Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Well, that’s the only way I can get it down. I still don’t really like wine, or beer, or bourbon. I’ve never acquired a taste for any of it,” he admitted.

            She tasted the sparkling wine again. “Suit yourself. But I think a glass of white wine on a sandbar on a moonless night is pure heaven.”

            Warm seawater sloshed up to her hips, billowing the skirt of her dress, and then the wave receded, leaving ripples in the sand on which they sat. Clancy watched the tiny sand crabs pop up and try to bury themselves again in the soft, wet muck before the next splash washed over them.

            Oh, to be able to sit forever in such peacefulness, he thought. No meddling friends, no interference. Just blissful solitude as he watched her sip from the crystal wineglass he’d provided.

            “Are you going back to Oklahoma City to teach, or will you resign and work for Red since he’s moving his operation back to Texas?” She held the wineglass up to the faint light from the motel behind the dune. “You said he offered you a job, but you didn’t ever say if you would even consider it.”

            “I don’t know. But I can’t keep Red dangling and feel right about it. I asked my mom for advice. She said to follow my heart just the way she’s following hers and let the rest of the world be damned,” he answered.

            “Oh? What did Meredith mean by that?” Angel finished her wine and gently placed the crystal glass in the sand.

            “My mother and Tom Lloyd are getting married today in San Antonio. They wanted it to be just the two of them for the wedding, but they plan on celebrating in style when we get back,” Clancy answered.

            “Tom Lloyd? You mean the—” Her eyes grew wide. “Isn’t he the supervisor at the cemetery?”

            “Yep, Tom Lloyd, and yes, he still takes care of the cemetery. Seems she met him while she was out there tending to Dad’s grave, and they got to talking. He lost his wife a while back and he was lonely too,” Clancy explained.

            “But—” Angel cocked her head to one side. “Meredith has always been so…”

            “I know.” Clancy nodded. “Shocked me too. Know what she told me? She said she didn’t need money, and she didn’t care what her friends thought of him. Tom makes her feel special, and Mama says everyone can get used to it or they can go to hell.”

            Angel sighed. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

            He laughed. “You know, I thought she’d die a thousand times if I ever told her about you and the baby. Guess I was wrong about that too! She’s as disappointed in what I did as I am, and I felt like a teenager getting in trouble when I told her.”

            “Tom Lloyd’s wife was my granny’s friend. Sometimes she even helped clean houses when Granny got behind. I always thought that Tom was the tallest man in the whole world when I was a little girl, and the last time I saw him, he still seemed like a kindly giant. He never raised his voice. But he is still only the maintenance supervisor at the cemetery—and Clancy, your mother is probably one of the richest women in all of Johnston County!”

            “I reckon there’ll be talk in Tishomingo,” he said. “But neither of us cares about that.”

            “Yep, I imagine there will be.” Angel lay back on the sandbar to look up at the sky.

            “Hello, Clancy,” a familiar voice said.

            “Melissa. What are you doing here?” He jerked his head around.

            “Who’s your little friend?” Melissa said sarcastically.

            Angel didn’t turn around. Of all the times for Clancy’s ex to show up, she thought bitterly.

            “I said, what in the hell are you doing here?” Clancy asked again with a cutting edginess in his voice.

            “Don’t use profanity with me,” Melissa replied prissily.

            How on earth had she even known where he was? In less than a month, she’d shown up on two sandbars just to torment him. “Folks back home said you’d come down here for a little vacation, and I just thought you might like some company. I had a hunch that you’d come down here to drink in secret. If your little habit is getting out of control, I’d really like to help you. It breaks my heart to know that I can still make you so unhappy after all these years.” She fidgeted with the silver bracelets on her wrist, sliding them up and down with a clatter that annoyed Angel no end.