His Rainbow After the Rain

by Grace Clemens

  For just a while, she wanted to forget about the trials of the world and just concentrate on getting to know Philip as a person. She wanted to have dinner with him, sit in front of a roaring fire with him, talking about their lives and their feelings.

  What if he wasn’t the kind of man that did that? Would he be closed-mouthed or wear his heart on his sleeve?

  The thrill of finding out made Mary giggle. It was okay that she didn’t already know the answers to her questions. She was going to have fun getting to know the real Philip Jenkins, the one underneath the newspaper man exterior.

  She pushed open the glass door and went through, glancing toward Philip’s office to see him sitting behind his desk, scanning a paper in front of him. He had it clutched in one hand and was reading it while holding his other hand over his mouth. She couldn’t tell if he was pleased by what he was reading or not.

  Matthew came out from the press room. His eyes widened when he saw her. “Oh, Miss Ross! I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  Mary had to drag her eyes away from Philip, who had looked up at the sound of Matthew’s voice and caught sight of her. She didn’t want to look away. She had to. The look on his face told her all she needed to know. He wasn’t angry at all. It was quite the opposite. She had a feeling he felt as bad about what happened as she did and probably felt equally responsible.

  “I came to check on you. I know you will have to work here overtime now that John’s out of commission for a few days.”

  Matthew nodded. “I’m gonna come back to school just as soon as he comes back. No worrying, Miss Ross. It’s not good for your health.” The young man gave her a toothy grin and shuffled past her, carrying a large roll of paper under each arm.

  The thickness of those paper rolls made Mary sure she would not be able to pick up even one, much less one per arm. Matthew was a strong young man. She turned to Philip, knowing she was watching Matthew only because she was nervous to look at the man of her dreams.

  Philip’s eyes were on her. He lifted his hand and beckoned to her with two fingers.

  Admiration slid through her, raising the hair on her arms and the back of her neck. She was in the room before she knew it, pouring out a heartfelt apology that he cut short with just a look.

  Chapter 37

  As she settled in the chair across from him, Philip had to think quickly about what he wanted to say. He didn’t want her to take anything the wrong way so he felt the urge to think carefully about what he was saying before he said it.

  She was apologizing before he had a chance to say anything.

  “I haven’t been very understanding, Philip,” she said. He loved the way she said his name. It made him want to kiss her all over her pretty face and make her say it again and again. “I’ve only been thinking about how important these issues are to me and how women need a voice in the community. And in government. We should be able to vote. It shouldn’t be so hard for a woman to live on her own. And how would…”

  She stopped herself. Philip stared at her, wondering why she didn’t continue. She dropped her eyes to the floor and looked sheepish. “I’m sorry for that, too. An apology isn’t an apology if it has a message attached reiterating the original point. I’m just trying to say… in my clumsy way, I guess, that I shouldn’t come down on you so hard for things you can’t help.”

  Philip sighed, studying her unique facial features. Her eyes were so round and wide, set perfectly in her oval face, her lips were red and looked soft, her skin was smooth and rather pale, indicating she hadn’t spent a lot of her days under a hot, blazing sun.

  She looked like a schoolteacher, except when she took her hair out of the long braid she kept it in. When she let the long blond strands of her wavy hair fall around her shoulders, she was beyond pretty. Normally, she was beautiful. With her hair down, she was stunning.

  “I appreciate you saying all that, Mary. I really do. And you’ll be glad to know I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and really, I have to do what’s right for the people of this town. I have to take a risk that the mayor will give me more time with my back taxes and I have to publish the articles on Paul Ranyard.”

  The smile that lit up Mary’s face made Philip’s muscles tense. His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to pull her into a hug and a long, deep kiss.

  But he didn’t move a muscle.

  “I’ve decided a few things, Mary. I want to let you in on what they are.”

  She sat silently, gazing at him in anticipation. She looked excited and he hadn’t even told her his plan.

  “I need you to talk to Ranyard. It’s Tuesday. If I get a couple more articles in by Thursday, I’ll be good to go through the editing and typecasting. I can put out the Sunday paper as usual. I want the front page to be about Paul Ranyard.”

  Mary’s eyebrows went up. She looked so surprised that Philip thought someone must have informed her how upset the mayor would be. He would surely recall the debt on his taxes and make him sell the press to pay it.

  But Philip had decided that the most important thing in life was family. He’d stood outside on that porch and watched the people mingling, talking among themselves about what was right for Glenwood, for the whole of the community, not about themselves and how they would benefit. He couldn’t recall a time he’d had a semi-civil conversation with the mayor that didn’t involve some self-praise on Hanover’s part.

  It made Philip sick to his stomach to even think about it. One of the things he couldn’t stand was arrogance, and the man was full of it from his head to his toes. How anyone had voted him in as mayor was beyond Philip’s imagination.

  Mary was giving him a shocked look. He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

  In the softest, most adorable voice, she asked, “Are you asking me to cover Ranyard’s run for mayor for the paper?”

  Philip thought about how cute she was and forced himself to get his mind back on the topic they were discussing. “Yes, that’s what I want you to do. Keep in mind that there may not be a paper after this one. If I put Ranyard on the front page, chances are likely he’ll come after me for those taxes.”

  “How much do you need?” Mary’s mind was already going through her money, searching for whatever amount she could give Philip to go toward the taxes. “I will get some money together for you. I’ll help you.”

  Philip shook his head. “The mayor is ruthless but I’m going to count on him to not be quite so ruthless this time. He won’t make me close down and sell. He’s got to have some decency somewhere in his body.”

  He loved the skeptical look that came to Mary’s green eyes.

  It made him laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation.

  “Why are you laughing?” she asked.

  He shook his head. He didn’t know how she would react to hearing what he was thinking, but he wasn’t taking a chance on her being upset. “You don’t think the mayor will show mercy?” he asked.

  Mary had a regretful expression and she shrugged. “I just don’t know. I don’t think he’d like the backlash from taking the press from you. But if he feels like he could find or pay someone else to do the same job and only print what he wants, then… yeah, I don’t think he cares about mercy. Not at all. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  “I think it’s time for me to start putting not just the community, but also my family first. I can work in the field if the press gets shut down. I know my parents want me to do what I think is right. If I can’t print the truth and whatever I want to print, the freedom is not really there that I was promised. I will not be silenced. If this is taken from me…” He lifted one hand and waved it around, indicating the entirety of the building. “I will start from scratch, save up and buy a new press that he won’t be able to take from me.”

  Mary grinned wide. “That’s the warrior spirit, Philip. I like hearing that. I’d love to help you. I’ll get with Paul Ranyard and talk to his wife, too, and get another perspective on what it could be like to be Fi
rst Lady of Glenwood.”

  “I like that idea. It appeals to both the men and the women in town.”

  Mary nodded. He could tell she was pleased he liked her idea.

  “And you will put it on the front page?”

  She looked like she wanted to bounce out of her seat. If she did, he expected she would do it for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He wanted her to do that but also knew she wouldn’t.

  “Yes. I will definitely put it on the front page. When you speak to Paul… when can you speak to Paul?” He was speaking in a hurried voice as thoughts and ideas rolled through his head.

  “I’ll go see him when we are finished here. I’m sure he would love to have a spot on the front page announcing his run for mayor.”

  Philip’s chest tightened at the thought that the mayor was going to be extremely upset by the following Sunday’s newspaper. He could already see his demise in store. But really, if he managed to save up enough from working a different job, he would be able to pay off the taxes and get it back. Everything else would have to be put on hold.

  He wondered if there was any other way, anyone he could borrow from. He would try the bank but they were under Hanover’s control as well, since he provided their building and land. Hanover expected favors and demanded them when he saw fit. From Philip. From the bank. Even from the sheriff. Hanover could get away with murder if he wanted to.

  The thought made Philip’s arm hair reach upward. He felt the hair on the back of his neck crawling.

  “I am going to write you the best article I possibly can,” Mary was saying, bringing him out of his unpleasant thoughts.

  “I’m sure it will be wonderful,” he replied, reassuringly. “But I want to go over it with you before you finalize it, okay? Bring me your last draft and we’ll refine it. Try to make Paul sound friendly. I mean, he is friendly, but really press that point. He’s smart and wants to help the residents of Glenwood. I don’t want the article focusing negatively on Hanover. If he mentions the current mayor, just tell him this article isn’t a hit piece and I won’t publish anything directly bashing Hanover. Much as I’d like to.”

  The last remark got the desired sneaky grin from Mary. He chuckled.

  “Just try to keep him from bad-mouthing Hanover too much. Hopefully if we just print an article espousing the benefits of bringing in fresh blood in the mayor’s office, Hanover won’t be quite as upset. Maybe he’ll see the need for change, too.”

  He shared the doubtful look he saw on Mary’s face.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so either. But we can always have hope, can’t we?”

  Mary laughed softly. She looked tickled by her new assignment. Perhaps she wouldn’t stay in teaching. Maybe after they were married, she would work alongside him right there at the press. He’d teach her every single thing she wanted to know about the business. And he was willing to bet she’d absorb it like a sponge. She was smart enough for that.

  He caught himself thinking about the two of them being married and felt his cheeks heat up. He swiveled in his chair and shot to his feet, moving to stand in front of the window behind his desk. His back was to her and he had his hands folded behind him, pushing his shoulders back.

  “This was once a thriving town, filled with happy people and farmland as far as the eye could see.”

  He heard Mary get to her feet. Her soft footsteps approached and he sensed her standing next to him without looking down.

  “I’m sure it was before my time, or maybe even when I was a child. But I only remember it the way it is. I’m only 20 years old. I don’t know it any other way. The people don’t smile as much as I remember them smiling before. We don’t have our yearly festival anymore. What happened to our Independence Day festival? People used to sell their goods, their crafts and wares in the town square while children played and danced around the flagpole.”

  Her voice sounded so melancholy, that Philip couldn’t help looking at her through sad eyes.

  “It will be like that again someday, Mary,” he said quietly. “I know it will.”

  Chapter 38

  Mary was so proud of the Sunday paper that came out. Philip had a photograph taken of Paul Ranyard to accompany the article. He’d also managed to get a photograph of Hanover. He put their pictures side by side on the front page with their names underneath and the question, “Is it time for a change?”

  Underneath were two articles; Paul’s first, followed by the current mayor’s. Each one detailed the men and what they stood for. It seemed a very neutral article to Mary and that’s what she liked so much about it. Even though she knew full well Philip would prefer Paul and would likely vote for him, as she would if she were allowed to vote, he had managed to write a fairly glowing article about the man, painting him as something he really wasn’t but rather what Hanover thought of himself as. She knew why he’d done that.

  She hoped it worked.

  She and Philip finally had dinner together that Sunday night and they pored over the newspaper, going over it line by line, congratulating each other on a fine job well done. They’d both enjoyed a glass of wine and she let him cook for her, making his famous (at least in Glenwood) pork chops on an open flame. She didn’t know what spices and herbs he used but the pork chops were delicious.

  He grilled corn on the cob too, and had a plate of figs and dates on the side for her to snack on. That topped off with a tall glass of cold Coca-Cola and her meal was complete.

  It was a night she wouldn’t soon forget. When he took her home, it was late in the evening and she didn’t want him to leave, though she knew he had to.

  Now it was Monday morning and she was hurrying through the chilly morning air to see Philip before going to the schoolhouse.

  As soon as she caught sight of the Jenkins Press building, her heart nearly stopped. Philip was standing outside on the stoop, arguing with someone, a cross look on his face. She got closer and when she could see in through the large front window, she knew why he was upset. There were people inside dismantling the printing press.

  It broke her heart to see them taking it apart haphazardly, probably unaware of what part they were even touching or how to put it back together.

  “Oh no,” she murmured. “Oh no, no.” The urge to help washed over her, settling in her stomach and making it churn. She moved her feet quickly, jogging to get to the building. Just as she passed in front of the alley between the shop beside it and the press building, a hand reached out from the semi-darkness and grabbed her arm.

  She yelped and then was quiet when she saw it was Matthew. The sixteen year old had tears in his eyes. The look of grief on his face made Mary think he’d lost an old friend. But even in his short time in the job, Mary knew how much he enjoyed it and had begun to think of it as a possible future career. He’d also grown close to both Philip and John. Mostly John, who he’d come to think of as his second pa.

  “Miss Ross.” His voice cracked when he said her name. She could see the raw emotion on his young face.

  “Oh, Matthew. You are upset.” She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. He hugged her back. She could feel the tension in his body. He was holding in his tears, trying to be a man about it.

  “They’re closing him down. That’s the mayor’s deputies there, the ones he put on law enforcement. He didn’t like that Mr. Ranyard is running against him and that Philip advertised for him.”

  “But Philip wrote a glowing article for Hanover,” Mary said, pulling away and looking in the boy’s eyes. “What objection would he have to that?”

  “He didn’t have an objection to what was said about him,” Matthew replied. “He just didn’t like that everyone knows he has a political rival now. I think he knows people are likely to vote him out. He hasn’t been a very good mayor. Pa says he didn’t vote for him. He don’t know anybody who did.”