Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            Angel pursed her lips and said, “Okay. ’Fess up. What’s going on?”

            Bonnie produced a big yellow envelope and they all yelled, “Surprise!”

            “We’ve got an early birthday present for you. Lord knows you deserve it, but you wouldn’t think of doing it for yourself, so we bought it for you. You’re going to Panama City Beach, Florida, for two weeks, to a beachfront motel. Your room has a balcony where you can sit out and listen to the ocean waves come in and smell the salty air. When you get bored with that, you can put on your bathing suit, sink your toes in the warm sand, and lay out on the beach until some knight in shining armor comes racing down the beach on his big white four-wheeler and steals your heart away. But remember, it’s only for two weeks. If he wants you to run off to a castle in France, the answer is no, because at the end of that time, you’ve got to come back to Conrad Oil and go back to work!”

            Angel’s eyes misted. That they were thinking of her was so sweet, but she did not intend to leave her business or her friends for two weeks.

            “You’re all sweethearts.” She unfolded the napkin at her fingertips and dabbed at the tears, leaving a black mascara smudge on it. “But the answer is no. I can’t stand to be away from you all for that long.”

            “Bull,” Patty said. “And we didn’t ask a question so you can’t answer no. You’re goin’ to be on that plane if I have to hog-tie you and hire some beach bum that looks just like Kenny Chesney to throw your body over his shoulder and put you in the plane seat.”

            “You know how much I like Kenny’s singing, but the answer is still no,” Angel argued.

            “You need to unwind. There are plane tickets and reservations for the motel, and I took your business papers out of your briefcase and put in three trashy romance novels. You’re goin’ home tonight to pack, and we don’t want to see your face at the office until two weeks from Wednesday. I’ll even drive you to the airport,” Patty told her. “Everything’s taken care of.”

            Bonnie slid the envelope with the plane tickets across the table. “Happy birthday, Angel. Go down there and find a handsome guy to make your eyes sparkle and your heart float. You’ve got all the money you’ll ever need, so you don’t have to look for a rich man.”

            “Thanks a lot.” Angel sighed. There was no getting out of it, so she might as well accept their offer. She’d flown all over the United States and abroad but had never dreamed of doing anything this self-indulgent. Lie on a beach somewhere with a trashy book and read to her heart’s content?

            She started to refuse—just one more time. “Now, you know I love you all—”

            “Good,” Allie butted in. “That’s all the thanks we need to hear. I vote we order a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate. I can’t drink it, but I can enjoy watching y’all have a glass. And I’ll be taking time off when this baby is born, and I betcha Bonnie’s going to ask for a couple of weeks off for a honeymoon soon, so right now it’s your turn, Angel, and you can’t say no. We love you too.”

            Angel decided to give up arguing. She reached for the envelope and promised herself she would indulge her well-meaning friends and go—but she’d only stay until Sunday and fly back home in time for work on Monday morning.

            “Okay, okay. You’re all wonderful, and I guess you won’t let me refuse,” she said ruefully. “Just tell me that my new gorgeous beach bum will look just like Kenny Chesney. Y’all know how much I love him.”

            “None of that matters. He just has to worship you like you’re a goddess,” Bonnie said and picked up the menu. “I’m starving. I think I’ll have the lasagna, and to hell with my diet for tonight. I may eat fried ice cream afterward too.”

            “Hear, hear!” Allie raised her water glass in a toast. “I’m eating for two even if y’all can’t tell yet. So, I’m having baked ziti and hot bread, and I hope it doesn’t come right back up!”

            Angel’s hunch wasn’t satisfied. Something still wasn’t right with this picture. She and her friends never kept secrets from each other, and yet Susan’s expression told her there was something she still wasn’t telling. Why did they want her out of the office for two weeks?

            ***

            It was after midnight when Patty called Clancy. The phone rang five times before a woman answered in a sleepy voice.