"I've been workin' for him eight years now," Jim said "Lots of us commute together down to the offshore rigs. Out two weeks, home two weeks. Janie loves half of it." He grinned, anticipating his own joke. "The half I'm gone." He slapped his leg and laughed, but his laugh was filled with bitterness instead of humor.
"Oh, shut up," Janie said primly. "It's just I can't get anything done with him home twenty-four hours a day for two weeks, Clancy." She continued to ignore Angel. "He's always underfoot somehow."
Clancy had seen Janie in lots of snits. Matter of fact, he'd seen Janie in almost as many as he'd seen Melissa in. The two friends were cut from the same cloth, and the only difference was that Janie hadn't been brazen enough to kick Jim out. . . not yet. Clancy had seen her flirting at the reunion and wondered if their marriage was headed for trouble, but Jim hadn't offered any information and he sure hadn't been about to ask.
"Janie," he said in the tone he used when he was lecturing a student, "let's get something straight right now. Melissa and I are history. She's the one who wanted a divorce so she could marry someone else, but it's over between us. And I'm not interested in a rematch. She needs to get on with her life."
"Oh, sure," Janie flared up at him. "Melissa told me she was pregnant and going to Florida to tell you. Evidently she found you there with Angela."
"It's not mine." Clancy's temper flared as hot as hers. He hit the table with his fist, making the two trays rattle and other people turn and look at them. Then he laughed out loud until tears rolled down his face and he had to wipe them away with a paper napkin. "This is so damned funny," he hiccuped.
"Are you crazy?" Jim stopped eating and stared at him.
"No, not at all. It's the rest of the world that's crazy. You're crazy, Janie," Clancy stopped laughing and leaned forward until his nose was just inches from hers. "Melissa may be pregnant. That's her business. It might be Daniel's. It might be a senior student where she teaches. But it's her problem. Not mine. If she told you I got her pregnant, then your best friend lied to you. If the two of you hatched up this scheme together, then you know I'm telling the truth."
"Well, it weren't for you," Janie spun around and stared at Angela. "Clancy and Melissa might work things out. They belong together."
"Janie, why don't you shut up?" Jim asked softly. "This just ain't your business."
"Yes, it is." She turned on him. "Melissa's been my best friend since we were three years old. So she made a big mistake by leaving Clancy for Daniel. So she got pregnant and her husband's not the father—but—"
"But who is?" Angela asked suddenly. So her gut feeling had been right. Clancy was innocent just as he said he was.
"Oh, go to hell. You never did belong to our crowd and you won't now, just because he's got blinders on," Janie hissed. "Don't think we'll all welcome you with open arms just because you slept your way to the top of some oil company and Clancy thinks you're hot stuff."
"Who's the father, Janie?" Jim asked, suddenly interested in the story. "Clancy says it's none of his doing and I believe him. I damned sure wouldn't be fool enough to remarry her. You treat me like Melissa's treated him and I'll boot your backside out the door, woman."
Angel's burger suddenly tasted wonderful. Janie was entitled to her own opinion. It didn't even matter that the woman had been rude. What mattered was that once again Angel's hunch had been right, and she hadn't let her emotions lead her down the wrong road. But Janie ought to know that it would be a snowy day in August before Angel turned her back again on the man she should have fought for ten years ago. If she had stood up and told Clancy Morgan right then that he was going to face his responsibilities and acknowledge their child, things might have turned out very differently. But she had been too insecure then. Now Angel Conrad was a force to be reckoned with, and she lacked neither security nor self-esteem.
"I'm goin' home," Janie stood up so fast she knocked her chair backward on the floor. "And you can either go with me, or sleep next to the river tonight with your buddies," she dared Jim.
"I'm finishin' this chili dog, Janie, and I don't doubt the riverbanks will be a pleasanter place to sleep than your bed. I'll be by the house and get my things tomorrow to go out for two weeks, and then you can keep things wonderful and clean." Jim didn't even look up at her.
"You're crazy, Jim," she said through clenched teeth.
"Maybe, but I still believe Clancy. And I can't believe even you would try to hogswaggle him into marryin' Melissa when it ain't his kid. What were you thinkin', Janie? That you and Melissa would laugh behind his back about it? I'm ashamed of you." He finally looked up at her, amazement in his face.
"Good-bye, Clancy and Jim. And Angela, you are a bitch," Janie whispered and stormed out the door toward her bright red car.
"Don't do it, Angel," Clancy's eyes were big as dollars. "I wouldn't blame you, but. . ."
Angel stood up slowly and followed her out the door. Clancy rolled his eyes and started to get up, too, but Jim put his hand on his friend's arm and held him down. "Don't. Let them alone. It's high time my wife found out she can't act like a horse's ass and get away with it. If Angela slaps her, then so be it."
"But. . ."
"Leave it alone, Clancy. Lord, who would ever have thought Angela would run an oil company and do business with Red." He changed the subject. "If we'd been voting for least likely to succeed, she would have been right up there at the top of that list. And here she is. How'd you get hooked up with her anyway? Are things serious?"
"Hell, Jim, I don't know. I'd like for them to be. Uh-oh, she's just crawled right in the front seat with Janie—"
"I think we better straighten something out," Angel opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat just seconds before Janie started to back out.
"Get out of my car, you bitch!" Janie screamed at her. "Right now."
"I'm going to talk. and although you might not like it, you will listen," she said calmly, as if he was talking to a child. "Now, if you want to drive away, that's okay. Everyone in town can see you with me in the car with you, and you can explain that to Melissa when you talk to her again," Angel was as unruffled as a freshly made bed
"You're going to get out of my car or I'm going to throw you out," Janie threatened.
"Stop acting like a teenager. We're adults now Janie. We're not in grade school and this is not a little red wagon you won't let me ride in. We're grown women. You're entitled to your opinion, and if you don't like me, that's fine."
"What?" Janie was bewildered
"I know your little friend Melissa tried to snag Clancy again, because she's desperate and needs a husband and he was always dependable. She just didn't figure on me being there when she arrived. There's no excuse for such a low-down, dirty trick, although you can be her friend and help her scheme if you want to. That's your prerogative." Angel looked the woman right in the eye, making her squirm. "Sometimes people don't like me, Janie, so I've learned not to care. Every day I make women and men angry, but I run a business. That's life in the real world. I made a big mistake ten years ago and didn't listen to my heart when it old me Clancy was bad news.
"I'm sure Melissa told you about my son. He was stillborn, and he looked so much like Clancy it broke my heart all over again to see him in that little blue casket. But that's mine and Clancy's business, not yours . . .
"I followed you out here to tell you two things. One, is you better not push that husband of yours too far. It's pretty clear that he's getting sick of it. The second thing is that you'd better never call me a bitch again—or I'll mop up the streets of this little town with you. I'm not from around here and I don't really care what people think anymore. Have a nice night, Janie, and when you go to sleep all alone tonight, remember it could be permanent!"
Angel opened the door and slammed it shut. Janie just sat there for a long time, thinking about what Angela Conrad had said. Whether she liked the woman or not, she made a lot of sense. Of course, she knew the truth about the baby. Melissa
told her everything the night she'd gone to the creek to see Clancy. And she knew this baby Melissa was expecting didn't belong to Daniel, but to his best friend, and that's why Daniel had filed for divorce. Melissa wanted an abortion but she had already had three and was afraid to have another.
But to lose Jim? He wasn't the best-looking or the best-built man in town, but he was faithful. And she had to admit he was a good man. But Janie seethed inside, wishing she could slap thunder out of that hateful Angela for being right. Perhaps Jim was getting tired of her attitude and was looking around. Goodness knows, he would have enough chances away in Louisiana, every other two weeks.
"No blood or broken bones, I hope." Clancy tried to smile when Angel sat back down and stuck the straw of her milkshake in her mouth.
"Nope." She smiled at him and Jim. "Neither one."
"Wouldn't blame you if there was," Jim muttered.
"I think she might want to talk to you. Go on out there. Betcha she's ready to tell you she's sorry," Angela said.
"Sure, when hell freezes over," Jim snorted, but he got up and left, evidently ready to take on his temperamental wife.
"Good food, Clancy. Thanks. Not such good company, but really good food," Angel said. "Hey, let's go to the creek where the old swinging bridge used to be and sit on the banks in the grass and see if any ducks float by. There used to be a few when I was a little girl. Granny cleaned a couple of houses over there and I was terrified of that bridge. I just knew the crazy thing was going to fall in the water and we'd both drown. I was probably the most excited person in the whole town when they tore it down and put in the new concrete bridge."
Clancy's attention was elsewhere.
"What'd you say to Janie?" he asked incredulously curiously. "They just drove off and Jim waved and winked at me. Angel, tell me what's going on."
"Not much. I told Janie a few things she needed to hear about Jim.
"And?"
"Oh, all right. I said that I didn't appreciate being called a bitch and I told her what I intended to do if she called me that again."
"And what would that be, you sweet little thing?"
"Let's just say that she seemed to get my point."
Clancy had to smile.
Thirteen
Angel and Clancy sat on the grassy edge of the creek, watching the big orange sun drift down behind the trees toward the west and the ducks floating in the current. She spoke first.
"You know, for years, I fantasized about the day you would take me to the Dairy Queen and we'd walk in looking like two people in love. I expected it to be the most wonderful day in the whole world."
He stroked her hair and wished desperately he had been able to make such a simple wish come true years ago. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Don't be sorry." She smiled brightly. "Tonight I realized that if we would have done things differently then, we wouldn't be the people we are today. What I feel for you today is much stronger than it was ten years ago, Clancy. If you had given up your hopes and dreams then, you might have resented me. I'm not totally sure we would have stayed together. You know, very few teenage marriages, especially those that start out with a pregnant girl, ever last."
"Damn," he swore huskily, "you were wise beyond your years even then, Angel. And I'm really glad you still speak your mind."
"Speaking of which, are we going to make love and then sleep in different bedrooms tonight? I'd feel really weird if your mother came to wake us up for church and we were in the same room." She looked at him without blinking and he thought he saw heaven inside her beautiful green eyes.
"Then we'll sleep in two rooms," he said "Want to go home and take a moonlight swim?"
"Sure." Angel was on her feet before he could move. "I need to work off the supper you fixed for us." She winked with the words.
A few minutes later, he knocked at the door to her bedroom in the guest house and waited for her to appear in that red swimsuit she'd worn on the beach in Florida. Instead, she opened the door just enough, took his hand and pulled him inside. Angel wore nothing but a barrette in her hair and a smile. Candles cast a soft glow on the room, decorated in shades of cool country blue, and the bed was turned down, waiting. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers, where she teased his lips with her tongue as she ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. When he moaned, she pushed him toward the bed and fell with him, without breaking contact.
His hands massaged the soft skin he loved so much and then the sultry look in her eyes told him she was as ready as he was, and just as before, they were united on a plane that put soul to soul as much as flesh to flesh.
An hour later when Meredith and Tom arrived from their dinner date, they found them frolicking in the water as innocently as a pair of preschool kids. "Hey, you two, I thought you were tuckered out." Tom plopped down in a chaise longue and propped his feet up.
"Not me," Angel giggled. "I could swim forever. I've always loved the water." She splashed Clancy's face and then took a deep dive to the bottom where she swam until she reached the end of the pool.
"You cheated," he accused.
She shook her head. "All's fair in love and war."
"That's the gospel truth," Meredith sat down beside Tom in a matching lounging chair and reached across the space to take his hand. "We ate so much we felt like two little stuffed piglets and then I made Tom dance with me. He's not too bad." She smiled affectionately at him. "Surprised me to be swept around the floor in a perfect waltz. He told me in San Antone he couldn't dance at all."
Tom winked at Clancy. "Only stepped on her feet a few times."
"Ya'll still goin' to church with us?" Meredith asked. "Be up and around by eleven if you are. And we've got a bunch of folks coming from town for a poolside lunch afterward. Nothing too big. Sandwiches and a small wedding cake. The photographer will take a few pictures so we can show the grandchildren someday . . . we hope." She looked at Clancy as if to remind him that the clock was ticking merrily away.
"We'll be up and around." Clancy nodded. "Maybe the photographer can shoot a few of me and Angel," he suggested, amazed that she didn't throw something at him.
Angel merely smiled demurely.
The next morning, Clancy arrived in the kitchen at ten o'clock, wiping sleep from his eyes and yawning. He wore a pair of his oldest shorts and a faded purple muscle shirt he usually used for fishing. "Mornin', Mama." He nodded at her and headed toward the coffeepot. "Tom up yet?"
"He's shaving," Meredith said. "And while I've got you alone I have a couple of things to say. First of all, you're a complete idiot if you let Angel get away from you this time. Lord, that girl is so much in love with you it's written all over her. Now, what's this about Janie insulting her yesterday? Did you take care of it?"
Clancy shook his head. "Didn't have to. Angel did. Do you really think she loves me?" he sipped the coffee and opened his eyes wide. "Hey, how did you know about Janie's snit?"
"Doesn't take the gossip line long to get hot. June called me this morning about the cake and said Janie told her mother she and Angel had . . . words. Clancy, this is a small town and you've got to be able to trace your ancestry all the way back to Noah before you're important around here. But I'm worried about Angel . . ."
"Hey, Mama," Clancy put his hand up. "I love her with all my heart. I just don't want to rush things. I'd marry her tomorrow, but I'm going to court her properly and then propose just like in the movies . . . on one knee with a big diamond in my pocket. Then if she wants a wedding big enough for Texas with all those women who were in her band standing beside her and a reception that lasts six days and nights, we'll have it. This time, my Angel is going to have everything I was too young and too insecure to offer her ten years ago."
"Don't forget stupid."
"Thanks a lot!" Clancy said indignantly.
Meredith grinned.
"Fine. I just wanted to know where we stood on this. Now get on out there and wake your fiancée up. She
needs to munch a bagel or something before church. And if I hear anyone putting her down, they'd better be ready for a first-rate cat fight. She's the best damned thing that's happened to you in a long time."
"Don't I know it!" he exclaimed as he filled a coffee mug and carried it out the patio door toward her bedroom. He knocked gently at the door and waited, then knocked again. In a minute Angel opened the door, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Be careful, woman" he said roughly. "I'm carrying hot coffee. Don't be grabbing my arm and dragging me into your room for a wild, passionate love-a-thon right in front of my mother. She's watching out the back door. Besides, you wore me out last night."
"Oh, hush." A smile played at the corners of Angel's mouth and she reached out to take the mug from him. "Mmmm." She sipped the hot coffee and murmured appreciatively. "Leave the door open and come in while I wake up."
"Well, you've calmed down. Can't believe you're the same wanton hussy who threw me down on the bed and took advantage of me last night." Clancy sat down in a plaid recliner and kicked back while she crawled up in the middle of the bed and sat cross-legged, drinking coffee and opening her eyes by degrees.
"Mama said to come get a bagel. Real food will be served after church at a poolside lunch with some of the town folks coming for an informal reception. There'll be a wedding cake and a photographer for Tom and Mama. Think maybe you and I could have him take a few shots of us?"
"Why?" Angel woke all the way up. She knew there would be lots of familiar faces at the church, but she wouldn't have to make small talk with anyone for more than a few minutes after the services. Her mind went into overtime, thinking about what might happen at Tom and Meredith's wedding reception. Whether she liked it or not, she'd feel just as she did in high school. All those people would realize she was Angela Conrad, the poor little girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and they'd pity Clancy.
"Why not?" He shrugged. "We've never had pictures taken of us. The photographer's coming anyway, and besides, Mama and Tom would like one," he said.
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