Page 12 of Single Mom’s Undoing (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems #1)

I let a sigh leave my chest. “There’s a lot I still need to deal with.”

“And there’s a lot we can help you with, if you’ll let us,” Damon replies. “You don’t have to do this alone, not with Matty’s heart condition, not with anything else.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

How do I tell them that I’m just buying time? That as soon as I meet with Stephan’s lawyer, as soon as I’ve got the trust fund sorted out, I’ll have one foot out the door, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

“Help us uncomplicate it then,” Jace says. “Tell us what’s bothering you.”

“There’s more to us than what we do in the bedroom,” Carter reminds me .

“Oh, I know that,” I reply with a soft smile. “But can’t we just sit here and enjoy today precisely the way it is? I mean, the food is good, the lemonade is cold and minty, our kids are having a ball with Jodie.”

Damon laughs and puts an arm around my shoulders, gently pulling me close. “Fair enough. You’re right. It is a pretty good day, despite the earlier skirmish.”

“Who the hell was that guy anyway?” I ask. “He said he knew me, but I didn’t recognize him.”

Carter drops his gaze for a moment. “He recognized you because of the local newspapers. They had a field day ripping you to shreds after you left.”

“I may have heard something about that. I just never understood why. Stephan and I…we weren’t rich, we weren’t famous, we weren’t Lockwoods,” I say. “So why was my name dragged through the mud like that?”

“People talk, Clara,” Jace sighs, “especially small-town people. Their lives are linear and boring, hence the desire for gossip, for meddling into the lives of others. Stephan was handsome as hell and a former SEAL like us. Folks knew him. Plenty of women wanted him. He had always been popular. You were collateral damage, I guess.”

I find it ironic that plenty of women wanted my brother.

Only one woman had him, and she threw him away because she didn’t have the courage to tell the truth.

It’s been years, and I am still angry at her.

She played a role in Stephan’s death, and the day will come when I will find the courage to confront her.

“Gossip is the life’s blood of small towns,” Damon reminds me. “There’s always a rumor going around about someone. People point fingers. Then they forget and find someone else to chatter about. Rinse and repeat. What happened earlier at that stall won’t happen again, though.”

“It might,” I say.

“Not while we’re around, and Carter set a pretty clear precedent there, with enough witnesses for everyone to understand.”

“Understand what?” I ask Damon.

But it’s Carter who leans forward to answer. “That nobody touches you, Clara, not with a hand and not with a single fucking word.”

I can’t help but laugh, flattered by their determination. Damon’s smile, however, begins to fade as he looks somewhere over my shoulder. I follow his gaze to see a woman with familiar features approaching our table with unsettling confidence.

The shape of her eyes. The bridge of her nose. The round curve of her face.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jace mutters as he spots her.

“Who is that?” I ask.

The woman smiles, locking eyes with Damon as she swings her hips with every step, her athletic figure wrapped in a tight floral-print dress.

“Took me a while to find you,” she says upon reaching our table.

No one seems happy to see her .

On the contrary, Damon is practically seething underneath his calm expression, his grip on my hand tightening without him even realizing it.

“What the hell are you doing here, Elizabeth?” he snaps, his voice low and full of menace.

A split second later, I jump out of my seat, suddenly standing before this woman.

Damon’s ex-wife. Shiloh’s mother. My mind races as I think of ways to extract myself from what is likely to become an incredibly uncomfortable situation.

I look over to make sure that Jodie is keeping the kids busy and away from us.

“I know it’s been a while,” Elizabeth replies with a strained smile. “I’ve missed you. I miss our daughter, too.”

“That’s fucking rich,” Jace scoffs.

She gives him a sour look. “Nice to see you, too, Jace. Carter, how’ve you been?”

“I’ve been here, helping Damon raise your daughter, among other things,” Carter swiftly replies. Clearly, no one here is willing to entertain whatever dramatically emotional return Elizabeth hoped this might be.

She looks at me, and I remember her from years past. She recognizes me, her red, glossy lips twisting with disgust.

“Clara.”

“Elizabeth,” I reply with a nod.

“You’re back.”

“So are you, it seems.”

She shakes her head while Damon slowly gets up to stand beside me. “Elizabeth, what are you doing here?” he asks again.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she shoots back, sounding almost insulted. “I’m here to see you and our gorgeous daughter. Where is Shiloh, by the way?”

“You’re not going anywhere near her,” Damon says.

Elizabeth’s eyes widen with consternation. “Excuse me?”

“You waived your parental rights,” I say, my motherly instincts causing the words to slip out of my mouth. “If you want visitation, you’ll need to go through a lawyer.”

Much to my dismay, I now have Elizabeth’s full and undivided attention. She has never struck me as the decent and reasonable type of girl.

She looks at Damon, a tinge of irritation flashing in her eyes as she puts two and two together where he and I are concerned, then sets her sights back on me.

“I see you’ve lowered your standards, Damon,” she says.

I hear Carter and Jace getting up from their seats, glasses clinking on the table from their sudden movements. Damon steps between Elizabeth and me as she’s about to come closer.

“Watch your mouth before I wire it shut,” Damon tells her.

Elizabeth gives him a stunned glare. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he replies. “You don’t get to waltz back into my life and insult the people in it after you walked away and left your daughter behind. Piss off, Elizabeth. And don’t even think about coming anywhere near Shiloh again, or I will call the cops, and you will be arrested. ”

“You’re threatening me, Damon. Can you hear yourself?”

“You’re lucky I’m not doing much worse. Don’t think for a second that I’m afraid to follow through on any promise I might make. Now, unless you want to be dragged off in cuffs, I suggest you get your ass out of here.”

“This isn’t over,” she hisses, then glowers at me for good measure. “You’re not slithering into my family, Clara. You’ll regret this.”

“Just go before you make this worse for yourself,” Damon says.

She scoffs and shakes her head, her face turning red. I assume she expected a different, much warmer reaction. From what I remember about Elizabeth, along with what Damon’s mother and Jodie told me, the woman is a raging narcissist and somewhat deluded as to what she can get away with.

Personally, the fact that she chose to leave Shiloh behind so she could go out into the world and buy and sell art for filthy-rich folks tells me everything I need to know about her.

I don’t like her.

Finally Elizabeth walks away without so much as a glance in Shiloh’s direction.

“Are you okay?” Damon turns around to carefully look at me.

I give him a slight nod. “Yes. Just rattled. Did not see that coming.”

“No one did,” he says .

“What the hell is she doing back in Blackthorn Falls?” Jace asks, eyeing her until she’s completely out of sight.

I move away from the picnic table, determined to go check on the kids. I can see them, still laughing with Jodie and the bubble machine, but part of me aches for that little girl. She didn’t see or hear her mother, but I did, and my heart breaks for her.

“Clara,” Carter grabs my arm and pulls me aside.

He’s so close, I can feel his body heat. There are people watching us, but he doesn’t care.

“What is it?” I ask.

“You don’t get to let people talk to you like that anymore. You’re ours now,” he says, breathing hard.

I expect a kiss, but he keeps himself under impeccable control. He dips his head, lips brushing my neck, his hand gripping my waist for the briefest moment.

“Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re less than, especially not someone like Elizabeth,” Carter adds, his voice trembling with fury and want as his words trickle into my ear.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “I won’t forget that again.”

He lets go, and the magic unravels back into layers of reality. The smell of barbecue, beer, and mint lemonade from the summer fair reigns throughout the park. The music is loud, combined with the joyful sounds of children laughing and people talking. It’s the same as it always was.

The only thing not the same is me.