So Many Men...

by Dorie Graham

  He nodded, already drifting.

  “Mason?”

  A note of nervousness in her voice had him opening his eyes and reaching for her. “What is it, babe?”

  “Will they like me? The teens?”

  He kissed her hand, finally certain of something. “No doubt. They won’t be able to resist your charm.”

  THE WIND PICKED UP and whipped sand across the bags of trash piled near a flagpole late the next afternoon. Tess dropped another bag on top of the rest and wiped her forehead as Mason moved beside her. She smiled, her heart quickening at the sparkle in his eye.

  He had to be remembering their night together.

  “I appreciate your coming to help,” he said.

  “No problem. I want to get involved. I think you’re doing a good thing here.” She nodded to a group of teens, laughing and playing as they made a game of gathering trash off the beach.

  A quiver of nerves shot through her. They’d arrived a little late and the kids had already taken off up the beach with another volunteer. Mason hadn’t yet had a chance to introduce her.

  He shrugged. “We can only do so much. They came today. It’s a good day.”

  “Well, my guess is that they have lots more good days than bad with Project Mentor around.”

  “We try to provide as many opportunities as we can. The youth center should have daily programs available. That will hopefully make more of a difference.”

  “Hey, Tess, Mason,” Cassie called as she dumped a load of garbage, looking like one of the teens herself, with her hair pulled back in pigtails. Other members of the DCWC dotted the shoreline, working in pairs and groups mixed with the Project Mentor team.

  “Look at that pile,” she added, as she neared them. “It’s a shame to see all this trash. You’d think people would care a little more.”

  Mason nodded. “At least this area will be clean for a while. We’ll see what happens in another month or so. We might need to come back out.”

  “Mason, heads up.” The young man from the park tossed a bag that flew past Mason’s head, then landed in the pile.

  He jogged up beside them. His gaze swept over the women, then away. He stopped with his hands on his knees.

  “Rafe, this is Tess McClellan. Tess, Rafe Black.”

  Rafe nodded, his eyes cast to the ground. Tess extended her hand and the young man took it, his gaze skittering briefly to hers, before swerving away again. In the instant their eyes met a shock of feelings slammed into her: sorrow, pain, fear and a nearly debilitating sense of helplessness. She sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile, though the jumble of emotions raging through the young man had her knees wobbling. “It’s nice to meet you, Rafe.”

  He ducked his head. “Yeah, it’s nice to meet a friend of Dr. Davies. He’s a good guy. He’s helped me out a lot. Been there for me.”

  Mason gestured to Cassie. “This is Cassie Aikens. They’re both with the Dade County Women’s Club.”

  “Hi, Rafe.” Cassie took his hand in both of hers and gave him a generous shake.

  The boy bit his lip. “You’re with the group that’s raising money for the center?”

  “That’s right. Tess talked us into helping. I hear you and your friends want to pitch in.” Cassie nodded toward the group of teens who straggled after Rafe, dragging bags with them.

  “Uh, yeah.” Rafe scuffed the toe of his shoe in the sand. “We thought since it was for the center…”

  “We’d love to have your help,” Cassie assured him. “Tess is going to coordinate your efforts. I’ve given her a list of jobs you kids can do.”

  Tess managed a smile for all the kids as their gazes turned to her. A jumble of feelings swamped her, much as they had with Rafe, but to varying degrees. She reached for Mason and he took her hand as he introduced the newcomers.

  Her blood pounded in her ears and she bobbed her head mutely at each teen. So much for her empathic nature only working with her men. She needed to talk to Aunt Sophie about this new development. If she could shut the damn thing off, she would.

  How could she bear the weight of all their emotions combined?

  “You okay?” Mason squeezed her hand, concern rounding his eyes.

  Strength seemed to flow into her from him and she gazed at him, awed. How did he manage it day in and day out with these kids—with his patients? A new respect for him flourished inside her.

  “Tess?” he asked again.

  She inhaled a deep breath and nodded. “It’s great to meet all of you. I’ve really been looking forward to it.”

  “Rafe, how’s your dad?” Mason asked.

  The young man shifted and looked away. “About the same. I’m guessing it won’t be long now.” He shrugged. “I was going to ask you to help me declare my independence, but—” he shrugged again “—guess he needs me there for now.”

  His face brightened. “I went by to see that friend of yours at the car wash and he hired me on. Part-time, but that beats a blank and it’s about all I can handle until I finish school.”

  Mason clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s great to hear, Rafe. You have any trouble getting there?”

  “It’s on the bus line.”

  “So you go to school, work and help out your dad at home?” Cassie asked.

  Rafe again ducked his head, uncertainty circling out from him. He seemed to be fighting an inclination to mistrust. “Yes, ma’am. Well—” he gestured to the rest of the teens who had gathered around a tall man, another of the Project Mentor volunteers “—we’ve got a little more to finish.”

  “It’s looking good,” Mason called as Rafe loped over to his friends.

  “He seems like a great kid,” Cassie said as she opened a new trash bag.

  Tess tried to shake the intense turmoil that had gripped her since the moment Rafe had taken her hand. It was as if every ill feeling the young man—and his friends—had ever felt had clamored to escape through her. She mentally shook herself. “He’s carrying around a lot of hurt.”

  Both Mason and Cassie turned to her, eyebrows raised in question. Her cheeks heated and she shrugged. “You can see it in his eyes.”

  Cassie nodded and waved as she left for a stretch of beach to their right. Mason handed Tess a fresh bag and they wandered toward a stand of sea oats clustered near the path leading back to the street where they’d parked.

  They worked in silence for a while, Tess doing her best to release the upset the kids had stirred in her. She swallowed. She could barely tolerate a brief taste of what the boy had experienced.

  How had he managed a lifetime?

  “You are way too distracting,” Mason said in an effort to lighten the mood as they picked up the last of the litter.

  Had her unease been so apparent?

  “I can’t believe I nearly forgot about the beach cleanup this morning,” he said.

  She smiled and shifted her thoughts to safer territory, grateful he’d provided the opportunity. “I reminded you last night before we went to sleep.”

  “You made me late.”

  “I wanted you to start the day relaxed.”

  “Sweetheart, after last night I was nearly comatose. I’m not quite used to…ah…performing for such extended periods of time.”

  “I don’t recall forcing you, not last night in the car, or on the coffee table in the living room, or against the wall in the hallway—”

  “You got me started in the car. I’d never been quite so…experimental before. I couldn’t seem to stop once we got started.”

  “You seemed experienced enough this morning. Even I have never had such an exciting shower. You do know how to work a showerhead.” She forced a light tone.

  “Okay, so you have this arousing effect on me. We’d better change the subject, or I’ll have to drag you back to my place again.”

  Her blood warmed as her gaze met his and some of the unease left her. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the day. That is, if you don’t have anything else b
ut your rounds scheduled. Is that right?”

  He glanced up the beach to where Rafe and the rest of the teens moved slowly toward them, bags of trash in hand. “I need to see what’s going on with the kids. We’ll probably head out for pizza after this. I thought it would be a good time for you to get with them about the ball.” He tossed her a sheepish glance. “So, what do you say? You up for pizza?”

  Tess squelched the disappointment rising in her and stifled the discomfort that thinking of Rafe and the other teens brought her. How selfish could she be? Of course Mason had to spend time with the kids. But was she up to it? “You go ahead. I think maybe I’ll pass today. I can get with them another time.”

  He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Are you not feeling well? You look a little pale.” He turned her to face him. “Babe, I’m so sorry. I should have let you get more rest last night. You didn’t have to come. I could have taken you home. Here—” He started to drag her toward where they’d parked.

  “No.” She held her ground and he turned back to her. “I’m okay. I’m just not sure I can do this.”

  “What? Work with the kids?” His eyebrows arched in surprise. “They like you. You just need to give them a chance.”

  Her feeling of apprehension intensified. “I’m not sure what I can contribute to them, to be honest. I don’t even know how to relate to them.”

  “You’ll do fine. They need all the positive role models they can get. Tell you what, you don’t need to meet with them today. We’ll do that another time. Spend some time getting to know them.” He cocked his head, his eyes coaxing. “It’s just pizza.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come for me, then. You don’t have to talk to anyone else if you don’t want to. Eat your pizza and keep me company.”

  “I don’t want to intrude on your time with them.”

  “Don’t be silly. You won’t be intruding. Here, let’s ask the kids.” He nodded as the teens approached.

  “No, Mason, don’t.” She tugged on her hand, trying to free herself from his grasp, but he held on tight.

  “Hey, Rafe, don’t you think that Tess should come for pizza?”

  The young man’s dark gaze glittered over her, and, though he shrugged and tried to look nonchalant, the hope in his eyes stopped her in her tracks. “That would be cool.”

  “See?” Mason turned to her. “How can you pass up an opportunity to be cool?”

  She shook her head. “He didn’t say I’d be cool if I went. He said it would be cool if I went. That’s not the same thing at all.”

  “Same difference.” Mason took her trash bag and heaved it onto the pile. “So, is it time for pizza, everyone?”

  A cheer of accord rose from the group as the rest of the volunteers converged on the spot. Mason turned to Tess and extended his hand. “Ready?”

  She glanced over the group of teens, some smiling, some sullen, some with a definite look of defiance. A different set of emotions radiated from each one. Everything about the teens seemed to be intensified tenfold compared to all the adults she’d ever dealt with.

  No, she was anything but ready for this group. But her gut told her Mason needed her more than all of them combined, and if being with Mason meant weathering pizza with this crew, then pizza it was.

  Lifting her chin, she placed her hand in his, her gaze intent on him. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “ARE YOU SURE YOU’LL be okay?” Mason cocked his head at Tess as he stood in her door, poised to leave later that evening.

  Pizza with the Project Mentor teens had been as harrowing as Tess had feared. The strain of keeping a composed facade was taking its toll and she was grateful that he had to leave to do his rounds at the hospital.

  She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll be fine. You go do what you need to do.”

  “I can stop back by later.” He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close. “We can pick up where we left off this morning. There’s all kinds of new places to try here.” He glanced around the apartment. “You have some interesting nooks and crannies.”

  “And a sister who might pop in at any moment. Actually, I’m a little worn-out. Could I take a rain check?”

  His disappointment reached out to her and she almost changed her mind, but weariness pressed on her and she smiled apologetically. “I guess you’ve just worn me out, Dr. Davies.”

  “Okay.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll let you off the hook for tonight. I’m on call tomorrow and I need to put some time in at the clinic downtown, so I’ll call you when I can.”

  Her heart swelled with warmth for this man as he pulled her close and kissed her, his beautiful mouth telling her just how much he would miss her. She stood in the door as he moved down the hall, stopping to toss her a sexy smile before he turned onto the landing.

  She sighed and leaned against the doorjamb for long moments after he’d gone. What to do with all these confusing new feelings? This relationship with Mason was getting more complicated all the time.

  Taking a deep breath she locked and bolted the door, then stared at her quiet apartment. It was so strange to be here alone. When was the last time she’d been on her own on a Saturday night?

  “This is as good a time as any to see if Erin wants to do something,” she said to no one in particular as she punched in her sister’s cell phone number.

  Erin answered on the fourth ring, just when Tess was ready to hang up. “Erin McClellan here.”

  “Erin, hi. It’s me, Tess.” Tess shifted uneasily. She hadn’t spoken to her sister since their disagreement the other day. “So, it’s Saturday night. Want to see a movie or something?”

  A long silence buzzed across the line. “No, more to the left… I think I like the green one better, don’t you? It picks up the stripe in the couch.”

  “Erin?”

  “Sorry, Tess. Josh and I are trying to finish up the duplex this weekend, so we can start on the house for that neighbor of Nikki’s next week.”

  “Oh, so you are working.”

  “Yeah… No, not you, Josh. Not that—yes, oh, that’s good. What do you think?”

  “I guess I’ll let you go.”

  “Tess?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know I said I’d make myself available, but I need to get this project finished. I am really swamped. You understand, don’t you?”

  “Oh, sure. No problem. I’ll see what Nikki’s up to tonight.”

  Erin laughed. “You’re going to call her on a Saturday night? You don’t think she and that hunky man of hers might be a little busy?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, I’ll let you go. Tell Josh I said hello.”

  “Are you all right? You sound a little down or something.”

  “Just tired.”

  “Josh said to tell Mason hi for him. So how come Josh gets to meet him and not me?”

  “Josh is working on the fund-raiser with us.”

  “Speaking of which, wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me?”

  “There was, but you’re busy and then we got into that argument.”

  “So ask me.”

  “Josh already asked you, didn’t he?”

  “Maybe.”

  “So, do you want to or not?”

  “Do I want to what or not?”

  “Look, Erin, I am too tired for this. Do you want to do the decorations for the ball or not?”

  “Josh says that everyone who’s anyone will be there. That it’ll be a great place to showcase my talents as a designer. Is that true?”

  “It is if he has anything to do with it.”

  “Okay, I’m in.”

  “You are?”

  “Yep.”

  “Just like that?”

  “I said I’d do it. Now that Josh is helping me, I think I can manage it. It isn’t like it will take the same kind of time the duplex or the house in Coral Gables will take. And it sounds like a great networking opportunity.”

  “I
t is.”

  “Then I’m on board. I’ll even donate my services and provide everything else at cost, since it’s for a good cause and all.”

  “Thanks, Erin, that’s great. I really appreciate it. Mason and the DCWC will be thrilled. I’ll give the decorating committee your number.”

  “Wait, Josh, don’t. That’s not straight. Look, Tess, I’m sorry to blow you off like this, but I’ve got to help him with these valances. Why don’t you go ahead and give Nikki a call? She said we don’t call her as much since she moved out and she misses that.”

  “She did?”

  “Yeah, we had lunch yesterday.”

  “You did?” Envy flickered through Tess. “Why didn’t you guys call me?”

  “We did. You didn’t pick up on your cell.”

  “I must have let the battery die again.” She didn’t mention that they could have called the nursery. For once she and Erin seemed to be having a civil conversation. Maybe she shouldn’t push it.

  “Okay, I’ll see what Nikki’s doing.” She bid Erin goodbye, then punched Nikki’s home number.

  Nikki answered on the second ring. “Tess?”

  “Hi, am I interrupting anything?”

  “Like I’d answer the phone if you were.”

  “What’s Dylan doing?”

  “Watching football. I’m so glad you called. I thought about calling you, but I figured you’d be busy on a Saturday night, especially with a new guy to keep up with.”

  “Actually, I needed a little break. It’s getting…I don’t know…complicated.”

  “Why don’t you come over? I’ll mix up some margaritas and you can tell me all about it.”

  Tess sighed in relief. “I’m on my way.”

  11

  AN HOUR LATER TESS LEANED toward Nikki, fingering her empty margarita glass. “So, what do you think? Have you lost the gift?”

  Nikki drew a deep breath and relaxed against the cushions of her favorite oversize chair she’d brought into her new home. Here, in the recently renovated and decorated master bedroom, the chair seemed to fit better than it ever had in the apartment they’d shared.