Secrets in the Sand

by Carolyn Brown

  Clancy nodded, but it was plain that his attention wasn’t on an old footbridge that crossed Pennington Creek. “What’d you say to Janie?” he asked. “They just drove off, and Jim waved and winked at me.”

  “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 that she needed to figure out what was more important, her marriage or her friendship with Melissa.”

  “So, you are a therapist too?” Clancy teased.

  “No, sir!” Angel answered. “I’m just a woman who saw a problem and told an old classmate about it.”

  Chapter 14

  Clancy stopped in the middle of the new concrete bridge that had replaced the old swinging bridge a flood had wiped out years and years ago. “Daddy used to tease Mama about the old bridge. When they were dating, he would speed out to the middle of the bridge and then brake so the bridge would sway back and forth. Mama would scream, and he’d draw her into his arms and comfort her.”

  “I don’t have memories of my folks. They were truck drivers and left me with Granny for weeks on end. When they got killed, I was only three years old,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” Clancy whispered as he drove the rest of the way across the bridge and parked on the edge of the road near the creek.

  “It is what it is. Granny was a wonderful mother to me,” Angel said. “Looks like the ducks have all gone to roost for the night.”

  “We can get out and sit on the sandbar. It’s not as wide as the one at the dam, but we can sit out there and listen to the crickets and tree frogs,” Clancy said.

  She didn’t wait for him to come around and open the door for her but got out of his Bronco and plopped down on the grass. She removed her sandals and stretched her legs out so her toes were in the narrow bit of sand by the water. Sure enough, she could hear crickets and tree frogs blending their voices together to make a fine concert.

  “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.” She picked up a stick and drew two hearts in the wet sand. They touched but they didn’t overlap. “That last night we were together and I told you about the baby, I had drawn a couple of entwined hearts in the sand and wrote ‘baby’ in the part where they joined.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he sat down close to her.

  The night breeze brought a whiff of his cologne to her, and she inhaled deeply. “Don’t be sorry. 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. Very few teenage marriages, especially those that start out because of a pregnancy, ever last.”

  “You’re right again.” He scooted over closer to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Want to go home and take a moonlight swim?”

  “Sure.” Angel hopped up, took a final look at the two hearts, and didn’t kick sand over them this time.

  The drive from one end of town to the other took all of five minutes, and that was even stopping at the two traffic lights. When they reached the guesthouse, Clancy swept her up like a bride and carried her into the small bedroom.

  “I thought this kind of thing was saved for a wedding night,” Angel said, giggling.

  “You and I do things different than most people.” He grinned as he set her down on the floor. “Swim or…” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “I kind of like that ‘or’ business,” she told him as she untucked his shirt and tugged at the bottom to undo all the snaps in one fell swoop.

  He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her, and at the same time kicked the door shut with his bootheel. “‘Or’ has always been a favorite of mine,” Clancy said as he walked her backward to the edge of the bed.

  ***

  Angel dived into the water and decided that the next thing on her list for the farm was a swimming pool. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it before now. She had always loved water, and sometimes she even rented a hotel room and stayed in the city just so she could have a swim.

  When she came up at the end of the pool, she saw Tom stretched out in a chaise lounge with his feet propped up. “Hey, I thought you two kids were tuckered out.”

  “Not me.” Angel giggled. “I could swim forever. Race you to the other end, Clancy,” she said and started before he even got into the water.

  “You cheated,” he accused when she beat him.

  She shook her head. “All’s fair in love and war.”

  “That’s the gospel truth.” Meredith sat down beside Tom in a second chaise lounge and reached across the space to take his hand. “We had a great time. Tom even danced with me. He’s not too bad on his feet.” She smiled. “Surprised me to be swept around the floor in a perfect waltz. When we were in San Antonio, he told me that he couldn’t dance at all.”

  Tom winked at Clancy. “Only stepped on her feet a few times.”

  “Y’all still goin’ to church with us?” Meredith asked. “Be up and around by eleven if you are. We’ve invited a bunch of friends 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 directed a smile toward Clancy.

  “We’ll be up and around.” Clancy nodded. “Maybe the photographer can shoot a few of me and Angel,” he suggested.

  Angel propped her arms on the edge of the pool. “If my hair cooperates in the morning, I’d be willing for that.”

  ***

  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 gave her a quick hug 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, if you let Angel get away from you this time, you’ll regret it forever. That girl is so much in love with you it’s written all over her. And what’s this I hear 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. 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.”

  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 insecure to offer her ten years ago.”

  Meredith waggled a finger at him. “Don’t forget stupid.”

  “Thanks a lot for reminding me, but even that can’t take away my happiness this morning.” Clancy chuckled.

  “Fine.” Meredith smiled. “Get on out there and wake your fiancée up, even though she doesn’t know she’s going to marry you just yet. Take her a cup of coffee and a bagel. And let me tell you, Son, if I hear anyone putting her d
own, they’d better be ready for a first-rate catfight. She’s the best damned thing that’s happened to you in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time your eyes had such a bright light in them.”

  “Don’t I know it!” He filled two mugs with coffee and set them on a tray along with bagels, cream cheese, and a bowl of fresh fruit Meredith had cut up for breakfast. Then he carefully carried the tray out the patio door.

  “Good mornin’, darlin’,” he said as he walked into the guesthouse. “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 now. We need sustenance if we’re going to keep up this pace.”

  “Well, I do need to build up my energy before I tackle my hair this morning.” Angel grinned as she picked up a mug of coffee and carried it over to the love seat.

  He set the tray on the coffee table and sat down beside her.

  “Why does it take so long to do your hair?” Clancy asked. “I love it just the way it is, all curly with a sprig or two hanging in your eyes.”

  “You want to walk into church with me looking like I just crawled out of bed?” she asked as she spread cream cheese on a bagel and held it out to him to take a bite.

  “I’d rather stay right here and go back to bed with you if I have a choice.” He bit off a piece of the bagel. “Do you feed all the guys you go to bed with?”

  “Only the ones that I let spend the night,” she answered.

  “And how many would that be?” he asked.

  “How many women have spent the night with you in this guesthouse?” she asked.

  “One,” he answered as he picked up a strawberry and fed it to her.

  “Melissa?” she asked.

  “No, Mama didn’t have the pool or guesthouse until after we’d divorced. You’re the only one I’ve ever brought here,” he answered.

  “I’ve never let a guy spend the night in either my apartment in Denison or at my farm,” she answered. “And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

  “Fair enough. Let’s leave the past in the past, and, honey, if you just want to twist your hair up in one of those bun things this morning, or any morning as far as that goes, I think you’re beautiful with a hairdo like that,” he said.

  “But you mentioned pictures,” she said. “Don’t you want to be proud of the woman standing beside you?”

  “I’d be proud of you if you were wearing a faded red bikini and no makeup,” he told her.

  ***

  Angel 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. The reception would be a different matter. Whether she liked it or not, she’d feel just like she did in high school. All those people would realize she was that poor little girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and they’d pity Clancy. She remembered the line from an old country song by Cross Canadian Ragweed, “17.”

  The lyrics talked about always being the same person in a hometown as you were when you were there as a teenager. That a person had made something of themselves didn’t matter a whole lot—folks still remembered them as whatever they were in high school. Maybe that’s why folks who had been popular never left. They didn’t want to lose that feeling of being slightly better than everyone else.

  Angel forced herself not to think about the song. She wasn’t the same girl, and she’d show everyone she was confident and independent. “Are you sure you want pictures of us?”

  “Positive,” he said without hesitation.

  “All right, then,” she said. “Then I’m going to work on my hair a little bit. Granny said that I got this kinky stuff from my father, not my mother. Most days I’d like to give it right back to him.”

  “Honey, I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

  When you get ready to settle down, you find a man who loves you just the way you are and doesn’t want to change you to suit what he wants. Her grandmother’s words came back to her as she finished off her bagel.

  They made it to church just moments before the morning services began. Angel felt many eyes on her as she walked down the aisle holding Clancy’s hand, but she held her head high and her back straight. She had dressed that morning in a bright floral sundress and red sandals and had brought along a lightweight sweater in case it was chilly in the church. Clancy’s eyes told her she was beautiful, so she didn’t give a tiny rat’s hind end what anyone else thought of her.

  That’s my girl! She could almost feel her grandmother hugging her right there in the church.

  “Is that Dillon Williamson?” she whispered when she sat down between Meredith and Clancy. The preacher looked like the guy who graduated with them, but it was hard to imagine that kid ever growing up to be a preacher—not even if she stretched her imagination all the way to the breaking point. Evidently, he wasn’t always seventeen in his hometown.

  “Yes, it is. This is his first year to pastor this church,” Clancy answered.

  Dillon had graduated just a year after Clancy and Angel, and he was the wildest boy in high school. To see him in a three-piece suit up there on the short bench behind the lectern was a shock to say the least. Angel kept staring at him, still not believing her eyes.

  The song leader smiled at everyone, cleared his throat, and said, “Welcome to everyone this mornin’, especially to Tom and Meredith who just got back from their honeymoon and to Clancy and Angel, both of whom went to school with me right here in Tishomingo. Now, please turn to page 181 in your hymnals, and we’ll have congregational singing.”

  Angel could practically hear the buzz of gossip over the top of the singing. Angela Conrad had come back to Tishomingo, and Clancy was sharing a hymnal with her. Why, that was right next door to being engaged!

  After they had finished the song, the preacher stepped up to the lectern and preached from Matthew about the Sermon on the Mount, and Angela could almost feel the heat rising from the pews when he came to the part about judging one’s neighbor. Then she realized that she’d done just that. She had already decided what people’s attitudes toward her would be before she had even talked to them. Granny would be disappointed in her for attending services with a chip on her shoulder.

  Leave all your worries and cares at the door when you go to church. Those had been Granny’s words. God is the only one you have to think about when you’re sitting in his place of worship. What others think, what they’re wearing, or who they’re sitting with is none of your business. You have come to meet with God.

  Clancy reached across his lap to hold her left hand and draped his right arm around her. I hear you loud and clear, Granny. A smile tickled the corners of her mouth. But it’s kind of hard to keep my mind on God or the sermon with Clancy this close.

  When Dillon finished his sermon, he asked Tom to deliver the benediction. Tom stood up, bowed his head, and thanked God for the wonderful day, for good fellowship, and for the love that bound the church family together.

  Angel took an extra second after he had said the final amen to give thanks for giving her a second chance with Clancy. When she opened her eyes, several folks were gathering around Tom and Meredith to congratulate them. Afterward, many of them shook her hand and told her how good it was to see her again. By the time the four of them left the church, they were the last ones to shake hands with the preacher.

  “Angela Conrad, I remember you. You were super smart, much too intelligent to be hanging around this guy.” He grinned at Clancy.

  “I don’t know about all that. I hear from a friend of mine that he’s wasting his talents on teaching,” Angel said.

  “Helping people is never a waste,” Dillon said. “You come on back to see us again. We’re glad to have you.”

  “Thank you, and it’s good to be back for a visit.”

&nbs
p; “You ready for this?” Clancy asked as he opened the back door of his mother’s Cadillac for Angel to get into the vehicle.

  “Are you?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” He slid in beside her and took her hand in his. “I couldn’t be more ready to show the whole town what a lucky guy I am.”

  If Angel was sleeping, she damn sure didn’t want anyone to wake her up. “Smile pretty,” she said as she held up her cell phone and took a selfie of the two of them. Then she sent it to all five of her friends with a note: We haven’t killed each other, and I’m staying until my two weeks are up.

  Tom parked in the garage, and the four of them went out onto the patio through the back door. “Oh my!” Angel gasped. “I thought this was going to be just a small affair.”

  “We didn’t invite the whole town, even though it kind of looks that way,” Meredith assured her with a hug. “It’s just that we have so many friends that we didn’t want to leave anyone out.”

  Lace cloths covered round tables that had been arranged around the pool. Bouquets of fresh roses and daisies decorated the middle of each table, already set with silver wrapped in crisp white linen napkins. Just outside the dining-room doors, a long table held barbecued brisket, chicken, and ribs, baked beans and potato salad, along with several trays of fresh fruit, cheese, and raw vegetables. The three-tiered wedding cake, topped with a pair of porcelain lovebirds sitting in an orange blossom nest, was the centerpiece for the longest table, with a silver coffee service on one end and a matching punch bowl on the other.

  “This looks pretty formal to me,” Angel whispered to Clancy. “I should change into the only party dress I brought along. I didn’t think I’d be needing anything formal at the beach. Or Tishomingo.”

  “You look fabulous.” Clancy gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead.