adorning the walls. The medical books on the shelves belonged to her. But the office still bore the former occupant's masculine imprint.
As soon as it was economically feasible, she intended to paint the dark paneling and replace the leather maroon furniture with something brighter and more contemporary.
These planned changes would be only cosmetic. Changing the minds of people would take much more time and effort. Before his retirement, Dr. Stewart Patton had been a general practitioner in Eden Pass for more than forty years and in that time he had never made a single enemy. Since taking over his practice, Lara was frequently asked,
"Where's Doc?" with' the same suspicious inflection as Key Tackett had used when he posed the question to her last night, as though she had displaced the elderly doctor for self-gain.
Dr. Lara Mallory had a long way to go before earning the same level of confidence as Doc Patton had held with the people of Eden Pass. She knew she could never cultivate the affection of her patients that Doc Patton had enjoyed, because she was, after all, the scarlet woman who'd been involved with Clark Tackett. Everyone in his hometown knew her as such. That's why her arrival had taken them by surprise. Lara had wishfully reasoned that once they recovered from the initial shock and realized that she was a qualified physician, they would forget the scandal.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated Jody Tackett's staggering influence over the community. Although they'd never met face to face, Clark's mother was crippling her attempts to succeed.
One afternoon when she was feeling particularly despondent, she'd brought it up with Nancy. "I guess it's no mystery why people in Eden Pass are willing to drive twenty miles to the next town to see a doctor."
"Course not, Nancy said. "Jody Tackett has put out the word that anybody who comes near this office, no matter how sick, will be on her shit list."
"Because of Clark?"
"Hmm. Everyone in town knows the scintillating details of y'all's affair. It had almost been laid to rest when Clark died. Then you showed up a few months afterward. Jody got pissed and set her mind to making you an outcast."
"Then why are you willing to work for me?"
Nancy took a deep breath. "My daddy was a pumper for Tackett Oil and Gas for twenty-five years. This was years ago, when Clark Senior was still head honcho." She paused. "You know that Clark your Clark was a third-generation Clark Tackett, don't you? His granddaddy was Clark Senior and his daddy Clark Junior."
"Yes. He told me.
"Okay, so anyway," Nancy resumed, "there was an accident at one of the wells and my daddy was killed."
"Did the Tacketts admit culpability?"
"They did what they had to do to cover themselves legally. Mama got all the insurance money she was entitled to. But none of them came to the funeral. Nobody called. They had the flower shop deliver a big spray of chrysanthemums to the church, but none of them saw fit to visit my mama.
"I was just a kid at the time, but I thought then, and still think, that it was rotten of them to be so standoffish. True, Daddy's death didn't make a ripple in one barrel of their filthy oil, but he was a loyal, hardworking employee. Since then I've had a low opinion of all the Tacketts, but particularly of Jody."
"Why particularly of jody?"
"Because she only married Clark junior to get her greedy hands on Tackett Oil." Nancy inched forward in her chair. "See, Clark Senior was a wildcatter at the height of the boom. He struck oil the first time he drilled and made a shitload of money virtually overnight, then kept right on making it. Clark Junior came along. His main ambition in life was to have a good time and spend as much of his daddy's money as he could, mostly on gambling, whiskey, and women.
She sighed
As soon as it was economically feasible, she intended to paint the dark paneling and replace the leather maroon furniture with something brighter and more contemporary.
These planned changes would be only cosmetic. Changing the minds of people would take much more time and effort. Before his retirement, Dr. Stewart Patton had been a general practitioner in Eden Pass for more than forty years and in that time he had never made a single enemy. Since taking over his practice, Lara was frequently asked,
"Where's Doc?" with' the same suspicious inflection as Key Tackett had used when he posed the question to her last night, as though she had displaced the elderly doctor for self-gain.
Dr. Lara Mallory had a long way to go before earning the same level of confidence as Doc Patton had held with the people of Eden Pass. She knew she could never cultivate the affection of her patients that Doc Patton had enjoyed, because she was, after all, the scarlet woman who'd been involved with Clark Tackett. Everyone in his hometown knew her as such. That's why her arrival had taken them by surprise. Lara had wishfully reasoned that once they recovered from the initial shock and realized that she was a qualified physician, they would forget the scandal.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated Jody Tackett's staggering influence over the community. Although they'd never met face to face, Clark's mother was crippling her attempts to succeed.
One afternoon when she was feeling particularly despondent, she'd brought it up with Nancy. "I guess it's no mystery why people in Eden Pass are willing to drive twenty miles to the next town to see a doctor."
"Course not, Nancy said. "Jody Tackett has put out the word that anybody who comes near this office, no matter how sick, will be on her shit list."
"Because of Clark?"
"Hmm. Everyone in town knows the scintillating details of y'all's affair. It had almost been laid to rest when Clark died. Then you showed up a few months afterward. Jody got pissed and set her mind to making you an outcast."
"Then why are you willing to work for me?"
Nancy took a deep breath. "My daddy was a pumper for Tackett Oil and Gas for twenty-five years. This was years ago, when Clark Senior was still head honcho." She paused. "You know that Clark your Clark was a third-generation Clark Tackett, don't you? His granddaddy was Clark Senior and his daddy Clark Junior."
"Yes. He told me.
"Okay, so anyway," Nancy resumed, "there was an accident at one of the wells and my daddy was killed."
"Did the Tacketts admit culpability?"
"They did what they had to do to cover themselves legally. Mama got all the insurance money she was entitled to. But none of them came to the funeral. Nobody called. They had the flower shop deliver a big spray of chrysanthemums to the church, but none of them saw fit to visit my mama.
"I was just a kid at the time, but I thought then, and still think, that it was rotten of them to be so standoffish. True, Daddy's death didn't make a ripple in one barrel of their filthy oil, but he was a loyal, hardworking employee. Since then I've had a low opinion of all the Tacketts, but particularly of Jody."
"Why particularly of jody?"
"Because she only married Clark junior to get her greedy hands on Tackett Oil." Nancy inched forward in her chair. "See, Clark Senior was a wildcatter at the height of the boom. He struck oil the first time he drilled and made a shitload of money virtually overnight, then kept right on making it. Clark Junior came along. His main ambition in life was to have a good time and spend as much of his daddy's money as he could, mostly on gambling, whiskey, and women.
She sighed
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