Angel's Song

Chapter Twelve

He smirked. "You talk quite well for a saloon girl, Miss Donovan."

"I can't claim to have learned that all by myself," Angel returned coolly. "Friends who are willing to help have a way of changing things."

"Maybe so," he responded, "but no amount of fine talk can change a saloon girl into a respectable woman...or a murderer and thief into an innocent man."

A stinging retort rose to Angel's lips, but just then something caught her eye. A small rip, hardly visible, marred the perfection of his cream coat. His cream linen coat.

Angel froze, her hand almost instinctively going to the scrap of fabric hidden in the pocket of her dress. There was no way... She stared at the rip in his sleeve, and then back at his irritated face, hardly able to comprehend the suspicions that now crowded in upon her mind.

"Miss Donovan?" He sounded more than slightly peeved.

Angel snapped out of her daze. "I'm afraid I must excuse myself. Good afternoon, Mr Shannon." She walked away swiftly, his eyes boring into her back the whole time.

~

The rich, cinnamon cookie melted into Aidan's tongue and he let out an appreciative groan. "If Miss Nellie keeps cookin' food like this, I may just get used to the idea of bein' in jail." He smiled at his niece and nephew, who were tearing into Nellie's homebaked goods with gusto. "Thanks for comin'."

"You're not gonna stay in jail, are you, Uncle Aidan?" Lina's blue eyes watched him worriedly. She had been on the verge of tears when they had first arrived, but had settled down now and only anxiety was visible on her small face. 

Aidan forced a smile. "Hope not."

"Mr McKay said the judge is comin' tomorrow. He'll see you're being set up," Jesse said confidently, his chin jutted out. 

Aidan couldn't help a small grin, which was followed by a frown as he realised who was missing. "Is Angel okay? I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's out walkin' just now. She's been pretty upset lately." 

Aidan's brows creased. "Really?"

Lina nodded. "Miss Nellie says she's just bein' a woman, but I don't understand what that means."

"She was crying when she got back from visitin' you the first time," Jesse shared. "Her eyes were all red and she stayed in her room for a long time before dinner. I think Sheriff Wyatt said something mean to her." He scowled in the direction of the main office.

Aidan listened worriedly. What on earth was going on? He tried to think of anything he had said that might have upset her, but for the life of him he couldn't remember.

And then it hit him.

Aidan, you idiot.

~

Angel couldn't sleep that night. Instead, she lay awake on her side, scanning the piece of fabric in the light of the moon through her bedroom window. Soft cream linen, the sewing smooth and unbroken apart from the frayed edges where it had been ripped. The tear in Denton Shannon's jacket had had ragged edges, but even then, it could have happened some other way.

Denton's never forgiven me for Catherine's death.

Aidan's words rang in her ears. She had seen the man's animosity first hand, both at the ranch and then at church, and while she could understand the older man's grief at losing his niece, she could hardly believe he would stoop to something as low as framing Aidan by way of revenge. The nagging suspicion refused to leave her gut, however.