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, which 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.”
“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 commented.
“Yeah, well, they’re people too. And they’re my neighbors and friends first - employees second.”
“I like that about you.”
Man, my cheeks are 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 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 immediately 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 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’ll 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 town 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, but 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. 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.
But I didn’t want to get my mom’s hopes up. Not until I met with a surrogacy agency and looked into the options. I still had a ways to go with it, and it wasn’t guaranteed, so I kept my trap shut. If I gave her false hope for something she wanted that badly, I’d never hear the end of it - and I’d feel like a huge ass if it didn’t come to pass.
“Have you thought about surrogacy, Abe?”
“Excuse me?” How had
my mother literally read my mind?
“Surrogacy. You’re not getting any younger, sure, but I think you’d qualify, and we both know you’d make an excellent father. So have you?”
I opened my mouth to say something, but she’d caught me off-guard. I wasn’t prepared to tell her my plans to meet with an agency. I also couldn’t outright lie to her either.
But an angel with light blonde hair and bright eyes appeared. She had the sweetest face I’d ever seen. Big, blue eyes, perfectly pink lips, and cherubic cheeks with dimples.
Felicity walked over, her hips swishing, showing off her curves. “I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting, Mrs. Hammond. Is there anything I can get you to drink?”
My mother looked from me to Felicity, and a knowing smile spread across her lips. She reached for Felicity’s hands, taking them in hers. Felicity looked a little surprised.
“Oh dear, it’s alright. I’ll just take a coffee, if you wouldn’t mind.” This woman was not my mother.
Felicity strode off and I couldn’t help but check out her ass. She was twenty-eight years old, and she had the curves of a Grecian Goddess. What warm-blooded man wouldn’t check that out?
My mother cleared her throat.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I changed my mind.”
“About what?”
“Surrogacy being your only option. I think that young lady would give you beautiful babies, and from the way you’re looking at her—”
“Mother, please,” I scolded.
“I’m just saying, she was checking you out too and—”
“You already know my feelings about this.”
“It’s been five years, Abe. Are you really going to let one horrible woman ruin you for everyone else?”
“She wasn’t horrible until the end.”
“No, she was always horrible,” she stated, her eyes daring me to contradict her. “She was just good at hiding it.”
“And how do I know that I’m not just terrible at picking them, huh? Maybe I’m an awful judge of character.”
“Please,” she scoffed. “You made a few mistakes. Doesn’t mean you’re doomed to only date floozies.”
I grabbed the napkin and clenched my fist around it. A mistake. “Gloria wasn’t just a little mistake. I almost married her.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t.”
“Only because her side piece reached out to me. If he hadn’t, I never would have found out about the three other men she was stringing along.”
Mom sighed. “She was something else, that one.”
“And Lana? What about her?”
My mother cringed. “Well, you know I didn’t like her from the beginning.”
Lana hadn’t been as bad as Gloria. She’d had a drinking problem she hid well and would often make poor decisions when she went out. She’d had no intention of ever quitting the booze, so I quit her instead.
I’d had other relationships too - many over the years. None of them ended well. Not all of them were utter disasters, but they were so short-lived.
Needless to say, I didn’t believe in monogamy. And since I had no desire to engage in polyamory, I remained single. I had lost my desire to play the field, and it was time to grow up and pay attention to the things that mattered. In my case, that just happened not to include a relationship.
“Felicity isn’t like that, though. She’s a good girl. I’ve watched her grow up.”
“Maybe she is, I don’t know.” I didn’t trust anyone. Or maybe it was me, maybe I was the one turning these women into cheaters. It was just easier to be single.
I knew my mother was right about Felicity, though, or at least I wanted to believe she was. Felicity seemed like one of the good ones. She was also twenty years younger than me. She needed to date around, find someone her own age.
Not someone like me.
It was off the table.
“But she’s so pretty, smart, healthy, talented…” Mom continued, listing Felicity’s positive traits.
“Yes, she is, and I hope she finds someone who gives her everything she wants one day.”
“Who?” Felicity’s voice caught me by surprise as she placed the coffee in front of my mother.
Before my mom could speak, I said, “I think my mom is ready to order. Aren’t you, Mother?”
“Yes, I think so. I’ll have the senior special, dear.”
“How would you like the eggs?”
“Fertilized,” my mom said just as I took a drink from my coffee. I spit it out all over the table. “Kidding! You know, old people humor. I’ll have them scrambled. Thanks, dear.”
Felicity shot me an amused but confused look and wiped down the table before scampering off to the kitchen.
I wanted to get out of there, to head into the office and leave this conversation behind. But I couldn’t trust my mother not to do or say something embarrassing. Knowing her, she’d broker a deal with Felicity in my absence, convincing the poor girl to give her grand-babies.
And as much as the idea appealed to me, I liked her food too much to ruining our friendship and never being able to step foot in here again.
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About the Author
Mountain Man of Liberty 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
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
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