So Many Men... Read Online Free

holder. “Let me see what I can do.”
    “Thank you, Dr. Davies.”
    As he headed to the nurses’ station, Mason couldn’t help but compare this family to the ones he met at the free clinic downtown. They were a world apart.
    Regret flooded him. If only he’d been able to convince the women’s club to help Project Mentor. Obviously, April was holding a grudge and she held all the clout with that group.
    It was a damn shame.
     
    “W HAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ?” Nikki McClellan asked Tess Tuesday afternoon, as they strolled through the mall, shopping bags in hand.
    Tess inhaled a deep breath. Why had she even mentioned Mason Davies to Nikki? Tess should have known her sister would react this way. Talk about ruining their time together.
    “I’m sure he’ll find someone else to help him. It is a worthwhile project,” Tess said. “I’m not denying that, but it isn’t as though he doesn’t have resources of his own. He’s got a whole organization with who knows how many volunteers. I don’t see why he needed the DCWC anyway.”
    “DCWC?”
    “The Dade County Women’s Club.”
    “Tess, this is not like you. You can’t walk by a homeless person without giving food or money. Are you telling me you sat there and said nothing while those women turned him down?”
    “It wasn’t my place to say anything. Terry Whatsit, the membership chair, never showed up, so I haven’t even officially joined. How could I possibly speak for a group I’m not yet a member of?”
    “For pity’s sake, those kinds of details have never stopped you before. And since when are you keeping your opinion to yourself?” Nikki asked.
    “I just expressed my opinion. It’s a worthwhile cause.”
    “ I’m not the one you need to be saying that to. I really cannot believe you didn’t give the club an earful.”
    Frustration swelled in Tess. She hated Nikki’s lectures, even when they were justified. “Maybe they know something about him that I don’t. Maybe they have a solid motivation. There was definitely something off between him and April.”
    “For all you know they were having some kind of lovers’ quarrel, and what in the world has that got to do with the fund-raiser?”
    “Nothing. You’re right. I should have spoken up, but…”
    “But what?”
    “They were women, okay? I’m used to women hating me. You know how it’s always been. Why would they have listened to me, of all people? I’m an outsider. For once I just wanted to be…accepted.” Even as she said the words, Tess cringed.
    How pathetic was she?
    Nikki crossed her arms and stared at her, eyebrows raised. “I hear that, Tess, but you know what you have to do.”
    Tess stared at her sister. Nikki had women friends. Did she understand that if Tess took on this project, she could kiss her plan to make her own friends goodbye?
    “Okay…I’ll go talk to this guy. At least check out this project in a little more detail.” Tess shrugged. “No promises, but we’ll see.”
     
    “Y OU KNOW WHO’S USING and who isn’t.” Mason took a deep breath as he faced Rafe Black, one of the teens he’d recently met through the clinic. They stood in an open area around a fountain in the park near Mason’s office. “You need to surround yourself with friends who aren’t.”
    Rafe ran one finger along his eyebrow, where he had once worn a double stripe shaved at one end, a mark Mason feared showed the young man’s allegiance to a gang, though he denied it. “But these are my boys, you know? Maybe I can help them. Maybe if they hang with me, then they won’t use anymore.”
    “Or you could be tempted to use again.”
    “No way.” Rafe stepped back in disgust. “I’ve seen what that shit did to my old man. No way is that going to happen to me.” He thumped his chest. “I’m going to make something of my life, and if I can help some of my boys, then it’s all straight.”
    “Will any of them come for the beach cleanup next Saturday?”
    He shrugged. “I