She looked up at the office where he’d disappeared half an hour earlier. The door was still closed. She felt sorry that she was the reason he was blocked off from everyone. That hadn’t been her intention.
The office door suddenly opened and her heart stopped. Mason appeared and started walking in her direction. Here it comes, she thought. Mason was going to try to get her to leave again. She braced herself. When she’d spoken to Dr. Marcus earlier in the day about Mason’s stance on her being here, Dr. Marcus had encouraged her to come anyway. He’d described Mason as a big softy at heart. Mason’s jaw was tight right now, though, the muscles bunched along his cheek—nothing soft about the man.
She swallowed and met his gaze as he stood behind her, overlooking the homework she was helping Kim with.
Kim looked up, as well. “Hey, Mr. Mason,” she said, without so much as a smile. “Miss Lexie is helping me do algebra.”
Mason’s gaze moved from Kim to Lexie. “That’s great,” he said. “Every time I help her, she gets the questions wrong.”
Unless Lexie was imagining it, Mason’s mouth curved into the smallest of smiles. She took that as a good sign. “Math was always one of my favorite subjects,” she told him.
He nodded again. “Then I guess we’re fortunate to have you here.”
Did this mean he wasn’t going to escort her out of the building? That he’d had a change of heart? She offered up a smile in his direction, and then returned her focus to the algebra work sheets on the table. She pointed at the next problem. “Okay, let’s try this one,” she told Kim. From the corner of her eye she watched as Mason moved farther down the table and sat beside one of the teenage boys. Relief spread through her and hope blossomed. Maybe she wouldn’t have to tiptoe around Mason Benfield all summer after all.
An hour later, Lexie drove back to the Carlyles’ home to help with dinner as promised.
“Shall I set four place settings?” she asked, gathering the silverware.
Clara shook her head. “Just three. Mason called and said he wouldn’t be coming tonight.”
“Oh.” Lexie swallowed and continued counting out forks and knives. “Is it because of me?”
Clara waved a hand. “No, it’s because of him, dear. He just needs to work through his thoughts, that’s all.”
Lexie nodded, trying to understand. She didn’t, though. She got along well with most of the people she met. His first impression of her hadn’t been the greatest, but people deserved second chances. “I saw him at the Teen Center this afternoon,” she told Clara.
“Oh?” Clara turned to look at her. “And will you be going back?” she asked, not so discretely asking the bigger question: How had Mason reacted to her presence?
“I’m planning on going a few nights a week after I leave the free health care clinic. I’ll help with homework and play games with the kids.” Despite Mason’s initial attitude, excitement swirled around in her chest. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Clara nodded and lifted a serving plate to carry into the dining room. “That’s good news. God will work things out. He always does.”
Lexie followed behind Clara and sat with her hosts for dinner. There was a void on the other side of the table. Even Lexie felt it. She ate quietly and helped Clara clean up after the meal. Then she retreated to the guest room, thoroughly exhausted from her first day volunteering at the health clinic and Teen Center.
She closed her eyes as soon as her head hit the pillow and thanked God for His grace today. Mason might not have been jumping up and down to see her this afternoon, but he’d allowed her to stay and, considering his reaction to her involvement with the teens the day before, that in itself was the equivalent of moving a mountain. Clara was right. God would work things out in the way He saw fit.
“Thank You, God,” she whispered into the darkness, the prayer fading on her lips as she fell fast asleep.
* * *
The next day, Lexie woke refreshed. She grabbed a banana from the fruit basket on the Carlyles’ kitchen counter and waved at Clara as she headed to her car to drive to the clinic.
“Bright and early,” Dr. Marcus said, turning to wave at her. “Let’s hope we see more patients today than yesterday. Not that I’m hoping for sick people. A few well-check visits would be welcome, though.”
Lexie unloaded her belongings and slipped her arms into the sleeves of her white doctor’s coat. She’d worn a pretend lab coat everywhere she went as a child, fostering this dream. Now she was finally a doctor.
She and Dr. Marcus stared at the clinic’s unbudging front entrance, holding their breath until the door finally opened with the first patient of the day.
* * *
Mason’s skin felt like it was melting as he worked the sidelines of the forest fire. Helicopters overhead dumped the water as fast as they could and the unquenched forest drank it. The loads were like spitting into a fireplace, though. None of it seemed to make a dent in putting out the blaze.
He stabbed his shovel into the ground, digging faster. All of the machines were busy making trenches where the fire was most threatening. If the winds changed, though—he’d seen it happen before—the fire would be heading this way, toward the schools.
And Lexie Campbell’s rental home for the summer.
Guilt knotted inside his stomach. He regretted the way he’d treated her so far. He hadn’t exactly been the most welcoming guy, even if he’d extended the smallest of olive branches to her at the center last night. He could deal with her assistance with algebra equations. Diagnoses and prescriptions, on the other hand, were entirely different. Lexie didn’t have enough knowledge backing her medical advice. What if she made a wrong decision and someone got hurt in the process?
He shook the thoughts away and continued to work. A string of other firemen helped in the effort. A small trench would deter the fire long enough to get the machines over here if they needed to be. All of the firemen from surrounding communities were involved with the effort. Hopefully, within the week the blaze would be handled.
He stopped and wiped his forehead, resting against the shovel’s handle. He’d been here well past his shift, but despite his chief’s earlier encouragement, he couldn’t leave. Besides, if he went home, the beautiful Lexie might be there.
Beautiful? Had he really just thought that? He preferred to think of her as an inexperienced doctor who needed to return to wherever she’d come from. Even though he had to admit having extra help at the center was nice.
Mason started digging again—harder and faster. Maybe the smoke was playing with his thinking.
A loud crack interrupted his thoughts.
“Heads up!” someone yelled through the trees.
His eyes immediately followed the familiar sound through the dense gray smoke hanging in the air. A tree was coming down. Maybe the fire had gotten to it. Maybe the vibration of the machinery on the ground had rattled an already fragile pine. His eyes darted toward the path the tree would most likely take in its fall. Everyone was safe. With a prayer on his lips, Mason began to run, too. The farther away he could get, the better.
A second later, the ground shook with impact.
Mason’s heart raced and blood hammered his eardrums as he turned to inspect the damage. There was more danger here than just the fire. That was a lesson that the