The Doctor's Redemption

by Susan Carlisle

  Having finished his meal, Mark leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, it has been a pleasure running into you, Ms. Atkins.”

  Laura Jo stood to leave. “You, too, Dr. Clayborn. We do seem to keep running into each other.”

  “Why, Ms. Akins, you don’t believe in serendipity?”

  “If I ever did believe in serendipity, that would’ve been a long time ago. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON Mark made his way through the side streets of Mobile, working around the parade route, which was already blocked off. It was one more week before Mardi Gras weekend and there would be a large parade that afternoon and another that night in downtown Mobile.

  Throughout the week in the surrounding towns parades were planned, culminating in three or four per day until the final one on Fat Tuesday. Then Ash Wednesday would arrive and end all the revelry.

  He’d been assigned to work in the med tent set up just off Government Street at a fire station. He’d wanted to say no, had even suggested that he work one or two of the parades in a nearby town, but he’d been told that he was needed there. His gut clenched each time he crossed the bay but his partners wouldn’t like him not being a team player during this time of the year. Plus, Mark had no desire to admit why going into Mobile bothered him.

  All he hoped for now was a slow day, but he didn’t expect it. He wanted less drama than the last time he’d worked a med tent a few days earlier. Still, there had been some interesting points.

  Dinner with Laura Jo Akins had been the highlight. He had at least found out she wasn’t married. And she seemed to be anti-krewe for some reason. He had no doubt that she’d grown up on the social club festivities of a krewe, just like him. Why would she have such a negative view now? Or was her pessimistic attitude directed toward him? Did she know about the accident? His part in it?

  Laura Jo Akins also appeared to be one of those women who knew her mind and stood her ground, but it also seemed there was a venerable spot to her, too. As if she hid something from the world. What was that all about?

  Mark looked over the crowd again. At least she took his thoughts off worrying that he might see Mike at a parade. He looked forward to seeing her pixie face if they ever met again. People were creatures of habit and usually showed up in the same places to watch the parades. He wasn’t sure why she interested him so, but she’d popped into his head a number of times over the past few days.

  He had been at the med tent long enough to introduce himself to some of the other volunteers when he looked up to see none other than Laura Jo walking toward the tent. She caught sight of him about the same time. He didn’t miss her moment of hesitation before she continued in his direction. He smiled and nodded at her. She returned his smile.

  A few minutes later he was asked to help with a woman who was having an asthma attack in the unseasonably warm weather. It was some time later before he had a chance to speak to Laura Jo.

  “I believe we might be caught in some Mardi Gras mystical mojo,” he said, low enough that the others around them couldn’t hear.

  “I don’t believe any sort of thing. I’m more of the dumb luck kind of person,” she responded, as she continued to sort supplies.

  He chuckled. “Didn’t expect to see me again so soon, did you?”

  She spun around, her hands going to her hips. “Did you plan this?”

  “I did not,” he said with complete innocence. “I was told when and where to be.”

  “I thought maybe with the Clayborn name…”

  What did she have against the Clayborns? Did she know what he’d done? If she did, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to have anything to do with him. “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Dr. Clayborn, we need you,” one of the other volunteers called.

  Mark had no choice but to go to work.

  Half an hour later, the sound of a jazz band rolled down the street. Because the med tent was set up at the fire station, no one could park or stand in front of it. Mark and the others had an unobstructed view of the parade. Thankfully there was no one requiring help so they all stepped out toward the street curb to watch. Laura Jo seemed to appreciate the parade. She even swayed to the music of “Let the good times roll.”

  He wandered over to stand just behind her. “You enjoy a good parade as much as your daughter does, I see.” Mark couldn’t help but needle her. She reacted so prettily to it.

  “Yes, I love a good parade. You make it sound like it should be a crime.”

  “And you make it sound like it’s a crime that I noticed,” he shot back.

  “No crime. Just not used to someone taking that much notice.”

  “That’s hard to believe. You mean there’s no man who pays attention to you?”

  “Getting a little personal, aren’t you, Doctor?” She glanced back at him.

  “No, just making conversation.”

  “Hey, Mom.”

  They both turned at the sound of Laura Jo’s daughter’s voice. She was with another woman about Laura Jo’s age and there was a boy with them about the same height as the daughter.

  Before her mother could respond the girl said to Mark, “I know you. You’re that man who helped me the other day. Look, my hands are all better.” She put out her hands palms up. “My knee still hurts a little.” She lifted her denim-covered knee.

  “And I know you.” He smiled down at her. “But forgive me, I’ve forgotten your name.”

  “Allie.”

  He squatted down to her level. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Allie.” Standing again, he glanced in the direction of the woman he didn’t know. Laura Jo must have gotten the hint because she said, “This is Marsha Gilstrap. A friend of mine.” She looked toward the boy. “And Jeremy, her son. I thought ya’ll were going to watch the parade over on Washington.”

  “We wanted to come by and say hi to you,” Allie said.

  Laura Jo gave her daughter a hug then looked down at her with what Mark recognized as unbounded love. He liked it when he saw parents who really cared about their children. Her actions hadn’t just been for show when her daughter had been hurt at the parade. She truly cared about her child. He recognized that love because his parents had had the same for him. That’s why his father had insisted Mark not get involved with Mike’s case after the accident. His father had feared what it might do to Mark’s future. He been young enough and scared enough that he’d agreed, despite the guilt he’d felt over leaving the way he had. Now he didn’t trust himself to get close enough to care about someone. If he did, he might fail them, just as he had Mike. He hadn’t stood beside Mike, whom he’d loved like a brother, so why would he have what it took to stand by a wife and family?

  A float coming by drew Allie’s attention. Mark put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. This is a great spot to watch a parade.”

  Allie looked at her mother in question. Laura Jo took a second before she gave an agreeable nod but he got the sense that she didn’t want to.

  Allie glanced at the boy. “Can Jeremy come, too?”

  “Sure.”

  Jeremy’s mother, in contrast to Laura Jo, was all smiles about the boy joining them.

  “We’ll just be right up here if you need us.” Mark made an effort to give Laura Jo his most charming smile.

  He nudged one of the volunteers out of the way so that the children had a front-row place to stand. A couple of times he had to remind them not to step out beyond the curve. Because they were standing in front of the fire station, there were no barriers in place. After a few minutes Laura Jo and her friend joined them.

  “Thanks, we’ll take these two off your hands,” Laura Jo said, as if she was helping him out. What she was really doing was trying to get rid of him.

  “Look at the dog. How funny.” Allie squealed. The dog was wearing a vest and a hat. “I wish I had a dog to dress up. Then we could be in a parade
.”

  Laura Jo placed her hand on top of Allie’s shoulder. “Maybe one day, honey.”

  There was something in the wispy tone in the girl’s voice that got to him. It reminded him of how he’d sounded the first time he’d asked if he could be in a dog parade. When he and his brother had participated in a parade it had been one of the greatest pleasures of his childhood. He could surely give that to Allie without becoming too involved in her and her mother’s lives. “You could borrow my dog. Gus would be glad to let you dress him up,” Mark offered.

  “Could I, Mom?” Allie looked at Laura Jo as if her life depended on a positive answer.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think Allie and Gus would make a great pair.” He had no doubt Laura Jo hated to say no to something her daughter so obviously wanted to do. But why was he making it his job to see that Allie had a chance to be in a parade? Was it because Laura Jo was a hard-working mother who couldn’t do this for her daughter and it was easy enough for him to do? It would be a great memory for Allie, just as it had been for him.

  “Please, Mom.”

  “Fairhope has a parade on Sunday evening that I believe dogs are allowed in. Why don’t you and Allie come and meet Gus that afternoon? You could bring some clothes for him and see how he likes them.”

  Laura Jo gave him a piercing look that said she wasn’t pleased with the turn of events.

  In a perverse way he liked the idea he was able to nettle her.

  “Allie, I don’t think we should take advantage of Dr. Clayborn’s time.”

  “Please, call me Mark. And I don’t mind.” He really didn’t. Since he’d been back in town he had kept to himself. It would be nice to spend the afternoon with someone. “I’m sure Gus will be glad to have the company. I’ve not been around much the past few days. Marsha, you and Jeremy are welcome, too.”

  “Thanks. It sounds like fun but I can’t. Jeremy can if Laura Jo doesn’t mind,” Marsha said, smiling.

  Laura Jo shot Marsha a look as if there would be more to say about this when they were alone.

  “Mom, please,” Allie pleaded. “Please.”

  “Won’t your wife mind us barging in? Won’t your children be dressing him up?”

  “No wife. No children. So there’s no reason you can’t.”

  “Then I guess we could come by for a little while but I’m not making any promises about the parade.” Laura Jo looked down at Allie.

  “Great. I’ll expect you about two. Here’s my address.” He pulled out a calling card, turned it over and, removing a pen from his pocket, wrote on it. “I’ll have Gus all bathed and waiting on you.”

  Allie giggled. “Okay.”

  Mark looked at Laura Jo. “See you tomorrow.”

  She gave him a weak smile and he grinned. He was already looking forward to the afternoon.

  * * *

  Laura Jo wasn’t sure how she’d managed to be coerced into agreeing to go to Mark’s. Maybe it was because of the look of anticipation on Allie’s face or the maternal guilt she felt whenever Allie asked to do something and she had to say no because she had to go to work or school. Now that she was in a position to give her child some fun in her life, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. But going to Mark Clayborn’s house had to be one for the record. She didn’t really know the man. She’d admired him with a young girl’s hero worship. But she knew little about the man he had become. He’d been nice enough so far but she hadn’t always been the best judge of character.

  She’d searched for a sound reason why they couldn’t do it. Marsha certainly hadn’t been any help. It was as if she had pushed her into going. For once Laura Jo wished she had to work on Sunday. But no such luck.

  Allie was up earlier than usual in her excitement over the possibility of being in the dog parade. Jeremy had been almost as bad, Marsha said, when he ran to meet them at the car later that day.

  “So are you looking forward to an afternoon with the handsome, debonair and rich Dr. Mark Clayborn?” Marsha asked with a grin.

  They’d had a lively and heated discussion over a cup of coffee late the night before about Mark. Marsha seemed to think she should develop him as an ally in funding the single mothers’ house. Laura Jo wasn’t so sure. That was a road she’d promised herself she’d never go down again. She wasn’t ever going to ask her parents or her society friends for anything ever again. That certainly included Mark Clayborn.

  After today she didn’t plan to see him again. This afternoon was about Allie and seeing a smile on her face. That only. Allie had been begging for a dog for the past year but they didn’t have a lifestyle that was good for taking care of a dog.

  Laura Jo pulled her aging compact car off the winding, tree-shaded road into the well-groomed, riverbed-pebbled drive of the address she’d been given. The crunch made a familiar sound. Her own family’s place just a few miles down the road had the same type of drive, or at least it had the last time she’d been there.

  The foliage of the large trees with moss hanging from them gave the area a cozy feel. Soon she entered an open space where a sweeping, single-story beach house sat with a wide expanse of yard between it and the bay beyond.

  “Do you see Gus?” Allie strained at her seat belt as she peered out the window.

  “Now, honey, I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high. Gus may not like being dressed up.” Laura Jo didn’t want to say “or you.” Some owners thought their dogs loved everyone when they often didn’t.

  “He’ll like it, I know he will.”

  “I think he will, too,” Jeremy said from the backseat.

  Laura Jo looked at him in the rearview mirror and smiled. “We’ll see.”

  She pulled to a stop behind a navy blue high-end European car. To Mark’s credit, it wasn’t a sports car but it was finer than Laura Jo had ever ridden in, even when she’d still been living with her parents.

  Her door had hardly opened before Allie ran toward a basset hound, whose ears dragged along the ground. Not far behind him strolled Mark. For a second her breath caught. He had all the markers of an eye-catching man. Tall, blond wavy hair and an air about him that said he could take care of himself and anyone else he cared about. It was a dazzling combination.

  She’d been asked out a number of times by one of the men at the hospital, but she’d never had a man both irritate her and draw her to him at the same time. That was exactly what Mark Clayborn did.

  He looked down with a smile at Allie, with her arms wrapped around Gus, and Jeremy, patting him, then at Laura Jo.

  Her middle fluttered. If it wasn’t for all the baggage she carried, her inability to trust her judgment of men, maybe she might be interested. She’d let Allie have her day and make a concerted effort not to see Mark again.

  “Hey. Did you have any trouble finding it?”

  “No trouble. I knew which one it was when you told me you lived in Fairhope.”

  “Really?”

  “I remember passing it when I was a kid.” She’d been aware all her life where the Clayborn summer home was located.

  He glanced back to where the children played with the dog. “I think they’re hitting it off.”

  Laura Jo couldn’t help but agree.

  “Allie, did you bring some clothes for Gus? I got a few things just in case you didn’t,” Mark said, strolling toward the kids and dog.

  “They’re in the car.”

  “I’ll get them, honey,” Laura Jo called, as the kids headed toward the large open yard between the house and bay. “Don’t go near the water and stay where I can see you.”

  She walked to the car and Mark followed her. “You’re a good mother.”

  Laura Jo glanced at him. “I try to be.”

  “So when did Allie’s father leave?”

  Laura Jo opened the passenger door then looked at him. “When I was three months pregnant.”

  Mark whistled. “That explains some of your standoffishness.”

  She pulled a large brown sac
k out of the car and closed the door with more force than necessary. “I’m not.”

  “Yeah, you are. For some reason, you don’t want to like me, even when you do.”

  She was afraid he might be right. Thankfully, squealing in the front yard drew their attention to the two children running around as a dog almost as wide as he was tall chased them.

  Mark checked his watch and called, “Allie and Jeremy, we need to get started on what Gus will wear because the parade starts in a couple of hours.”

  The kids ran toward them and Gus followed.

  “Why don’t we go around to the deck where it’s cooler? We can dress Gus there,” Mark said to the kids.

  Mark led the way with the kids and Gus circled them. Laura Jo hung back behind them. Mark was good with children. Why didn’t he have a wife and kids of his own? She imagined she was the only one of many who didn’t fall at his charming feet.

  The deck was amazing. It was open at one end. Chairs and a lounge group were arranged into comfortable conversation areas. At the other end was an arbor with a brown vine that must be wisteria on it. Laura Jo could only envision what it would look like in the spring and summer, with its green leaves creating a roof of protection from the sun. She’d love to sit in a comfortable chair under it but that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Allie, why don’t you and Jeremy pull the things you brought out of the bag while I go get what I bought? Then you can decide how to dress Gus.”

  Allie took the bag from Laura Jo. With the children busy pulling feather boas, old hair bows, purple, green and gold ribbon from the bag, Laura Jo took a seat on the end of a lounge chair and watched.

  Mark quickly returned with an armload of stuff.

  “I thought you only got a few things,” Laura Jo said.

  He grinned. Her heart skipped a beat.

  “I might have gotten a little carried away.” He looked directly at her. “I do that occasionally.”

  For some reason, she had the impression he might be talking about sex. She hadn’t had a thought like that in forever. Not since Phil had left. He’d made it clear that she hadn’t been wanted and neither had their child.