Secrets in the Sand - Carolyn Brown Page 0,28

and smoothed sunblock cream over her arms and legs.

A picture of the two entwined hearts she had drawn in the sand at the edge of Pennington Creek in Tishomingo ten years ago popped into her mind. Using her finger, she drew two hearts in the sand beside her beach towel. This time they weren’t even touching.

She rolled over on her stomach and took one of the romance novels out of her bag. A picture of a handsome cowboy in tight jeans and a gaudy western shirt decorated the front. A woman with improbably deep cleavage was draped over his arm, and the smoldering look in his eyes promised the reader a love story beyond all expectations. Patty probably didn’t even know the author and had picked it for the cover art. But whether the author could write or not didn’t matter one bit to Angela. She intended to read the book from prologue to epilogue and enjoy every overheated page just to keep the thoughts of Clancy at bay.

***

Clancy changed into swimming trunks and put on a tank top and a pair of sandals. He threw a towel over his shoulder, took a deep breath, and started toward the beach. He had planned to just take a walk and clear his mind. He’d been able to get a room in the same hotel, found out which room Angel was in, and deliberately booked his room in the second tower on the third floor. He hadn’t expected to see Angel so quickly. He hadn’t even figured out how to approach her, but there she was, wearing a red two-piece bathing suit, a floppy straw hat, and huge sunglasses, propped up on her elbows reading a paperback book. But he would have known her if she’d been decked out in a gunnysack tied up in the middle with a length of twine. A young man strolled past her, and Clancy could tell by his posturing and the way he slowed down that if she had looked up, the guy would’ve started a conversation, but she seemed to be oblivious to everything except the book.

“I guess there’s no time like the present,” he whispered as he flipped his towel out right beside her and sat on it, looking out over the ocean.

***

It took Angel a moment before she realized Clancy was sitting beside her, but there was the same tightness in her chest and a catch in her breathing that she’d had when he showed up at the dam back when they were teenagers. She jerked off her sunglasses and looked right into Clancy’s eyes. And all the pieces of the puzzle tumbled into place. She couldn’t decide whether to fire her friends and watch them starve to death or simply shoot them and get it over with quickly. But one thing was for sure: when she got back, every one of them would be facing her wrath, and it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. All five were going to see her breathe fire before Monday morning was over.

“Small world, isn’t it?” Clancy flashed a bright smile.

“Which one of them called you and told you I was here?” She reached over and smudged the two hearts. She was here for closure, not to reunite with her old flame.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He didn’t blink, but there was a twinkle in his eyes that made her heart flutter even more.

“Yes, you do.” Angel was so mad she could have chewed up driftwood and spit out toothpicks. She quickly gathered her things and stuffed them into the beach bag. “I’m checking out of the motel right now and driving my rental car back to the airport. I’ll be home by morning and my so-called friends will be facing the firing squad.”

“Sit down, Angel.” He patted the towel before she could yank it up. “You can’t run from me forever. Stay and get to know me. I’m a man now, not the scared young boy who didn’t know his own heart. I come down here for a few days in the summer every year, just to relax. Please give me a chance to show you that I’ve changed from that young stupid boy who walked out on you. Let me show you around town, and then, when we go home, if you don’t ever want to see me again, I’ll stay away.”

She glared at him. “Did you send the roses?”

“No, I didn’t send flowers.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that