Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Well, that’s what you get for depending on your own shallow thinking,” Bonnie said as she opened the door marked with a brass plaque that read ANGELA CONRAD, PRESIDENT. “Patty, he’s all yours,” she said.

            “Clancy, you SOB, come right in here and sit down,” Patty said with a big smile. “Angel is on the phone to a CEO in Maine, and she’ll be a little while.”

            She closed her computer and sat down across from him. “Why did you treat her so rotten anyway?”

            “Because I was a scared eighteen-year-old kid who thought the whole world was Tishomingo, Oklahoma. I was stupid enough to believe that what people thought about me would either make or break me,” he said honestly. “I’ve listened to all of your opinions all the way up from the bottom. Now let me ask you something. Why in the hell did she make me meet every one of you?”

            “Because every one of us was with her the night she gave birth to your son. We timed the contractions for her when she was in labor and held her hands when it was time to push. We were her cheerleading squad when the pains were so hard they took her breath away, and we cried with her when that little boy was stillborn. We all held him in our arms one by one and offered to kill you to make it up to her. She wouldn’t let us do it.

            “So, we just thought we’d get to know you, even though all she’ll let us do now is walk with you from one office to the next. You might talk your way back into her life but if you make her cry again, you’re going to disappear—just like that. Someone might find you in six million years when they drill for oil…but it’ll probably be a dry hole like your cold old heart.”

            She broke off abruptly when Angel appeared in the doorway. “Clancy! Please come in.”

            ***

            After the treatment her girlfriends had put him through, Clancy was surprised to hear the genuine welcome in her voice. Patty threw him a warning look that Angel somehow missed and made herself scarce. Angel chattered on nervously as Clancy sat down by her desk.

            “I’ve got a few loose ends to tie up here and then we can go to dinner. Do you still like Mexican food? I know a little place where they serve the real stuff, but the spices will fry your innards, so I hope you like it hot.” She finished up, feeling a little foolish. “Did the girls give you the official tour of Conrad Oil?”

            “They sure did. I was impressed.”

            “Wonderful bunch, aren’t they?” She closed a folder and shut down her computer. “Met them my first semester in college. That’s when we formed the band. Played the honky-tonks and dives in those days for extra money to help pay our way through school. Lord knows, I never would have made it through that first year without them. They were the first real friends I ever had, and we’ve stayed together through thick and thin, marriages and divorces, tears and giggles. There now, I think everything else can wait until tomorrow. Are you ready?”

            “I’m ready.” He smiled for the first time. “And I love Mexican. They can’t make it too hot for this Okie.”

            “Elevator or stairs?” she asked as they passed Patty’s desk.

            “Elevator,” he said bluntly. “I think I’ve had enough exercise for today.”

            They walked to the corner of the block in silence and into a small café. The waitress seated them at the back of the restaurant, at Angel’s usual table.

            “Margarita?” she asked.

            “Iced tea for me.” Angel unrolled the bandanna wrapped around the silver utensils and put it over her lap. “Clancy?”

            “Iced tea is fine,” he said.

            “Now what do you want to talk about?” She picked up the menu and scanned it.

            “Us. I still want to know what you’ve done these past ten years, even though your friends each filled me in a little,” he said, then looked up at the waitress. “I’ll have the chicken enchiladas. Do they come with refried beans and rice?”

            “Yes, sir.” The waitress nodded. “And a side order of hot vegetables and flour tortillas?” She turned to Angela.

            “Bring me the beef fajitas, a full pound tonight. I’m hungry. And extra vegetables for an appetizer.”