“There’s a feel of the ancient here. Almost as if another world existed inside this plaza center.”
Rainy smiled, feeling at the moment that she’d never been happier than being on the arm of Phillip Vance. “It’s a wonderful town full of Spanish and Indian influence. I love the architecture, especially— the red tile on the roofs and the courtyard gardens. I adore the adobe and wrought iron, the arched doors and windows and adobe fireplaces. It’s all so very pleasant.”
“And romantic,” he whispered against her ear.
Rainy trembled. “Yes, definitely that.”
“I feel so honored,” Phillip began, “that you would agree to cancel your vacation and spend some time acting as our courier. I knew if we requested you, they would somehow find a way to persuade you.”
“They didn’t have to persuade me,” Rainy admitted. “When the matter came up, I just felt it was the right thing to do. I prayed about it and felt even more confident of my decision.”
“You put a lot of stock in prayer, don’t you?”
Rainy stopped and looked up. Phillip’s expression was one of curiosity laced with concern. “I do put a lot of stock in prayer. Don’t you?”
Phillip shrugged and looked away. “I suppose it’s never been that important to me. I didn’t grow up religious, and therefore I’ve just never had any real use for such matters.”
Rainy felt as though she had plunged from a three-story building. She might be foolish about matters of the heart, but she could never ignore the warning regarding being unequally yoked with a nonbeliever.
“But what of standards to live by?” Rainy questioned. “How do you gauge those standards?”
Phillip shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the adobe face of one of the Plaza stores.
“I suppose I make my own.”
Rainy had heard this argument before. “Based on what?” The wind whipped her hair across her mouth as if trying to hush her.
Phillip smiled and reached out to push back her hair. “I want people to treat me well, so I treat them well.”
“That’s Jesus’ command to ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.’ ” Rainy replied. “Nothing self-made in that.”
Phillip laughed. “No, I don’t suppose it’s a new concept.” He pushed off the wall and motioned to the café across the street. “Jennetta tells me the Mexican food at that café is the best in town. Why don’t we have lunch there? We can sit and eat and wax theological.”
Rainy allowed him to take hold of her arm but couldn’t help replying, “I don’t want to wax theological, Phillip. I just wondered how you—”
“Aren’t you Phillip Vance?” a young woman who looked to be no more than twenty questioned. She’d come to stand directly in front of them and refused to move.
Phillip flashed her a smile and lowered his voice to match his cowboy characters. “That I am.”
The girl squealed and motioned to several friends who stood in absolute awe on the opposite street corner. “It’s him! It’s him!”
Rainy was quickly nudged out of the way as the gaggle of giggling, screaming girls swooped in like vultures to the prey. Leaning back against the porch support, Rainy thought long and hard about the scene.
This is what it would be like to spend the rest of my life with
Phillip Vance. No matter where he went, people would recognize
him. Sometimes that would be good and sometimes it
would be bad. But it would always be inescapable.
She listened to Phillip talk in his soft-spoken manner. He seemed to take a genuine interest in each girl, listening as they poured out their delight in having seen him. He answered their questions and allowed their adoration—basking in the glory of it, as Sonny had suggested.
Bored with the situation, Rainy crossed the narrow street and took a seat on one of the Plaza benches. No one even seemed to notice she’d gone.
“Quite the display, isn’t it?”
She looked up with dread. “Hello, Chester.”
Ignoring her obvious displeasure with him, Chester took the seat beside her. He pretended to dust the pant legs of his gray suit before adding, “It’s like this everywhere he goes. If there are people about, especially women, Phillip Vance doesn’t wait long for a crowd.”
“You speak like such an authority,” Rainy said, trying hard to be civil.
“Oh, I suppose I am somewhat of one. You see, my wife has been good friends with Jennetta Blythe for some time. That’s why we were out in California to begin with. Bethel’s parents lived only two doors down from the Blythes. Jennetta suffered a stormy marriage to a man who never understood her. Do you want to know something really awful?”
“No!” Rainy interjected. “I don’t. I have no interest in such matters.”
“Ah, I suppose not,” Chester said, sounding quite disappointed. “Well, where was I? Ah, yes. When Jen-netta began to hear of the wonders of Santa Fe, well, she didn’t wait long to make her way here. The art community has been quite rewarding for her. She found people who could understand her heart.”
“I’m glad someone can understand her,” Rainy murmured.
“Phillip is really quite the Casanova. He has no trouble securing a woman to keep him company. After all, look at yourself. You’ve cancelled a two-week furlough just to be at his side.”
“I did not cancel just to be at his side,” Rainy protested. “He needed a courier.” She knew the excuse was lame, but she refused to have Chester suggesting she was no different from all the other silly women who flocked to Phillip Vance.
Chester laughed. “And you were the only one in the entire fleet who was available? Really, Rainy, you needn’t pretend with me. Not after our past together.”
“We have no past together, unless of course you count the fact that you let me be blamed for something I didn’t do.”
“Oh, we aren’t going to talk on that tiresome subject again, are we?” He leaned closer and Rainy cringed, all the while watching the women flirt with Phillip.
Chester’s breath was stale as he whispered, “Rainy, there are so many things I could do for you now. I can get you what you want. The past doesn’t need to control your future. I have friends in high places, and believe me, they can move heaven and earth for me if I give them the word. You have only to agree. After all, you don’t want to spend your entire life leading tourists around the desert. Why, there may not even be an Indian Detours after this year.”
Rainy scooted to the far end of the bench and looked at him hard. “Why do you say that?”
Chester had the good sense to stay where he was.
“I’m often privileged to overhear information. You know the financial markets have failed and that America and Europe are both suffering tremendous setbacks economically. Luxury items, such as tours and vacations, can’t hope to survive. If things go as poorly as some of my friends believe they will, it would be wise to have a nest egg to bank on. I myself believe in setting up a wide reserve—diversification is the key.”
“But you’ve not heard anything in particular to suggest the company plans to stop offering the Detours, have you?” Rainy questioned, hating to have to use Chester for information.
“Well, there is of course the obvious situation of the Harvey Company selling the Detours to Clarkson.
They take their cues from the Santa Fe, and the railroad has obviously tightened its belt and wants the Harvey Company to do likewise. Clarkson may have run the transportation company, but I doubt he has the Santa Fe Railroad in his pocket as tightly as the Harvey Company does. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him eliminate all but the most lucrative and most commonly requested tours from the rosters. As they do that, they’ll obviously need fewer and fewer people.”
“But people like Phillip Vance and other movie stars continue to come,” Rainy protested. “Why, just last week we had three different tours with movie stars.
They all raved about the tours and their plans to return and enjoy the hotels. Surely things can’t be all that bad if they’re willing to do that.”
“They will probably be happy to share time at the resort hotels like La Posada and El Tovar, even La Fonda, but they won’t want to be dragging around out in the desert for pleasure rides. And let’s be realistic here—if the economy fails as my friends believe it will, even movie stars are going to be cutting way back on their spending. After all, if the general public can’t afford to go to the movies, the producers of those movies certainly aren’t going to have money to pay their stars. No, mark my words, the Detours won’t be long for this world.”
Rainy immediately thought of Sonny. It wasn’t so fearful for her to be out of work. She could always live with their mother and father and no one would think less of her. An old maid living at home was perhaps pitied but never condemned. But Sonny’s situation was different. Sonny was a man, and for a man to be out of work and living with his parents, well, that wouldn’t be good for him. People already talked of how Sonny was approaching thirty years of age and had no steady girl. Some of the couriers had even teased him about living at home, being a “momma’s boy.” It was unfair and insensitive, but Sonny bore it well.
“I can see I’ve given you much to consider,” Chester said, following Rainy to the far end of the bench.
“But you needn’t worry about the future. I have more power now than I did three years ago. I can keep you safe and well cared for. You don’t need Phillip Vance— not that he’d give any real consideration to you when he can have his pick from important, wealthy daughters of society. Phillip is toying with you—enjoying the good time you can give him.” Chester paused and got to his feet. “He does this everywhere he goes. He finds one vulnerable, needy woman and plays on her sympathy and desire.”
Rainy didn’t want to believe his words but was unwittingly drawn back to his gaze. Chester’s sandy brown hair peeked out from beneath his straw hat, almost as if to remind him he was long overdue at the barber’s shop. She would have laughed had the moment not been so serious. Chester studied her for a moment then narrowed his eyes.
“How long do you suppose you’ll keep your job if the company were to find out about the university scandal?”
Rainy jumped up. “You have no call to threaten me, Chester. I did as I was asked. I left quietly. Now uphold your end of the bargain and leave me alone.”
“I don’t recall leaving you alone to be part of the agreement,” Chester said, smiling maliciously. “But if you don’t want to be a part of the National Geographic Society, suit yourself.”
Just then Phillip managed to disentangle himself from the women and came bounding across the road.
“I’m so sorry, Rainy. Sometimes it just can’t be helped.
Fans need to be pampered a bit from time to time.”
“I was just explaining that to her,” Chester replied.
“I told her you deal with this all the time. I was just about to tell her of that poor lovesick Harvey Girl back at El Tovar. What was her name, anyway? Colleen? Col-lette? Co—”
“It was Caroline and is clearly not worthy of discussion,” Phillip declared, not appearing too happy with Chester’s comments.
“No matter. The real reason I’m here is that your sister has asked me to fetch you. Seems she has designs for heading north to Taos and needs you to join in on the plan,” Chester told Phillip and added, “She told me she wouldn’t accept any excuses for you not returning with me to her home.”
Rainy felt only moderately disappointed to have Phillip taken from her. There was a part of her that needed time to process the events of the day. But there was also a part of her that very much wanted to sit down to a quiet lunch with Phillip Vance. She had so many questions to ask him—questions about God and faith. Maybe if she explained it better he would understand how important it was to have faith in God.
Phillip laughed. “I suppose I have no choice. But, Rainy, why don’t you come along, too? Jennetta seldom allows anyone to come to her home, but if she’s calling us there now, then the spirits must be favorable. She won’t mind an additional person.”
Rainy couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by his comment about the spirits, but she had no desire to sit down to conversation with Jennetta Blythe. “I haven’t had lunch yet. . . .” she began as a means to excuse herself.
“I’m sure Jennetta will have some monstrous-sized fruit platter, along with cheese and breads,” Phillip countered.
Chester laughed. “Yes, indeed she does. I was there when the food arrived.”
Phillip nodded as if that made all the difference in the world. “She does that on the few occasions when she has people in. We can feast there.”
Rainy wasn’t about to join their happy little enclave. “No, I really shouldn’t. If your plans involve one of the Detour trips, just let me know.”
Phillip lifted her hand to his lips. “But of course it will involve you. After you gave up your vacation for me, I must endeavor to make it worth your efforts.”
Rainy smiled, losing herself momentarily to his movie-star charm. He kissed her hand, then released his hold.
Feeling completely overwhelmed with her emotions, Rainy turned rather abruptly and hurried down the sidewalk. She couldn’t even think of something witty or casual to say in reply.
What a mess I am. Losing
control just like those silly girls I watched. They made cow eyes
and fawned all over Phillip and I’m really no better
.
“There you are!” Sonny declared as he came walking out of La Fonda. “Where have you been? I looked for you at the boardinghouse, then went through La Fonda and still couldn’t find you.”
“I’ve been . . . well . . . I was showing Phillip a bit of Santa Fe,” Rainy said defensively. She didn’t care at all for the look of concern on her brother’s face. How dare he treat her like some wayward child?
“I heard something rather disturbing and I need to know if it’s true,” Sonny said, the seriousness of his tone leaving little doubt that this was of utmost importance to him.
“So ask me,” Rainy said, feeling annoyed.
“Is it true you’ve cancelled your entire vacation to take on the job of baby-sitting Phillip Vance?”
Rainy crossed her arms and lifted her chin defiantly. “And what if it is? I’ve been requested to courier the group. I’m being offered the two weeks at a later time and a handsome bonus as well.”