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“It looks like you’re taking a hike.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she repeated, incredulous. If nothing else, Denver had gall. She’d give him that much. But no more. “Because of you, Denver. Because of all the things you are and most certainly because of the things you aren’t!”
“And what’s that?”
“Honest.”
“You’re talking about honesty?” he said. “What about you? I spend the past week and a half going through hell for you and you’re ready to walk out on me.”
“Me walk out on you!” She leaped to her feet, tilting her head upward to meet the fury in his eyes. “Me walk out on you?” Laughing brittlely, she said, “You’re the one who left me. You didn’t call, didn’t write, and now you’re buying back my horses, my horses behind my back.”
“Hold on a minute—”
“Why haven’t you called?”
“I tried.”
“Once.”
“It was difficult,” he hedged.
“I’ll bet. And why didn’t you show up, if for no other reason than to sign the papers at the bank?”
“I had problems. That’s why I called. There was an emergency.”
“Emergency? What? Did you find some other woman to put through an emotional wringer—accuse her and her family of horrid deeds and then buy her most precious possessions behind her back?”
“Is—is that what you think?”
“What else?” she jeered, wanting to hurt him as much as he’d wounded her. “Did you have to take a trip to Disneyland?”
His eyes narrowed angrily. “A little farther away than Disneyland.”
“I don’t really care!”
“By several thousand miles.”
“Save it, Denver.”
“I went to Ireland, Tess. Northern Ireland.”
“Ireland?” she repeated dubiously, but some of her anger was already weakening as she guessed the answer. An icy chill ran down her spine. Colton! Denver had gone looking for Colton!
“That’s right,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I wanted to find my brother and convince him to come back here and sign the papers.”
“No way.”
“I just got a little sidetracked,” he said.
“I’ll bet.”
Every muscle in his body coiled, and his lips thinned angrily.
She couldn’t help goading him. “You expect me to believe that you flew all the way to Ireland to ask Colton to sell this place to me, when you didn’t even call, didn’t send a note, didn’t so much as leave a message?” A traitorous part longed to believe him, wished that he could take away the pain of the past few weeks, that they could pick up where they’d left off, but she wouldn’t let him fool her—not this time. Too much was at stake.
