Cassie transferred her anger to him.
"The money from the ranch."
He looked perplexed. "What ranch?"
She stamped her foot with impatience.
"This ranch. Our ranch. You hired him to come get me. Why? It's not like you need my signature to close the deal."
He stared at her. "I didn't hire him and I have no idea what deal you are talking about."
Cassie glanced up at Bordeaux. "You said he hired you to come get me."
Bordeaux shook his head, his gaze fixed on her face.
"No, I didn't. I said that bringing you back was my job."
"Where would I get the money to pay him?" Mr. Rinehart interjected.
Cassie tore her gaze from Bordeaux and fixed her father with a level look.
"I thought you sold the ranch."
He actually looked hurt. "I wouldn't sell the ranch after you put so much money into it. As far as I'm concerned, it's yours. I told Bordeaux if he wanted to buy it, he'd have to talk to you."
She caught her breath and turned on Bordeaux.
"So you were trying to buy the ranch. Why didn't you tell me instead of trying to trick me? You went through all of that just to buy this little ranch?"
His face darkened. "Of course not. I had another reason to go to Ashley. The twins begged me to bring you back, so I made it part of my plans."
"How noble of you." She hissed. "So why did you propose marriage, or was that part of your plan to get the ranch?"
He gave her a sour look. "I was serious. How was I supposed to know you had a thing for Davis?"
Davis ? So it had bothered him to see them together. Still, he had been with Darcie only minutes before.
"You've got a lot of room to talk. Sure, you had a reason to go to Ashley. Little did I know that while you were proposing to me, you were making plans to marry you're little saloon girl."
Surely he couldn't have feigned the surprise on his face. His lips formed a hard line and his eyes turned cold.
"Be careful how you talk about my sister."
She stared at him, her insides winding into a tight ball. Sister? Darcie Bordeaux was his sister? Of course, how could she have been so blind? They looked enough alike to be twins. But their conversation... was an expression of love for a sibling - siblings that had apparently been through a lot together.
He turned and stalked back to the buggy. Climbing aboard, he slapped the reins to the team. When the team lurched forward, she was jerked from her stunned silence. What had she done?