Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Who’s the father, Janie?” Jim asked, suddenly interested in the story. “Clancy says it’s none of his doing, and I believe him. If I was him, I damned sure wouldn’t be fool enough to remarry her. You treat me like Melissa’s treated him and I’ll boot your backside out the door, woman.”

            Angel bit back a grin and took another bite of her burger. Janie was entitled to her own opinion. She didn’t care that Melissa had been hateful. Angel dealt with rude people every day. What mattered was that Angel hadn’t let her emotions lead her down the wrong road. Angel Conrad was a force to be reckoned with. She lacked neither security nor self-esteem, and these days she wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she wanted and fight for it.

            “I’m goin’ home,” Janie stood up so fast she knocked her chair backward on the floor, and glared at Jim. “And you can either go with me or sleep on the river bank tonight in your fishin’ tent.”

            Jim didn’t even look up at her. “I’m finishin’ this chili dog, Janie, and the riverbanks will be a nicer place to sleep than your bed. I’ll be by the house and get my things tomorrow to go out for two weeks, and then you can keep things wonderful and clean.”

            “I’ll be glad to see you leave,” she said through clenched teeth.

            “Maybe, but I can’t believe you would try to hogswoggle our friend into marryin’ Melissa when that baby ain’t his kid. What were you thinkin’, Janie? That you and Melissa would laugh behind his back about it? I’m ashamed of you.” He finally looked up at her.

            “Melissa is my friend, and Angela, you are a bitch,” Janie whispered and stormed out the door toward her bright-red car.

            Angel stood up slowly and started toward the door. Clancy rolled his eyes and started to get up, too, but Jim put his hand on his friend’s arm and held him down. “Don’t. Let them alone. It’s high time my wife found out she can’t act like a horse’s ass and get away with it.”

            Angel turned around and nodded. “He’s right, Clancy. I can take care of myself.”

            ***

            “I think we better straighten something out.” Angel opened the passenger door to Janie’s car and slid into it.

            “Get out of my car, you bitch!” Janie screamed at her. “Right now.”

            “I’m going to talk, and although you might not like it, you will listen,” Angel said calmly, as if she was talking to a child. “If you want to drive away, that’s okay. Everyone in town can see you with me in the car, and you can explain that to Melissa when you talk to her again. Maybe they’ll even put it in the ‘Seen’ column on the front page of the newspaper next week. ‘Seen: Angel Conrad and Janie Moore enjoying an evening ride down Main Street.’” On the outside, Angel was as unruffled as a freshly made bed. Inside, she was a boiling cauldron of rage.

            “You’re going to get out of my car, or I’m going to throw you out,” Janie threatened.

            “Stop acting like a teenager,” Angel told her. “We’re adults now, Janie. We’re not in grade school, and this is not a little red wagon you won’t let me ride in. We’re grown women. You’re entitled to your opinion, and if you don’t like me, that’s fine.”

            “What?” Janie gasped.

            “I was there when Melissa tried to snag Clancy into another marriage because she’s desperate and needs a husband, and he was always dependable. She just didn’t figure on me being there when she arrived. There’s no excuse for such a low-down, dirty trick, although you can be her friend and help her scheme if you want to. That’s your prerogative.” Angel looked the woman right in the eye and loved it when Janie began to squirm.

            “I deal with people who don’t like me every day, Janie. That’s life in the real world. I made a big mistake ten years ago and didn’t listen to my heart when it told me Clancy was bad news. I’m sure Melissa told you about my son. He was stillborn, and he looked so much like Clancy that it broke my heart all over again to see him in that little blue casket. But that’s Clancy’s and my business, not yours. I followed you out here to tell you two things. One is that you better not push that husband of yours too far, or you’ll be living on whatever you can make along with a child-support check. The second is that you’d better never call me a bitch again—or I’ll mop up the streets of this little town with you. I’m not from around here, and I don’t really care what people think anymore. Have a nice night, Janie, and when you go to sleep all alone tonight, remember it could be permanent!”