The Virgin and Zach Coulter Read online

  He strode up the walk, crossed the porch and stepped inside without knocking. The aroma of simmering pot roast filled the air and he caught the murmur of a radio from the direction of the kitchen.

  “Hello? Anyone home?” He dropped his duffel bag just inside the door. “Cade?”

  “We’re in the kitchen—come on back,” a feminine voice called.

  Zach wondered if Cade had hired a housekeeper. He walked down the hall and entered the kitchen just as the woman standing at the stove turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise before her lips curved in a smile, lighting up her face.

  “Hey,” he drawled, stopping just inside the door to glance around the room. “I’m looking for Cade—”

  The door to the back porch opened and his brother stepped inside, halting abruptly.

  “Zach.” Cade crossed the room and grabbed him in a brief, hard hug before stepping back. Eyes as green as Zach’s narrowed as he stared. “It’s good to see you—but damn, you look like hell.”

  Zach laughed. “And hello to you, too.”

  Cade laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back. Even if you do look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

  “I probably haven’t,” Zach drawled. “I plan to say hello and find the nearest empty bed to sleep for a day or two. Have you heard from Eli or Brodie?”

  “Not yet. I’m hoping you’ll ask your ace assistant to join the search.”

  Zach shrugged. “Angela’s never failed to find whatever she’s looked for. Want me to call her?”

  “Yeah,” Cade said. “Any help she can give us would be great. It can wait until you get some rest, though.”

  “All right.” A movement behind Cade caught Zach’s attention and he looked over his brother’s shoulder. The pretty blonde was smoothing her fingertips over her lashes, her brown eyes damp.

  Cade turned, his gaze following Zach’s.

  “Mariah, honey.” His deep voice gentled and it held a note Zach had never heard from his big brother.

  Intrigued, he studied their faces as Cade walked to the woman and slung an arm around her shoulders to pull her close against his side.

  “This is Mariah Jones, Zach,” Cade said, his quiet voice filled with pride and love. “As soon as I can convince her to settle on a date, we’re getting married.”

  Zach felt his eyes widen, and his gaze sharpened on the woman’s beautiful face. She smiled at him before tipping her head back to look up at Cade, the love in her expression matching his brother’s.

  “I’ll be damned,” Zach murmured. “Congratulations, Cade. And welcome to the family, Mariah.” He shook his head, stunned and trying to absorb the fact that his oldest brother was in love. “Never thought I’d see the day when one of us got married.”

  Mariah laughed, her smile impish. “You’re second born, Zach, which means you’re next.”

  “No.” He held up his hands, palms out, before crossing his index fingers in the classic gesture to ward off evil. “No way. Not gonna happen.”

  Cade’s deep chuckle blended with Mariah’s laughter.

  A sudden yawn caught Zach by surprise and he scrubbed his hand down his face, feeling the scratch of beard stubble. “Sorry,” he apologized. Exhaustion hit him like a wave. “I haven’t slept much over the last few days. Not to mention the time zone change. I’m jet-lagged and sleep-deprived.”

  “We weren’t sure how long it would take you to get here, but as soon as you called from Nepal we put clean sheets and blankets on the bed in your old room,” Cade said. “Why don’t you head upstairs? We can talk later.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Zach agreed. “Nice to meet you, Mariah. Will I see you later?”

  “I’ll be around when you wake up,” she told him.

  “Good.” He nodded and turned away. “Good night, you two.” He lifted a hand in farewell, their echoes of “good night” following him down the hall. He paused at the front door to collect his duffel bag and then climbed the stairs to the second floor. The door to his old bedroom stood open and he turned on the bedside lamp, dropping his duffel on the bed before closing the door.

  He was too tired to do more than give the room a cursory inspection but did register that while the furniture was the same, someone had hung new curtains. The room was clean, the top of the pine wood dresser where he dropped his wallet and assorted clutter from his pockets dust-free.

  He shucked off his boots and jeans, pulled his shirt off over his head and clad in only his boxers, slid between the sheets.

  Just before he fell asleep, he thought about how Cynthia Deacon had fit into his arms as if custom made just for him. And he wondered how long it would be before he could see her again.

  Chapter Three

  Cynthia couldn’t stop thinking about Zach Coulter. She’d felt his gaze burning into her as she’d walked to her car, and hadn’t been able to resist checking him out in her rearview mirror as she drove away. He’d stood on the sidewalk without moving, staring after her.

  He wasn’t shy about letting a woman know he found her attractive, she thought, her lips tilting upward at the corners as she remembered the interest in his green eyes while they’d talked. She’d met a lot of good-looking men at the hotels where she’d worked over the past few years and more than a few had made passes at her. But Zach raised “handsome and charming” to a whole new level.

  At dinnertime she pulled open the refrigerator door in her kitchen and took out red leaf lettuce, a slim English cucumber, tomato, avocado and a red bell pepper. Standing at the counter, she rinsed and, with practiced, efficient movements, quickly chopped, sliced and diced.

  She wondered how long he would be in town.

  She paused, knife in hand, and looked out the window above the sink at the backyard, lit by late afternoon sun. The big elm tree in the far corner was in full leaf, the spreading branches shading the white picket fence and at least six feet of elderly Mrs. Riley’s yard next door. The snowball bush along the back fence was covered in fist-sized clusters of green buds that would pop into circles of white flowers.

  Neatly edged in brick, the flower beds along the one-car garage in the corner opposite the elm tree were raked, fertilized and seeded.

  The old house and the gardens her great-uncle Nicholas had loved were ready for summer. She vividly remembered working beside him, her small hands next to his gnarled fingers as they tucked the roots of green living plants into warm black soil. The gentle elderly man, his garden and home had been a haven of peace and sanity in a childhood threatened by her mother’s chaotic lifestyle.

  How long will I be in town, Cynthia wondered. She’d sent out résumés immediately after her arrival, but she’d been back in Indian Springs and the welcoming old house for almost two weeks. She’d readied the flower beds and seeded them, aired out the upstairs bedrooms and folded away winter bedding, trimmed and fertilized the roses along the front porch. She’d certainly been busy. But she hadn’t received any response to her résumés, nor to any applications online.

  Cynthia opened a cupboard door and took out a rose-colored Depression-era glass salad bowl and a matching stemmed glass. Long before she and her mother had come to live at his house, Nicholas had lost his beloved wife, Min. He’d continued to care for her lovely glass, crystal, silver and the house’s antique furnishings as if doing so had somehow kept a part of her with him. He’d taught Cynthia a deep appreciation for fine old things and given her one of her great-aunt Min’s handmade quilts when she’d left Indian Springs to go to college. The quilt had traveled with her ever since and was currently spread out over the foot of her bed upstairs.

  As she filled the bowl with tossed salad, layered chilled shrimp atop and drizzled balsamic vinegar and oil over all, she considered what to do with Nicholas’s cherished home and furnishings.

  The question had plagued her over the weeks since Nicholas had passed away. He’d been ninety-two and although his body had become frail, he’d always been spry and f
it with a sharp mind. On some level, she knew she’d simply refused to think about him ever being gone. But now, he was. And here I am, she thought as she carried her salad, glass of water and silverware into the adjoining dining room.

  Her work required her to travel and she’d always loved that aspect. But it also prevented her from settling in any one spot, limiting her ability to create the kind of home with treasured furnishings that Nicholas had entrusted to her.

  She glanced around the room with its long, graceful table and tall sideboard. The table had room to easily accommodate eight people and she knew there were additional leaves and chairs that allowed the table to expand and seat twelve.

  Nicholas should have left his home to someone with a big family, she thought as she sipped her water and ate her salad. I’ll never fill these chairs with a husband and children.

  Not that she didn’t want to marry and have children. She’d always dreamed that someday she’d find the right man and fall in love. But given her trust issues, she wasn’t sure that was possible.

  Cynthia sighed, frowning. She’d never been particularly fond of any of her mother’s boyfriends, but it wasn’t until she was twelve years old that she’d learned to fear men. That was the year the man who’d been dating her mother had caught her alone in the house. By the time Nicholas arrived and pulled the man off of her, she’d been bruised and terrified, her lip cut and her blouse torn. Her mother had been furious—at her, not the boyfriend. And despite counseling during college, Cynthia had never been able to move past the suffocating panic when a male acted aggressively.

  Which is why I’ll probably never marry, she thought, staring at the empty chairs ranged along the sides and the far ends of the table.

  She had an unexpected, instant mental image of Zach Coulter, eyes alight with amusement as he smiled at her, sitting at the head of the table on her left.

  “Not likely,” she said aloud in the silent room. She shook her head, popping a pink shrimp into her mouth. “He’s out of my league. If I ever consider looking for a husband, I should probably start with a basic small-sedan-level guy. Zach’s more like a high-performance-sports-car-level guy. Still,” she mused with a sigh, “a girl can dream.”

  Her voice seemed loud in the hushed room.

  “I’m talking to myself,” she muttered. “Definitely time to find a new job with real people to talk to.”

  She rose and walked back into the kitchen to switch on the radio on the shelf just inside the door. When she returned to the table, the muted strains of Memphis blues followed her, filling the hushed, waiting silence.

  Determinedly, she turned her attention to finishing her dinner and her thoughts to job hunting and considering whether to tweak her résumé.

  But when she turned off the light and settled into her bed later that evening, her last drowsy thought was of Zach’s green eyes smiling down at her.

  Zach didn’t wake until six o’clock the next morning.

  By the time he’d showered, shaved and dressed to head downstairs, his stomach was growling. The aroma of coffee teased his nostrils and he followed it down the hallway.

  “Morning.” He nodded at Cade and Mariah, seated at the heavy wooden table in the far corner of the kitchen. He automatically pulled open the cabinet door above the coffeemaker and took out a mug, only realizing as he filled the cup that he’d remembered where they were kept.

  It had been thirteen years since he’d taken a mug from that cupboard, but somewhere buried deep, the memory had lain dormant till needed.

  The human mind was a weird and wonderful thing, he thought, carrying his steaming mug with him to the table.

  Just as he pulled out a chair and sat, his stomach growled again, this time more loudly.

  “How long since you ate?” Cade asked, his long legs stretched out beneath the table.

  “Yesterday,” Zach said, sipping his coffee.

  “I mean something besides fast food at the airport,” Cade said drily.

  “Ah.” Zach nodded, pursing his lips as he considered. “I think that might have been at a sushi bar in Tokyo.”

  Mariah’s eyes rounded. “How long ago was that?”

  “You know,” Zach confessed, “I’m not sure. What day is this?”

  Cade laughed and Mariah pushed back her chair to stand.

  “I’m making you breakfast,” she announced, crossing the room to pull open the refrigerator door. “How do you feel about steak, eggs, hash browns and toast?”

  “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he told her. “But you don’t have to cook for me. I can do it.”

  She laughed. “We take turns cooking around here so you’ll have your chance. For now, sit, talk to Cade and drink your coffee.”

  “Thanks.” Zach looked at Cade. “I think we should keep her.”

  “I’m keeping her,” Cade told him with a grin. “You’ll have to get your own girl.”

  Zach had a swift mental image of Cynthia Deacon’s face. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said aloud, deciding Cade’s words had only made him think of the pretty blonde because he’d seen her just yesterday. “I stopped at Anderson’s office in town. He wasn’t there, but his secretary gave me a thick envelope and a set of keys. I haven’t opened the envelope yet, but I’m assuming it’s a copy of the will.”

  “Probably,” Cade said. “And the keys must be for the Lodge.”

  “Why am I getting keys to the Lodge?” Zach lifted his cup and sipped, his gaze fastened on his brother’s face, which had gone from relaxed to somber.

  “Because Dad left the Triple C to all of us in equal shares, but he also left an asset to each of us individually,” Cade said. “The Coulter Lodge belongs to you now. You can do anything you want with it.”

  Zach stared at him. “Why did the old man leave me anything?” he said at last. “He hated my guts.”

  Cade sighed and scrubbed his hand down his face. “Yeah, that’s pretty much how I felt when I heard he’d left us the Triple C.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Mariah convinced me the old man had a change of heart. She worked for him and lived here on the ranch for the last several years, took care of him when he got sick. She says he regretted the drinking and everything that came with it. And Wayne says he stopped drinking and became a hermit after we all left.”

  “He stopped drinking?” Zach stared at Cade. “That’s hard to believe.” Although if Wayne Smalley had told Cade that Joseph Coulter had given up alcohol, it was hard to dispute the claim. Zach had known his parents’ friend, and Wayne’s buddies—Asa Kelly and Ben Holcomb, since he was a child.

  “I know.” Cade nodded in agreement. “But it seems to be true.”

  Zach lifted his mug and realized he’d emptied it. He pushed back his chair and stood, crossing to the counter and the coffeemaker. Beside him, Mariah removed bread from the toaster and proceeded to spread butter on the slices.

  “It’s true.” She glanced sideways at him, her brown gaze level. “I never saw him take a drink in the three-plus years I’ve lived here.”

  “Hmm,” Zach responded noncommittally. He’d worked with men who drank too much and concealed it from most people. Where there was a will, there seemed to always be a way. Nonetheless, Mariah apparently was convinced Joseph Coulter had quit the bottle and if she wanted to believe, who was he to question her conviction?

  “Tell me about the will,” he said as he returned to the table and Cade. “I’ll read the entire document and whatever else Anderson put in the envelope later but for now, give me the Reader’s Digest version.”

  “It’s pretty straightforward,” Cade told him. “Dad left everything he had to the four of us—you, me, Eli and Brodie—except for the cabin and the three acres it sits on. He left that to Mariah.”

  Surprised, Zach’s gaze flicked across the room just as Mariah turned from the stove with a steaming plate of food. She met his gaze calmly as she slid the plate of steak, eggs, hash browns and toast on the tabletop in front of him.

 
“Thanks,” he murmured. “Looks great.”

  “You’re welcome.” She smiled and went back to the counter, returning with a carafe of coffee and setting it in the center of the table before slipping back into her chair.

  Zach wasn’t sure how he felt about his grandparents cabin being given away outside the family, but Cade seemed fine with it. He decided to question his brother later, outside Mariah’s hearing.

  “Go on.” He nudged Cade as he cut into the steak and began to eat.

  “As I told you earlier, Dad left each of us individual assets that we solely control. He left me the livestock except for the horses, Eli gets Mom’s studio and the contents and Brodie has the horses. And you got the Lodge.”

  Zach lifted his head, his attention caught. “What horses? Are the Kigers still here?”

  Cade shrugged. “I don’t know—haven’t gone looking for them. Figured I’d leave that for Brodie to find out.”

  “Hard to believe Dad didn’t sell the Kigers,” Zach commented. “Mom loved those mustangs and he got rid of everything she loved when she died.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Cade agreed. “But since I’ve been back, I learned he did several things that didn’t make sense. For instance, he left longhorns in the far pasture. They interbred with Brahma stock and Herefords that probably escaped the lower pastures and climbed into the rough country. We rounded up enough rodeo stock and whitefaces to make a payment on the taxes.”

  “Why didn’t Dad sell them years ago?” Zach asked, puzzled. “It wasn’t like him to let an asset sit idle, especially not cattle.”

  Cade glanced at Mariah, then back at Zach. “Mariah says he was sick for several years before he died. It’s possible he didn’t have the energy to drive them in and brand them.”

  “Hmm.” Zach considered Cade’s words. It was hard to picture his father without the physical strength and energy to run the Triple C. The last time he’d seen Joseph, he was a strong, physically powerful man. He shook off the questions that rose with the thought and looked at his brother. “So tell me the bad news. None of this sounds like you’d need my input. What’s wrong?”