrieved her basket. “I’d best be about my chores.”
    The door closed behind her with a quiet click. Though Tillie hadn’t expected her to go, she was grateful. Her shame was easier to bear with only one nun present.
    “Why don’t you tell me about it?” Sister Agnes said.
    Compassion shone from her face, but instead of taking comfort in it, it brought tears to Tillie’s eyes.
    “We had a visitor today, at the boardinghouse. Someone I met a long time ago, before ever coming here.”
    “And his presence stirred up painful memories for you?”
    Her thoughts winged to Braedon again, to her parents’ refusal of him, and the desperation that had driven them to flee in order to be together. She sighed. “I’ve made some poor decisions in my life, Sister. They’ve affected more than just me.” Pain stabbed her heart as she thought of her child.
    “Bad decisions usually do, despite what we tell ourselves when we make them.”
    “But . . . when it comes time for punishment for our sins, surely it’s only the person who’s done wrong who’s expected to pay?”
    Sister Agnes smiled. “Not even them, if they’ve accepted the