Chasing Perfect (Fool's Gold #1)(39)

She’d visited a large discount store and bought a bunch of new makeup to try, including a honey-jasmine body scrub she’d been using in the shower. It was fun being a girl, she thought, wondering how she could have allowed herself to forget.

“Shall I give you the tour?” he asked.

“I would like that.”

The main floor had high ceilings. The living room flowed into a formal dining room. Both had beautiful furniture that looked expensive. The big TV and high-tech sound system could have been at home in a movie theater. There was a wet bar tucked into an alcove by the hallway, then the eat-in kitchen was in back. The patio beyond held a lush potted garden and a man-sized grill with lots of knobs and storage.

“I can’t help it,” Robert said. “Fire good.”

“Those caveman roots are hard to cut.” She handed over the bottle of wine.

He opened it and poured them each a glass. Once they’d toasted and sipped, they went out onto the patio.

“Impressive garden,” she said. “I don’t know much about growing plants.”

“My mom liked to dig in the dirt,” he told her. “I started helping out when I was a kid. I can make nearly anything grow, which is both a blessing and a curse.” He pointed to a dozen or so small pots suspended on the fence. Each overflowed with some kind of a plant. “Herbs.”

“You grow your own?”

“My ex-fiancée and I did that together. Planted the seeds. Then, when things didn’t work out, I couldn’t bring myself to take them down. They keep growing. I don’t cook much, so I have no use for them. Every few weeks I bring in bags of them to the office. Once you get your place, you can take them home and use them if you’d like.”

“The assumption being I’ll know what they are and what to do with them?”

“They have books for that.”

“Apparently I’ll need to find a couple.”

Was it just her, or was keeping an herb garden born in a previous relationship a little odd? Especially when Robert didn’t use them himself?

Maybe not, she told herself. He was obviously a great gardener. That was nice. She shouldn’t be critical. This was a guy she wanted to get to know better.

“Did your mom have a big garden?” she asked.

“About a quarter acre. My parents were older when I was born. They’d given up on having a kid. Living in a small town, they didn’t have access to a fertility specialist. I’m not sure why they never adopted.”

He motioned for her to take a seat in one of the wicker chairs on the patio, then he sat next to her.

“They were excited to have me, but a little old-fashioned. They didn’t want me to go away to college, so I went locally. Then after I graduated and got my first job, I lived at home for a while. By then Dad was gone and Mom was having trouble getting around.”

“That was nice of you.”

He shrugged. “They were my parents. I had to take care of them. When Mom passed, I decided to leave town.”

“You didn’t have anyone special to keep you there?”

“No. I didn’t date a lot. Mom preferred me to spend my time with her.”

Creepy music played softly in the back of her mind. Charity told herself that Robert was simply that rare breed of good guy, but she wasn’t sure she completely believed it. She’d had enough disasters in her past to look for warning signs. Was there one here or was she simply comparing Robert to Josh?

Figuring out the truth was made all the more challenging by her physical reaction to Josh every time she was around him. No man could compete with that, either, she though sadly. Were the Roberts of the world destined to be outshone by those who were special?

“I like life here,” he said. “No complications. At least there weren’t until we found there was money missing.”

That’s right. The missing seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. “I assume there’s going to be an investigation,” she said.

“It’s already started. The city council is bringing in someone to audit the books.” He grimaced. “It’s a lot of money to be accounted for.”

“Do you have any ideas about what happened?”

“Not a clue. Normally I know exactly when money is coming in from the state. But this time…” He sipped his wine. “Something’s wrong.”

“The police chief mentioned something to me about somebody stealing. We’re having quite the crime spree in town.”

“I doubt they’re related.” He glanced at her. “Those thefts were small amounts. Stuff you get at a grocery store. This is major. Somebody’s going to jail.” He smiled. “Shall I start the steaks?”

“Sure. How can I help?”

“Just watch and pretend to admire my prowess with the grill.”

She laughed. “I can do that.”

THREE HOURS LATER CHARITY walked back to the hotel, fighting the feeling of finally escaping a long duty dinner. As much as she’d tried to enjoy herself and connect with Robert, they had absolutely no chemistry together and very little in common. The herb garden growing on the fence had turned out to be the highlight of the evening.

Robert was a man of many interests. He had an entire bedroom devoted to Civil War battle reenactments. The models were all to scale, with tiny trees and houses dotting the mossy landscape. He’d shown her the mistakes of the Battle of Bull Run, including both sound effects and falling men. She would guess he had a fair amount of money invested in that hobby.