Where There's Smoke (48 page)

Hastily the seven board members came to their feet.
 
Only Fergus spoke.

He addressed his wife by name, but his eyes were fixed on Jody Tackett.

"What are you doing here, Darcy?
 
This is a closed session.

"Not anymore."
 
Jody still looked unwell, but her voice was strong enough to penetrate matter.

"She insisted on coming," Darcy explained.
 
Fergus finally tore his baleful stare from Jody and looked at his wife.
 
"I'm sorry, Fergus.
 
I know you asked me not to discuss the items on the school board's agenda until they were ready to be made public, but I felt so strongly about this particular issue that I had to do something."

Lara rose from her seat.
 
"I presently have the floor, Mrs.
 
Winston.

If you want to address the school board, I suggest you go through the proper channels and petition for an audience the way I did.
 
Or aren't the rules the same for everyone?"
 
She turned and looked pointedly at Fergus.

He had been glaring at Jody Tackett as though she were poison.

He looked ready to strangle his wife for bringing her into a chamber where he was in charge.

"Dr. Mallory's right," he said.
 
"If you and Jody have something to call to this board's attention, do it in the proper manner.
 
You can't just bust in like this and interrupt a meeting."

"Ordinarily we wouldn't," Darcy agreed.
 
"But-" "I'll speak for myself."
 
Impatiently Jody approached the conference table.
 
When she was certain she had the undivided attention of each board member, she asked bluntly, "Have y'all lost your senses?"

Eyes were averted.
 
No one spoke.
 
Finally Fergus stiffly invited her to take a chair.

"I'd rather stand."

"Suit yourself."

"I always have."

The animosity between them was palpable.
 
The others seemed embarrassed by it and looked away, but Lara didn't let the awkwardness prevent her from speaking.
 
"Mr. Winston, I insist that the board extend me the courtesy of concluding our meeting."

She was patently ignored.

Jody turned to Reverend Massey, pastor of a local church.
 
"I can't understand you, preacher.
 
Every Sunday you preach against fornication.

Yet you're thinking of letting an adulteress talk to our young people about sex?"
 
She sniffed with incredulity and disdain.

"Makes me wonder why I'm giving my tithe to your church."

He smiled sickly.
 
"We haven't reached a decision, Jody.
 
We've merely listened to Dr. Mallory's proposal.
 
Rest assured that she's not advocating sin.

"Is that right?"
 
Jody looked toward Darcy.
 
"Tell him what you told me."

She stepped forward, making certain to stand directly beneath the overhead light like an old pro of the boards locating center stage.
 
In a rushed, breathless voice she said, "I took Heather in for a checkup a few weeks ago.
 
Afterward, she told me that Dr. Mallory urged her to start having condoms handy whenever she went on a date."

"That's not what I said!"
 
Lara cried.
 
"I warned Heather about being sexually active without using condoms.
 
Obviously what I told her was misconstrued.
 
Either she didn't fully grasp my meaning, or Mrs.

Winston is rearranging the words to suit her purpose here."

"I'm doing no such thing," Darcy shot back.
 
Then, to the board, "Not only that, she told Heather to tell all her friends the same thing.

Now if that's not goading teenagers to fool around, I don't know what is.
 
All they need is the power of suggestion and they run with it.

You know how kids are.
 
Telling them to take rubbers on their dates is like handing them a license to.
 
. . you know."
 
Chastely she lowered her eyes.

Lara wanted to retaliate, to tell them that Darcy had brought Heather to her specifically to get a prescription for birth control pills.

But she couldn't do so without violating patient confidentiality.
 
The secret smile Darcy flashed her indicated that she was well aware of that.

"I cautioned Heather about promiscuity and a multiplicity of partners," she admitted.
 
"I suggested she share the information with her friends.

I in no way advocated sexual misconduct."

"Even though you're an expert on the subject?"

"Darcy, please," Fergus said with a soft groan.
 
"Let's keep personalities out of this.
 
Our focus here should be on the young people of our community."

"Amen," the reverend intoned.
 
"Frankly, I have misgivings about holding such open discussions on human sexuality.
 
Our youth have enough temptations to withstand as it is.
 
Their minds are fertile.

We should plant seeds that would yield strong spiritual fibers, not doubts and confusion over the devil's handiwork."

"Save the sermons for Sunday, preacher," Jody said.
 
"But I'm glad to know I can count on your vote against this idea."

Her gaze moved down the long the table, pausing on each member of the board.
 
She looked straight through Lara as though she weren't there.

"Once you've had time to think about it, I'm sure all of you will come to the same conclusion.
 
If you don't, I'll have to reconsider my own plans."

"What plans?"
 
one of the board members asked.

"My son Clark loved every day he spent in the Eden Pass school system and often credited it for preparing him for his political career.

He would have liked having his name on a school facility.
 
Something like the Clark Tackett the Third Gymnasium.
 
It's getting to where I'm scared to go to the basketball games anymore, afraid I'll break my neck climbing into those rickety bleachers.
 
Those computerized scoreboards are nice, too, aren't they?
 
Wouldn't it be something if Eden Pass were the first school in the area to have one?
 
We'd put the bigger schools to shame, wouldn't we?"

Lara lowered her head.
 
In her mind she could hear the tap-tap of a hammer nailing the coffin shut on her proposal.

Jody let their greedy minds devour the bait before continuing.
 
"I was born in Eden Pass.
 
Lived here all my life.
 
Went through twelve grades of public school here, and so did my three children.
 
I've always boasted that our school system is one of the best in the state."

She leaned on the table and thumped it with the knuckles of her blunt, freckled hand.
 
"I'll change my opinion in a New York minute if you let this woman speak one word under the schoolhouse roof.

Why in God's name would you even consider it, knowing what everybody in the country knows about her?
 
Do you want a woman like her having any influence over your kids?"
 
Her face had turned red.
 
She was laboring to breathe.

"I would rather die than let her lay a hand on me.
 
And I'm not just throwing words around.
 
Ask anybody who was in the Sak'n'Save last Tuesday morning."

"You've made your point, Mrs. Tackett."
 
Lara was afraid that Jody was building up to another stroke.
 
She didn't want to be blamed for bringing on the fatal one.
 
"I'm sure everyone here knows that you resented my efforts to save your life.
 
I'm not going to fight you on this because engaging in a contest like that is beneath my dignity.

Secondly, I know I can't win.
 
I don't have the resources to bribe the school board with new gymnasiums and state-of-the-art scoreboards."

"Now see here," the minister blustered, "I resent that implication."

Lara ignored him.
 
"Primarily, I'm backing down because I'm afraid the fight might kill you."

Jody focused on her for the first time since entering the room.

"Well you're wrong.
 
I won't die until I see you on your way out of town.
 
My town.
 
Clark's town.
 
I won't rest until you're gone and the air is fit to breathe again.

Lara calmly stacked the typed pages of her presentation and zipped them into a black leather portfolio, tucking it and her handbag under her arm.
 
"Thank you, gentlemen, for giving me your attention this morning.

Unless I hear from you otherwise, I'll assume that my proposal was rejected."

None of them had the guts to look her in the eye.
 
She derived some satisfaction from that as she turned and walked from the room.

Darcy followed her out.
 
Lara didn't stop until she had reached the main entrance of the building.
 
There, she turned to confront Darcy.

"I know why Jody Tackett hates me," she said.
 
"But why do you?

What have I ever done to you?"

"Maybe I just think people ought to stay where they belong.
 
You had no business coming to Eden Pass.
 
You don't fit in.
 
You never will."

"What do you care whether I fit in?
 
How am I a threat to you, Mrs.

Winston?"

Darcy made a scoffing sound.

"That's it, I'm sure," Lara said.
 
"For some unfathomable reason you regard me as a threat."
 
Could Darcy's hatred for her relate to Key Tackett?
 
It was an uncomfortable thought, which she kept at arm 5 length.
 
"Believe me, Mrs.
 
Winston, you've got nothing that I want."

Darcy licked her lips like a cat over a bowl of cream.
 
"Not even a daughter?"

Lara reeled, unable to grasp the extent of the other woman's cruelty.

"I didn't give you enough credit," Lara said.
 
"You're not only selfish and spiteful, you're deadly."

"Fucking-A, Dr. Mallory.
 
When it comes to getting what I want, I pull no punches.
 
I have absolutely no scruples, and for that reason I'm dangerous.
 
You can pack up that bit of information and take it with you when you leave town."

Lara shook her head.
 
"I'm not leaving.
 
In spite of what you or Jody Tackett or anybody else says about me, no matter how vicious your threats become, you can't drive me out."

Darcy's lips broke into a beautiful smile.
 
"This is going to be fun."

Laughing, she turned and retraced her steps to the administrative offices.
 
Her laughter echoed eerily in the cavernous foyer.

Darcy blew her nose into a monogrammed handkerchief.
 
"I can't stand having you mad at me, Fergus."

After seeing jody Tackett home, she returned to her house to find Fergus lying in wait for her.
 
She'd seen him this angry with other people, but never with her.
 
It alarmed her.
 
Fergus was her safety net.
 
He was always there to fall back on if things went wrong.

"Please don't yell at me anymore," she begged tremulously.

"I'm sorry.
 
I didn't mean to raise my voice."

Darcy sniffed, then blotted her running mascara.
 
"What I did, I did for you.