Redeemer Read online

  None of them thought Wyatt’s penchant for smoking pot all through school would lead into a habitual use of other drugs, mostly alcohol. Wyatt didn’t take stress well, or rejection, or any difficulty life threw at him. But for his flaw of weakness in those areas, he was a good guy who would do anything for his friends. He’d been the one Nicole had called from college when she’d drunk too much at a party and some guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. Neither said much about the outcome when Wyatt arrived within thirty minutes and, according to him, took care of the problem. Both Nora and Rachel would also go to Wyatt first when they needed support or someone to intervene on their behalf.

  As far as Adrian was aware, Wyatt never went beyond friendship with any of the girls, but he’d always suspected Wyatt and Nicole had gotten a lot closer that night when he’d come to her rescue. There was just something about the way he would occasionally catch a look of intimacy passing between them that hinted at a secret the two shared. That was long before he and Nicole hooked up, and he hadn’t thought much about it until her death.

  Nora and Rachel were at the bottom of his suspect list, but he couldn’t discount the jealous tiffs Nora and Nicole never tried to hide from anyone. When they began or what had prompted them, he hadn’t a clue, and opted out of getting involved, even after he and Nicole married.

  Rachel was the quiet one of the group, never raising her voice or arguing with anyone. She wouldn’t even enter into a friendly debate, choosing to stand back and listen when they all went at some volatile subject they didn’t agree on. She’d taken Nicole’s death the hardest, breaking down and staying to herself for weeks. Which was what landed her on the list.

  Adrian sank onto his desk chair with a tired sigh, longing for the days before he’d tried to turn a valued friendship into a marriage, wishing Jessie and Nora had learned from his mistake. He couldn’t help his suspicions, not when his wife had tumbled off a ledge from a trail she could traverse safely blindfolded. All of them had ridden or hiked every inch of the ranch over the last twenty years. They were seasoned outdoorsmen and riders, native Idahoans used to the weather extremes, and were smart enough to never take off alone without telling someone and carrying one of the ranch’s communication devices with them for emergencies.

  Nicole had hiked into the woods that afternoon without a word to anyone or any way to send an SOS if she ran into trouble. But someone knew and followed her, the only ones on the ranch that day being his closest friends.

  And his bitter cousin was Adrian’s top suspect in Nicole’s death. His chest hurt every time he thought that, but facts were facts, and Ashe had taken his accusations the hardest.

  Ashe entered and sprawled in the same chair Sophie had perched on earlier. Adrian much preferred looking across his desk at her attractive face framed by a wealth of wavy brown hair, the gold streaks reminding him of caramel candy, her dark lavender-blue eyes showing hidden depths and secrets he respected. Instead, he was now left with Ashe’s perpetual scowl and angry, distrustful glare. He’d been forced to deal with his cousin’s surly attitude following their father’s retirement and Adrian taking over the reins as CEO of the Coultrane investments even though he’d been raised with that fact. Ashe eventually got over his pique when Adria proved nothing would change, they would run everything together, just like their fathers, but then he’d married Nicole, and his attitude returned. There were times it saddened him as the two of them were inseparable growing up here on the ranch together. Since Nicole’s suspicious death, Ashe had turned even more hostile toward Adrian, and his patience with his cousin was on life support.

  “Unless you have a complaint about our new employee, I’m not in the mood for another pissing match,” Adrian told him.

  “No, you’re only ever in the mood for pitting us against each other with your ridiculous allegations regarding Nicole’s death.” Ashe crossed one booted ankle over his knee and rested his hands on his abdomen in a casual pose that didn’t fool Adrian. “You should think about returning to Spurs now she’s gone, and relieving your frustrations the old-fashioned way.”

  “By taking them out on some poor sub who’s innocent of my distrust? That would be more your style,” he snapped then regretted letting Ashe get to him.

  “Fuck you, Cousin. I would never, no more than I would harm a hair on Nicole’s head, or Nora’s or Rachel’s.”

  Fury swirled in Ashe’s dark eyes, but Adrian refused to back down. If nothing else, he owed Nicole that much. “So you say, but you were nowhere around when we realized she’d gone missing. Enough,” he barked, holding up his hand to ward off another rebuttal. “We need to keep Sophie from hightailing it back home before she even gets started. That means curb the use of the playroom for now and take your exploits elsewhere.”

  Cocking his head, Ashe regarded him with a shrewd gaze. “She didn’t seem offended or even shocked earlier. Maybe she’s open to playing.”

  Adrian refused to rise to that taunt and gritted his teeth. Even if he could picture her submitting to one of them, which he couldn’t, he wouldn’t trust any of them with her well-being until he solved the mystery of Nicole’s accident.

  “It wouldn’t matter. She’s an employee.” He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to use a calm, nicer tone as he added, “I’m asking you to respect that boundary. It’s not a new one after all.”

  Ashe stood, and, for the briefest of moments, he dropped his frown, loosened his jaw, and looked at Adrian with empathy. “I will, but Wyatt and Jessie aren’t bound by her employment status, and I won’t lecture them like you did. We’re all adults, and, regardless of what you believe, we wouldn’t hurt any woman with intentional cruelty. Good night, Cousin.”

  Damn. The son of a bitch sure knew how to put Adrian in his place with a few well-aimed words.

  Chapter Three

  For the past year, Sophie had been going through the days mechanically, doing nothing but first struggling with Kasey’s diagnosis and praying for a miracle despite the doctor’s terminal diagnosis, then working and grieving. Her only outlet had been the monthly grief counseling sessions she briefly attended for parents who had lost a child. The saying “misery loves company” was so true, and, as awful as it always sounded, she’d drawn comfort from knowing she wasn’t the only one suffering every parent’s worst nightmare.

  Now, she prayed this new place, so far from everywhere that reminded her of her daughter and surrounded by people who didn’t look at her with pity, would be the beginning of accepting what fate had dealt her.

  Turning from staring out the French doors, Sophie crawled into bed, finding the mattress soft, the way she liked them. Sinking down, she stretched out, loving all the room the queen-size bed afforded her. The sheets were cool against her bare legs and arms, the room dimly lit by a small night-light, and she now found the splatter of softer rainfall against the glass soothing. Getting to sleep at night was the hardest part of the day, the quiet solitude reminding her of how she used to listen for every sound coming from Kasey’s room. But tonight, she was too tired from the tense last leg of her trip and the uncomfortable introduction to her new boss to do anything except cave to her body’s demand for rest and drift into an easy sleep.

  Sophie woke the next morning to the sun streaming through the French doors, a welcome change from last night’s storm. No matter how often she told herself to get over her silly fear of storms, when one rolled in, nothing could stop the shakes from consuming her.

  After walking through the enormous house with Adrian, she had seen how much work was needed in just getting the place caught up on cleaning. Sliding out of bed, she stretched before dressing in jeans and a long-sleeved knit pullover. She had researched the weather in Idaho and shopped for clothes more suited to the cooler climate than she was used to in New Orleans.

  Her gaze went to Kasey’s photo, and her heart clutched. The pain of her loss was as acute today as the day she died, and telling herself she needed to give it more time hadn’t helped. Maybe it was a dumb idea to think a change of climate, locale, and jobs might offer enough of a reason to get up in the morning. But if her puzzling boss and the dynamics going on between him and his friends didn’t help distract her from the soul-deep sorrow that continued to drag her down, she doubted anything would.

  The house was quiet as she went downstairs, and she figured Adrian and Ashe were already working, so she helped herself in the kitchen. After scrambling some eggs, she did a quick inventory for dinner options, found enough ingredients to make chicken alfredo for that evening, and made out a list to pick up at the store. She wondered if she could get most of her shopping done in the small town of Mountain Bend. Coming from New Orleans, she was used to all the options and variety a large city offered but didn’t relish making the longer drive into Boise just for groceries.

  Sophie decided to tackle the neglected woodwork and dusting that morning and started in the great room. Like in Adrian’s office, there were no pictures of his wife on the mantle with other family photos. She recognized the cousins in one as preteens, each holding up a large fish in one hand, a fishing pole in the other, their proud grins revealing almost identical smiles. In another, the boys were a few years older, both clutching gold trophies, holding the reins of beautiful horses, and wearing the same pleased grins. The last photo was a portrait of the two families, the resemblance between fathers and sons as obvious as their mothers’ devotion.

  Maybe, Sophie mused, turning toward the long coffee table in front of the sofa, the pain of his wife’s death was still too raw, and he didn’t want any extra reminders. Everyone handled the loss of a loved one differently, in their own way and time. Because Kasey had filled a void inside her that Sophie had lived with her whole life, she couldn’t fathom taking the risk of letting
someone else get close again. She would rather suffer the pangs of loneliness than take a chance on such heartbreak again.

  She finished wiping down the short, wood legs on the furniture then reached up to turn off her earphones. Working to her playlist of favorite songs helped pass the time and distract her from depressing memories, and without it, the silence of the house fell upon her like a heavy weight. She started on the shelves bracketing the fireplace when a sound at the slider drew her attention to an orange tabby pacing at the door.

  Crouching, she saw the cat wore a collar and guessed she belonged to Adrian or Ashe. She hesitated to let it inside in case her employer didn’t allow animals in the house, but when it pawed the glass, Sophie couldn’t resist.

  “Hello there,” she crooned, stroking the feline’s soft head as she rubbed up against Sophie when she slid the door open. “If this isn’t allowed, don’t tell. Okay?” The cat purred in answer then trotted into the kitchen without hesitation, answering the question of whether it was a Coultrane pet. Guessing it was hungry or thirsty, she followed and searched the large walk-in pantry for something a cat would like. Her grandparents had two cats when she’d first gone to live with them, and she’d loved having pets, but there had been no time between Kasey’s birth and her diagnosis to get one of their own.

  Sophie found a few cans of cat food and felt better about letting it inside, convinced the tabby belonged here. After setting down a bowl of food along with some water, she gave her one last stroke over her arched back. “I have to get back to work now.”

  Leaving the cat in the kitchen, she did a thorough dusting of Adrian’s office next and got her first look at the Coultranes’ thoroughbreds out the window. She knew nothing about horses, but the four grazing in a corral were beautiful animals with sleek, dark-brown coats and long, graceful legs. With the return of sunshine today, she itched to get outside and explore the ranch, glad she wasn’t responsible for fixing lunch for anyone but herself so she could take her break outdoors.

  The cat showed up in the hall as Sophie left the office and went into the library next. “Going to keep me company, are you?”

  She couldn’t resist rubbing her behind her ears before grabbing another microfiber dusting cloth out of the cleaning caddy she’d found in the housekeeping supply closet Adrian had pointed out last night. A pair of navy-blue leather chairs faced a small marble fireplace bracketed by bookshelves, and as she ran the cloth over them, she could easily picture her boss lounging in one with a brandy in one hand and a cigar in the other. Along with that image was his brooding face and the distrust in his pewter eyes when he gazed at his cousin, and even his friends.

  Maybe, if she decided to meet up with Nora and Rachel Wednesday afternoon, she could ask about his attitude toward them. She wanted to fit in around here, wouldn’t be able to relax and work at coming to terms with losing Kasey if she had to walk around on eggshells whenever Adrian’s friends were visiting.

  It took her over an hour to finish in the library before moving on to the small den, the cat following on her heels. Sophie had to admit the cat was welcome company and kept her from dwelling on being the only one in this large house. Listening to her own voice as she talked to the animal helped dispel the unease of hearing all the creaks and groans of a place this size.

  She was almost done in the room where she’d witnessed Ashe, Jessie, and Nora’s sexual play, unable to prevent those images from intruding while she worked. It was hard to tell whether she’d grown warm because of the physical labor or constantly picturing herself in such a situation regardless that controlling men and kink weren’t her thing. Even so, it was a fun way to pass the time, one which she would enjoy more if the man who kept injecting himself into her fantasizing weren’t her boss.

  As she went on her toes to reach above the wall cabinets, a sound from the door drew her head around. Sophie stiffened at seeing Ashe leaning with negligent ease against the wall, his dark eyes unreadable until he spotted the cat and they widened in surprise.

  “There you are, Tink. Where the heck have you been this time?” He reached a hand out to the cat curled on the chair only to snatch it right back when she hissed, the hair along her back rising. “Damn cat,” he cursed, glaring as it streaked out the door before he looked at Sophie. “No matter how hard I try to make nice, the stupid animal won’t warm up to me.”

  “I take it she isn’t yours, then?” Sophie wondered at Tink’s attitude, as she’d displayed no such nastiness toward her.

  “No, she was Nicole…Adrian’s wife’s pet. She stays gone more than comes around now that Nicole isn’t here.”

  Ashe’s tough expression softened when he mentioned Nicole, his eyes reflecting sadness. Sophie supposed it was natural for him to have been fond of his long-time friend and cousin’s wife.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” The words wouldn’t make a difference but were spoken with sincere regret for a young life ended too soon. “I’m done in here if you want the room.”

  A rueful smile tilted his mouth, which helped settle the nervous twinges in her abdomen his sudden appearance had instigated. “This room is mostly used for couple activities like you saw yesterday. I don’t like playing by myself.” Pushing away from the wall, he strode over and reached behind her to grip the handle on the cabinet, his forearm brushing her shoulder.

  Uncomfortable again, she stepped back, putting space between them, watching as he lowered what she’d believed was a cabinet door. Instead, a padded bench unfolded, two front legs falling to the carpeted floor from underneath, the apparatus now separating them. Bracing his hand on the bench, Ashe looked at her from across it, his gaze as assessing as when he’d held Nora’s head for his cock. But she wasn’t Nora and didn’t care for being the object of his scrutiny without a hint as to what he was thinking.

  “There are a few other tucked-away pieces in here. Adrian is particularly fond of binding women at the chain station in the corner”—he nodded toward the far back corner of the room behind her—“arms above her head, ankles back against the wall with feet spread.”

  Sophie suspected Ashe was going for the shock factor, for whatever perverted reason, but she refused to play his game. “What he does, or any of you for that matter, is none of my business,” she returned, proud of her calm, neutral tone, given the butterflies of apprehension fluttering under her skin. “If you’ll excuse me, I would like to finish this floor before taking my lunch break.” Pivoting, she couldn’t resist a quick peek in the corner, saw nothing, and released a pent-up breath as she picked up the caddy.

  “You’re welcome to join me anytime in here.”

  She ignored the taunt, unable to explain why he unnerved her. She’d been teased and propositioned before, and, on three occasions, had succumbed to loneliness and need and ended in bed with a stranger. None of them had set off alarm bells of caution like Ashe. After leaving no outward signs that walking into their ménage had caused her any hesitation in staying for the job, she didn’t understand what he hoped to gain by that stunt. She wasn’t repulsed by their sexual preferences. Considering the numb state she’d lived in for close to a year, it would take a lot more than that to get to her.

  Returning the dusting supplies to the walk-in storage space under the stairs, she struggled to put the encounter out of her mind, hoping he would leave again. She picked up another caddy, this one loaded with bathroom cleaning supplies, appreciating her predecessor’s organization skills. Along with Ashe, the cat, Tink, was nowhere around when she went back down the hall to the half bath. She was relieved not to encounter him again but regretted Tink’s absence. She liked having the company, such as it was.

  The high temperature that afternoon of mid-forties was the average low winter temperature back home, but as Sophie stepped outside, she found the cool air invigorating. She’d thought adjusting to the climate difference between here and New Orleans would be her biggest challenge. That was before she met the people closest to her boss and saw the tension in this household.

  Eager to visit the stables and see the Coultranes’ horses up close, she strode across the lawn still shaded with towering ponderosa pines and Douglas firs. The bright noon sun shining from a cloudless blue sky and no wind to speak of kept the air pleasant enough she didn’t bother grabbing her jacket on the way out. Male laughter and shouts of encouragement drew her around the largest stable to a small enclosed corral, her mouth going dry when she spotted Adrian astride a wildly bucking bronco.