by K. C. Crowne
Triplets For The Mountain Man
A Mountain Man’s Secret Baby Romance
K.C. Crowne
Copyright © 2019 by K.C. Crowne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Also by K.C. Crowne
Description
1. Felicity
2. Abe
3. Felicity
4. Jeremiah
5. Felicity
6. Abe
7. Felicity
8. Abe
9. Felicity
10. Abe
11. Felicity
12. Abe
13. Felicity
14. Abe
15. Felicity
16. Abe
17. Felicity
18. Abe
19. Felicity
20. Abe
21. Felicity
22. Abe
23. Felicity
24. Abe
25. Felicity
26. Abe
27. Felicity
28. Abe
29. Felicity
30. Abe
Epilogue
Daddy’s Best Friend (Preview)
About the Author
Also by K.C. Crowne
Knocked up by the Mountain Man Series (this series):
Knocked Up by the Mountain Man| Baby for the Mountain Man| Junior for the Mountain Man| Daddy’s Best Friend| Triplets for the Mountain Man (this book)
Bearded Brother’s Mountain Man Series
Her Mountain Daddy| Beauty and the Beard| Bride and the Beard| Built and Bearded
Firemen Fantasies Series
His One Night| His Hose| His Baby
Mountain Daddies Books:
The Storm| Her Mountain Brothers| Mountain Man’s Treat|
Surprise Daddies Series
Doctor Daddy| Taboo Daddy| Royally Damaged| Boss Man| Knocked Up by My Brother’s Best Friend
Triple Team Reverse Harem Series
Men on a Mission| Christmas with Four Firemen| Dirty Cowboys
Description
It’s was the perfect arrangement…
A secret NO ONE in this small town can ever know.
The mountain man can finally have his dream family…
And I save my dreams from destitution. But when danger threatens everything....
Will Abe be able to save our babies??
He’s everything I ever wanted in a man…
A smart surgeon. Tall. Dark. And unbelievably SEXY.
Doctor Mc. Hottie wants to knock me up.
But there’s one teeny tiny technicality….
He wants me to be his surrogate.
As much as I know this is crazy…
And something out of a reality show…
It’s the best chance I have to avoid my biggest nightmare.
But things get complicated when darkness shows its ugly face.
Suddenly my maternal instincts go on overdrive…
And I see a whole different side of Abe. A protective alpha side.
I just pray he can save our unborn babies from a force the wont stop until it gets what it wants.
This is a steamy standalone mountain man romance, and part of the Bearded Mountain Daddies series. Each book can be read as a standalone. Transport yourself into charming and magical town of Liberty, Utah as we follow five rugged mountain daddies in their quests to find lasting love on the mountains.
Felicity
“Dammit,” I muttered as I pulled myself out from under the sink. I glanced at the clock and realized it was time to open. The garbage disposal would have to wait. Out of everything that had gone wrong lately, it was pretty minor in comparison, but it was yet another thing on my ever-growing to-do list.
All of it costing money too.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and stood up, sure to wash my hands and clean myself up in the restroom. I stared in the mirror and realized how tired I looked. I’d styled my hair in a neat bun earlier, before heading into the diner, but now my hair was falling around my face. My hair didn’t stay in elastics very well; it was too straight and fine.
Not the best look for the head chef of a restaurant. And even though Smothered in Love was just a hole-in-the-wall diner, I treated my job as if I was the head chef of a fine dining establishment. Because one day, when the stars aligned, I’d open something a little fancier than my current diner. Not that I didn’t love the diner and the food we served -- I’d always keep it open -- but it was time to move on to something bigger. It would be nice to actually use my culinary degree and cook fancier fare than what I served here.
But all my money was tied up in Smothered in Love. Currently, it wasn't a very good return on my investment either.
I pulled my hair back into the neatest bun I could muster in the bathroom without a brush. It still felt a bit messy, but I was being too hard on myself, surely. That’s what my mom had always told me - I was always too hard on myself.
Perfection was usually my goal, but very rarely the result. Something always got in the way of that.
I checked the time on my phone. “Crap.”
We were supposed to be open for business three minutes ago, and where was Allison, the opening server? I would be in the kitchen, and I couldn’t do it all. Luckily, we didn’t usually pick up until closer to six-thirty, but we often had a few stray guests show up at six when we opened for business. Including a couple regulars who showed up at opening, on the dot, every single day.
I hurried to the front door and unlocked it, apologizing before the door was even swung open.
“I’m so sorry; I’ll throw in a free biscuit for your wait.”
Dr. Abe Hammond was the only person standing outside the door that morning. The rain was pouring down around him, and he didn’t have an umbrella.
“And a ten percent discount,” I muttered. “I’m so sorry.”
Abe stepped inside and chuckled heartily. “It’s fine, Felicity. It was three minutes.”
“But it’s raining.”
“And I’m not made out of sugar.”
Abe’s dark brown hair was cut short and trim to his head. He was starting to grey at the temples, but it showed more in his beard than on his head. His beard was turning whiter and whiter by the day.
His dark brown eyes were filled with warmth and radiated with a golden tint that reminded me of fine bourbon. His smile was always a bright spot, even on the drabbest mornings. It was more of a smirk than a smile, a confident grin that seemed to hint there was more inside his mind that he didn’t care to share. I always wondered what he was thinking, but it was none of my business to ask.
And his body… I swear, the mountains knew how to breed them. He was closing in on six and a half feet, and big all over. He could have been a lumberjack instead of a doctor.
I wondered where he found dress slacks and a white jacket to fit him, but again, it wasn’t my place to ask.
“Sorry, did you say something?” I blushed as I realized I’d been too busy checking him out to hear what he had to say.
“Yes,” he said, draping his wet jacket over the seat and sitting down. “I just said I’ll have the usual, and I’ll take you up on the free biscuit, but I absolutely refuse to pay even less for your amazing food. You already don’t charge enough.”
I cracked a smile. �
�I’ve told you I can’t raise my prices. The folks in Liberty can’t afford hipster cafe prices. I have to know my market.”
“I understand, and I trust that you know more about this than I do, but seriously, your omelettes are well worth paying at least twelve dollars for.”
“Thank you, but not everyone has twelve dollars to spend on an omelette.”
Sometimes, it felt like Abe didn’t understand the rest of us here in Liberty. Most of us were middle class, or lower-middle class. And while I had dreams of opening a higher-end restaurant to cater to the ones that could afford it, our town needed a local diner that everyone could afford - a place to come together and enjoy good food. That was why I opened the place. That was why I intended to keep the place going for as long as possible.
Abe nodded. “I know, I know. I’m just paying you a compliment, Felicity.”
My cheeks burned again, and I turned away from him. I’d always had trouble taking compliments. I could always find a way to improve or argue with it. Not that I was insecure, I wasn’t. I just felt like there was always room to do better.
But getting a compliment from someone like Abe, who was smart and successful, who didn’t have to eat at my dinky little diner but chose to, day in and day out meant a lot.
“I’ll be right back with your coffee,” I said, changing the subject.
I turned on my heels, trying to hide the smile on my face. It had been a rough few weeks, but all of that was in the back of my mind as I grabbed Abe his coffee. I went to the back and got to work on his breakfast - a cowboy omelette. My omelette wasn’t just some eggs, cheese, veggies, and lunch meat thrown together either. I had ham fresh from the butcher, straight from the pig. Fresh scallions, red and green peppers, and three kinds of cheese - not the shredded kind. Monterey jack, cheddar, and gouda.
They were also the size of a large dinner plate once it was all finished. Enough that most people could eat it for two meals. People that weren’t as large as Abe, that is.
I grabbed a freshly baked biscuit with our famous apple butter and served him his breakfast.
The rain meant less people were out and about, so we were slow, which was good since I’d heard nothing from Allison. Luckily, I had other staff coming in soon, it would give me a chance to call her and make sure everything was okay.
But for now, it was just Abe and me.
I leaned against the counter, keeping an eye on the front of the restaurant. I didn’t want to hover over Abe, but he usually seemed to like the company. As a single man in his late forties, I imagined he could get lonely. I never understood why someone like him was still single, why he’d never settled down.
“You know, I’ve always wondered something,” I said.
Abe took a massive bite of his omelette. “Oh yeah? What is it?”
“Your name. Abe. Is it short for something, like Abraham Lincoln?”
Abe chuckled to himself, taking a big swig of his coffee to wash down the omelette.
“No, Abel actually,” he said.
“Oh, but Abe isn’t much shorter than Abel. You just drop one letter,” I teased.
“Yeah, but it sounds tougher, don’t you think?” He winked at me as he took another bite.
“I don’t think anyone would ever question your toughness.” I gave the guy a once over. Even sitting down, he was huge. Massive compared to me, and I wasn’t that short - more like average height for a woman. But standing near him felt like standing next to one of those Redwood trees.
“Nah, Abel was also my dad’s name,” he said, lowering his voice. His smile faltered and he looked a lot less cheery all of a sudden. “It was just easier to call me Abe and him Abel, less confusion for my poor old mom.”
Then it hit me. I’d heard around town of Abel Hammond Sr. passing away not that long ago, and I don’t know why I didn’t put it together.
“I heard about your father’s passing,” I said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Abe offered a small, forced smile. “Thank you, Felicity. I appreciate the sentiment.”
I stared deep into those eyes, and for a second, I felt like I’d seen a part of him he kept hidden. Normally, he kept to himself, except with me. He was always cheery with me though. Flirty in a waitress-customer sort of way. But I saw inside of him, saw something more personal than just the mindless teasing we normally engaged in.
“Felicity, I’m so sorry!” Allison’s voice pulled me from the moment. “I overslept, my alarm didn’t go off and—”
I held up a hand. “It’s alright. Just clock in, we’re slow today so it’s all good.”
Allison was a young woman, college age. Not really that much younger than me, but sometimes it felt like twenty-one was a lifetime ago though I was only seven years past it. A lot can change in seven years, especially when you go all in and decide to open your own business.
“You’re good to your employees,” Abe said.
“Yeah, well, they’re people too. And they’re my neighbors and friends first - employees second.”
“I like that about you.”
Man, my cheeks were just going to be permanently red this morning.
“Felicity?” Allison’s voice called from the back. “The time clock isn’t working.”
Dammit. Something else.
It was always something. “Well, enjoy the rest of your breakfast,” I said to Abe. “I need to take care of some things in the back. Holler if you need more coffee.”
I hurried to the back where Allison and two others were waiting to clock in. But she was right, the time clock wouldn’t let them enter their employee ID for some reason. With a groan, I hurried back into my office to grab the form to keep track of their hours manually - and I saw the mail I’d casually thrown on my desk yesterday.
Something from the city caught my eye. Not sure how I’d missed it, except by the time I got the mail, we were slammed and it was probably the last thing on my mind.
I opened it quickly and read through the letter, my heart dropping into my stomach.
An inspection. And it was scheduled for next week.
There was no way I’d get everything fixed, and a few of the problems were not up to code. I could ask Grant or one of my other friend’s husbands for help, but I didn’t have the money to pay them. And I always paid people for their work; I wouldn’t take handouts.
I’d have to figure something out.
I sighed and went back out, not wanting to hold things up much longer.
For now, I had to get through the day. Put out the fires that needed to be put out right away, then worry about the inspection later.
Abe
Karen walked through the door of the diner, and right away, she saw me. I couldn’t be sure that my mother had sought me out, knowing that I often visited the diner before work, but it felt like a possibility.
After all, I rarely saw her out that early in the morning, not since she’d retired from her own medical practice years ago.
“Mom,” I said, standing to hug her. “What brings you out on this rainy day?”
“Oh, you know, I get a little stir crazy,” she said, shaking off her raincoat.
Though grey now, my mother had had the same brown hair and brown eyes that I did and I resembled her in all but my size which I’d gotten from my father.
She sat across from me and frowned when she saw my plate.
“I was hoping to catch you before you ordered, so we could grab breakfast together.”
“Ah, so this isn’t a coincidental meeting.”
I took a seat and offered her a bite. She frowned even deeper now, running a hand through her short, grey bob.
“You’re a busy man, it’s often hard to reach you.”
“You can try calling. I will always call you back. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t call my mom back?”
“But I don’t like leaving voicemails, and you know how I feel about the phone.”
I chuckled. Yes, I knew how she felt about the phone. And in a to
wn the size of Liberty, it was easy to track someone down; there weren’t too many places to hide.
“So, what’s going on, Mom? Why did you seek me out on this rainy Monday?”
“It’s your Aunt Sue,” she said, letting out a deep sigh.
“Is she sick?”
“No, she just had another grandbaby. Another! Can you believe she’s got eight of them, Abe? Eight! And well, we won’t even talk about how I don’t have a single one.”
I cringed. It had always been a point of contention between my parents and me. I was an only child, their only chance to have grandchildren and carry on the Hammond name. And I wanted children, it just didn’t seem to be in the cards.
“I went to therapy on Friday, and she said that I need to connect with my son more. Since grandbabies aren’t in the picture, I need to focus on what I do have, my relationship with you. And that’s why I’m here, to have breakfast with my son.”
She sat upright and kicked her chin out, defiant and headstrong as always.
The truth was, I’d been thinking about giving her what she wanted. Because I wanted to have a family myself. Before, I’d always assumed it meant that I had to have a wife to have kids, but that was old fashioned thinking, and we had the technology to make it happen. I had the resources to care for a child. I had more than enough money to care for them and pay for their education and give them a good life. I was slowing down career-wise, and it finally felt like the right time. Not to mention, I wasn’t exactly getting any younger.