A Rich Man for Dry Creek / a Hero for Dry Creek Read Online Free PDF Page B

rest of the country, too.
    â€œYes?” Mrs. Hargrove looked up at him. Her eyes were bright with curiosity. Her cheeks were pink. She must be seventy years old. She looked like every cookie-lover’s picture of Grandma.
    Robert dove right in. “I love you.”
    â€œWhy, I love you, too.” She beamed back.
    â€œWhat?” Robert stalled. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.
    â€œI love all of God’s children,” Mrs. Hargrove continued. “They say that’s how Christians will know each other. By the love they have for others. I John 4:7. Does this mean you’re a Christian?”
    â€œWell, no, I—I mean I’m not opposed to Christianity.” Robert started to sweat in earnest. How had God gotten into this? “Don’t really even know much about it—”
    â€œWell, I’d be happy to tell you.”
    â€œGreat, maybe later. It’s just that’s not what I meant when I said I love you.”
    â€œWell, then, what did you mean?”
    Robert was desperate. He looked over and nodded at Bambi. She was in position. Then he started to bend down.
    Unfortunately, Mrs. Hargrove bent, too. “My beads.”
    Robert heard the scattered dropping of pearls as his kiss landed smack on the top of Mrs. Hargrove’s gray head. His lips met the scalp where her hair was parted.
    â€œOh, dear,” Mrs. Hargrove said as she bent down farther.
    Now Robert couldn’t even kiss the top of her head unless he squatted down to where his kneecaps should be.
    â€œHere, let me help you,” Jenny said as she stepped closer to both of them.
    Robert wasn’t about to give up. It wasn’t ideal. But the camera was in place and he was determined to kiss someone. Even if it was Jenny.
    He heard her first soft shocked breath as he drew Jenny to him. He was close enough to feel her second indignant breath as he bent his head.
    The camera flashed. The talking stopped. A bead rolled.
    Robert was triumphant. His big moment was recorded. He could end the kiss. But he didn’t. Something was happening.
    The kiss blossomed. Jenny tasted of home. The minute Robert felt her lips tremble beneath his, he was lost. He didn’t want the kiss to end. He felt like he had caught a fragile thread of something precious he didn’t even understand.
    â€œMmmm, sweet. I like that—I mean you—I like you,” he whispered when he finally drew away.
    â€œNot love?” Bright red dots stood out on both of Jenny’s cheeks. “I thought ‘I love you’ came easy enough to your type.”
    Robert felt like he was coming out of a cozy cave and facing the frost of winter.
    â€œMy type?” he asked cautiously.
    Jenny’s brown eyes had deepened to a snapping black. She bristled.
    â€œThe type of man who kisses his employees—whom he likes —even when he says he loves Mrs. Hargrove.”
    â€œI don’t kiss my employ—” Robert stopped. That was no longer true. “I mean, I don’t. Well, I didn’t—”
    There was an incessant ringing somewhere and a gnarled old hand reached from behind Robert. Mr. Gossett had pulled the ringing phone out of the coat pocket. “This yours?”
    â€œYou want it?” Robert asked Jenny.
    Jenny’s cheeks were red still and her breathing quick. She was adorable.
    Robert suspected she reached for the phone more for something to do than because she wanted to talk.
    â€œYes.” Jenny turned her back to him and walked a few feet away.
    â€œYou talked to him!” She looked over her shoulder in a betraying move. It was the sister. “So he knows.”
    Robert knew he should pick up on the accusation Jenny had left dangling and make some strong sexual harassment statements. Publicly threaten to fire her unless she kissed him again. That would certainly knock him off the bachelor list. Women didn’t tolerate sexual harassment anymore and they