His Rainbow After the Rain

by Grace Clemens

  And of course, he wasn’t going to do that if he didn’t even know she felt that way to begin with.

  She had to turn away from him or he would see her laughing at herself. She put her hand up and coughed into it, as if that was her intention all along. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. When she glanced back at him, he was studying the damage to the carpeted floor.

  “I think I know what to do, Mary. I took a look at the slant in the porch outside and I think I have an idea. With the right tools, I can fix this for you – or for your friend, actually – tonight.”

  Mary’s skin tingled with attraction. She smiled at him, shaking her head. “I never would have thought you could fix it tonight! Thank you, Philip! That’s wonderful.”

  Philip nodded but his face remained serious. “Don’t expect a real miracle, though. I can and will take up this carpet; that won’t take long at all. But replacing the carpet or deciding what to do with the floor underneath won’t be something I can fix tonight. Your friend will need to call in someone to help unless she knows how to do it herself.”

  Mary nodded.

  “But I’ll do everything I can with what I have to repair as much damage as I can.”

  “Okay, thank you so much, Philip.”

  “But that’s on one condition.”

  He was looked directly at her when he spoke. Tingles ran up her spine. What could he want from her? Was it anything like what she wanted from him? Was he going to ask her for just one kiss? She almost trembled with anticipation.

  Nodding, she replied in a soft voice, “And what would that condition be?”

  “I’m cold and wet. If you could start a fire and see if there are any men’s clothes anywhere around here, then that would be wonderful. I don’t care if they’re too big. I gotta get out of these for a while. And there’s something else.”

  Mary’s first thought was to sarcastically reply, “You said one condition” but she kept herself from saying anything. She was enjoying him giving her orders. He was about to do a big job for her and she didn’t want sarcasm ruining the mood.

  “What would that be?” she asked, keeping her voice low and gentle.

  “I would really like something hot to eat. Is there any food here?”

  Mary smiled wide. She was going to cook for him! The thought made her nervous. She nodded enthusiastically.

  “I would love to make you a hot meal, Philip. Is there anything you need from me right now?” She poked both her thumbs in the direction of the kitchen. “I can go get started… now…”

  Philip laughed softly. “Oh, yeah, go ahead. I won’t need any help from you. This is a one-man job and I’m the man for it.”

  Mary was lighthearted as she went to the kitchen. She almost felt like skipping. She hadn’t done that since she was five.

  She was surprised to hear him begin to whistle. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him. He had some kind of measuring tape in his hand and was taking measurements of the area in the foyer that was soaked, which was pretty much all of it.

  He was moving quickly and before she had a chance to turn back toward the kitchen, he had strolled to the front door and disappeared into the cold, wet outside.

  Mary couldn’t believe her luck. Philip had practically saved her life. There was no telling how long she would have been at the supply store, and how would she have gotten all the supplies back? She had no way of fixing the damage done by the water herself. Her friend wasn’t due back for more than a week.

  She heard him grunting and moving in the other room as she cooked up a hearty meal for him of ground beef, a baked potato and dinner rolls. Wanting to add some green to the plate, she steamed up a batch of broccoli, putting some fresh herbs in with the butter to let the vegetable absorb the tasty goodness.

  She was almost done when she heard him calling her name.

  “Come on in here, Mary.”

  She hurried through the door, wiping her hands dry with a hand towel, stopping after only a few steps into the foyer.

  Philip had laid long yellow towels on the floor where he had pulled up the carpeting. He knelt and lifted one corner of a towel, looking from the floor to her and back again. “You see this? It’s going to need to be covered. Your friend might want to replace the floor altogether. It’s going to mold, I would think. But I don’t know everything there is to know about home construction. You can advise her to replace the carpeting but eventually there will be weight issues and the floor will bow.”

  Mary thought he knew quite a lot for someone who said he knew very little. She nodded.

  “But won’t it just keep coming in when it storms again?”

  Philip shook his head. He opened the door and looked around it at the ground just outside. Mary followed his eyes, noticing a step Philip had placed just on the other side of the lip. She walked over the towels and inspected the new step closer. It was edged so that any water that hit it would be pushed to the side and run down the same trail she had built, but Philip had created an edged trim that would act as a duct.

  She nodded. “Very smart, Philip. I like it. Thank you so much. You’re a genius.”

  Philip laughed softly. “No, I wouldn’t say that.” He rested one hand on his stomach, giving her an amused look. “But if I was a genius, I know I could honestly say I was a hungry genius.”

  Mary was struck with a fit of the giggles, lifting one hand and covering her mouth with it. Philip closed the distance between them, coming up to stand right in front of her. “You shouldn’t cover up that pretty smile,” he said, gazing down at her.

  Mary’s heart nearly stopped in her chest.

  “The meal is ready now, Philip. I guess you have good timing.”

  Philip winked at her, sending a streak of adrenaline through her.

  “Or maybe it’s you who has the good timing. Either way, let’s eat!”

  Chapter 29

  “So,” Sarah leaned forward, excitedly, gazing at Mary. “Tell me how things are going with your man?”

  Mary blushed furiously, but that was why she’d come to the beauty parlor to begin with so she was going to have to gossip about herself for a little bit. She didn’t really mind. She was excited to talk about it.

  “I really like him a lot,” she replied softly, moving her eyes between Sarah, who was getting a manicure, to Annette, who was giving it. Both her friends gave her sarcastic looks, Sarah pushing her lips out and lowering her eyelids.

  “Mary. Tell us something we didn’t know. Come on. We heard you left with him during that terrible storm. How did things go? Do you think he will ask to court you?”

  Mary could only hope so. She didn’t want to think too highly and get her expectations up. The last thing she wanted to feel was the disappointment of a broken heart. But if that happened, it wouldn’t be Philip’s fault. He hadn’t exactly told her how he felt about her. She couldn’t imagine him being as shy as she was. He was twelve years older than her. She expected he probably had experience with women in some way or another.

  “I hope he does. But right now we are just talking and making friends. We’re getting to know each other. You know how it is. I don’t want to jump into anything. He’s an older man so I’m sure he has high expectations of what he wants from a woman.”

  Annette grunted. She leaned forward and looked up at Sarah, getting the attention of her friend. Mary watched her through suspicious eyes and then acted offended when Annette spoke up, saying, “Don’t let her fool you, Sarah. I saw her when she and Mr. Jenkins left the store. She couldn’t have been a happier bird.”

  “Oh stop it, Annette,” Mary said with all the forcefulness of silk against skin. “He offered to help. I hadn’t brought my wagon and needed to get the cottage fixed as much as possible in a short amount of time. He kept further damage from happening and I cooked him a hot, home-cooked meal in return.”

  “But you admit that you want him to ask to court you, don’t you?”

  Sarah sounded as insistent as Annette.
Mary huffed, feigning annoyance. “I’m telling you…” She dropped her annoyed act and clasped her hands under her chin, giving them starry eyes. Her voice had raised an octave when she continued. “I am so taken with him, girls. So taken. I don’t know what to do with myself, I truly don’t. When I’m around him…” She leaned forward, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. Both her friends instinctively leaned forward, too, so the three of them made their own circle.

  She continued, her voice lower still. “I feel like I’m about fifteen again. I try to keep myself under control but I’m so afraid that I’ll make a fool of myself that I end up stumbling over my words and doing it anyway. I’m really not sure he even likes me, considering how dumb I always act in front of him.”

  Annette sighed, tilting her head to the side. “That must be so nice. I don’t think I’ll ever feel that way again.”

  Mary and Sarah both looked at the young woman, who was older than both of them but behaved so much younger.

  “You’ve been in love, Annette?”

  Annette looked at them both, nodding. Her eyes were suddenly soft. Mary could see sadness in them. “I was. It was years ago when I was about twenty-two. He… he died. That’s why I came here from Georgia. I couldn’t bear to be there anymore. I didn’t even want to be in a place that was like Georgia. So I moved here to Texas.”

  “I didn’t know that, Annette!” Sarah exclaimed. “I am so ashamed that I did not ask you sooner about yourself. Here I’ve been going on and on about that stupid boy Luke and never even asked you once about yourself.”

  Annette shook her head. “It’s okay, Sarah. You talk to me more than most of the ladies I serve. You’ve been more of a friend to me. And you…” She turned her eyes to Mary, whose heart was pounding. “You don’t even get your hair done or your nails or any of these things. You are just my friend anyway.”

  Mary felt a wave of affection pass through her. “I like you, too, Annette. I’m glad to be your friend.” She looked at Sarah. “And it seems I have been neglectful of you, my friend. What’s been going on with your Luke?”

  Sarah narrowed her eyes at Mary and Mary knew why. She resisted giggling until after Sarah responded with a quick, “He is not my Luke, Mary Ross and you know it.”

  “I know, honey,” Mary replied, giggling. “I was just teasing you. How is that going?”

  Sarah shook her head, her frown telling all. She went on to explain the tragedy of her life while Mary listened with growing sympathy.

  “Oh, ma and pa will never understand what they’re doing to me. I don’t see how a parent can take over a child’s life and tell them what they had to do as an adult? I mean, I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I don’t care if I have to hold my breath till I’m blue or stamp my foot like a child, this is completely unfair to me. Luke and I have even expressed it to one another in our letters. Neither of us wants this marriage.”

  Sarah sounded truly upset. Mary wished she hadn’t brought up the subject. She hated seeing Sarah like this. She was about to apologize when Sarah continued.

  “I would marry someone else, anyone else, just to keep from having to marry Luke. I know he’s scouting around his town to see if there’s an eligible woman he’d rather marry.”

  “Oh dear,” Annette said. “Won’t that sully his reputation if he’s seen in the company of someone else by someone who knows he is to marry you?”

  Sarah shook her head. “It doesn’t matter to him. He’d rather take a hit to his reputation than be saddled with a woman he doesn’t desire.”

  “I don’t see what’s so undesirable about you,” Annette said, shaking her head also. “I mean, you are beautiful and smart and everything a man could want. Why doesn’t he want you?”

  Sarah pressed her lips together, her expression almost unreadable. Mary waited for her answer, curious herself.

  “It’s just that in our letters there was no real spark between us. We get along all right, but even with his letters trying to prompt me to say something back, I found it so difficult to write to him. I had nothing to say to him. I can only imagine our boring nights together, not saying anything to each other for hours and hours.” Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want a life like that.”

  Mary agreed. It didn’t sound half as adventurous as what she had planned for her future, especially if Philip was involved, which she very much hoped he would be.

  “I can understand that,” Annette said. Mary was surprised when she continued with, “When my Duncan was alive, we used to have such fun together. We were always laughing and joking around. You never know. Maybe Luke will end up like that when you actually get to meet.”

  Sarah groaned. “I don’t want to take that chance. He just sounds so… oh, so very boring in his letters. He even admits it. He says he likes to sit and read books in the evening. Now I like a good novel in front of the fireplace like everyone else. But when there’s something that can be done outside, that’s what I want to do. And I want to be deeply in love with the man I marry. So much so that I can think of nothing else.”

  “You’ll have to marry a rich man not to think about anything else,” Annette said. “There are always worries.”

  Mary wondered what it was that killed Annette’s man. She wanted to know more about the woman but was afraid it would be taken as prying if she asked too many questions. She didn’t know how long she could keep her curiosity at bay. But for now, they were talking about Sarah.

  “There must be a good side to all this,” Mary said, putting in her two cents. “I know your parents mean the best for you. I never would have thought of Mrs. Marrow as the kind of woman who would force her own daughter to marry against her will.”

  “Well, that’s what’s happening,” Sarah groaned. “And I can’t think of a single positive thing about it. I can’t think of anything else and it’s very hard to be happy knowing your life is essentially coming to an end and the people who are supposed to love you the most are the ones making it happen.”

  “I’m just surprised they are so dead set on you marrying Luke.” Mary shook her head. She didn’t understand it and never would. They were willing to sacrifice their daughter’s happiness for financial gain and wealth? It disappointed Mary. She hadn’t thought them capable of such behavior when they were raising her. They’d tried to make her life better and they had.

  Why were they so willing to ruin their daughter’s life when they had saved the life of another woman’s child?

  It would never make sense to Mary.

  “You’re supposed to go and see him soon, aren’t you?” Mary surmised by how upset Sarah seemed. She was exhibiting more signs of impatience and frustration than she had before.

  Sarah locked eyes with her. “Yes. How did you know?”

  Mary shrugged. “I can tell. You’re just so much more upset than you were before. Like things are coming to the end for you and you’re very anxious about it.”

  Sarah nodded. “I am anxious, Mary. I want to fall in love and get married. Like you’re going to do.”

  She sounded so sure when she said it, Mary could only blink and absorb her friend’s words.

  Mary had fallen in love. And eventually she would marry Philip Jenkins.

  Chapter 30

  When Philip woke up that Friday morning, he wasn’t expecting the events to unfold the way they did. The entire day was like a scene from a play, but the whole day seemed so significant in so many different ways.

  It started out with a not-so-pleasant visit from the mayor.