Robin's Reward (Bonita Creek Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  By now, his neighbor was standing well within Jeff’s personal space. He could feel her warm breath on his face and smell the cloyingly sweet scent of her tropical-style perfume. It reminded him of the voluminous gardenias and jasmines lining his grandmother’s front walkway. His pulse began racing. This gorgeous creature was branding him as good-looking? Naturally, he was flattered, but he couldn’t deny the uneasy feeling he had about her aggressive approach. He was hopelessly old-fashioned and believed the man should lead the pursuit.

  He realized his ego would be boosted by being seen in public with this extraordinary woman on his arm. It had been awhile since he had enjoyed female company, and he was tired of eating dinner alone each night. Maybe dating Susan would enhance his professional stature in Bonita Creek. Have you seriously become shallow, Clarke?

  Before his conscience could talk him out of it he said, “Sure. I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock. Do you have a favorite restaurant?”

  Without hesitation, Susan replied, “Yes. It’s an exclusive, romantic place on the coast called ‘The Silk Seal.’ We have to have reservations to get in there, and at this late hour we won’t be able to get a table. We’ll go there on our second date—maybe next weekend. Tonight, why don’t we just dine in town? There’s a good Mexican café nearby called La Reyna where the margaritas are just awesome.”

  He nodded dumbly. “I stay away from alcohol, but I’m sure I can find something else on the menu to order. Do we need a reservation?”

  With a shake of her lovely head Susan responded in the negative.

  “Is it casual dress there?”

  “Yeah. Just be relaxed.”

  “Well then, I’ll see you in a little while.”

  She leaned over and kissed him with a loud smack on his cheek. “As you wish, lover boy.”

  Dumbfounded, he closed the door behind her. Numbed with shock, he collapsed onto his recliner. Whatever happened to the cool, conservative, strong Jeff Clarke who used to live in this body? He had a little over two hours to gather his thoughts and get ready for the next segment in the saga of his new life in Bonita Creek. For a small town, there sure were a lot of unexpected things taking place—especially episodes involving attractive women.

  The end of the baseball game forgotten, he turned off the radio and tried to get himself mentally and physically prepared for his date. It didn’t take long for Robin’s wholesome face to fill his jumbled mind. He began to feel guilty about going out to dinner with this model when he had basically dumped the librarian just the day before. Maybe, just maybe, Robin wouldn’t ever find out he’d gone out with Susan.

  ~*~

  In hindsight, Sunday’s dinner date with Susan was the worst date he could recall in his entire life. In fact, it was the worst date he could have possibly envisioned for himself. He’d been on some pretty dull dates, but he quickly discovered Susan Stinson was unbelievably self-centered, conceited, and inconsiderate. He quickly grew weary of listening to her drone on and on about her clothes, hair, body, makeup, and career.

  Upon review, he realized she hadn’t asked him a single question about his life, career, background, hobbies, or interests. Absolutely nothing. When Susan wasn’t talking about herself, she was harshly criticizing others and gossiping unkindly about trivial matters involving the citizens of Bonita Creek. It didn’t take him but half an hour to surmise this would be his only date with his neighbor, so he sat back and let her dominate the entire conversation.

  Amid Susan’s torrent of self-proclamations, his mind wandered back to the town’s librarian. She’d impressed him as being sweet, wholesome, pleasant and kind. She possessed beauty, grace, and humanity. He longed to be sitting across from the lovely librarian at this moment. However, he’d made certain there’d be no positive rapport or close relationship with Robin by his thoughtless, obnoxious behavior.

  “How are your meals?” interrupted their waitress, Jorie.

  “Fine,” Susan snapped impatiently. She was busy shoveling chips and salsa into her mouth when she wasn’t pontificating about her world of beauty.

  Jeff made eye contact with the waitress and said, “Everything’s delicious. Thank you.”

  Jorie lingered in front of the table and spoke directly to Susan. “Penny and Robin were in here for lunch today talking about the Storybook Fair for the library. It was just like old times seeing them together.”

  The model rolled her eyes dramatically. “Don’t those two ever go out with men?” Susan said snidely. “They’re a little old to be joined at the hip like they were in high school. Maybe they can’t get dates with men so they date each other.” She laughed hysterically at her own remark.

  Jorie rolled her eyes. “At least they’re interested in trying to help others instead of only thinking only of themselves. The library really depends on the funds raised at the Storybook event. Robin does a fantastic job of putting the whole event together and coordinating her volunteers to pull it off successfully. Besides, the families in town really have fun at the fair.”

  The waitress turned to Jeff and said, “Let me know if you need anything else.” Then she moved on to the next table.

  “What-ev-er . . .” replied Susan as she dug into her combo plate of a taco, enchilada, burrito, beans, and rice. “I get so tired to dealing with small-minded people, don’t you? The girls I went to high school with have never grown up. Take Penny Ralston and Jorie Woodstone, for instance. They’ve never been engaged or married. Their friend, Robin Bennett, was—”

  “How’s your meal?” Jeff interrupted before Susan could launch into her criticism of the town’s librarian.

  “It’s delish,” Susan answered with her mouth full.

  Jeff wondered how she managed to stay so slender with the amount of food she was inhaling. It was incomprehensible to him how someone her age could be so immature. Was she always this self-centered or was she just in a bad mood this evening? Maybe the tequila was affecting her brain function. He didn’t want to hang around to find out. He decided there would be no second date with Susan Stinson no matter what.

  As the meal progressed, the conversation remained on the woman’s needs, wants and desires. She drank two margaritas before she became noticeably tipsy. When Jorie returned to clear the table and take their dessert orders, Susan blurted out, “Oh, I can’t have dessert, I’m watching my figure.”

  With great effort he bit back a fit of laughter and requested the check. As they reached his car Susan turned to him and placed a hand on his chest. “Want to go back to my place for some adult R & R?”

  “No, I have an early day tomorrow, so I think I’ll head back home. Thanks anyway.”

  “Want me to make a reservation for Saturday night at the exclusive restaurant on the coast I told you about?” she pushed as she sidled up next to him while he was opening her car door. He helped her into the car and closed the door, eager to stall for some time before responding to her latest inquiry.

  He positively did not want to go out with this woman again, but he couldn’t gather the courage to admit it to her. Instead, when he slid into his seat behind the wheel he said simply, “I don’t think so, but thanks all the same.”

  She leaned across the front seat and stroked his face roughly with her hands. “How about a little good night kiss or two?” Her words were slurred and her eyes glazed.

  He gave her a quick peck on the forehead which resulted in the young woman’s lower lip jutting out in a noticeable and unbecoming pout. Jeff hoped she sensed his reluctance. Thankfully, she didn’t pursue kissing him any further.

  As he pulled to the curb in front of her house, Susan stumbled out of the car before he could even stop the engine. Her heels echoed on the walkway as she jogged up to her porch. Once there, she waved clumsily at him before letting herself into her front door. When she was out of sight, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. That was bad—really, really awful.

  Chapter 5

  The weather was sunny and mild late Friday afternoon as Robin wal
ked to the town square for the volunteer fire department and ambulance service’s annual Chili Cook-Off. The fire chief had asked her to be an official taster for the contest again this year. As she rounded the corner to enter the square, she caught sight of Jeff Clarke. He spotted her at the same time and wandered over to where she was standing.

  “Hey, Robin. How’s it going?”

  “Hi, Jeff. I’m good. How about you?”

  “I’m great. Better now that you’re here.” He lowered his voice and looked around before saying, “I was wrangled into being an official taster for the cook-off today by the guy at the hardware store.”

  “Me, too,” Robin said. “I get asked to do it every year since I’m a city employee and all.”

  “At least it’s for a good cause.”

  “In a small town they have lots of these fundraisers to help out with the expenses for running the basic infra-structure.”

  “I guess that’s true. You said you’re a city employee. What type of work do you do?”

  “I’m the librarian at the public library here in Bonita Creek. I handle all of the operations of the library, collection development, fundraising, reference, outreach, literacy activities for children and adults, coordinating volunteers and everything in between. I’m the ‘go to’ person for whatever needs to be done at and for the library.”

  Dread and anxiety raced through his gut. Un-be-lieve-able. This is unbelievable. Jeff’s thoughts ran rampant. This woman was the professional whose career he’d been sent to dissect and possibly destroy. While his mission was not directed at Robin Bennett personally, the end result could likely be her dismissal as the town’s librarian.

  Jeff swallowed hard through the knot in his throat. “Do you like your work?”

  “I do. I’ve wanted to be a librarian since I won the Library Assistant of the Year Award from Mrs. O’Connell in the fifth grade. Books have been some of my greatest friends since I was young. Now I have the opportunity to share my love of books and my passion about literacy with other Bonita Creek residents, from toddlers up to octogenarians.”

  She paused to take a sip from the bottle of water she carried. “Right now the exterior of our library building is being renovated, so the city closed the library for two weeks and gave me an unpaid spring break. Wasn’t that generous?” she laughed lightly.

  Fearful he might divulge some detail about himself or his occupation, Jeff quickly inserted a lame comment about the weather in Bonita Creek in an effort to change the path of their conversation. Grateful she didn’t appear to notice his brusque change of subject, Jeff had to work to remain focused on Robin’s bubbly dialogue. His thoughts kept shifting away from her entertaining chatter to settle on the true reason he was temporarily living here in Bonita Creek.

  The rest of the evening continued in a blur for Jeff. He had a taste of seven or eight different batches of chili. Most of them were flavorful, but the glob of beans, spices, and meat was now resting in his stomach like a lead weight. He marked each cook-off ballot with care, but he was relieved when the evening’s winner was announced and he was free to leave.

  “That was fun,” Robin said with a grin.

  “Yeah, or something,” Jeff replied. “I need to stop by the store for some antacid. I’ve got a major stomach ache. Are we still on for tomorrow at eight?”

  “If you feel better. I understand if you aren’t up to working in the yard.”

  Jeff dismissed her thoughts with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be fine. See you at eight then.”

  “Sometimes ginger ale helps, too.”

  “What?”

  “Ginger ale. I drink it when my stomach is upset.”

  “Yeah, okay, thanks.” Jeff nodded before turning toward the drug store.

  Oh, man. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my stomach is in knots because of her job as the town’s librarian and my job as the forensic accountant sent here to investigate the library’s operations and finances. I need more than ginger ale and antacid to get rid of this stomach ache.

  Chapter 6

  As he walked home Jeff shook his head in disgust. He was attracted to Robin Bennett—Bonita Creek’s Librarian—plain and simple. She was obviously hiding behind a wall of hurt feelings and deep pain, most likely caused by a failed relationship. He stopped abruptly.

  Am I willing to invest the time and energy it’ll take to get to know her better? That could cause a conflict of interest involving my position with Mr. Brownstein.

  A conflict of interest was a major concern. He definitely didn’t want to lose his job. Would his actions cause irreparable damage to his status with his employer? He compromised by deciding he’d have breakfast with Robin, help her with the yard work, and then literally say ‘goodbye’ before they got more deeply involved.

  He decided it would be best to notify his ever-vigilant employer of this new development in Bonita Creek. It would be awkward if his boss found out somehow his employee had seen Robin Bennett socially. If Mr. Brownstein didn’t approve of Jeff’s seeing her socially tomorrow, he’d cancel even if he might seem rude in Robin’s eyes.

  He slammed the door on his way into the house. Wanting to get this whole thing over with so he might possibly enjoy the rest of his day, he pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled down to Mr. Brownstein’s direct line. He pushed the call button and waited for his boss to answer.

  After three rings his boss answered with a terse, “Stan Brownstein here.”

  “Sir, this is Jeff Clarke calling from Bonita Creek, California.”

  “Hello, Jeff. How’s it going with your assignment?”

  “I’ve run into a bit of a possible snag I want to discuss with you. I’ve met the librarian here. We ran into each other last weekend, and spent some time together before I realized who she is. We have plans to spend Saturday morning together.”

  “Sounds promising,” Brownstein said, sounding happier about it than Jeff expected. “I like it. Get her to trust you. It’ll give you an opportunity to get all the information we need for our professional purposes.”

  “Mr. Brownstein, I like this woman. I mean I seriously like her. She’s a nice lady who’s committed to her job and the library. I strongly believe I should withdraw from this assignment. I don’t feel comfortable using my acquaintance with Miss Bennett to gather information which may destroy her position with the library and her standing in this community.”

  His boss coughed and cleared his throat impatiently on the other end.

  “Perhaps you can send in another consultant to perform this job and assign me to something else. I’ll even reimburse you for the airline tickets to get me here and back home,” he added impulsively.

  “Mr. Clarke, this is your superior speaking. You remember me? I’m the guy who signs your paychecks and pays for your medical insurance coverage, among other things.”

  “Uh, yes, sir, Mr. Brownstein,” Jeff offered weakly.

  “There is no way you’re going to be relieved of this assignment for such a simple reason. You’re the most skilled forensic accountant I have on staff. You’re perfect for this particular investigation. Besides, I don’t see a thing wrong with romancing the little lady to get some information if it might help our client in the long run. You do remember who our client is, don’t you?”

  “Yes, sir, I certainly remember our contract with the City of Bonita Creek. I’ve worked for you for several years, and you know I don’t operate like this, sir. I don’t want to mislead this woman. It feels dishonest to me. I don’t want to abuse her trust. I don’t want anyone questioning my integrity here. I’ve always performed my work with the highest ethics and transparency. Please reconsider and choose someone else to come to Bonita Creek to deal with this matter.”

  “No. My mind is set on your handling this contract for us. If you can’t do your job in the detached, professional fashion I require of my employees, then you may as well hand in your resignation and look for work with a more compassionate, genteel firm. I run
this firm and you’ll follow my edicts or your employment will be terminated. Brownstein & Associates has a fine reputation for doing top-notch work, and we will not become namby-pamby just to satisfy your personal quest for integrity.”

  Jeff knew full well Stan Brownstein would indeed fire him without a second thought if he refused to follow his orders to the letter. He needed his job to survive and to continue to make payments on his massive student loans from college and graduate school. He murmured a barely audible and unenthusiastic, “I understand, sir,” before hanging up in despair. It was imperative he figure out some sensible way to deal with this.

  Cradling his head in his hands, he sat down at his desk and rubbed his aching temples, hoping the simple action would alleviate his stress. He decided to examine and analyze this challenge as he would any other he encountered in his job. His mind was cluttered with a multitude of opposing and diverse thoughts as he dwelled on the situation here in Bonita Creek. He wanted to seek out Robin for comfort, but that was a definite impossibility. Boy, have you got it bad, Clarke. What’s up with that?

  He got up and began pacing around the desk. He was convinced he had absolutely no power in this situation. It was imperative he keep his boss happy in order to retain his job. Jeff felt a weighty burden settling on his shoulders. He threw his arms up in disgust and slammed his body into the recliner.

  During the next half hour he designed a flimsy plan which would require him to behave in an obnoxious manner toward Robin on Saturday. Maybe she’d dislike him so much she’d avoid him while he lived in Bonita Creek. Hopefully he would be forgiven when he was free to pursue a relationship with her. He decided he would pursue a relationship just as soon as possible.