Secrets in the Sand by Carolyn Brown

            “Red!” Angel blushed.

            “Get on out of here.” The older man waved them away. “I’ve got a decision or two to make, and I don’t have your smarty pants instincts. I have to think about things,” he told her. “Let me know when you decide to tie the knot. I’ve got a great honeymoon in mind. Hell, me and Anna just might go with you.”

            “No, we will not!” Anna exclaimed. “The doctor said no honeymoon activities for a while.”

            “See you.” Angel kissed Red on the forehead. “But when and if Clancy and I decide to waste time and money on a honeymoon, we’ll go alone.”

            “If you two are even thinking about a honeymoon, just remember that the wedding has to come first.” Red tucked his chin in and studied her over the top of his gold-rimmed glasses.

            “I know that.” She met his gaze.

            “Well, damn it all, Anna. She ain’t softened up one bit with someone to love her, after all.” Red grinned. “See you at work tomorrow, Clancy.”

            ***

            They left town in the Bronco, Clancy behind the wheel, his knuckles getting whiter as they got closer to the Hendrix Bridge. His jaw was set in determination and he turned on the radio to distract himself, but he didn’t talk to her. He would drive fifty extra miles a day not to have to look that far down at the Red River flowing under the bridge, but if she wanted to go this way, then by damn, this was the way they would go.

            “Clancy, turn this car around and go the other way,” Angel said when they were about a mile from the bridge. “Or else move over and let me drive.”

            “Hell no!” he practically shouted. “I’m driving, and I’m driving across that bridge. A smart lady told me one time that I need to face my fears.”

            “Like I told you before, the old one was a lot scarier than this one,” she told him.

            “If that was the case, then I definitely would have let you drive and would have closed my eyes the whole way across it.”

            His heart did double time when he saw the bridge ahead. Two kids riding bicycles were crossing, coming toward them, so he had to slow down. He gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he had the first time his father had let him drive at the age of eleven, and took a deep breath. When they were right in the middle of the bridge, he stopped the vehicle.

            “Come here,” Clancy said. Angel popped the console up and moved over next to him.

            “I need to feel you next to me, Angel. I’ve been thinking ever since we left the hospital. I’m scared of this new change, and I’m damned scared of this stupid bridge. But I can overcome anything with you beside me.”

            “That’s right, Clancy, you can.” Angel snuggled against him. “We’ve crossed worse bridges than that one back there, you know. In the past month, we’ve crossed a lot of bridges. I’ve met you in the middle of some of them, and you’ve had to meet me in the middle of some that were higher than this. We can make it together, honey. Let’s go home.”

            “Before we do, I want to ask you right here on top of this hellacious bridge if you’ll marry me, Angel. I still don’t deserve you after what I did all those years ago, but I’m hopelessly in love with you.” He kissed her and forgot about where they were.

            “Okay,” she said. “Whenever and wherever you say. When you’re ready, call the tune, and I’ll dance to it. But, darlin’, there’s a police car pulling in behind us with the lights flashing.”

            The policeman got out of the car and walked up to the door. “Y’all havin’ car trouble?” he asked. “Oh, I see that it’s you, Miz Angela. Are you all right?”

            “I’m great,” she said.

            “She said she’d marry me!” Clancy told the policeman. “I just proposed and she said yes.”

            “I could think of more romantic places than this”—the policeman grinned—“but congratulations!”

            ***

            Hilda opened the farmhouse door for them with a frown on her face.

            “I’m engaged!” Angel said.