Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Don’t you tell anyone that I got you pregnant.” Clancy’s eyes had flashed anger and the deep cleft in his chin had quivered. He’d raked his hand through his dark-brown hair, and he hadn’t known whether to walk away or sit down and talk some more.

            “I’ll tell whoever I want.” Angela had turned her back on him.

            “I’ve got five hundred dollars of my graduation money left. I’ll give it to you for an abortion,” he had offered.

            “Just go away, Clancy. I don’t know why I ever thought I loved you, anyway. It’s a cinch you never did love me.” She stood up and grabbed her shorts.

            “Sit down,” Clancy had said in a desperate tone. “Listen to me. There’s a solution. Bob got Janie pregnant last year and they told everyone they were going to the mall in Oklahoma City and to the movies, and then he was taking her to her girlfriend’s house for the night. They got a motel room and stayed in it after the abortion. Nothing bad happened.”

            Angela buttoned her shorts and sat down beside him. She put her feet in the water and watched the tiny fish nibble on her polished red toenails. “I didn’t do this on purpose,” she declared.

            “Don’t worry about it.” He sighed. “My checkbook is in the car.” He nodded toward the Camaro his parents had given him for graduation. “I suppose you can get someone to take you.”

            “Forget it.”

            “What are you going to do?” he asked. “Maybe you could marry Billy Joe Summers. You know he’s been in love with you since we were little kids,” he said sarcastically.

            “I’m going home,” she said as she got to her feet again. “I haven’t really been in love with you, Clancy. I was in love with the boy I thought you were. Don’t worry about this baby. Don’t let the thought of it ever cross your mind again. It’s not yours… It’s mine, and I’ll take care of it. Just go on home.”

            “Oh hell, Angela, use your brain. You’re smart even if you are—”

            “What?” She had scowled at him. “Poor? Well, that didn’t stop you from kissing me and making love with me all summer, did it? I’ve been a complete fool about you, Clancy. Someday you’re going to look back and think about tonight, though. And I hope your heart hurts when you do. I hope it aches just like mine is aching right now. But between now and then, don’t ever think about this baby we made again.” Angela walked away from him without looking back.

            “Don’t worry, honey,” Granny had told her that night when she’d gone home crying. “He’s a rich kid and he’s not about to do right by you. He’ll marry some stuck-up girl when he’s had his fun and gets ready to settle down. We’ll take care of ourselves. We’ll be movin’ tomorrow just like we planned, and you’re goin’ to college this fall on that grant money you got. Things look tough tonight, but it’ll work out, Angela. Stop your weepin’ and learn your lessons.”

            “But I love him, Granny,” she had sobbed.

            “I hope you do,” her grandmother snorted. “Be a terrible thing if you didn’t. But cryin’ ain’t goin’ to make anything different. We’ll manage and nobody will ever know.”

            Angel shook her head, clearing the memories, and threw back the covers. She crawled out of bed, threw the covers over the pillows, and picked out an old pair of jeans from the closet. She wiggled down into them and jerked a T-shirt over her head. She pulled her curls up into a ponytail, put on a pair of sneakers, and was ready.

            “Got a guest,” Hilda said when she reached the kitchen. The housekeeper smiled in an odd way, and Angel wondered what had happened while she’d been sleeping.

            “Where?” Angel asked.

            “Out there on the swing. Asleep. Lot of man to be curled up like that. I told him to get out of here when I come in to work, but he said you knew he was there, and he wasn’t leavin’ until you talked to him. So I just ignored him. He’s been asleep about two hours. Just sat there swinging most of the mornin’. He’s been out there for hours,” Hilda said.

            “Clancy is a determined man, all right.” Angel smiled.

            “Oh,” Hilda said. “So that’s Clancy Morgan out there, is it? You should kick him off that swing and tell him to go to hell. I wouldn’t give that man the sweat from my brow if he was dyin’ of thirst.” Hilda fumed as she picked up her broom and started toward the fireplace to sweep the flagstone in front of it.