Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            ***

            The next morning, Clancy arrived in the kitchen at ten o’clock, wiping sleep from his eyes and yawning. He wore a pair of his oldest shorts and a faded purple muscle shirt he usually used for fishing. “Mornin’, Mama.” He gave her a quick hug and headed toward the coffeepot. “Tom up yet?”

            “He’s shaving,” Meredith said. “And while I’ve got you alone, I have a couple of things to say. First of all, if you let Angel get away from you this time, you’ll regret it forever. That girl is so much in love with you it’s written all over her. And what’s this I hear about Janie insulting her yesterday? Did you take care of it?”

            Clancy shook his head. “Didn’t have to. Angel did. Do you really think she loves me?” He sipped the coffee and opened his eyes wide. “Hey, how did you know about Janie’s snit?”

            “Doesn’t take the gossip line long to get hot. June called me this morning about the cake and said Janie told her mother she and Angel had words. This is a small town, and you’ve got to be able to trace your ancestry all the way back to Noah before you’re important around here. But I’m worried about Angel.”

            Clancy put his hand up. “I love her with all my heart. I just don’t want to rush things. I’d marry her tomorrow, but I’m going to court her properly and then propose just like in the movies, on one knee with a big diamond in my pocket. Then if she wants a wedding big enough for Texas with all those women who were in her band standing beside her and a reception that lasts six days and nights, we’ll have it. This time, my Angel is going to have everything I was too young and insecure to offer her ten years ago.”

            Meredith waggled a finger at him. “Don’t forget stupid.”

            “Thanks a lot for reminding me, but even that can’t take away my happiness this morning.” Clancy chuckled.

            “Fine.” Meredith smiled. “Get on out there and wake your fiancée up, even though she doesn’t know she’s going to marry you just yet. Take her a cup of coffee and a bagel. And let me tell you, Son, if I hear anyone putting her down, they’d better be ready for a first-rate catfight. She’s the best damned thing that’s happened to you in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time your eyes had such a bright light in them.”

            “Don’t I know it!” He filled two mugs with coffee and set them on a tray along with bagels, cream cheese, and a bowl of fresh fruit Meredith had cut up for breakfast. Then he carefully carried the tray out the patio door.

            “Good mornin’, darlin’,” he said as he walked into the guesthouse. “I’m carrying hot coffee. Don’t be grabbing my arm and dragging me into your room for a wild, passionate love-a-thon right now. We need sustenance if we’re going to keep up this pace.”

            “Well, I do need to build up my energy before I tackle my hair this morning.” Angel grinned as she picked up a mug of coffee and carried it over to the love seat.

            He set the tray on the coffee table and sat down beside her.

            “Why does it take so long to do your hair?” Clancy asked. “I love it just the way it is, all curly with a sprig or two hanging in your eyes.”

            “You want to walk into church with me looking like I just crawled out of bed?” she asked as she spread cream cheese on a bagel and held it out to him to take a bite.

            “I’d rather stay right here and go back to bed with you if I have a choice.” He bit off a piece of the bagel. “Do you feed all the guys you go to bed with?”

            “Only the ones that I let spend the night,” she answered.

            “And how many would that be?” he asked.

            “How many women have spent the night with you in this guesthouse?” she asked.

            “One,” he answered as he picked up a strawberry and fed it to her.

            “Melissa?” she asked.

            “No, Mama didn’t have the pool or guesthouse until after we’d divorced. You’re the only one I’ve ever brought here,” he answered.

            “I’ve never let a guy spend the night in either my apartment in Denison or at my farm,” she answered. “And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”