The Fine Line Book One Between Worlds Series (4 page)

She smiled as she watched his curly blond
hair blowing in the warm breeze. With a nod, she sighed and put
weight on it.

“
I think I’ll live. Thanks
for asking. By the way, I can still run pretty fast, so you guys
better watch out.” She smirked.

“
Oh,” he chuckled, “well
I’ll have to make sure I keep up with you this evening
then.”

Just as Matt predicted, her ankle healed
without complication. She was thankful for that, but being cooped
up in the apartment made her feel like a caged animal; it brought
out the worst in her. The few days off of work helped her build
some much needed strength though. As much as she didn’t want to
admit it, she needed a break from work.

Soon 6:00 turned into 6:15 and Robin’s anger
grew, the calming inner voice overridden by frustration. Being
stood up made her feel completely humiliated even though she was
the only one who knew that plans were made for Matt to see her play
ball.

As she stood in the outfield fuming, she
heard the roar of a diesel engine and the gravel crack under the
tires. She glanced over to see the white truck pulling in.

The game continued as the opposing team took
the field. Happily, Robin ran to the dugout looking forward to a
drink of water.

Still put off, she made no effort to go to
Matt. The anger seethed from her. Again, the inner voice spoke up
telling her to be patient.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him
sitting on the blanket with Wendy and some of the other spectators.
Robin stood, her shoulders squared and her arms folded defensively.
She continued watching as he excused himself from Wendy’s presence
and walked toward her.

He wore a pair of dark washed jeans, black
Converse high top tennis shoes, and a plain gray v-neck t-shirt. He
wore aviator sunglasses and his head was down as he continued
walking briskly toward Robin. The wind blew his hair everywhere.
His shirt clung to him, his upper body muscles cutting through the
fabric of the cotton shirt. Robin’s heart sped up.

Nonchalantly, she turned her head toward
him. He smiled and waved. She smiled superficially and walked to
meet him.

“
Hey,” he said as she got
closer, “I’m sorry I was late. I went to the wrong field. When I
realized kids were playing, I knew I was in the wrong
place.”

“
It’s okay,” she
lied.

“
Really, I’m sorry. I
didn’t want you to think I wasn’t coming, so I tried to call your
cell, but you must have already been on the field.”

“
Really, Matt, it’s okay.
Mistakes happen, right?”

Shamed by guilt, she realized she hadn’t
checked her cell phone before going onto the field. He smiled and
then took a deep breath.

“
I was wondering if you
wanted to watch me bowl tomorrow night. Some of the doctors and
nurses formed a league. We meet in Oxford every Wednesday
night.”

Pleased with the invitation, she grinned,
“Sure. What time?”

“
We start at 6:30. I
usually go right to work afterward, so can you meet me there,
otherwise I’d pick you up myself.”

“
I can meet you there.
That’s no problem.”

With grins, they parted and she made her way
back to the others. When she reached the dugout, she looked in her
bag. Sure enough, a missed called from Matt showed up on her phone
at 6:03. A text from him at 6:08 said, “Got lost. OMW to the
field.”

Relief swept over her. The inner voice spoke
again reminding her how exhausting anger is. Happy relief took the
place of the poisonous hostility.

The game continued as Robin kept a close eye
on Matt. At one point, she saw Matt and Wendy having an intense
conversation. Curiosity overwhelmed her, but she focused on her
duties in the outfield.

During another break, Wendy came over to the
dugout to talk to Terri. Robin interrupted them quickly.

“
What were you talking
about?” Robin asked bluntly.

“
Huh?” Wendy
asked.

“
You and Matt; what were
you talking about?”

Wendy hesitated.

“
Well, I just told him
that you had been hurt, you know, and he needed to be careful with
you.”

“
Wendy!”

“
What? I’m just trying to
protect you.”

“
Oh my God! I can’t leave
you alone with anyone!”

“
Oh, it’s not that bad. I
just don’t want to see you hurt anymore. I’m not going to let him
be an ass to you. Every man needs a good warning talk every now and
then.”

Robin buried her face in her hands as she
sat on the wooden bench. “Wendy,” she said, “you have got to get a
grip. Tell me what you said!”

“
I just told him if he
wasn’t serious about dating you he needed to step off.”

“
Oh God,” Robin
sighed.

“
I told him that you have
been through a lot. I told him that I knew you guys were just
getting to know each other, and I didn’t offer to give him any
details, but I told him that you have dealt with a lot of gamers
and a lot of jerks. I told him that if he was one of them, to just
leave you alone.” She paused and then hesitantly continued. “And I
also told him that if he was still hooking up with his ex-wife to
leave you out of it.”

“
Well, sounds like you
covered everything,” she bit out angrily.

Wendy threw up her hands.

“
Listen, if I scared him
off with that, then he wasn’t worth hanging onto
anyway.”

At the end of the game, the team met at a
sports bar in town. Matt drove Robin to the restaurant. In the
truck, he complimented her on her performance in the game. He asked
about her ankle and they talked about the upcoming concert
Saturday.

In the cab of the truck, the aftershave Matt
wore intoxicated her. She glanced over at him as he drove.
Impressed by his good looks, she found it hard to take her eyes
away from him. He felt her staring and turned his head slightly to
smile.

“
What?” he
asked.

Startled by his words, she jumped a
little.

“
Nothing,” she answered
with an innocent smile.

She took off her cleats before going into
the bar and slipped on a comfortable pair of flip flops. Still
sporting her ball cap and uniform, she knew she smelled of dust and
sweat. She looked forward to tomorrow night’s bowling league when
she could dress decently and put on perfume.

They walked into the restaurant and sat down
with the team members. Terri and Wendy sat beside Dalton Carver,
Terri’s best friend. Landon Phillips, an ongoing worker, Patricia
Felix, the agency secretary, Carla Vincent, an ongoing worker in
the delinquency unit, and Paul Riser, the intake supervisor, sat
around the table. Laughter filled the room.

Matt pulled out a chair for Robin and
suddenly the laughter stopped. The smiles continued.

“
Everybody,” Robin began,
“this is Matt.” Everyone greeted him warmly with hellos.

The police department’s team came and sat
down with the children services team. Colin sat across from Matt,
making Robin feel awkward. But, both Colin and Matt grinned
cordially.

Pitchers of beer peppered the table and
orders were taken. Cheers could be heard throughout the bar as
patrons watched the ball games on big screen T.V.’s.

“
You played like a champ
tonight, Robin,” Colin said sweetly. “Looks like that ankle really
is fixed.”

“
She did play well, didn’t
she?” Matt said as he looked over at her with an adoring smile.
Gently, he put his arm around the back of her chair.

“
I was very
impressed.”

She blushed at the compliment.

“
So what is it that you
do?” Colin asked Matt candidly.

“
I’m an E.R. doctor in
Oxford.”

“
Cool,” he said. “At least
if Robin gets hurt, she’s got someone to take care of
her.”

“
Oh God, here we go” Robin
said softly.

Confused, Matt glanced at the faces around
the table.

Everyone laughed, but still Matt looked
around clueless of the joke.

“
Robin has a real bad
habit of tripping over her own feet,” Paul explained. “I’ve seen
her literally trip on the carpet when there was absolutely nothing
there.” The laughter grew louder. Robin felt Matt’s eyes on her as
she kept her head down bashfully.

“
I will admit,” she began
as she finally looked up, “I’m not the most graceful creature, but
I try, damn it.” She turned her attention to him, “I told you I had
two left feet.”

The night continued comfortably, but 9:15
meant Matt needed to leave. He leaned over in Robin’s ear. His
breath against her ear lobe sent goose bumps down her arms.

“
I need to get going,” he
whispered.

She turned her face toward his with his lips
mere inches away.

“
Okay,” she answered. The
lump in her throat almost made her mute. “I’ll… I’ll walk you out,”
she stuttered.

When he stood everyone at the table sighed
and booed.

“
Leaving already?” one of
them asked.

“
Unfortunately, yes. I
have to be at work in about 45 minutes.”

Everyone said their good-byes and told him
how happy they were to meet him, even Colin. Matt walked out with
Robin following.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of the
building, Robin dropped her head.

“
I’m glad you came,” she
said.

“
Me, too. I’m really sorry
I was late.”

“
Oh no, don’t worry about
it. I’m just glad you made it.”

“
It was fun. Your friends
are hysterical, too.”

“
They’re crazy, it’s
true,” she said as her posture straightened and she looked into his
eyes.

“
I will see you tomorrow
night, okay?”

He took her hand into his, but it was too
soon for a kiss, so she turned her head to avoid his lips. To her
surprise, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“
I will be there,” she
answered.

The Naked Truth

Robin walked into the cool air conditioned
agency. She didn’t remember May ever being so humid. She flopped
into her office chair and gazed up at the clock. It was 3:50 and
4:30 didn’t seem to be coming fast enough.

Paul walked into her tiny office and sat
down in the vacant chair. He saw her fatigued scowl.

Paul was a tall, thin man. His career
started years ago in mental health. He gravitated toward children
services work in the late 70’s and found his niche. He had always
been fair to work for. The investigations staff respected him a
great deal.

“
Hey Robin, you have a
minute?” he asked.

“
Sure,” she answered.
“What’s up?”

Paul paused and inhaled.

“
Well,” he began, “I’m
retiring and I want you to be the first to know.”

“
Retiring?
When?”

“
I gave my notice today.
In a month, I’ll be gone.”

“
Is everything
okay?”

“
It’s just time. I’ve been
in this business for a long time, Robin. My wife and I want to
travel. Halie is getting married and my other daughter is pregnant
with our first grandchild.”

“
Wow.” Surprised and
saddened, it took only a few seconds for what he said to register.
“Well, we’ll miss you. You’ve been a great mentor Paul. I couldn’t
have asked for a better teacher.”

A smile found its way to his lips. “I’m
going to be very frank with you, Robin,” he continued, “I want you
to apply for the supervisor’s position when it’s posted.”

“
Me?”

“
You are more than capable
of doing the job.”

“
But, what about the
others? They have seniority.”

“
Seniority doesn’t matter.
We aren’t a union agency. Capability, leadership, and respect
matter more than who’s been here the longest anyway. The money is
better and you won’t have to be bothered with the pager all of the
time. Of course, you’ll carry the supervisor’s pager, but it
doesn’t come with the same pressures. It’s a lot to consider, I
know, and a lot more responsibility. But I know you. I know your
work. You were made for the job.”

“
I don’t know,” she said
shaking her head.