Free Robin's Reward (Bonita Creek Trilogy Book 1) by June McCrary Jacobs Page A

self-deprecating or too arrogant. He’d never before considered perhaps he was the problem. Maybe he’d judged the women too harshly. The women he brought to mind were too much of this or not enough of that. Every woman until he met Robin Bennett.
    Jeff had an epiphany. The Bonita Creek librarian was the one woman with whom he felt he really wanted to invest some time and effort. He desired to get to know her on a deeper level. He felt he may finally be willing to let someone into his life to get to know him at his core level. This opportunity to reach out to Robin would be a huge step for Jeff, one he had never taken before in his life.
    His thoughts shifted to a vision of his future including Robin as his significant other or even his wife. The vision was at the same time peaceful and exhilarating. How could he convince her he wanted to commit the time necessary to get acquainted with her after what he’d done this morning?
    There was no chance a relationship with this woman was going to develop until his unpleasant job assignment was fulfilled. He knew he’d have to be free to be himself with Robin on a personal level before they could even consider a long-lasting relationship based on faith, respect and love. He was willing to bide his time until he could approach her in an honest, open fashion. He was not a patient person, so he decided to immerse himself in his job assignment to take his mind off of Miss Robin Bennett.
     
    ~*~
     
    By the time she finished her garden project, Robin was suitably exhausted. The afternoon was not quite as hot as yesterday, but she decided to give herself a break and take a nice cool shower. She put her garden tools, wheelbarrow and gloves in her gardening shed and turned toward the cottage. She filled her bird feeders with seed and added some fresh water to the birdbaths. After she cooled down in the shower, Robin decided to call Penny.
    “Penny, it’s me. Can you talk?”
    “I’ve got a few minutes. How’d your garden date go this morning?”
    “Awful. It was horrible.”
    Penny gasped. “Tell all.”
    Robin took a deep breath. “He showed up really late this morning. You know how I feel about punctuality. It was a real letdown when he came looking and smelling really bad.”
    “What do you mean? Like he hadn’t showered and shaved?”
    “Exactly. He was really sweaty and his clothes were, well, less than pristine. It made me feel like his coming to my house for breakfast wasn’t a priority for him and he couldn’t even be bothered to clean up for our time together.” The disappointment in Robin’s voice was so strong that Penny interrupted her cousin to offer words of support over the telephone.
    Robin continued, “The worst part was how he acted toward me. He acted and spoke like a jerk. Yesterday afternoon he was witty, considerate, and polite. This morning he acted like pond scum. He was sarcastic and downright rude about the food I’d prepared. I was getting negative vibes from him so I asked him to leave.”
    “You did what? It was that bad?” Penny seemed shocked at her cousin’s revelation because she knew what a gracious hostess Robin’s grandmother had taught her to be. “He must have been really misbehaving if you asked him to leave,” she added sympathetically.
    In a small, shaky voice, Robin revealed, “He reminded me of Thomas the last time I spoke to him on the telephone when he demanded a divorce. Jeff behaved like a surly, sullen, smart aleck teenager, and I just didn’t want to spend even one more minute with someone like that! His attitude this morning was disturbing to me and it’s affected my attitude and mood all day long. I will never in my entire existence understand men. Why did God even place them on this Earth?”
    When she heard her cousin laughing she realized the humor in her last remark. “Oops, I actually do know the reasons for their existence. I just meant there must be an easier way to live with the male population . .