Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Sure,” she said. “You can pick me up right here in my office at five o’clock this afternoon. But you’ll have to be seen with me in public this time, since I don’t think we’ve got time to go to Pennington Creek like we used to.”

            “I’ll be there,” he said tersely.

            She punched the intercom and said, “Patty, tell Susan and all the girls to hold their fire. Clancy is coming at five o’clock, and I don’t want a single shot in him when he gets to my office. I don’t think even Hilda could get the blood out of these carpets. When he walks in, Susan is to meet him at the door and take him back down the hall… Mindy gets him there, and you know the rest. I want him to see every office and talk to every one of us before he gets up here. We’re going to settle this thing, and somehow, I’m going to get him out of my life and my heart. When the sun comes up tomorrow, Clancy Morgan is going to be forgotten as far as I’m concerned.”

            Patty hid a smile. She’d be willing to bet her brand-new pickup truck against a wagonload of horse manure that by tomorrow Clancy would still be swaggering around looking like a million dollars, and by the end of the month, Angel would have a mended heart.

            ***

            At five o’clock, Clancy pushed the door open to the first floor, and one of the members of the band met him with a fake smile plastered on her face. “Welcome to Conrad Oil Enterprises, Incorporated. My name is Susan. I’m in charge of PR and advertising. Maybe you remember me from the alumni concert we gave last week. I play the fiddle.” She stuck out her hand and shook his firmly, hoping to intimidate him.

            “Who died and left this company to Angela?” he asked bluntly.

            “No one,” Susan said. “Follow me, please. Angel is a top-notch geologist, and she knows as much about the oil business as anyone. She majored in geology and minored in business, and she’s a hellcat on wheels when it comes to making deals. She played a hunch right out of college and drilled a well on the property she inherited from her grandmother. People all told her she was crazy. There wasn’t any oil in that part of the state. But she ignored them and bet every last cent she had on that hunch. It paid off, and then she invested the money wisely, and in a few months, she owned her own company. When the Texanna Red Oil Company wanted to move their base to Louisiana, they offered to sell this building to her, and she bought it.”

            “Hello, Mr. Morgan.” Mindy met him at the open door to her part of the building. “These are our directors’ and lawyers’ offices. Follow me, please. By the way, I want you to keep in mind that I could shoot you between the eyes and enjoy watching you die a slow and painful death,” she said, in the same matter-of-fact tone she would’ve used to order a tuna-fish sandwich for lunch. “You’ve made Angel miserable and she’s my best friend.”

            “I realize that, Mindy,” he said. “Am I going to have to talk to everyone in Conrad Oil before I get to her?”

            “Yup. That’s the only way you get to the top in one piece and alive,” she said. “Angel takes care of us all, and we take care of her. So, you better watch your step or I’ll dream up some crazy lawsuit to bedevil you with,” she added sweetly.

            Clancy just nodded.

            “Hello, Clancy.” Allie met him at the top of the stairs on the second floor. “So, you’re the infamous rich boy who—”

            “Nice to meet you too.” He gritted his teeth. “This is ridiculous.”

            “But necessary,” Allie said firmly. “Shall we continue the tour? This is the geology department, where we decide when, if, and where to drill. Angel spends a lot of time here since she’s the only geologist in the whole state of Texas who has better intuition than I do. There’ve been times when my call would have netted us a million dollars’ worth of dry well. She’s got a sixth sense when it comes to drilling. Too bad she doesn’t have one when it comes to you.”

            He scowled but said nothing.

            “Clancy Morgan, I do believe.” Bonnie took over next. “I’m glad to finally meet you, and I think maybe I owe you a pat on the back. If you hadn’t been such a rat to Angel ten years ago, not one of us would be where we are today. She’s kept us together and we love her. So, say what you have to, then back out of her life.”

            “If I ever get to see her,” he said flatly. “I didn’t know I had to run the gauntlet to reach the top floor. I thought I’d just ask where she worked, get on an elevator, and find her office.”