Where There's Smoke (42 page)

"A whole watermelon is wasted on one person, I'm afraid."

"I'll slice one and sell you a portion."

"No, thanks.
 
I'll stick to cantaloupe."

When she smiled, his heart sped up a little.
 
Regardless of the reputation that stereotyped sailors, he'd never been a dedicated skirt chaser.
 
But he'd have to be blind not to notice that Dr. Mallory was a real looker.
 
Her face and figure turned heads.
 
In Eden Pass her name was synonymous with temptress.

Frankly, he'd never seen that side of her.
 
She was friendly but never flirtatious.
 
Maybe he just wasn't her type, although a natural flirt usually flirted with everybody of the opposite sex.
 
Like Heather's mother.
 
Now that woman was a tart if he'd ever seen one.
 
He hoped to goodness that Heather didn't take after Darcy in that respect.

Tanner was a good boy, but it wouldn't take much encouragement from a pretty girl like Heather for him to do something he ought not.

"Let me know if there's anything you need, Dr.
 
Mallory."

"Thanks, Mr.
 
Hoskins.
 
I will."

Regrettably, he saw no way to avoid disaster.
 
He moved aside and let her pass, thinking that maybe he should warn her that Jody Tackett was in the next aisle.
 
He hoped the doctor didn't need any coffee or tea.

Fatalistically he watched as she wheeled her cart into aisle 4. He loitered at the end of it, pretending to rearrange packages of Oreos and Fig Newtons.
 
He prayed that he wouldn't be called upon to referee a cat fight.

The squeaky front wheel on Dr.
 
Mallory's cart rolled to a stop.

For several moments there was silence, then he heard her say, "Good morning."

Janellen replied in her shy little voice, "Good morning, Dr.

Mallory."

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Mrs. Tackett."
 
Dr. Mallory gave Jody ample opportunity to respond.
 
When she didn't, the doctor added, "I've called your house several times, hoping to speak with you.

"We have nothing to say to each other."
 
Only Jody Tackett could have put that much venom into a few simple words.
 
"Let's go, Janellen."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Tackett, but we have an awful lot to say to each other.
 
I'd like very much to talk to you about Clark."

"I'll see you in hell first."

"Mama!"

"Hush, Janellen!
 
Come along."

"Please, Mrs.
 
Tackett.
 
Mrs.
 
Tackett?
 
Mrs.
 
Tackett!"

At first there was an underlying plea in the doctor's voice.
 
Then inquiry.
 
Then alarm.

"Mama!"

Ollie Hoskins knocked over several packages of Nutter Butters in his haste to get to aisle 4 to see what had happened.
 
He arrived in time to see Jody Tackett reel sideways against her cart.
 
She extended her arms at her sides, palms down, as though trying to regain her balance.

The cart rolled forward; she lost her support and fell against the shelves stacked with boxes of Lipton's Tea.
 
Several glass jars of instant decaf crashed to the floor, breaking on impact and spilling their fragrant powders.
 
Jody fell backward against the shelf, then slid to the floor.
 
She lay prone upon shattered jars and instant tea.

Janellen dropped to her knees.
 
"Mama!
 
Mama!"
 
Lara Mallory didn't waste a second.
 
She was beside Jody before Ollie could blink.

"Call 911," she shouted back at him.
 
"We need an ambulance."

He, in true military fashion, passed the command to one of his subordinates, a checker who happened to be restocking cigarettes in front of her register.
 
She turned and ran toward the office phone.

The aisle was now filling up with other shoppers who'd been alerted by Janellen's frantic screams.
 
Deserting their carts, they converged on aisle 4 from every corner of the supermarket.
 
Ollie ordered them to stand back so the doctor would have room to see to Mrs.
 
Tackett.

"Hold her arms.
 
She could break a bone."

Janellen tried to catch Jody's flailing arms so she wouldn't bang them against the shelves.
 
Even if no bones were broken, she was going to be badly bruised.

Dr. Mallory dug into her handbag and produced a clear, acrylic key ring in the shape of a large key.
 
She thrust it into Jody's mouth and used it to depress her tongue.

"It's okay, it's okay," she told Janellen.
 
"Her breathing passage is clear now.
 
I'm holding down her tongue.
 
She can breathe."

"But she's turning blue!"

"She's getting oxygen now.
 
Keep holding her arms.
 
Mr. Hoskins, did you call for the ambulance?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ollie briskly replied.
 
He turned to the checker, who nodded her head to confirm.
 
"Anything else I can do?"

"Find my brother," Janellen said.
 
"Get him here."

Jody was drooling from the corners of her mouth.
 
Her legs were still thrashing.
 
It took all Janellen's strength to confine her arms.

Dr. Mallory kept her tongue depressed with the key ring, but her breathing sounded like a combine.
 
Ollie didn't have a soft spot for Jody Tackett, but he figured the lady deserved some privacy.

"All you people, clear this aisle."

Of course no one moved.
 
He shoved his way through the growing crowd and ran to his open, elevated office at the front of the store.

Knowing that Key Tackett was a pilot, Ollie called the county airstrip first.
 
Key wasn't there, but old Balky Willis gave him Key's portable phone number.
 
"He left here 'bout fifteen minutes ago.
 
He had that hand-held gadget with him."

Twenty seconds later, Key answered his portable phone with a cheerful,

"Pimp-mobile."

"Mr. Tackett?"
 
Ollie said nervously.
 
He'd never had a run-in with Key, but he'd heard about the unfortunates who had.
 
Even his brothers-in-law, all of them wild as March hares and ready to draw blood at the drop of a hat, spoke Key Tackett's name with reverence and respect, "This is Ollie Hoskins down at the Sak'n'Save and "Hey, Ollie.

I watched that Crimson-Black scrimmage the other night.
 
Tanner's going to give 'em hell this season.

"Yes, sir, thanks.
 
Mr. Tackett, your mother just collapsed here in

"Collapsed?"

"Yes, sir.
 
Your sister and-" "Is she all right?"

"No, sir.
 
We've called for an ambulance."

"I'm on my way.

Ollie dropped the phone and rushed back to aisle 4. Clusters of shoppers blocked it at both ends.
 
"Excuse me.
 
Let me through."

It pleased him to discover that he'd regained his military bearing sufficiently that he could make people heed him.
 
"Please, everybody, stand back," he ordered with newfound confidence.
 
He moved to stand directly behind Dr.
 
Mallory.

"Is she having a stroke?"
 
Janellen asked the doctor fearfully.

"Possibly a mild one.
 
Tests will tell.
 
Has she done this before?"

Dr. Mallory leaned down nearer the fallen woman.
 
"Mrs. Tackett, an ambulance is on the way.
 
Don't be frightened."

Jody had ceased to struggle for breath.
 
Her limbs had relaxed and now were limp.
 
She rolled her eyes from side to side as though trying to orient herself.
 
Lara gradually withdrew the large plastic key from her mouth.
 
It had teeth marks deeply imbedded in it, which explained why Dr. Mallory hadn't used her fingers to clear Jody's breathing passages.
 
She wiped saliva from Jody's chin with a Kleenex from her own purse.

"You had a seizure, but it's over."

"Mama?
 
Are you all right?"
 
Janellen clasped her hand.

"She'll be groggy for several minutes," Dr. Mallory said.
 
"That will pass."

"Let me through.
 
What are y'all gawking at?
 
Don't you have anything better to do?
 
Get the hell away from here."

Key plowed through the crowd of spectators.
 
They parted for him.

Ollie stepped forward.
 
"You must have been close to have gotten here so fast."

"Thanks for calling me, Ollie.
 
Clear these people out, will you?"

"Yes, sir!"
 
Ollie barely stopped himself from saluting.
 
Key Tackett had that effect on people.
 
"Okay, everybody.
 
You heard Mr.

Tackett.

Clear this area.

"Key!
 
Thank heaven!"
 
Janellen cried.
 
"Mama had a seizure."

"Jody?"

"Don' leer touch me.

He knelt beside his mother, but his piercing eyes were on the doctor.

"What's the matter with her?"

"Just as your sister said, she had a seizure.
 
Serious and scary, but not fatal."

Key bent over his mother.
 
"They've called an ambulance for you, Jody," he said in a low, reassuring voice.
 
"It'll be here soon.
 
Hang in there."

"Ge' er away from me.
 
Don' want er to touch me."

Her speech was slurred, but her message was clear.

"Dr.
 
Mallory saved your life, Mama," Janellen said gently.

Jody tried to sit up but couldn't.
 
She fixed a murderous stare on Dr.

Mallory.
 
Although she couldn't articulate her animosity, it was effectively conveyed.

Key made a swift motion with his head.
 
"Take off, Doc.
 
She doesn't want you near her.
 
You're only making matters worse."

Janellen said, "Key, if she hadn't "But " the doctor interrupted.

"You heard me," he barked.
 
"Get out of her sight."

They glared at each other for what seemed to Ollie a long time, as if there was a lot more there than the eye could see.
 
Eventually Dr.

Mallory came to her feet.
 
She was visibly shaken and her voice was unsteady.
 
"Your mother is gravely ill and needs immediate medical attention."

"Not from you."

Even though the words weren't directed at him, Ollie quailed at Tackett's fierce expression and bone-chilling tone.

"Thank you, Dr. Mallory," Janellen said quietly.
 
"We'll see that Mama gets the medical care she needs."

Her services having been flatly rejected, she turned her back on the Tacketts and moved down the aisle toward the onlookers.
 
They parted for her as they had for Key.
 
She didn't return to her cart of groceries but headed straight for the exit.