Page 3 of The Mountain Man’s Unexpected Bride (Mountain Man Sanctuary #5)

Brock

I place a piece of wood on the chopping block, and I swing the axe down. It splinters in the middle, sending the two halves of wood flying to the sides. I do this a few more times, aware that my uncle is sitting there on the front porch of my cabin, waiting for an answer from me.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I take in a big breath and let it out slowly, hoping that it will calm me.

My father died a year ago, and they read the will about a week after his passing.

The outrageous demands he made for me and my uncle to receive our inheritance made me angry, and I burst out of that lawyer's office and came home to Hunter's Peak and the cabin I had built with my own two hands, without looking back.

The problem is, my uncle can't get his part of the inheritance unless I comply with some of the demands.

I don't need the money. I'm a self-made millionaire.

I patented several medical devices I invented during my residency in Chicago.

Now I'm a field doctor with the search and rescue team here in Hunter's Peak.

My uncle, however, wants to be CEO of the company he built with my father, and the only way he can do that is if I agree to the terms of the will. Which I don't think I'll ever do. I keep chopping wood for a good half hour more and sense more than see my uncle approaching.

"Are you about done with that now?"

I toss the axe down and pull off my suspenders.

My t-shirt is drenched in sweat, and I’m in dire need of a shower.

I take my t-shirt off and rub it against my face, then toss it to the side.

Archie is much closer to my age than my dad, but he got involved in the business as soon as he finished high school.

"I'll get cleaned up and we can talk."

I'm stalling, and my uncle knows it. He gives me a nod and follows me into my cabin. It's summer and the heat is scorching, but I've got the inside climate-controlled with a cooling system. I get into the shower and let the cool water run down my body.

My uncle and I are close because of our ages, and I've always admired his passion for my father's business. I'm surprised Dad didn't leave the whole thing to him, but my father was a stubborn bastard and would not let go of his dream of me taking up the business after him.

He was bothered when I chose to study engineering and insulted when I pursued medicine afterwards. He just didn't see how those degrees would help me run his business. The thing is, I've never wanted his business, and I don't want it now either.

I put on my sweatpants and another t-shirt and start to dry my hair with a towel. I need to turn my uncle down, but I don't know the best way to do it. I run my fingers through my damp hair and toss the towel on the bathroom floor.

Uncle Archie is waiting in the living room, a drink in one hand and his cellphone in the other. I sit in the chair across from him. He's sitting on my favorite recliner, and I'm close to snapping at him.

"I don't think I can help you, Archie."

He puts the phone in his shirt pocket and sits back on my chair. He takes a long sip, and if we weren't this close together, I might have thought he hadn't heard me.

"The lawyers pointed something out to me and I think it's a game changer."

"If I have to get married, the game hasn't changed."

"That's the thing, you only need to be engaged for six months in order to claim the inheritance and let the other heirs get theirs too."

"I'm not even dating anyone."

He sets the glass of bourbon down a bit more energetically than is necessary, making me flinch.

"I found an agency that can get you a temporary fiancé.

I've gone ahead and created a profile for you, and all you need to do is go meet the matches they have for you.

The family is called Ivanov, and you get to choose one of the daughters to be engaged to.

After the six months, you both go your separate ways. "

"I don't understand, why would they even go for an arrangement like that?"

"You've been hiding yourself in this mountain for the past few years, but you are an eligible bachelor now that your father has passed."

"That means, they expect me to wine and dine them, and I'm not going to do that."

"I talked to the agency owners, and they've worded the contract so that the lady in question has to spend the engagement time where you currently live."

"Wait, what? She'd have to live here with me?"

"Please, Brock, I'm begging you. This company means everything to me."

"They might leave when they see where I live."

"I'm hoping the amount of zeroes behind your name will entice them to stay for the six months at least."

I get up and start pacing the living room. I'll have to allow someone into my inner sanctum. I cringe inside. Right now, it’s normal for me to go days without talking to anyone. Can I handle having this fiancé running around my cabin and my mountain?

"Brock…"

"I'm thinking…"

"Brock…"

"Why was my father so adamant about this? I don't get it, he never married."

"That's exactly why. Your father was a philanderer, and he just didn't want you to make the same mistakes he did, so he went the opposite way and avoided all entanglements. Until it was too late."

"What about my mother?"

"I think he cared about her, but not enough to start a proper family."

"If that business didn't mean so much to you, I'd have dismantled it by now."

My words cause him pain, and his face shows it vividly.

"I know."

"What do you know about these women?"

My uncle gets out his phone and starts scrolling. He shows me a few blurry pictures of the Ivanov sisters, and some of their hobbies and interests are outrageous. I mean, who lists collecting expensive things as a hobby?

After a while, I click on the contract Archie shows me and start scrolling through it. It is a temporary arrangement for companionship, masquerading as an engagement. Honestly, I don't think either of these women is going to want to come here to my mountain.

I owe it to Archie, though, because he kept my dad in check when I was in college so that he didn't pull me away from my studies. I stand in front of him and face him head-on.

"You are asking a lot of me, Archie."

"I know. It's the only way, though."

"I want my lawyer to confirm this loophole in dad's will, before I do anything."

"You have to go choose your bride in a week."

"Then you'd best hope he works weekends."

I walk away from my uncle and go to the bar to serve myself some hard liquor. I'm going to need it.