Robin's Reward (Bonita Creek Trilogy Book 1) (2 page)

As she checked the table before calling her guest to join her on the porch, she heard a loud “Ouch!” floating up to the porch from the other side of the yard. The sight of the man hopping around on one foot doing some kind of clumsy folk dance urged Robin to laugh. The longer she tried to force the laugh back down her throat, the harder it became to control her desire to laugh aloud.

~*~

Glancing up at her, long before he heard her musical laughter, Jeff recognized the sensations running through his mind and body. It felt as if his heart had ambushed him.
You traitor!
He was usually in tight control of his emotions. Not once in his twenty-nine years had he felt so attracted to a woman.

Jeff had dated more than average in college and beyond, but still hadn’t found someone special to fill the role of best friend, companion, and wife. When Jeff heard the woman’s laughter drifting over from the porch, he could only assume she’d seen his dance of pain. Although they hadn’t met officially, he was glad the two of them were amused by each other’s antics, at least. Having a sense of humor helped soften the trips and tumbles one took on the rough road of life. He believed God possessed a good sense of humor as evidenced by His creation of odd-looking creatures such as the aardvark, armadillo, anteater, two-toed sloth, and duck-billed platypus.

This woman’s musical laughter was like a soothing balm to his soul. It jarred him into the sudden realization humor might be the key to a good jumping point for conversation. Jeff turned to her with a wide smile. “Are we even now?” This caused the pretty brunette to laugh even harder.

Flashing him a broad smile, she responded, “Even-Steven.”

“I think the root of the problem, pardon the pun, must be the dull blade on your shovel.”

His remark sent her into new gales of laughter. “Why don’t you come up here and cool down for a while?”

Apparently they both realized they hadn’t even shared their names because once Jeff climbed the steps to the porch, they spoke at the same time.

“Welcome to my garden, I’m Robin Bennett.”

“Hi, my name is Jeff Clarke.”

To Jeff, Robin appeared to be near his own age. She had a round face with healthy-looking fair skin and freckles sprinkled generously over her cheeks and nose. He had an urge to touch her cheek to discover if her skin was as soft as it looked. Her dark brown hair appeared to be naturally curly. She had what might be called “wholesome” beauty. Her eyes were medium brown with hints of emerald green near their centers, and he guessed they were the key to her deepest feelings—expressive, dancing with an enticing mixture of wonder and bewilderment as he watched her.

Robin was at least five inches shorter than his five foot ten inch frame. This was a woman who looked like she took care of herself by working hard in her garden and probably participating in other physical pursuits. He was so attracted to what he saw he had difficulty swallowing.

He decided then and there to make a plan to charm her and convince her to spend some time with him, getting better acquainted. He had a strong suspicion she was not just your ordinary twenty-something female. The pain from the splinter had been long forgotten. Looking into those astonishing eyes of Miss Robin Bennett had magically cured his ills.

~*~

Robin waited patiently while her new acquaintance searched her face with open curiosity as if he were inspecting a new car he was considering for purchase. He looked as if he were soaking up all of the details of her hair, skin, eyes, and figure. Her old adversaries, self-loathing and self-doubt, appeared and quickly began to overtake all rational thought. She hoped this guy wasn’t like many men she had met who wanted a rail-thin woman hidden underneath layers of make-up and sporting fake fingernails on his arm. She was conscientious about what she ate and she stayed active, but she accepted she’d never be what some men considered thin.

When it occurred to Robin his examination wasn’t critical or discourteous in the least, she silently confessed she appreciated the look of intrigue on his face. As he was studying her face, she took time to assess him. He looked as if he was within a year or two of her twenty-seven years. He was a few inches taller than she with an average build. He carried himself as one who exercised hard and often. His medium brown hair had some natural wave and was cut short in a businessman’s style.

“Have a seat,” she suggested. They both sat down before she resumed her appraisal of her guest.

Behind his bronze wire-rimmed glasses were clear blue eyes that reminded her of a crisp, autumnal mountain sky. It dawned on Robin she’d never seen quite this shade of blue until this moment. The wide smile on his face as he gazed into her eyes caused his eyes to sparkle. She immediately felt her pulse quicken as she stared into those pools of vibrant blue. To her complete surprise, she discovered a growing curiosity about this new acquaintance.

Jeff’s skin was stained with a bit of color from the day’s heat on his cheeks. The tanned tone of his face, neck, and arms showed he must spend a lot of time outdoors. His clothes were clean and casual. He definitely seemed like a man content with who he was and what he was doing in her garden.

Without the slightest effort, Jeff Clark already captivated Robin’s attention. She silently wondered if a relationship with him was worth further investigation. Her inner voice slammed her thoughts to a halt.
Whoa—slow down, girl! The poor guy is here to enjoy some cool refreshments, not to start courting you.
Still, she was attracted to the puppy-dog look on his face.

She supposed she felt hopeful, too. It’d been a long time since she’d experienced this kind of positive reaction to a man. Then she reluctantly admitted she’d
never
had this kind of immediate attraction to any man. Her previous experience with love had ended tragically and her scars were still as inflamed as they had been six years ago when—
don’t
go there now!
Snapping her mind back to the present, she admitted she wanted to make a favorable impression on her guest. Now, if she could only figure out a way to arrange to spend more time with him without being too obvious about it. Robin was drawn back to the present by Miss Praise’s loud meowing. A glimpse under the table showed the tabby had coiled herself comfortably around Jeff’s feet.

“Sorry about my cat,” Robin said gently. “She’s usually standoffish. I guess she likes you.”

“No problem. I’m used to them. My mother loves cats, so we always had a cat or two around the house.”

Robin poured two glasses of iced tea and asked if he took sugar or lemon.

“Plain is fine.”

“I brought out some freshly-baked muffins and a bowl of strawberries I picked from my garden this morning. Would you like a snack with your tea?”

“Sure, I could eat.”

“Help yourself. I’d like to say grace before we start to eat,” she said. He nodded as he bowed his head.

When she murmured amen, he said, “My family always said grace before a meal when I was growing up. I guess I’ve gotten out of the habit, being a bachelor. I eat most of my meals alone. Not a good excuse for not being thankful, I know.”

Robin was touched by his candor and hesitated before lifting her eyes to meet his gaze.
So, he’s not married.

As they each loaded food onto their plates, Jeff spoke. “I figured out on my walk that I live on the next block over in that direction.” He pointed toward the back of Robin’s property.  “In fact, I think I may live
directly
behind you.”

“Proving once again it’s a small world,” Robin said shaking her head.

“I’ll say. You have a beautiful garden out here.” He waved a hand toward her front yard. “It’s full of all sorts of flowers and shrubs. It looks as if your lot is deep on the back side of the cottage, too. What do you grow back there?”

Robin sat back in her chair and realized after a rough start, she was slowly beginning to relax. She loved talking about her gardens to whoever would listen.

“I grow strawberries, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and some green beans. Later on in June, I’ll plant a small pumpkin patch with some other types of squash and gourds, too, so they’ll be ripe and ready by October.”

“Wow,” he said. “I’m impressed.”

She took a couple of sips of her iced tea and continued, “I have some berry bushes and a few small citrus trees, too. I love to take flowers to the church for the altar and to give to my friends and extended family, so I have a large cutting garden with Shasta daisies, Gerbera daisies, sunflowers, coneflowers, roses of all colors and sizes, peonies, irises and gladiolus.”

After popping a juicy strawberry into her mouth she continued, “I have a section by the fence runs pretty natural with wildflowers such as California golden poppies, bachelor’s buttons, blue and white lupine, and nasturtium. My all-time favorite summer flowers are dahlias. I have a bed way in the back where I try to plant a different variety of dahlia each year, but my collection is still rather small.”

Robin stopped short and looked directly at her guest. “Are you tired of hearing about my gardens yet?”

“Absolutely not. Go on.”

The genuine warmth she felt in his smile made her heart skip another beat. She ate a few more strawberries and continued, “I have a section in back gets a lot of sun, so I filled it with lavender, cacti, succulents, and rocks.”

“Excuse the interruption, but don’t the rocks require a lot of water? I’ve heard California is constantly in a state of worry about drought.”

She smiled. “Funny. I already have a small koi pond near the back corner of the lot. My vision is to someday add a collection of different varieties of water plants there, but that’ll probably be postponed for a couple more years due to ‘lack of funding’ as they like to say in governmental circles.”

Pausing for a sip of iced tea she continued enthusiastically, “I have loads of birdbaths, bird feeders, and birdhouses scattered throughout the yard, too. I love watching birds and butterflies. Last but not least, even though I don’t intentionally cultivate them, I have many varieties of the traditional botanical species commonly known as ‘weeds’ growing on my property.”

“You must not work full-time if you have hours and hours to spend on gardening. I mean, your front garden looks amazing, but it’s got to be time consuming and labor intensive to have so much green stuff. Are you an independently wealthy lady of leisure who has all day to devote to her gardening?” Robin detected a twinkle in his eyes and a hint of mischief in his smile.

She quickly set him straight. “Trust me; I put in plenty of hours at my job each week. I just don’t have an active social life. My evenings, weekends, and holidays are spent planting and caring for my gardens. It’s good physical and spiritual exercise to work the Lord’s land. I recently read in a health magazine a person can burn up to three hundred calories an hour by digging, trimming, weeding, and planting.”

He raised his eyebrows but offered no verbal comment or judgment about Robin’s confession. She was horrified she’d blurted out so much about her virtually non-existent social life to a man she’d just met. Had she sabotaged a chance at a new relationship before it had even begun by sharing her lonely, solitary existence with her new acquaintance?  Jeff Clarke was likely to lose interest in her quickly, just like the other men she’d met.

Robin was a conservative homebody, traits she assumed most men in this day and age didn’t appreciate. She enjoyed gardening, baking, and cooking. She didn’t even mind other housekeeping duties such as cleaning and laundry. She frequently told people she would’ve been more comfortable being born in the early period of the twentieth century instead of the latter. Regret about her admissions filled her heart and mind and reached up to touch her eyes and color her cheeks.

~*~

Jeff couldn’t help but notice her embarrassment at her confession. Wanting to be sure she knew he was telling the truth, he looked deeply into her eyes as he spoke. “I can’t imagine why you don’t have an active social life, Robin. You’re . . . quite pretty.”

She flushed at his observation. She quickly regained her composure and looked at him with an intensely sad expression that led him to think she’d been damaged by something or someone in her past.

“Thank you for your kind words. My lack of a social life can be credited to an overabundance of tragic fate,” she said with a wry smile.

“I don’t understand,” he said, amused by her phrasing but managing to restrain his smile.

She rushed on, “You’ve heard the old saying, ‘What goes around comes around.’?”

He nodded.

“I suppose it goes for relationships between men and women, too. I’ve never had anything but dead-end relationships with men. It seems it’s my destiny in life to be alone.” Her face colored in embarrassment. “Now I sound like a character in one of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedies! You didn’t accept an invitation to a pity party, did you? I apologize for the melodramatics.”

“Please continue,” he said, charmed by this woman who once again made him think she’d been born in the wrong century.

“I haven’t accepted invitations for dates in the past few years because I just couldn’t put myself or my companions through the emotional drama. So my gardens get an over-abundance of attention.”