Page 114 of Kiss an Angel

He stiffened. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No!” Color flooded her cheeks. “You always think the worst about me!”

He slumped back in his chair. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just that you’re getting older, and you’re so pretty. I worry about you.”

It was the nicest thing he’d said to her all summer, but she couldn’t even enjoy it because of what she had to tell him. Maybe she should have told Sheba first, but Sheba wasn’t the one she feared; it was her father. Tears stung the back of her eyelids, but she blinked them away because men hated tears. Matt and Rob said only pussies cried.

“I—I did something. And I can’t keep it a secret anymore.”

He didn’t say anything. He merely watched her and waited.

“It’s just—it’s like something ugly inside me that keeps getting bigger and won’t stop growing.”

“Maybe you’d better tell me.”

“I”—she gulped—“That money—when everybody thought Daisy stole that money . . .” The words burst free. “It was me.”

For a moment he did nothing, then he shot to his feet. “What!”

She looked up at him, and even in the shadowed darkness she could see the fury in his expression. Her insides churned, but she made herself continue. “It was me. I—I took the money, and then I sneaked in their trailer and hid it in her suitcase so everybody’d think she took it.”

“I don’t frigging believe this!” He lashed out with his foot, kicking the leg of the chair she was sitting on out from under her. Before she could fall, he grabbed her arm and jerked her upright. “Why did you do something like that? Damn it! Why did you lie?”

Terrified, she tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go, and she could no longer hold back the tears. “I—I wanted to get Daisy in trouble. It was—”

“You little sneak.”

“I told her I was sorry!” she sobbed. “And I am! She’s my friend now! I didn’t mean—”

He gave her a hard shake. “Does Alex know about this?”

“N-no.”

“You let everybody believe Daisy’s a thief when all the time it was you. You make me sick.”

Without warning, he began dragging her across the lot. Her nose was running, and she was so scared her teeth started chattering. She’d known he’d be mad, but she hadn’t thought it would be this bad.

He pulled her around the back of Sheba’s trailer toward Alex and Daisy’s, which was parked next to it. With one awful motion, he raised his fist and pounded the door. The lights were on inside, and Alex answered right away.

“What’s wrong, Brady?”

Daisy’s face appeared from behind Alex’s shoulder, and when she saw Heather, she looked alarmed. “What’s happened?”

“Tell him,” her father demanded.

Heather spoke between sobs. “I—I’m the one who—”

“You look at him when you talk!” He clasped her chin and lifted it, not exactly hurting her but forcing her to meet Alex’s eyes. She’d rather have died.

“I took the money!” Heather cried. “It wasn’t Daisy. It was me! I sneaked into your trailer and hid it in her suitcase.”

Alex’s whole body went stiff, and his expression was so much like her father’s that Heather recoiled.

Daisy made a small sound of alarm. Although she wasn’t very big, she somehow managed to push Alex far enough out of the way that she could fly past him down the metal steps. She reached out for Heather, but her father pulled her away.

“Don’t you dare give her any sympathy. Heather acted like a coward, and I promise she’ll be punished for it.”

“But I don’t want her punished! It happened months ago. It’s not important any longer.”

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