Where There's Smoke

Heather took pleasure in keeping her mother perpetually miffed. Her sidelong glances and innuendoes conveyed that she was now sexually active. But she hadn’t let Tanner go all the way yet. It wasn’t because she didn’t love him, or that she feared an unwanted pregnancy, and there certainly was nothing to fear in the way of parental reprisal.

Her reason for holding out was the same as it always had been. She didn’t want to become a replica of her mother.

Tanner was being very sweet about her abstinence. Since that night at the lake when he had disgraced himself, he was loving and patient, gratefully taking whatever crumbs of eroticism she chose to toss him and asking for nothing more.

Heather was still Fergus’s little angel, and when she was with him she strove to maintain his image of her. Her relationship with her mother, however, had deteriorated. They were undeclared adversaries, two women in a silent face-off. The battle lines that had been suggested before were now clearly drawn.

“I didn’t realize that you’d made Dr. Mallory an idol, Heather,” Fergus observed as he stirred sugar into his coffee. “I didn’t even know you’d met her.”

“Mother took me to see her. Didn’t she tell you?”

“For a checkup,” Darcy said hastily. “She needed a physical exam for cheerleading, and it was going to be a month before she could see an out-of-town doctor. I decided it was silly to shun Dr. Mallory just because she was involved with Clark Tackett at one time. Who cares? It’s ancient history. Besides, an enemy of Jody Tackett’s is a friend of yours, right?”

“I must say Dr. Mallory showed a lot of gumption by moving to Eden Pass in the first place. She shoots straight from the hip, too. I like that.”

“When have you talked to her?” Darcy wanted to know.

“Yesterday. She called me and asked for an audience with the school board. She wants to speak to the high school kids about sexual responsibility. I think the idea is a little bit radical for Eden Pass, but I told her we’d hear her ideas at the meeting next week.”

For several moments Darcy regarded him without comment. “You’re right, Fergus. She’s got her nerve. She was caught in adultery. How sexually irresponsible can you get?”

“She emphasized that she wasn’t concerned with the moral aspects. She only wants to alert the kids to the health risks involved.”

“I doubt that’ll go down well with the local preachers. And don’t be so sure that morality doesn’t figure in there somewhere. Lax morality, that is. She told Heather to make sure she always had a condom handy.”

“That’s not what she said!” Heather exclaimed.

“Same as,” Darcy said curtly. “Before we know it, the kids at the high school will start packing rubbers in their lunch boxes and having quickies between classes.”

“Darcy, please!” Fergus harrumphed. “Heather shouldn’t be listening to this.”

“Wake up and smell the coffee, Fergus. Kids nowadays know all about everything. Once Lara Mallory gives them the green light, they’ll be screwing like rabbits.”

Fergus flinched. “She’s not going to encourage them to have sex. She wants to warn them of the possible consequences.”

“Oh, brother! She really snowed you, didn’t she? What I think she wants is an outbreak of teenage pregnancies in order to drum up some much-needed business.”

“That’s ridiculous, Mother.”

“Shut up, Heather! I’m talking to your father.”

“But you’re twisting Dr. Mallory’s words around. It’s not fair.”

“This is an adult conversation, and no one invited you to join in.”

At that moment Heather hated her mother and wanted badly to expose her hypocrisy. But her love for her father guaranteed her silence. Darcy knew that and used it. She was the one now wearing the smug smile. Heather scraped back her chair and flounced from the dining room.

On her way out she heard her mother say, “Go ahead and grant Dr. Mallory an audience with the school board, Fergus. It’ll be fun to sit back and watch the fur fly.”

“I thought I’d… I probably shouldn’t have come.” Now that she was standing on the front porch of Lara Mallory’s clinic, spotlighted by the overhead light fixture, Janellen felt like a fool. It wouldn’t surprise her if the doctor slammed the door in her face. She wouldn’t blame her, either.

“I’m glad you came, Miss Tackett. Come in.”

Janellen stepped into the dim waiting room and glanced around. “It’s late. I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”

“Quite all right. How is your mother?”

“Not too well. That’s what I came to talk to you about.”