Clancy didn’t answer for a while. The six beers were wearing off faster than he thought they would, and he wasn’t looking forward to the headache tomorrow morning—even if he did deserve it.
“That whole summer I was seeing Angela Conrad. I was mean to her that night, and I came to the Dairy Queen to hang out with all y’all.” He shrugged again. “I was young and stupid and didn’t realize that Angela was in love with me. Hell, I didn’t even realize I was in love with her.”
Melissa slapped him hard across the face, sobering him even more.
“Don’t hit me again, Melissa,” he warned in an icy tone. “Don’t ever hit me again. I’m just tellin’ you what happened.”
“You bastard.” Melissa stood up and shook the sand off the bottom of her khaki walking shorts. “Were you thinking of her the whole time we were married?”
“Who were you thinking about when you were sleeping with the principal after we were married?” Clancy asked. “At least I wasn’t committing adultery. Guess we’re about even, for what it’s worth.”
“Shut up!” she said.
“Angela got pregnant,” he said. “I came down here that hot August night a week before we were to go to college. I was going to tell her I wasn’t coming back any more no matter what, and she told me she was pregnant with my child. Know what I told her? I didn’t stand beside her and face the wrath of my parents. Oh no, I was the biggest chicken of all time. I told her to marry Billy Joe, and I walked away from her as if she was nothing to me.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” Melissa asked.
“Because you need to know you’re not the reason I’m trying to get drunk tonight,” Clancy said. “I don’t give a damn about you. I’m still in love with Angela—Angel—and she won’t have a thing to do with me, because I ran out and left her. My son was stillborn, Melissa, and I didn’t even care enough to find out until now.”
“Goodbye, Clancy,” she said. “I hope you rot in hell. Does your mother know this? She’s always hoped you and I would get back together. So evidently, she hasn’t got a clue. But she will tomorrow, Clancy. Because if you don’t tell her, I will.”
“Bet you would just love to do that, wouldn’t you?” He laughed heartily. “Go ahead. Tell her. Go down to the weekly newspaper and put it on the front page for all I care. I love Angela Conrad. Always have and probably always will.”
Melissa stomped off in the sand, got into her car, and laid down smoking rubber as she squealed the tires in anger. Clancy pulled his feet from the water and looked at the wrinkled skin while he finished sobering up. So much for getting drunk and singing sad songs tonight, or for shutting the door on his past failures and secrets. But what the hell? At least Melissa hadn’t gone away with a lilt in her step, thinking he was still madly in love with her and he was corroding his liver to prove it.
***
He sat for hours, thinking about Angel, and then he gathered up his blanket, tossed the unopened bottle of bourbon in the back of the Bronco with the last six-pack of beer, and started back home to tell his mother what had happened. Tishomingo, like most small towns, had its own special gossip vine, and his mama didn’t need to find out about his past at the beauty shop tomorrow morning.
“Hello, Clancy.” An old movie was playing on late-night television when he crossed the living room and sat down in his dad’s leather recliner next to his mother. She had on one of those mask things that made her face all green and cracked looking, and her hair was wrapped up in a towel. “Did Melissa find you? I told her you’d gone fishing. You know that girl comes to see me every year when she comes to visit her relatives. She says she still feels like I’m her mother-in-law. I think she regrets the way your marriage ended. I hope you aren’t crazy enough to give her a second chance. She just got a divorce a few weeks ago, and she’s always been one of those girls who needs a man around her to tell her how beautiful she is.” She spoke without taking her eyes from the movie. “Good Lord,” she finally noticed Clancy’s feet. “What did you do? Fish barefoot in the water all evening?”
“Nope. I put my feet in the water and then I laid back and watched the moon come up. I tried my damnedest to get sloppy drunk, but it didn’t work,” he said honestly.
“Drunk?” Meredith’s eyes widened out so much that the green mask cracked even more. “You?”
“Yep, me,” he said. “Mother, I’ve got a confession. The summer after my senior year I was sneaking around with Angela Conrad…”
“Not Dotty Conrad’s granddaughter,” she gasped.
“Yes,” he admitted. “I fell in love with her, but I was too young and stupid to realize it. Besides, I couldn’t tell you and Dad.”
“But why? Dotty might not have had money, but she was a fine woman. And Angela was probably the nicest little girl I ever met. Remember, Dotty used to clean house for me?” his mother whispered. “Angela came with her lots of times. But then maybe you didn’t know that. You were usually out with your friends. Anyway, Angela didn’t come with her after she was about sixteen. Dotty said she was cleaning somewhere else so they could make more money.”
“Good grief, you mean Angela was hired help?” Clancy wiped a tear away from his eye.
“Sure. She dusted and ran the vacuum lots of times for Dotty when she was in junior high school, and then she went on to clean for some of my friends,” Meredith answered.
“Mother, she was pregnant at the end of the summer after high school,” he said bluntly, “and I ran out on her. I was scared she’d embarrass me and you and Dad.”
“You did what?” Meredith sat up straighter and gave him “the look.”
Clancy suddenly felt two feet tall. Angela had been right about him, but now his mother was disappointed in him as well.
Meredith shook her finger at him. “I didn’t raise you to be uncaring and selfish. You had a responsibility to that girl, and she was such a nice, sweet kid. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He ducked his head like he did when he was a little boy and had done something he wasn’t proud of. “I was ashamed, confused, and downright stupid.”
“Do I have a grandchild?” she asked.
“No, my son was stillborn. I didn’t find out about it until this week, and now I realize I’m still in love with Angela. Of course, she doesn’t want anything to do with me!” he said miserably.
***
Meredith Morgan had never seen her son so unhappy. Life could take some crazy twists. For weeks, she’d been worried about what everyone in town would say when they found out she’d begun dating again, and now the buzz at the beauty shop tomorrow morning would undoubtedly center on Clancy.
“Since you’ve been honest with me…” Meredith paused. “I’ve been seeing a man.”
Clancy jerked his head around to stare at her. His mother knew that his dad had been right up there next to God in Clancy’s eyes. Granted, his mama wasn’t an old woman, but still the thought of her with someone else made him both sad and angry at the same time. He was speechless for several moments, and when he did try to say something, the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.
“You what?” If he had still been drunk, that would have sobered him right up. Finally, he got the courage to ask, “Who?”
“Tom Lloyd,” she said.
“You’re kidding me.” He gulped.
“I’m quite serious,” Meredith said.
“But, Mother, he’s beneath you,” he said. “He’s—”
She nodded. “There is no one beneath me. We are all just people. And yes, I know that Tom’s the maintenance supervisor at the cemetery. His wife died the same year your father did, and he’s been lonely too. Clancy, I don’t need money and I really don’t give a damn about hanging around that fancy country club. That was your dad’s scene, not mine. What I want is someone to love me and to spend time with me. I miss having a companion, Son.”
&
nbsp; Clancy’s heart dropped. He didn’t even know Tom, and he had judged him on a social basis. Angel wouldn’t have done that, he thought.
He took a deep breath and asked, “When is he coming around so I can get better acquainted with him?”
Meredith patted his arm. “Guess you’re more like me than I thought. Now, tell me, where again is it that Angela lives? And how did she get so rich as to own an oil company? Did you tell her that we used to own part of Texanna Red until your dad died and Red bought back the shares?”
He shook his head. “And I didn’t tell her that Red wants me to work for him either. I don’t love Conrad Oil. Like you said, I don’t need money. I need Angel…and I’ve realized it too damned late!”
Chapter 7
Patty took all the incoming calls, so she knew Clancy hadn’t called Angel—at least not at the business. She had hoped that the trip to Tishomingo and the visit to the cemetery would bring closure to her friend, but it hadn’t. Angel’s green eyes were as sad as they had been the day they gathered around the black hole in the Kemp cemetery that was her grandmother’s final resting place.
In Patty’s opinion, the time had come for Angel to either kiss him or kill him and get on with life, and if no one else was going to prepare his wedding or his funeral, then Patty would take matters into her own hands—even if that made Angel mad. Facing her best friend’s anger would be better than this damned cloud hanging over their heads while Angel went around sighing and declaring that she had buried all her memories and she was fine.
Patty crossed one long leg over the other one and tugged down the bottom of a lemon-yellow skirt. She took a deep breath and dialed the number that she had stolen from Angel’s phone.
“Hello?” Clancy said.
“This is Patty at Conrad Oil,” she said.
“Is Angel all right?” His voice sounded both worried and downright sad.
“She’s fine physically, but not so good emotionally,” Patty said.
“I know the feeling.” Clancy said in a deep Texas drawl.
“Y’all need to get this worked out,” Patty said.
“I agree, but I have no idea where to start, or what to do,” Clancy said.
“I’ll be in touch as soon as we have a plan,” Patty said.
“I’m leaving soon on a short trip to Florida. I’m going down there for a few days. Maybe a few days on the beach will help me clear my mind. At least, that’s what I’m hoping, but I’m not sure anything can do that.” Clancy sighed.
“Where in Florida? We might be able to work with that.” Patty’s mind started racing in circles as she made a plan that could get her fired for sure.
“To a little hotel right on the beach west of Panama City Beach,” he answered.
“I’ll call you by the end of today,” she said.
“Thank you, but why would you do this for me?” Clancy asked.
“It’s not for you, believe me.” Patty ended the call, checked the day planner, and found that Angel would be on a phone call with Tex from Texanna Red Oil Company in thirty minutes, then texted all the girls except Angel: Mayday. Thirty minutes. Conference room. When she swung the door open to the long, narrow conference room thirty minutes later, the others were already gathered around the table.
“What’s up?” Allie looked a little green above her upper lip. “I swear, if morning sickness doesn’t stop in a few weeks, this is going to be an only child. If Tyler wants to have a big family, he can have the rest of them.” She rolled her eyes at the chocolate chip cookies on the table. “Where’s Angel?”
“She’s talking to Red and Anna about the move they’re about to make. Red would like to talk her out of this building. Says his crew hates Louisiana and wants to come home to Texas,” Patty said. “Sit down and let’s make a decision. We don’t have all day. We all know Angel is out of it these days. Lord, I can’t work with her in this weird mood another day. It’s like living with a zombie. I vote we send her on a vacation.”
“Sure.” Susan ran her hands through her short hair and laughed. “But Angel doesn’t do vacations. It’d be easier to set up a snow-cone stand in hell than to talk her into taking time off.”
“We could run the company without her for a little while, but she’ll never agree to a trip.” Bonnie did a rat-a-tat-tat on the table with her long fingernails. “You got something in mind, Patty?”
“Well, I do,” Mindy butted in. “I vote we give her two weeks off for an early birthday present. She’ll be twenty-eight at the end of the month and we’ve retired the band, so there’s no reason she can’t go. Now, where were you thinkin’ about sending her, Patty?”
Patty smiled, and her eyes twinkled with excitement. “Panama City Beach, Florida. I know it’s not as fancy as New Orleans or Paris, France, but it’s a nice calm place with a little hotel that sits right on the sand. Remember when Ronald and I were dating and went there for a weekend? It was wonderful, and so quiet.”
“Sounds like a great place for two people to fall in love all over again.” Allie giggled. “I hope to hell Angel can’t see through you as well as I can.”
Patty gave them all an innocent look. “Me? Why, I just thought our dear friend needed to relax. But not by herself.” She smiled. “Suppose a tall, handsome fellow who filled out his jeans real well, and who just happens to know her from high school… What if he happened to show up on the beach at the same time she did? Angel couldn’t blame me for that, now could she?”
“And it’s time she took him back or set him free—or else set herself free, which would be even better,” Allie said. “She’ll be here in a few minutes. Let’s take her to dinner and tell her it’s a done deal. You get the plane tickets and plans made, Patty.”
“I’ll do it,” Bonnie said. “I can have everything ready at six o’clock. Let’s go out for Italian food and tell Angel she can have tomorrow to get things packed and ready. She can fly out of Dallas Wednesday morning, and we’ll even let her take a laptop. But she can only call in once a day unless it’s a dire emergency. Who’s informing Clancy?”
“Not me,” Susan said. “I’m no good at tellin’ lies or keepin’ secrets.”
“Well, this is too important to leave to amateurs,” Allie said.
Bonnie raised her hand. “I’ll call him, and then if she ever finds out, I’ll blame it on Red. And I can keep a straight face when I lie. After all, I deal with the IRS.”
All four women turned to look at her with raised eyebrows.
Bonnie shrugged. “And I did a little research and found out Clancy’s father was in the oil business with Red at one time.”
“Why are we doing this?” Allie asked. “We’ve wanted to shoot Clancy dead for ten years and now here we are, making arrangements to tell him where Angel is for two weeks. Not one damned bit of this makes a whole lot of sense to me.”
“Angel’s not happy,” Patty said. “And the only thing that’s goin’ to make her happy is getting him either out of, or into, her heart. It’s a love-him-or-leave-him kind of situation. So, we’re just helping her get her life straightened out so we can get on with ours. We’ve got a baby to birth in a few months, a wedding to stage, and a divorce to finalize. We need to get Angel’s love life back on track, so we can do all that and run this oil business like we need to do.”
“I second the motion,” Susan said. “Let’s all agree before anyone chickens out. Meeting adjourned. See you all later.” She passed the window looking down on Main Street as she moved toward the door. “Here she comes down the hallway. Better look sharp now and get back to work.”
***
At five thirty, Angel got into the elevator, pushed the button for the first floor, and found all her friends waiting in the lobby.
They chatted about Red coming back to Texas and how they were glad Angel hadn’t caved and sold him their office spaces. When they reached the Italian re
staurant on the other end of the block, the waitress seated them at the back and brought a menu. There was something about the way the other five kept exchanging long looks that told Angel something was going on. She looked at Susan’s face first, knowing full well her friend couldn’t keep a secret in a bucket with a lid on it. She shifted her focus over to Patty to find her eyes were twinkling, and just as Angel shifted her gaze to Mindy, she caught her winking at Allie. Bonnie was the only one who didn’t act as if she were sitting on a keg of dynamite with a short fuse.
Angel pursed her lips and said, “Okay. ’Fess up. What’s going on?”
Bonnie produced a big yellow envelope and they all yelled, “Surprise!”
“We’ve got an early birthday present for you. Lord knows you deserve it, but you wouldn’t think of doing it for yourself, so we bought it for you. You’re going to Panama City Beach, Florida, for two weeks, to a beachfront motel. Your room has a balcony where you can sit out and listen to the ocean waves come in and smell the salty air. When you get bored with that, you can put on your bathing suit, sink your toes in the warm sand, and lay out on the beach until some knight in shining armor comes racing down the beach on his big white four-wheeler and steals your heart away. But remember, it’s only for two weeks. If he wants you to run off to a castle in France, the answer is no, because at the end of that time, you’ve got to come back to Conrad Oil and go back to work!”
Angel’s eyes misted. That they were thinking of her was so sweet, but she did not intend to leave her business or her friends for two weeks.
“You’re all sweethearts.” She unfolded the napkin at her fingertips and dabbed at the tears, leaving a black mascara smudge on it. “But the answer is no. I can’t stand to be away from you all for that long.”
“Bull,” Patty said. “And we didn’t ask a question so you can’t answer no. You’re goin’ to be on that plane if I have to hog-tie you and hire some beach bum that looks just like Kenny Chesney to throw your body over his shoulder and put you in the plane seat.”
Secrets in the Sand Page 6
