Where There's Smoke (35 page)

"Everything okay?"

"Fine, I guess.
 
I don't like having my finger pricked."

"Neither do I."

"It's better than having blood drawn from your arm, though.
 
I hate needles."

"They aren't my favorite things either."

"But you're a doctor."

"I'm a person, too."

The girl smiled, more at ease now.

"When do you start cheerleading practice?"

"How'd you know I was a cheerleader?"

"The booster club sent me an application for membership."
 
Lara examined her eardrums with an otoscope.
 
"I saw your picture."

"We start practicing next week."

"So soon?
 
Say ah."

" Using a tongue depressor, she looked at Heather's throat.
 
"School doesn't start for another month yet."

"Ahhhh.
 
Yeah, but we want to be good.
 
Last year we won several trophies."

"Swallow for me.
 
Any tenderness in your glands here?"
 
Lara asked as she felt Heather's neck.

"No, ma'am."

"Good.
 
Take care of your throat.
 
If you notice any soreness, let me know.
 
Sore throats and hoarseness are inherent to yell leaders."

"Okay.
 
Sure."

Lara lifted the drape and placed the stethoscope beneath Heather's left breast.
 
The girl gasped.
 
"I know it's cold," Lara apologized with a smile.
 
After listening to her heart, she moved to her back to listen to her lungs.
 
"Take several deep breaths through your mouth, please.

That's good."
 
After a moment she moved once again to stand in front of the girl.
 
"Are your periods regular?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Heavy?"

"Usually just the first and second day.
 
Not after that."

"Do you have cramps?"

"Yeah.
 
Really bitchin'."

"Do you take something?"

"Midol, aspirin.
 
Stuff like that."

"Does it help?"

"I'll live," she replied with a grin.

Making Heather as comfortable as possible on the table, Lara summoned Nancy from the waiting room to assist her with a breast check and a pelvic examination.

"This is gross," Heather said as Lara guided her feet into the stirrups.

"Yes, I know.
 
Try to relax as much as possible."

"Right," Heather said sarcastically when Lara opened the speculum.

When she was finished, she left Heather to dress and returned to her office.
 
Heather joined her there a few minutes later.
 
Lara indicated the sofa and sat down beside her, creating a mood that was more friendly than clinical.

"Why do you want to go on birth control pills, Heather?"

"She wants me to."

"Your mother?"

"She's afraid I'll get pregnant."

"Is that a possibility?"

Heather hesitated.
 
"Well, I guess.
 
I mean, I have a boyfriend . and we, you know."

"I'm not asking to be nosy," Lara told her gently.
 
"I make no moral judgments.
 
I'm a doctor who needs to decide what's best for my patient.
 
The only way I can do that is to have as much information as possible."
 
She let that sink in, then asked, "Are you having sexual intercourse?"

Heather looked down at her tightly clasped hands.
 
"Not yet."

Then she furtively glanced at the closed door.
 
"She thinks we already have.
 
I've told her we haven't, but she doesn't believe me."

Once she began, the words poured from her, crowding one another in their rush to get out.
 
"She caught Tanner and me making out in the living room.
 
We weren't doing anything.
 
I mean, I had taken off my blouse and bra, and Tanner had taken off his shirt, but by her reaction you'd have thought we were totally naked, that she'd caught us actually doing it."

Suddenly her eyes swung up to Lara.
 
"Oh, jeer, I'm sorry.
 
I didn't mean to say it that way.
 
I didn't link it to you and Senator Tackett."

"No offense taken," Lara said quietly.
 
"This is about you, not me.

When your mother found you and Tanner, she jumped to the wrong conclusion, is that right?"

"To put it mildly, she went totally apeshit," Heather said, rolling her eyes.
 
"She screeched so loud she woke up my daddy.
 
He ran downstairs, bringing his pistol, thinking the house had been broken into again."

She shoved back a handful of glossy auburn hair.
 
"It was awful.

Tanner kept telling them that he wouldn't do anything to hurt me, but Mother threw him out of the house and hasn't let me see him since.

I've been grounded.
 
She took away my car keys and my phone."

Tears filled her eyes.
 
"1 might as well be in Siberia.
 
It's awful!

And I didn't do anything!
 
She looks at me like I'm a, you know, a whore.

Daddy's tried to make peace, but she doesn't easily forgive and forget.

I've told her a million times that I'm still a virgin.
 
Technically, that is.
 
Tanner's, you know, used his finger, but not his Lara indicated her understanding with a nod.

"But Mother doesn't believe that.
 
This morning she told me we were coming to you, and I was going to start taking birth control pills whether I liked it or not.
 
She said if I was going to screw around, at least she wasn't going to get stuck with a grandkid to raise.

Lara empathized with the girl because Darcy's sentiments echoed those of her own parents.
 
The message had been: Do whatever you want, just don't get caught and thereby inconvenience us.
 
Heather sniffed wetly.

Lara passed her a box of tissues.
 
"I miss Tanner so much.
 
He loves me.
 
He really does.
 
And I love him."

"I'm sure you do."

"He's so sweet to me.
 
Not like her.
 
Nothing I do pleases her."

Lara waited while Heather noisily blew her nose, then said, "I see no problem in prescribing the pills for you.
 
You appear to be in good health."

"They'll make me fat, won't they?"

Lara smiled.
 
"Weight gain can be a side effect, but I doubt that will be a problem for a young woman as active and energetic as you."

She looked intently into the girl's face.
 
"Aside from the physical aspects, I want you to be psychologically prepared for this step.
 
Are you certain that this is what you want, Heather?"

Again, her eyes darted toward the door.
 
"Yeah, it is.
 
I mean, Tanner's promised that he'll use something, but if I was taking pills, too, no way could I get pregnant."

"Just remember that the pills don't protect you from sexually transmitted diseases.
 
If you're going to be sexually active, I suggest using a condom every time, even with a steady boyfriend.
 
Encourage your friends to do the same."

She wrote out the prescription form, then together they moved toward the waiting room.
 
Darcy was impatiently thumbing through a magazine.

She tossed it aside as soon as they entered.

"Well?"

"I've given Heather a prescription for oral contraceptives and asked her to come back in six months just to see that everything is okay.
 
Of course, she's to call me if she has any negative side effects or discomfort."

"You were in there an awfully long time."

Lara refused to be defensive.
 
"Your daughter is a delightful young woman.
 
I enjoyed talking with her.
 
Which reminds me, I'm interested in implementing some health education programs at the high school.
 
As president of the school board, would Mr. Winston be open to hearing my ideas?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"Then I will," Lara replied graciously, in spite of Darcy's curtness.

"I'll contact him as soon as the semester begins."

"How should I handle the bill?"

"Nancy will take care of it now."
 
Lara turned to Heather.
 
"Good luck with cheerleading.
 
I'll be watching you from the grandstands."

"Thanks, Dr. Mallory.
 
I'll wave at you."
 
She grinned, then added,

"It still feels weird calling a lady doctor."

They were several blocks from the clinic before Darcy broke the antagonistic silence with her daughter.
 
"Well, you two certainly seemed chummy when we left."

"She's nice."

Darcy snorted.
 
"Clark Tackett thought so too, and look where that landed him.
 
She's nothing but trash.
 
And trouble."

Heather turned away to gaze out the window.

Most of Darcy's criticism arose from jealousy.
 
She hadn't expected or wanted Lara Mallory to be so charming.
 
She was cool and classy.

Every subconscious gesture bespoke good breeding and social training.

She was so damned tidy that she'd made Darcy feel like she needed a bath.
 
She was slender as a reed, and probably had not an ounce of cellulite clinging to her thighs.
 
Her hair was thick and healthy.
 
Her seemingly poreless skin was taut.
 
From a woman's standpoint, there was a lot there to envy.

But what would a man, specifically Key Tackett, see in her?
 
Her figure wasn't voluptuous.
 
She had a candid gaze, like a man's.
 
Or did her eyes assume a sultry mystery when she was with a lover?

After making up her mind to visit Lara Mallory, Darcy had been forced to wait a week before doing so.
 
Heather and Tanner had provided her the perfect excuse, but then the Leonard kid had died and the town had been in upheaval.
 
Everyone was watching Lara Mallory.
 
Darcy decided it would be smart to wait until the dust had settled.
 
She wanted an up-close and personal look at Dr. Mallory, but without the whole town knowing she was curious.

Was Lara Mallory Key's new squeeze?
 
Dammit, she'd come away as mystified as before.
 
The doctor seemed too cool to appeal to Key's lusty nature, but looks could be deceiving.
 
And there was no accounting for taste, particularly a taste for women, which she knew was unique to every man.

So all Darcy had to show for her meeting with Lara was Heather's dewy-eyed admiration for the woman who might have snatched Key away from her.
 
Not that she'd actually been in a position to claim ownership of him.
 
He had picked her up in a bar and slept with her only once, but she believed that they had a future as lovers.
 
Without the interference of another woman, it could happen.
 
Lara Mallory might jinx it.