I kept my manners intact, barely.
After all, this was between Byron and me. It had nothing to do with his parents.
The words had hardly left my mouth before Byron shot to his feet, seething.
"Willow! Do you really have to be this petty?"
"Isabel just played a little joke on you, that's all. She's our old neighbor. We grew up together. She's no different from my own little sister."
"Why can't you make room for her in your life?"
Kathryn jumped in to back him up.
"That's right, Willow, sweetheart. If you and Byron are fighting over Isabel, then you've really got it all wrong."
"Brent and I have known that girl for years. Her parents and ours get along just fine, we've been neighbors forever. There's absolutely nothing going on between her and Byron."
"Trust me, honey. This time you're reading too much into it."
I lifted my head, forcing down the anger churning in my chest.
"Reading too much into it? Byron, let me ask you a few questions, and then you tell me whether I'm reading too much into it."
"Every Valentine's Day the two of us spend, she tags along. Every Valentine's gift you buy me always comes with one for her, too!"
"Two days ago, on my birthday, she kissed you on the cheek in front of all our friends. She even posted it on her feed saying the two of you had gone official."
"Yesterday, you went with her to do a wedding photoshoot. She posted four full grids of photos. Those were the wedding photos I spent forever choosing!"
That last sentence, I nearly screamed it.
The surge of adrenaline set my hands trembling and I couldn't stop it, but I still fought to keep down the wave of hurt threatening to swallow me whole.
"And I won't even bother mentioning the rest, the late-night phone calls, going over to fix her leaky pipes."
"Byron, now you tell me. Everything the two of you have been doing, is that how an ordinary brother and sister act? Am I the one who misunderstood?"
"Back in the old days, wouldn't she be more like a mistress you keep on the side?"
Kathryn stared at Byron, disbelieving.
"Byron, is everything Willow said true? Is this how you and Isabel have been carrying on this whole time?"
"Byron! Is this how your father and I raised you?!"
Byron's lips worked, and just as he was about to force out some explanation, a figure came out of the bathroom.
She walked toward us drying her wet hair, clearly fresh from a shower.
"Byron, your body wash smells awful."
"Why didn't you use the one I bought you? I'm so used to mine..."
Isabel's voice cut off the instant she saw all of us in the living room.
"Why... why are there so many people here?"
Before any of us could get a word out, Isabel darted straight into the bedroom and shut the door.
I pointed toward the spot where Isabel had vanished and looked at the three of them.
"This is the brother and sister you were talking about?"
Kathryn hurried to grab my hand, trying to explain.
"No, Willow, this time you really have it wrong."
"Isabel's parents are away on a business trip these couple of days. Our families are close, so we just let her stay here for now."
I turned my body aside, out of reach of Kathryn's outstretched hand.
"There's no need to say all this. We came here today to call off the engagement anyway. Whoever your family lets move in is none of my business."
My mother, meanwhile, was so heartsick the tears just kept falling.
"You've swallowed all this hurt, why didn't you tell your mother?"
"Look at you, child. They've been walking all over you, and you're still covering for him."
I patted the back of my mother's hand to soothe her, lost for words for a moment.
Byron wasn't a piece of clothing you could throw away the second it tore.
And he wasn't a bag of garbage you could toss out the door without a second thought.
