His Rainbow After the Rain

by Grace Clemens

  All three were smiling.

  Mary looked up, sensing Philip was looking at her. He was, with excited eyes and the biggest smile she’d ever seen on his face. He should be smiling. He was about to get his newspaper back. In essence, he was about to be given the freedom he deserved to print what he wanted. He was gaining freedom with this change.

  If it was true.

  Mary watched the man step up to the top step, lifting both hands and motioning down.

  “All right, let’s settle down. I want to say this only once and I want everyone to hear me. Can we get some quiet please? Quiet?”

  The murmurings died down until it was silent in the courtyard in front of the town hall. Mary bit her bottom lip, her hands holding tightly to Philip’s. His fingers wrapped around hers and his eyes were set firmly on the man speaking.

  “All right. We have counted the votes and we have a new mayor in Glenwood, Texas. Paul Allen Ranyard!” He called out Paul’s name as if he’d won the highest award of the nation. He held out his hand to Paul as the man walked over to him and they shook.

  Philip had patted Paul on the back as soon as his name was called but didn’t follow him to the center of the “stage”.

  Instead, he turned to Mary and to her pleasant surprise, bent over and placed his lips firmly on hers. The kiss was brief but warm and loving. She kissed him back as soon as the initial shock moved on, which only took a moment of time.

  When she realized what was happening, she pulled away from him, gasping. It seemed he had the same thought at that moment, too, because he looked at her like he had just seen a ghost.

  “I… I’m sorry. I was caught up in the excitement.” Philip stammered.

  She shook her head, putting both hands on his chest. “No, no. You don’t need to apologize. I… I didn’t mind at all.”

  Philip gave her a warm smile and pulled her into a hug. This time, he kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes when he placed his lips against her skin. Her heart was still beating hard and fast. But this time it was for a different reason.

  “Everything is going to change now,” Philip said, his voice so low she could barely hear him. But she caught his words and thought about how that was what she was thinking earlier. “I… I won’t know how to handle it.” He chuckled. “The freedom to write and publish whatever I want?”

  He pulled away from her, gazing into her eyes. “Whatever will I do?”

  Mary laughed with him, delighted that he was happy. “I think you’re going to publish whatever you want! And write whatever you want! And find other people who like to write and do research and know it can be on any subject at all. No restrictions.”

  Philip looked thoughtful, casting his gaze out in front of him, staring into space. “I won’t know what to do with all the topics there are to write about.”

  “Philip Jenkins!”

  They both heard his name called out. They turned to see Paul holding his arm out and every eye on Philip.

  “Come on over, Philip! Let’s all give him a round of applause!”

  Everyone in the audience, those that weren’t already cheering, began to clap.

  Philip and Mary exchanged a quick look before he moved to stand next to Paul. Mary could see he didn’t know what was going on but was willing to find out.

  “This man…” Paul waited until Philip was standing next to him before continuing, slapping one firm hand on Philip’s back. He pointed to Philip, his eyes out over the crowd. “This man has been instrumental in bringing about the change you’ve seen today! If it wasn’t for him and his one-man crusade to bring the truth and facts of all topics to this wonderful town of people, the previous mayor would have continued his tyrannical rule. Now we will see something different. Now we will all prosper and be given the knowledge and information we need to live the best lives we can. All because of this man! Say something, Philip!”

  Philip smiled widely. Mary was covered in tingles when he looked over at her.

  “Thank you, Mr. Mayor. But it wasn’t a one-man crusade. This whole thing started with one woman. And that woman is Mary Ross. Come on, Mary. Say hi to the townsfolk!”

  Mary was stunned for a moment. She was unable to move. But she found her feet when Philip’s warm smile widened and he winked. He nodded and held out his hand to her.

  “Come on, Mary. Don’t be shy.”

  The crowd began to call for her to come out and stand with the men. Despite her nervous trembling, Mary found her feet and stepped out to Philip, taking his hand to the cheers of the crowd.

  Chapter 44

  Two months passed like water from a bucket. Philip woke up to the bright summer sun streaming in his window and once again, as had happened for two months straight, his first thoughts were happy. He was excited for the day, few worries on his mind.

  He’d come to realize just how hard Hanover had made life for everyone in Glenwood, including himself. It was like night into day, winter into summer. It was as if the flowers were too weary and broken to bloom but when Paul took the reins, they turned their colorful faces to the sun.

  It wasn’t just Paul being mayor that made Philip’s days better. It was also because he was in love with Mary Ross and she was in love with him. They would be married sooner or later but Philip hadn’t yet proposed. He knew Mary was probably wondering why not, but he had a plan forming in his mind and he just wanted everything to be perfect.

  Normally for his paper, he published many articles on many subjects – the topics having broadened significantly since Hanover left office (and the town, humiliated, and with his tail between his legs). He got submissions from people in town, wrote some of them himself, recruited some out to Mary, John (who hated it but reluctantly did it anyway), Matthew, Paul and a few others who fancied themselves good writers.

  He edited them for clarity, punctuation and grammar and found that most people were able to write a good article, but they just lacked the basic fundamentals when it came to making something publishable.

  That was where he came in. He didn’t mind being the managing editor of his newspaper as long as it was still being printed and the authors had the freedom to write and publish whatever they wanted. It was at his sole discretion if something went into the newspaper, since it was his. But he was an open-minded man and almost everything made it into his newspaper somewhere.

  For two months, he had been writing love letters to Mary. Some were very short, others were long. Some were intimate, others were poetic. In the last two weeks, he had devised a plan to put them all into the typesetter, printing off a special newspaper, one that was only for her. The headline on the front page would ask her for her hand in marriage. Here and there, spaced out and given headlines as if they were articles, were actually his letters of love to the woman he wanted to marry. He poured his heart out to her.

  He knew how to do it all himself. Only printing one newspaper after all the work of typesetting each and every letter of love would be time-consuming but well worth it. It would give Mary something to treasure for the rest of her life. Something she could let their children read (except a few letters, which she might not want seen by anyone but her own eyes, so deep was his affection for her) and pass on to their grandchildren and generations to come.

  He’d let John and Matthew in on the surprise for Mary just the day before. Today was the day. He would have it delivered along with the other papers but the delivery boy would be aware that hers was special. Philip planned to wrap it in a red ribbon.

  Red was Mary’s favorite color.

  He got ready for work and left the house behind, energy coursing through his body. He’d told Matthew and John so they wouldn’t come to work, knowing that he would be busy all day putting the special paper together. They could come in earlier Saturday if they wanted, he said. Otherwise, the regular paper would go out on time as usual because Philip was certain he could get the special one printed and set the Sunday paper up afterward without losing any real time.

  He crossed
the threshold of the building, spinning around to close the door and put on the lock.

  Philip froze, hearing noise behind him. He was bent slightly at the waist and lifted only his head, perking his ears, his attention behind him.

  Someone was running the press.

  He turned around and hurried to the door to the press room.

  John was working on a table, setting letters into the board. Matthew was standing by the press, gazing down at the mechanism as it ran through what Philip called a “dry run” where Matthew would check to make sure all parts were working correctly and clean it of any debris or dust that might interfere in the perfect printing of the special paper.

  He felt deep affection flood him. “You boys didn’t have to come help me,” he said, his appreciation obvious in his voice.

  “None of that,” John replied with a smile. “We’re your friends. We want to help out.”

  “She’s really going to like these letters, Mr. Jenkins,” Matthew said, his emotions clear in his voice. “It’s such a nice thing for you to do. She’s going to cry.” He sounded like he wanted to cry himself.

  “I’m glad you approve, Matthew. You… I think you might actually know her a little better than I do.”

  Philip leaned out the door and tossed his hat at the rack hanging on the wall. He missed the hook and his hat fell to the floor. He waved a hand to dismiss it and went into the press room, rolling his sleeves up on his arms.

  “That’s a no siree, Mr. Jenkins,” Matthew laughed and Philip was glad to see him back in a good mood. “I know her in a whole different way. She’s a great teacher. I don’t know what she’s like as a real woman.”

  Both men looked at each other and laughed.

  “I mean, I know she’s a real woman, I’m just… I just mean that…”

  “We know what you meant,” Philip cut him off with a grin, slapping one hand on the young man’s shoulder. “You are right about that. And I’ll thank you not to try to take my woman with your handsome looks and that smart brain of yours.”

  Matthew took on a serious face and shook his head. “I’ll do my best, Mr. Jenkins. You just never know about these things.”

  Philip froze for a moment, staring at Matthew. He turned his eyes to see John was doing the same thing.

  Matthew looked from one to the other before breaking into a huge grin. “I’m just joshin’ with ya! Of course not, Mr. Jenkins! She wouldn’t do anything like that even if I was. Which I’m not.”

  Philip relaxed, rolling his eyes and chuckling. “You had us going for a moment there, Matthew. Well done.”

  The three men laughed and went about creating the special newspaper.

  Five hours later they were standing together in a half circle, Philip in the middle, staring down at the newspaper. The front page was his question to Mary, the most important question he would ever ask a woman. Below the headline, the article was a poem he had written for her.

  Even John, who was not known for deep emotional outbursts, said it made him feel something “deep in his gut”.

  “Don’t go fallin’ for me because of that,” Philip said. “I’m taken.”

  “Oh, no worries there!” John responded with a laugh.

  “This is a great accomplishment, Mr. Jenkins,” Matthew said, his eyes steady on the newspaper.

  “Thanks, Matthew. Think she’ll like it?”

  Matthew laughed softly. “I know she will. When are you going to give it to her?”

  Philip raised his eyebrows. He looked at the clock on the wall. “Well, I expected this to take me all day. You boys helping me cut that down to half a day. So I guess I could go get her for lunch and take her a copy of today’s newspaper.”

  Matthew blinked at him, a smile growing slowly on his lips. “No paper on Saturday, Mr. Jenkins.”

  “No school either,” John added. “You might have to actually look for her.”

  Philip laughed. His friends were making light of it but he was dead serious about giving Mary the paper that very day. He wanted to know her answer. He’d been thinking about it long enough to make himself anxious to know. He was ninety percent sure she would say yes.

  “Go find her, Philip,” John said, his voice low and prompting. “Go on. What are you waiting for?”

  Philip nodded at his friend. “You’re right. What am I waiting for? I’ll see you boys later.”

  His companions laughed as he moved out from between them and hurried to the door. He really didn’t know where she was. They hadn’t made plans as he’d told her he would be busy working all day, and asked her not to stop by because it was pressing work. He’d told her a lie and said they were behind on production and had to catch up.

  With John and Matthew there, if she passed by and saw them working through a window, which was unlikely, she wouldn’t have stopped. She was loyal that way. She honored his requests and respected him completely. She didn’t need to tell him she did. It was in the way she treated him.

  So on a bright Saturday afternoon with nothing to do, where would a woman like Mary go? Should he check the schoolhouse? Would she be doing some after work lessons with children who were behind? Matthew would probably have known about that. He would have said something if so. Philip eliminated the schoolhouse from his list.

  She could have stayed at home but he didn’t see her doing that either. She liked to get out and socialize when she could. She wasn’t a homebody. She would be out doing things.

  Her friend Sarah was gone, apparently, having settled in with her new husband, Luke, who Mary said “she fell in love with the moment she laid eyes on him” so she wouldn’t be with the Marrows.

  The only other people Mary frequently spent her free time with were Annette from the salon and Emma Hanover.

  The beauty parlor became his destination and he turned his steps in that direction.

  Chapter 45

  Philip stepped into the salon, stopping short just inside the door. He’d never been in the place. He felt awkward and uncomfortable around so many beauty products. He didn’t know one make-up from another make-up.

  He spotted Mary right away. She was seated in a chair set against a wall, her legs crossed, her hands folded together and hanging to one side. She, Annette and Emma all turned their eyes to see who had come in. When they saw it was him, both Annette and Emma looked at Mary, smiling wide.

  Mary’s eyes lit up when she saw him. It made his heart jump in his chest. His stomach was suddenly twisting.

  “Hello, Philip,” she said smoothly, pushing herself to her feet. “I thought you were busy working all day today. You must be in desperate need to see me if you came out here to the salon to find me.”

  Philip grinned. “I guess I’m always desperate to see you, Mary.”

  Annette and Emma made cooing sounds. “Awww…” they both said simultaneously.

  Mary looked over her shoulder, smiling at her friends.

  “I brought you something,” Philip said. “Would you like to go for a walk with me?”

  Mary nodded emphatically, raising her eyebrows. “You have a surprise for me? I must know what it is. We have to get to wherever we’re walking to very soon. Goodbye for now, ladies!”

  She lifted one hand to her friends, using the other to steer Philip back out the door and onto to the street.

  Philip couldn’t help laughing at her child-like enthusiasm. “Well, all right then,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the side. Instead of heading back toward the town square, he led her away from the middle of town out toward the land surrounding the little town.