Page 2 of Single Mom’s Undoing (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems #1)

CLARA

W e’re all in the kitchen.

Matty works through his breakfast plate, while I pour coffee for Carter, Jace, and Damon. They’re seated beside my son, and I’m too nervous to even consider grabbing a chair of my own.

The tension in the room is downright unbearable.

“What’s your name, buddy?” Carter asks Matty.

“Matthew,” I reply for him.

“Where’s his father?” Damon asks quietly so Matty doesn’t hear.

“His father isn’t in the picture. End of story.”

That’s a bald-faced lie. Matty’s father is sitting right next to him. The resemblance is uncanny, and I’m pretty sure they’ll figure it out soon enough. But perhaps lying to them now will buy me enough time to get the trust fund issues sorted out so I can leave before the week’s end.

“He looks familiar,” Jace quips, a smile testing the corner of his mouth as he looks up at me.

Carter studies Matty a moment longer than necessary, his gaze sharpening in a way that makes my pulse jump. His eyes flick between Matty’s face and mine, like he’s fitting puzzle pieces together, then his jaw ticks once before he looks away.

My heart stops beating for a long, excruciating second.

“He’s got your eyes, Clara. Bright green and full of sparks.”

“Thank you.”

Carter’s gaze lingers a beat too long, his jaw tightening. There’s a flicker there—recognition? Calculation?—before it’s gone.

“Who are you?” Matty asks Carter.

“Oh, honey, they were friends of your Uncle Stephan,” I cut in with a tight smile. “This is Carter, and that’s Jace and Damon.”

The guys wave upon hearing their names, giving Matty a friendly nod.

“Uncle Stephan is in heaven,” my boy says.

“That’s right,” Carter replies. “Stephan was our best friend. We grew up together right here in this town.”

“We were in the Navy together,” Jace says.

“Like sailors?” Matty tilts his head.

Carter smiles. “Kind of. We were Navy SEALs—special teams that work on sea, air, and land.”

“So… like superheroes?”

“Something like that,” Damon chuckles.

“Your Uncle Stephan was a superhero, too,” Carter says, his gaze softening as he locks eyes with my son. His son. Our son.

God, I can’t do this.

“Matty, honey, finish your breakfast so you can take your medicine, please,” I politely interject. I open the cupboard and take out his plastic pill box, each day filled with the necessary meds.

“What gives, Clara?” he asks. “Why won’t you talk to us?”

“I’m sorry,” I sigh deeply, then slowly turn around. “It’s just not the right time to have any kind of conversation about why I left.” I pause and look at Carter. “I know you were hoping to hear something else, but right now, it’s not something I’m able to give you. Please respect that.”

Carter shakes his head slowly. “You’re not leaving again.”

“I’m not staying.”

Damon gets up, ever the voice of reason. “Guys, come on. This little man needs to finish his breakfast and take his medicine.”

“They’re for my heart,” Matty casually explains, then gets busy on the last of his waffles.

I freeze, and the three of them pin me with their questioning gazes, but all I can do is shake my head.

“Where have you been this whole time?” Damon asks.

I take a deep breath, my hands moving automatically, preparing Matty’s pills.

“Portland,” I say. “I had a job at a design agency.”

“Had?” Carter asks, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I had to quit because Matty needed me to be there for him. His heart condition makes him too vulnerable for preschool, and I couldn’t afford childcare services. ”

“So you came home?” he asks.

“The trust fund,” Jace says as the thought strikes him. “Clara just turned twenty-five last month.”

“You were part of it?” I blink, stunned.

“We helped Stephan set it up,” Carter replies. “It was supposed to be his birthday present to you. It was a tradition in your family, from what I understand. Every Barnes got a boost on their twenty-fifth birthday to start a family, build a house, or start a company.”

“While you sort everything out and decide what you’re going to do next,” Damon says, “why don’t you stay here, Clara? It’s your place. It’s always been your place. It’s yours free and clear, nothing to worry about. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”

I shake my head slowly. “Blackthorn Falls isn’t my home anymore.”

“It could be again,” he says. “Just think about it.”

I feel like I’m under a lot of pressure here and I need to be reasonable. I can’t let my pride and my fear blind me from an opportunity, not while I have a child to raise and protect.

“You’re right,” I tell Damon. “Portland isn’t an option anymore. While I’m stuck here, I also need a job. Something temporary, at least?—”

“We need a designer for our security company,” Carter is quick to respond.

I give him a confused look. “Your security company? I thought you were taking over for your father with Lockwood Industries? ”

“Margot’s in charge,” he says. “I branched out into private security with Jace and Damon. We’re expanding. We plan on opening a few more training bases along the Pacific Coastline. In order to do that, we need a good designer. Think you can hack it?”

My mind goes blank.

After everything that happened between us, is Carter Lockwood actually offering me a job? My jaw drops, prompting a grin to form on his handsome face.

“Wait, so your sister, Margot, is now an executive at Lockwood Industries, and you started your own private security company?”

“That’s right. We’ve got 2,000 employees and plan to hire more across California and Washington State,” he says.

“We’re opening three new training bases for new agents, each with offices and live-in barracks.

And like I said, we need a designer to team up with our in-house architect and deliver something that will wow our investors. ”

“You could hire anyone?—”

“I could. But I want you ,” Carter replies bluntly. “You need a job, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Then take it; it’s yours,” he says.

Damon chuckles softly. “Just consider it, Clara. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

“You will be generously compensated,” Jace says, adding his own incentive .

I don’t know how we got from “hello, stranger” to “come work for us” in such a short time but given the hurdles I’m having to jump over just to secure a future for my child, I don’t feel like I have a better choice.

Wait, I know I don’t have a better choice.

Stephan’s trust fund will cover Matty’s surgery, but it’s not nearly enough to also cover post-op, recovery, physical therapy, and everything else that follows.

My boy has a long journey ahead and I need to make sure he reaches his destination.

“Code Blue, Momma!” Matty gasps and starts wheezing.

His little face turns white, then blue, as he gives me a scared look. We’ve been through this so many times, yet it never stops terrifying me. I scramble through the medicine drawer again, grabbing his inhaler.

“What’s happening?” Carter frowns as he looks between Matty and me.

“He’s having an asthma attack; he needs his inhaler!”

My hands are shaking so badly, I drop the nebulizer.

They weren’t supposed to be here, they weren’t supposed to see this. Dammit, it’s out of control, and I’m panicking at the worst possible moment.

Carter jumps out of his seat. I retrieve the inhaler, but I can’t get the safety cap off. The panic hits at the worst possible time, but as soon as Carter covers my hands with his, I find a sense of calm.

“Breathe,” he says in a soft voice.

Jace catches Matty before he falls out of his chair and helps him lay down on the floor. I look up at Carter.

“I’ve got this,” he says, then snatches the inhaler away .

“Wait, what are you?—”

“I know what I’m doing; relax,” he cuts me off and goes over to Matty, gently helping him recover his breath.

I’m left standing there, stunned by the sight before me. With calm and precision, Carter assists my child, our child. It’s like he knew instinctively what to do. He’s in perfect control, talking to Matty, helping him calm down.

“Deep breath, kiddo; look at me,” he says.

Damon inches closer to my side. “Do these happen often?”

“Usually every other day, sometimes twice in a single day. It depends on his stressors,” I tell him, sifting through the drawer for the follow-up treatment. Soon enough, my boy is breathing easier, the color returning to his cheeks.

I scoop him up in my arms and hold him close to my chest, a tear rolling down my cheek. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I whisper in Matty’s hair. “I think I panicked.”

“It’s okay, Momma. I love you,” Matty manages.

“I love you, too.”

“Thank you,” I whisper to Carter.

A muscle twitches furiously in his jaw as he looks at me, then at Matty. “Don’t mention it.”

“How did you know what to do?” Jace asks him.

Carter shrugs, choosing not to answer as he shifts his focus back to me. “Are you okay, Clara?”

“Yes.” I nod slowly. It all unraveled so fast, I could barely register the details that now begin to slowly sink in .

“Good. We’re going to go then, give you some room. I’m guessing Matty will be taking a longer nap today,” he says.

Damon and Jace head out first.

Carter moves past me, then stops, giving me a sideways glance. “This isn’t over, Clara. Not by a long shot.”

“Maybe. But for today, it is,” I boldly reply.

“We’ll be in touch,” Damon says.

I wait until I hear the front door close behind them before I’m able to breathe again. I shudder and blink back tears as an avalanche of emotions washes over me. That was too much for me to handle at once—the memories, the things left unspoken, the regrets.

Their truck’s engine fades into the mountain silence.

Then I slide down the wall, knees to chest.

Five years of running—undone in five minutes.

Carter always was too damn perceptive.