There weren't any flowers or chocolates for Juneia Jeffers last weekend... and husband Charles didn't take her out to dinner on Valentine's Day either.

But it doesn't mean the former politician didn't do something special for his wife of 26 years. He always does, and not just on Valentine's Day.

In fact when it comes to romance Mr. Jeffers sets the standard from a man's perspective. Mrs. Jeffers has come to expect the unexpected and female colleagues in her department at the Bank of Butterfield can't wait to see what he's up to next, enjoying the suspense as much as she does.

"My department has not been the same since," said Mrs. Jeffers.

"The staff look forward to it, because their husbands or significant others do not put in much effort. Women look forward to every single Valentine from Charles. They have been in on the conspiracy, he gets people involved to surprise me. They look forward to it, to laugh or cry.

"One girl stood behind me with tears in her eyes the year he sent me to the Bahamas. He had a tape with Caribbean music and had clearance from my manager so I could be off. The girls came rushing and one guy came in also.

"His opening remark on the tape was 'I was away from you last week (he had to travel) and guess what, I'm going to be away for Valentine's. I felt sad instantly, the fact that he was leaving me again. I dropped my head and the tears were on my cheeks.

"The girl behind me was getting caught up with what he was saying on this tape. Then he came with this afternote: 'Guess what, you are going with me'! There was a swimsuit in the bag, a ticket and spending money in the bag. That was four years ago."

To Mr. Jeffers, showing affection is no big deal, just something he has learned to enjoy doing.

"I have always felt my wife was special, in the early years I never missed birthdays or any kind of special events," he stated.

"To me it was an opportunity to let her know how I felt. Picking out a card to me is not about going and grabbing something. I have walked from store to store looking for the right card, and the right card is not always the same every time.

"We might have gone through a tough time and through something very special and I want to reinforce it. So I look for cards that speak the truth every time. I will spend 15 minutes to half an hour looking for the card.

"One year in Canada I bought a book of romantic poetry and I faxed a page of a poem to her every hour. Another time I called her every hour and just sang a verse or chorus from a love song."

Added his wife: "I was tempted to put him on speaker phone and let the whole area hear it. I just wanted to share it, he has a beautiful tenor voice. I want that tenor voice to be heard at certain times. Sometimes it is pretty overpowering, children turn around and look at him in church."

And no, Mr. Jeffers says, that special something does not have to have a heavy price tag attached.

"You don't have to have a lot of money to do certain things, but a little bit of imagination and some sincerity go a long way," he pointed out.

"What I hasten to tell people is you can't just do something on Valentine's and expect it to be a hit. It has to be something that you do all year round. I know guys who have given their secretary money and said 'go and get a gift for my wife, it's her birthday'.

"Many secretaries have bought more gifts for executives' wives because they are too busy. I've known people who have given their wives money and said 'go and get something you like'. To me, if you can't feel that personal about it to do it yourself then don't bother doing it.

"I also have a caution for guys that if you don't know your wife's size, for heavens sake buy it too small. If you think she might be a ten but are not sure, buy an eight. Don't buy a 12! If you buy a bigger size she is going to assume that is the way you see her."

Mr. Jeffers is proud to say he not only knows his wife's size but also her tastes.

"He's bought from hats to pantyhose... every single thing," said his wife with approval.

When her husband is up to one of his surprises he will go to any extreme to pull it off and make it special.

"One particular year I went down to the Supermart on Front Street and bought a number of grocery items," he said.

"Then I went back to my office, typed up labels and put them on with hearts. I put them in a shopping bag and took them down to her office along with a bunch of tulips and a note.

"I left it at the reception and they took it to her office saying a grocery bag is coming. She opened the bag and out comes a peach with a note that says 'you make my life so peachy'.

"Then out comes the apple 'you're the apple of my eye'. A package of tea said 'you're still my cup of tea'. Cubed sugar was 'sugar pie, honey bunch, you know I love you'. A small can of carnation milk said 'you are the cream in my coffee', and a chocolate said 'you are still my dark, sweet chocolate'."

While she was opening the gift I had gone back to the office and faxed her a note that said 'tulips in the garden, tulips in the park, but the tulips I like best are your tulips in the dark'. I learned that at Central School when I was a little boy. I thought it was so appropriate."

He added: "On the Monday before Valentine's I sent her a single rose, on the Tuesday two roses and the Wednesday I brought home three roses and a card. I actually picked out four cards. By the Wednesday she had half a dozen roses and Thursday was Valentine's and I sent to her another half a dozen roses at work.

"By three o'clock I had a violinist from the Menuhin Foundation to come in and serenade her."

Mrs. Jeffers also recalls a personal shopper visiting her at work with three outfits for her to choose from, courtesy of her husband.

"I was asked to go to Jamaica for a special meeting and was going to be away at Valentine's and had to scrap all the plans that I had for that day," Mr. Jeffers recalls of that occasion.