Home on the Ranch--The Colorado Cowboy's Triplets Read online

  Mission: Daddy of triplets!

  Navy SEAL Jed Monroe can handle just about any crisis, but war zones are nothing compared to caring for his newborn triplet nieces. After the tragic death of his sister and her husband, Jed finds himself back in Colorado...and standing on the doorstep of his first love, Camille Hall, pleading for help.

  Jed and Camille still make a great team—and luckily between bottles and diaper changes it’s easy to ignore the lingering attraction. But as one week turns into two, this temporary situation is beginning to feel permanent...and Jed is terrified. Love means the possibility of more loss. So this military man needs to get back to base ASAP before he loses his heart forever.

  “I’m not self-destructing.”

  “Whatever the hell label you’d like to put on it, this mountainside isn’t safe in a storm.”

  Lightning cracked and thunder boomed.

  “That’s it,” she said. “Finish this mission—or death wish—on your own.” She took Sallie from him, tucking her into the stroller, then fastening her safety harness. “We’ll hopefully see you back at the house.”

  She’d already gone a good fifty feet down the trail when he called, “Camille, hold up!”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re right.”

  Lightning again cracked.

  Hands on his hips, he looked to the sky. “I thought if I climbed high enough, far enough, I could escape this pain. Why do people I love keep dying? Em and Chase. Both of our dads. Your grandmother. So many of my SEAL brothers. Sometimes it feels like I’m the last man standing.”

  “But you’re not...” Her voice was soft enough to barely reach him. “You have me.” At least for a little while.

  “But I don’t deserve you—never did.”

  Dear Reader,

  When hubby and I left the hospital with our newborn twins, we turned down my mom and grandmother’s offer to help. Why? I’d spent months devouring parenting books and knew this was the proper time to “bond.” Ha!

  We’d been home maybe thirty minutes when both babies began screaming. We couldn’t figure out how to work the bottle liners or the fancy cloth diapers we’d been given as a shower gift. It was complete bedlam. I got on the phone and called in all the help we could get!

  While writing Jed and Camille’s story, memories flooded back of those first few months we never thought we’d live through. Looking back, those were some of the most hectic, but happiest times of my life. Late-night feedings were the best. Hubby and I would each take a baby, then watch MTV. (That was back when they played actual music videos! LOL!)

  I can’t imagine raising triplets under such tragic circumstances, but Jed and Camille pull together to become surprisingly great parents—at least until stress tears them apart. Will they find love? You’ll have to keep turning pages to find out...

  Happy reading!

  Laura Marie xoxo

  HOME ON THE RANCH

  THE COLORADO

  COWBOY’S TRIPLETS

  Laura Marie Altom

  Laura Marie Altom is a bestselling and award-winning author who has penned nearly fifty books. After college—go, Hogs!—Laura Marie did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to boy-girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.

  When not immersed in her next story, Laura plays video games, tackles Mount Laundry and, of course, reads romance!

  Laura loves hearing from readers either at PO Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, or by email, [email protected].

  Love winning fun stuff? Check out lauramariealtom.com.

  Books by Laura Marie Altom

  Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy SEAL

  Harlequin Western Romance

  Cowboy SEALs

  The SEAL’s Miracle Baby

  The Baby and the Cowboy SEAL

  The SEAL’s Second Chance Baby

  The Cowboy SEAL’s Jingle Bell Baby

  The Cowboy SEAL’s Christmas Baby

  Cowboy SEAL Daddy

  Visit the Author Profile page

  at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  For Grandma Lu and Grandpa Joe.

  I love you beyond words.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Home to Blue Stallion Ranch by Stella Bagwell

  Chapter 1

  “Monroe, you hit worse than a pack of third-grade girls in a tickle fight!”

  “Yessir.” Even though Navy SEAL Jed Monroe had sunk four of his last five shots into the long-range shooting target’s bull’s-eye, he saluted his CO and sucked up the constructive criticism like a man—like a freakin’ SEAL. God, he loved his job. Was there any more beautiful place in the world than the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California? Toss in this sunny May day and having his life finally back on track and he reckoned it would be impossible to top this level of contentment. “I’ll nail them all next time, sir.”

  “You’d damn well better, or I’ll demote your sorry—”

  “Excuse me, Chief!” Fellow SEAL Adam Rhodes cleaned sand from his weapon. The rest of the sixteen-man platoon had been sent on an open-ocean swim to wash the stupid out of their unmentionables. “But your cell’s going apeshit in your office.”

  CO Bartoni growled. “I’ve got my eye on you, Monroe.”

  “Yessir.” Jed dropped onto his belly in preparation for his next rounds.

  He was good to go until overhearing snippets of a heated conversation taking place in the CO’s field office—an ammo box he used for a seat in the shade of their transport vehicle.

  “...tell him. You’re his closest friend.”

  Adam said, “But he’s in a good place, sir.”

  “Fine.” The CO stood. “I’ll deliver the news.”

  “No. Let me.” Adam’s expression was grim as he headed Jed’s way.

  Jed raised his hand to his forehead, shading his eyes from the already hot morning sun. What the hell’s going on?

  His stomach turned queasy.

  So much for his great mood...

  When Adam’s shadow blocked the sun, Jed rolled onto his back and groaned. “If this is about Alyssa, who has a nasty habit of popping in and out of my life, just keep on walking. Now that she and Mr. Hollywood are officially hitched, she’s not my problem.” Only she was, because he still couldn’t believe that after two happy—okay, mostly happy—years of marriage, she’d cheated on him and was now married to another guy.

  “Sorry, man.” Adam bowed his head. “Shit. I don’t even know how to say this...”

  “Spit it out. Did something happen to my mom?” She worked as a traveling nurse at missionaries and remote village
s in parts of Africa that were notoriously dangerous. He prayed every night she’d live to see the next day. For years, he’d begged her to head back to the States, find a nice condo and spend her golden years reading on some nice beach.

  “No.”

  “My sister or the babies?” Emily just had triplets and could be the official spokesperson for Fairy Tales-R-Us. She and her husband, Chase, weren’t just blissfully happy, but rainbows and unicorns happy. For real. During the heat of his divorce, watching the two of them together had hurt. Now that they had the triplets, whereas most sane people would go off the deep end, Emily and Chase’s world had only grown brighter. “I keep telling her to move closer to town. I know Chase fancies himself a cattle rancher, but those babies are tiny—only ten weeks old. They get sick and it’s like a good hour to the nearest clinic—all the way to Aspen for a legit hospital.” He knew he was rambling, but couldn’t seem to stop. “Emily is constantly lecturing me on being more positive, but I’m all about keeping it real.”

  Adam rubbed his closed eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

  “If Mom, Emily and the babies are good, then what’s the problem?” His physician father had passed from an aneurysm ten years earlier. The ladies in his life were all the family Jed had—aside from Chase. Wait... “Is it my brother-in-law? Is he hurt?”

  “Shit...” Adam kicked at the sand. “There’s no good way to say this. Chase is dead. Freak heart attack.”

  “Wait—what?” Jed wasn’t sure if it was the heat or the news, but his mind was spinning. He stood, only to stumble, grabbing hold of the transport vehicle’s side mirror to keep his wobbly legs upright. “Has to be a mistake.”

  He gazed out at the calm Pacific, where the rest of his team finished their swim.

  The sun shone just as brightly.

  The surf’s steady crash sounded just as relaxing.

  Yet in that instant, his entire world had changed.

  “Somehow your mom got ahold of the CO’s wife. Your sister’s inconsolable and there’s no way your mom can return to the States anytime soon. Emily needs you in Colorado ASAP.”

  “Take the truck back to base.” In a rare show of compassion, the CO cupped his hand to Jed’s shoulder. “I’ll radio for another. Go to your sister. The few times I met her, she seemed like a nice gal. I’ll file the necessary paperwork for your leave. Take as long as you need.”

  “Yessir.” Numb, Jed knew he should be running toward the truck. Toward his little sis. But he couldn’t move. All he could do was stare out at his SEAL brothers, the weight of the news he’d just received anchoring him in place.

  “Change in plans.” Hands on his hips, the CO turned to Adam. “Monroe’s in no shape to drive. You take him and help find the necessary flights.”

  “Yessir.” Adam saluted their CO before turning to his friend.

  “I’ve got this.” Jed brushed off Adam’s help, then struggled to his feet. “I’m good. Just needed a minute. This is a lot to take in, but Emily’s strong. I’m sure I’ll be back in a few days...”

  * * *

  “Jed?”

  “Camille?”

  The mere sight of her former fiancé gave retired Miami detective Camille Hall cold-hot chills.

  The last time they’d been together...

  The hurtful things they’d both said...

  The love she’d felt for him that had been too intense—like standing too close to fire. Her soul had instinctively known surrendering her heart to him would only get her burned.

  Hugging herself, she stepped back from Grandpa Ollie’s Colorado cabin door. Past nine on a cold and windy Thursday night, there were zero logical reasons for the only man she’d ever loved to be standing in the dim porch light, piercing green eyes red-rimmed from...tears?

  Jed didn’t cry.

  As far as she’d known, he had never cried—certainly not when their relationship had been decimated as effectively as if there were such a thing as a heart grenade.

  “What’s wrong?” Why are you here? She willed her runaway pulse to slow. “Are Em and the babies okay?”

  He nodded, then shook his head.

  “I owe her and Chase a visit, but I’ve only been back in town a few days,” she said. Part of the reason she hadn’t visited her longtime friend was because of how much Emily and Chase’s home—the family home where she’d spent so much time during endless summers with Emily and Jed—reminded her of him and the happy times they’d shared.

  “You don’t know?”

  “Know what?” Her heart had been pounding, but now stopped.

  From deeper inside the house blared gunshots from one of her grandfather’s favorite Westerns. A cowboy shouted, “That’s right! Run, you lily-livered toad sucker!”

  “Tell me. What’s wrong?” When Jed’s expression paled to the point she feared he might puke in the bushes, she left the house to put her arm around him. Though touching him should have felt achingly familiar, her motions were stiff. More of an autopilot reflex courtesy than a case of wanting her arms around him.

  But to be fair, their breakup was very much two-sided.

  “Chase is dead.” After a sharp exhale, he brushed his hand over his military-buzzed hair. “Em is on her way to the hospital in Aspen. I think she may have accidentally overdosed.”

  “What? I just saw Chase a few months ago. He was fine.”

  “Sudden heart attack. Total fluke.”

  “Ohmygosh.” She covered her mouth with trembling hands. As if hit by a physical blow, she grasped a porch post.

  “Anyway, I was going to ask Ollie to watch the girls while I go to Em.”

  “Gramps is crashed in his recliner, but I’ll do it—as long as you need. Go.”

  “Thanks.” He jerked his thumb toward the SUV. “Mind helping me unload?”

  “Right. Of course.” There were a hundred questions she wanted to ask, but they could wait. Her lingering personal pain over his quickie marriage meant nothing compared to this current disaster. But now that her heart had mentioned it, where was his wife?

  Working in tandem, it took maybe fifteen minutes to haul diaper bags and blankets inside and assemble the portable playpen Jed had thought to bring for use as a crib.

  Ollie continued snoring while she and Jed transformed his living room into a temporary nursery.

  Camille muted the TV before they brought in the babies.

  Jed took two infants from their car safety seats, while Camille took the third into her arms.

  “I still can’t believe this happened,” she said. “Last I saw him, Chase was barbecuing chicken on their deck while it snowed.” She and Emily had watched, laughing while gumball-sized flakes messed with his saucing technique.

  “Em’s gutted. I’ve never seen her like this. Not even when our dad died.”

  “Go to her. I’m happy to keep the girls as long as you need.”

  “Thanks.” He hovered near the door. “I put extra formula in one of the diaper bags.”

  “No worries. Gramps has a spare key to Emily and Chase’s house. If I run out of essentials, it’s a quick trip over.”

  The set of his mouth grim, he nodded. “Again, thanks for helping on such short notice. Hopefully I won’t be long and will bring my sister home in the morning.”

  “I’ll say a prayer for her. Drive careful. That road’s a beast at night.”

  “Will do.”

  He slipped out of the suddenly too warm house and into the dark. Camille stood at the door, watching him go. Between them, they’d said goodbye to far too many people. Her grandmother and father. His father and now brother-in-law.

  Each other.

  As his taillights faded into the dirt road’s rising dust, she pressed her hands to her chest. “Please God, let Emily be all right. Please don’t let her be the next loss...”

  Not hearing an
y crying or fussing, Camille took her time heading back inside. She breathed in gallons of cool, damp night air. Eyes closed, she whispered a few more fervent prayers.

  Then she forced herself back to reality—to the fact that she had suddenly become the temporary caregiver of newborn triplets.

  In the cabin, with the front door closed and locked behind her, she found her grandfather not only awake, but cantankerous.

  “What’s wrong with the TV?” Ollie snatched the remote from the table beside his recliner and gave it a shake. “The sound’s not coming out, and this is the best part.”

  “The TV’s quiet because I muted it. Look...” She nodded toward the three wide-eyed infants staring up at the cabin’s pine-plank ceiling. “We have company.”

  “What in the world are Emily and Chase’s girls doing here?”

  She sat hard on the sofa. “Did you hear Chase died?”

  “What? That can’t be right.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “He was so young. Why didn’t we hear anything?”

  She snorted. “Probably because you’re so crotchety no one wants to even stop by for a visit.”

  He grunted.

  Only a few minutes later, he’d drifted back into a deep sleep.

  One of the babies fussed.

  While Camille technically knew all their names, now that she was seeing them in a row, she didn’t have a clue which name went with which identical cherubic face.

  “I should have had your uncle put name tags on you,” she said, while scooping the fussy cutie from the playpen. The baby settled her chubby cheek against Camille’s breasts and promptly fell asleep.

  The feeling of trust placed in her by this tiny, perfect being was indescribable. More than anything, Camille had always wanted to be a mom. Then she’d earned a coveted position on the Miami-Dade County Special Victims Bureau and everything changed.

  She’d believed the promotion had been a dream come true—a chance to sink her teeth into meaty cases that truly mattered. What she hadn’t expected were daily emotional gut-punches stemming from viewing unfathomably horrific crime scenes or meeting with victims’ grief-stricken families. Then there were the times she’d interacted with the men and even women who’d committed the heinous crimes.