Where There's Smoke

She regarded him for a moment, then snickered. “This time, Randall, I’m calling your bluff.” She moved toward the bedroom but at the door turned back. “I don’t give a damn what you do so long as you stay away from me. Go to Washington. Make headlines. Rub elbows with the president. Become a celebrity. Have all the affairs you want. The divorce I threatened you with years ago is going to become a reality. I’m filing for it immediately. And from now on, if you want a response, address me as Dr. Mallory. I won’t answer to your name.”

She slipped into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Janellen shielded her eyes from the sun as she impatiently kept a lookout for the pimp-mobile. When she spotted it turning off the main road, she cried, “Mama, he’s here!”

Key had called from the landing strip to notify them that he’d just flown in and would be home shortly. The evening before, he’d called from Houston. “The prodigal has returned. Kill the fatted calf.”

Janellen hadn’t gone to quite that extreme, but she’d told Maydale to prepare a special dinner. Key was alive and well! He was back!

She skipped down the steps and planted herself directly in the path of the approaching Lincoln, forcing him to stop. Flattening her hands on the hood, she smiled at him through the windshield, then ran to the driver’s side and launched herself into his arms as he alighted.

“Whoa, there! Watch those cracked ribs.” He regained his balance and gave her a hug, then held her at arm’s length. “Damn my eyes! You look gorgeous!”

“I do not,” she coyly protested.

“I know gorgeous when I see it. What’s new? Something.”

“I got a haircut and body wave, that’s all. In fact I was under the dryer at the beauty parlor when somebody thumped on it and pointed at the TV. They were doing a news bulletin about you, Dr. Mallory, and her husband leaving Montesangre and returning home via Colombia. When I saw y’all on that screen, my heart nearly stopped.”

His smile faltered. “Yeah, it’s been an eventful week.” Then, tweaking her cheek, he said, “I like the new hairdo.”

“Mama hates it. She said it’s too frivolous for a woman my age. Do you think so?” she asked worriedly.

“I think it’s sexy as hell.”

“Why, thank you kindly, sir.” She bobbed a curtsy.

“Hmm. You’ve learned to flirt, too.” He placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head as he eyed her up and down. “Is there something going on that I should know about?”

“No.” Her answer had been too quick and too emphatic. If her cheeks looked as hot as they felt, her brother would know instantly that she was lying.

“Cato’s still sniffing, huh?”

She tried to keep from smiling but was helpless to contain the joy that infused her at the very mention of his name. It conjured up memories of the hours they’d spent necking in the parlor late at night, arguing in whispers over the rightness and wrongness of their romance—she advocating the former, he the latter—planning on a future that she insisted they had and he insisted they didn’t.

For all their quarrels about the nature and life span of their affair, it was an affair. Short of having it consummated and being with Bowie twenty-four hours a day, Janellen couldn’t have been happier.

That happiness was transparent, especially to her intuitive brother. He broke a wide smile. “He’d better treat you right. If he doesn’t and I hear of it, I’ll chase him down, tear off his nuts, and feed them to a dog. You can tell him I said so.”

“I wouldn’t tell him any such thing!” she declared. “It’d be unladylike.” Then she laughed at her private joke, remembering the shocking vocabulary she’d used with Bowie to assure that she got his attention. She didn’t regret it. It had worked.

Linking arms with Key, she turned him toward the house. “You must be exhausted. I had Maydale put fresh linens on your bed. You can climb between them as soon as you’ve had dinner and a long, hot bath.”

When he came to a sudden standstill, Janellen glanced up. Jody was watching them from the porch. She looked very well. Apparently the doctors had been alarmists after all, and, as usual, Jody had been right. She was getting better in spite of their dire prognosis.

In the last few days there’d been visible signs of improvement. She claimed to feel better and had more energy. She’d been alert and hadn’t fussed when it came time to take her medication. She’d even cut back to two packs of cigarettes a day. Yesterday she’d resumed her standing appointment at the beauty shop.

Janellen doubted it was coincidental that Jody had begun perking up on the day they learned that Key had left Montesangre. Despite their frequent quarrels, her mother and brother cared deeply for each other.

“Hello, Jody.”

His tone was reserved, cautious. He was remembering the hurtful, thoughtless things Jody had said to him before he left. Jody too must have been remembering her searing words. Her thin lips twitched once, as though she experienced an uncomfortable twinge.

“I see you made it back in one piece.”

“More or less.”