A Midsummer Night's Kiss (Howertys #1)

Chapter 20: Accusations

Dear Diary,
Everyone always seems to take Joan's word
over mine. Sometimes I wonder if James
would too, but I hope I never have to find out.

Angel was sitting in her usual spot in the window with her diary when Aunt Christine burst into the room like a Fury from the old Greek myths. Though one of the Greek deities with serpentine hair might have been a more welcome sight.

"How dare you accuse Joan?" she shrieked.

Closing the diary and putting it to the side, Angel inhaled deeply, steeling herself for the inevitable confrontation. She stood as James and Joan entered the room in Aunt Christine's wake, and her brother gave her an apologetic look. Why had she not foreseen this? Joan would never go down without a fight. To keep her hands from shaking, she clasped them in front of her, gripping her fingers tightly.

"Answer me!" her aunt snapped when she said nothing.

Forcing a calm voice, she looked at the older woman. "What would you like me to say?"

"I want to know what possessed you to accuse your dear cousin of locking you in your dressing room last night!"

She almost backed down. She always backed down. But not today.

"The fact that she did?"

"Outrageous lies! My daughter would never do something like that," Aunt Christine huffed, waving her hands in the air as if the mere movement would make her words true.

"So I locked myself in the dressing room?" Angel asked dryly. It wasn't the wisest idea to goad her aunt, but she was tired of cowering before them. Tired of being the obedient one who always did as she was told. She had a will of her own and she was ready to exert it.

"Maybe someone else did it," her aunt pushed on, unwilling to consider Joan's guilt. "Or it could have been a misunderstanding."

"Pardon?" Angel almost laughed. A misunderstanding? Was she to think that Joan had somehow believed she wanted to be locked up?

Aunt Christine must have taken the question as an invitation to go on, her words coming out in a rush. "The door could have closed on itself. Joan admits to seeing you in your room but says she didn't close the door. Maybe it swung shut when you were inside, and she never realised you were trapped."

"Angel?" James looked at her, his face unreadable, and for a moment she faltered. Did he not believe her? Even the possibility of him not believing was like a stab in the gut. She glanced over at Joan, and the gloating look on her cousin's face strengthened her resolve.

Lifting her chin defiantly, she met her brother's eyes. "It was not a misunderstanding. Joan physically pushed me and stalked me until I fell back into the dressing room. Then she closed and locked the door. I don't believe I could have misunderstood that."

Satisfaction washed over her as Joan's smirk faded from her pretty face and her eyes widened as she realised Angel had finally stood up to her. "You're lying!"

The accusation hung potently in the air between them for a moment as everyone waited for James to react. She breathed a sigh of relief as James whirled around to face Joan with a dark look in his eyes. Their cousin shrank away from him as he took a step towards her.

"She's lying," she tried again, a desperate note in her voice.

"Quiet," James growled. "Don't you ever dare suggest Angel is a liar again."

He might as well have slapped her. Joan looked so shocked at being told off. Her mouth was shaped into a perfect o as she stared at the tall man.

"Get out of my sight!" he snapped. "And make sure I don't see you again for the next few days, because right now I want to toss you out of the house."