Mason runs the place, dear.” Clara beamed.
“And I don’t recall okaying any new volunteers lately,” he said, lifting his gaze to meet hers.
Lexie swallowed. There was a hard tone to his voice that made her uneasy. “Dr. Marcus okayed it with you.”
“You work with Dr. Marcus?” he asked.
Lexie got the distinct impression that Mason wasn’t thrilled with her involvement. “Yes. I’m the new doctor who will be assisting him at the free health clinic.”
She tried to smile. She was happy to be able to officially call herself a doctor. “I just passed my boards. Dr. Marcus was a professor of mine in medical school. He asked me to come to Carolina Shores and help him. He says there’s a big need for medical care here.”
“Oh, there is,” Clara agreed, between bites.
“Good medical care,” Mason said, his posture growing stonier by the second.
Was he implying that she wasn’t good at what she did?
Lexie shifted uncomfortably. “Of course.” She didn’t want to take offense, but how could she not? Mason was suddenly glaring at her, like she’d said or done something wrong.
“Just because someone can’t afford medical care doesn’t mean they should get subpar attention from a new doctor, who’s more concerned with wedding planning than medicine.” He set his fork down. “And that goes for the teens in this town, too.”
Okay, now she could get offended.
“I’m sorry, but I’m very focused on my role as a doctor.” She’d wanted nothing more since she was six years old, lying in a hospital bed after her first asthma attack. “I graduated with honors from my class.”
“Dr. Marcus wouldn’t have asked Lexie to come to Carolina Shores otherwise, dear,” Clara said, her brows bouncing nervously. Her fork was suspended in midair as she looked between them.
Mason wiped his mouth with his napkin, scooted his chair back from the table and stood. “I don’t want to be rude, Clara, but I’m not very hungry anymore. I also need to head back to the fire early in the morning.”
Clara and Rick exchanged a look.
“Oh, Mason, can’t you just—”
Rick moved a hand to cover her forearm, stopping her from continuing. For the entire dinner so far, he’d been quiet except to pray. “Good night then, Mason. Be careful tomorrow,” he said.
“I will.”
They watched Mason walk away. Lexie forced herself to take a deep breath. She felt like she’d just failed an exam, except school was over and Mason Benfield’s opinion of her shouldn’t have mattered. But it did. The look of disapproval in his eyes just now stung. She’d been foolish to risk her life this morning, she understood that, but it didn’t reflect on her skill as a doctor. Or it shouldn’t have. Neither did the fact that she’d been planning a wedding for the past year.
“I’m sorry about that,” Clara said, gaining Lexie’s attention. “Mason gives all the young doctors a hard time. He hasn’t exactly had the best experience with medical people.”
So he was like 50 percent of the human population who didn’t enjoy going to doctors’ or dentists’ offices, Lexie thought. That was no reason to be rude. She picked up her fork again and continued to eat, making conversation with her new Carolina Shores family. When the meal was over, Lexie retreated to the guest room down the hall, thankful for a soft place to rest her head, and for the fact that Mason had said he’d be leaving early in the morning. She wouldn’t mind not seeing him before she started her own busy day tomorrow—her first at the new health care clinic. She’d also be going to see the teens as planned tomorrow afternoon, whether Mason Benfield approved of her involvement or not.
* * *
After a long day at work, Mason walked into the Teen Center the next evening and his whole mood shifted. He loved coming to this place that his late wife had founded. It had meant so much to her when she was alive, and over the years it had come to mean a lot to him, as well.
He high-fived one of the boys standing off to the side. “Hey, Albert. How are you?”
“Great, Mr. Mason,” the boy said.
Mason kept walking, waving at the kids he passed, smiling and giving a high five every now and then. He stopped walking, however, when he saw the woman sitting at the end of the table. She was helping one of the girls with her homework. “What are you doing here?” he asked, a hard edge threading through his voice.
Lexie looked up, lifting her chin just slightly. “I told you I would be here. You and Dr. Marcus discussed this a few weeks back. You agreed to have someone from the new clinic come over to volunteer. That someone is me. I told Dr. Marcus I’d take care of this for him, so he could concentrate on other aspects of the business. I’m not going back on that commitment,” she said.
Mason shoved his hands on his hips, speechless. There were a whole lot of things he wanted to say right now, but he didn’t want to say them in front of the teens who were all staring at him. He wanted to tell Lexie that she needed to get up and get out. He didn’t think that she had anything she could teach these kids that would be of benefit. Instead, Mason stared at her for just a moment longer and then continued walking to the office in the back. His good mood was gone. Now his neck ached from the tension pulling between his shoulder blades.
“Bad day?” his friend Dave asked, looking up from his desk as Mason stormed in.
“Not until now,” Mason said.
Dave studied him. “Well, here’s some good news. We have a new volunteer.”
“Yeah, I know. And I don’t want her here,” Mason ground out.
Dave arched an eyebrow. “Why not? It’s not every day we have someone willing to sacrifice their time. What’s the problem?”
Mason crossed his arms in front of his chest. “The problem is... The problem is...” he said again, trying to think of a good reason why Lexie Campbell’s presence was a problem. “Well, for one, she’s careless. She’s the woman who I rescued from the forest fire yesterday.”
Dave nodded. “I know. She told me.”
“And you don’t think that’s a problem?” Mason asked.
Dave shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not like she’s going to be telling the kids here that they should run into burning forests.”
Mason shook his head. “I don’t want her telling my teens anything. And I certainly don’t want her giving them medical advice.”
“I get it. This is because she’s a doctor.”
“A doctor that just graduated medical school,” Mason told him. “She’s barely got her degree and she’ll be offering the people in this town, who you and I both care about, medical advice.”
Dave considered this. “Well, she’s been to medical school, and I haven’t. So I’m assuming that she has better advice than I could give.”
Mason pointed a finger. “You see? Even you would take her medical advice. That’s why having her at the free health care clinic is dangerous. Just because she’s a doctor, people will think her advice is golden. She’s inexperienced. She can make mistakes that can hurt people. Mistakes that can kill people.”
Dave’s expression softened as he stared back at him.
Mason didn’t want to see the look. Yes, he knew his past was influencing his opinion on this. He couldn’t seem to help it, though. “Lexie said she’s not leaving, so at least help me keep an eye on her,” he finally said.
“Sure. But all she’s doing is helping with the kids’ homework.”
“Good.”