Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “You will love me when I tell you our good news,” she smiled.

            Angel fumed silently.

            “I know you wanted to have a child when we were married, and things just never seemed to work out. I’m real sorry about that. I’m pregnant, Clancy. And the baby is yours.” Melissa’s tone was unbearably smug, and her expression seemed to dare either of her listeners to doubt her announcement.

            “You’re what?” Clancy asked incredulously.

            “You heard me. Preg. Nant. Pregnant. Only by a couple of weeks, but you know how good these early tests are now. Must have happened that night at Pennington Creek when you were so drunk you didn’t know what you were doing. Don’t you remember any of it, darling?” Melissa shot a fake smile toward Angel.

            That funny feeling Angel called “the hunch” came over her. It started down deep where the anger had come from just moments before.

            She mentally picked up the pieces of this particular puzzle and put them together. Her intuition had never yet disappointed her. Angela had founded a multimillion-dollar business based on it—and she’d be a fool to let this brazen bitch control her emotions or her life when she suddenly felt a hunch as strongly as she did right then.

            “You might be pregnant”—Clancy shook his head in bewilderment—“but it’s not mine and you know it. Nothing happened, except that you slapped me when I told you about the stillborn baby Angela had. That baby was mine. I might have had a few beers when you showed up again, but I remember when I’ve had sex, and I didn’t.”

            “You were so drunk you wouldn’t remember anything,” Melissa smoothed the front of her skirt over her flat stomach. “You offered me bourbon, and then you called me Angel. Then I sat down on the sand beside you, and that’s when you started kissing me, and one thing led to another.”

            Angela stifled a laugh. This would make Granny’s soap operas as tame as a declawed house kitten. Melissa was lying, and Angela knew it as surely as she knew Clancy was telling the truth. So, Melissa needed a husband. That meant the baby wasn’t Daniel’s or she would still be with him. This would definitely set the old Tishomingo tongues to wagging! The social cream of the crop had gotten caught with her lacy underbritches down around her ankles.

            “What are you laughing at, Angela? You had your turn to have a baby with him. Now it’s mine,” Melissa sneered.

            “Don’t take that tone with me, Melissa. I’m not beneath you and I’m not the shy kid in the classroom you used to pick on. I’m a grown woman who’s smart enough to know when another woman is making a fool of herself. If you’re pregnant, congratulations. When the baby’s born, Clancy can go to the hospital for DNA testing.” Angel moved over next to him and slipped her arm through his. “If it’s Clancy’s baby, then he’ll be more than happy to write you a support check, but you and I both know that the baby isn’t his. Get back in your car, wherever it is, and get the hell out of here. Because this beach ain’t big enough for us both, and I’m staying.”

            ***

            Clancy didn’t know whether to spit or go blind. He expected Angel to walk away from him and never look back, and he wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. What in the world had happened in the middle of this argument to change her mind? Here she was plastered to his wet side as if she belonged there, and Melissa just stood in front of them with her mouth hanging open.

            “Just remember, if I couldn’t keep him, you don’t have a chance,” Melissa said. “He’s never been faithful and never will be. I’m the only person in the whole world who ever understood him.”

            “Honey, you couldn’t keep him because I had him first.” Angel couldn’t resist the barb. “Clancy, I do believe you said something about walking me to my door. Maybe you’d like to come in for a soda while I have another glass of this wonderful wine. I heard there was a storm rolling in tonight, Melissa. I hope you don’t have trouble on your return flight. Come on, Clancy. These wet clothes are beginning to get sandy and I need a shower.” She pulled him away.

            “Clancy, if you walk away with that bitch, you’ll never see this baby.” Melissa raised her voice, and Angel’s flat-palmed slap answered her.

            “Don’t call me names,” Angel ground out. “Clancy won’t have to see this baby of yours, because when the tests come back, it won’t be his. I’d be willing to stake Conrad Oil on it, Melissa, and you know I’m right, so go find some other sucker to pin your mistake on.”