Page 29 of Single Mom’s Undoing (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems #1)

CARTER

T he tension in Jodie’s shoulders as she welcomes me into her home tells me everything I need to know, along with the way she avoids looking me in the eye. She is keeping something from me.

“Thank you,” I say as she sets a coffee mug on the table between us.

She takes the sofa while I stick to one of the chairs. My seat is a tad higher, giving me a good view of her expression and the slightest shift in her body language.

“Don’t mention it,” Jodie says. “How are you guys holding up?”

“We’re looking for Clara. Have you been able to reach her?”

“Carter, even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to tell you?—”

“Jodie, she’s got Matty, my son,” I cut her off, my patience already dangerously thin. “If you’ve learned something since Jace stopped by to talk to you, please tell me. I deserve to know. I need to know. ”

Jodie takes a deep breath and a sip of her coffee, pondering my words with great care. I have to admit, I do appreciate her loyalty and devotion. Friends like her aren’t easy to come by. But Clara promised she wouldn’t run away from us again, and she threw me for a loop.

I’m getting my woman back and my son, no matter what.

“First, I need you to tell me something,” Jodie says, finally finding the courage to meet my gaze. “What happened five years ago?”

“I didn’t know either until today,” I reply. “But I will tell you and only you, Jodie. To make you understand why it’s so important that we find Clara and Matty sooner rather than later. You can never speak a word of what I’m about to tell you, do you understand?”

She nods slowly, and damn near holds her breath as I tell her the short version of the story. It’s a heartbreaking tale, and I watch the tears well in Jodie’s eyes.

“Oh, that poor girl,” she sobs. “No wonder she was so scared all the time.”

“Maybe I would’ve done the same, if I’d been in her shoes. It’s not my place to judge. I love her too much, Jodie. I love her so much, it fucking hurts to not be able to reach her.”

“Your father?—”

“My father will get what’s coming to him.

Of that, I can assure you,” I state firmly, raising my chin.

“I’ve already reached out to a couple of friends, former Marines who are now with the FBI.

Once I’ve got Clara’s account on tape, they’ll get an exhumation order from a judge and issue a new autopsy for Stephan’s body. ”

“They’ll be able to tell the difference between injuries sustained from a blow to the head and injuries consistent with a car crashing off the bridge, right?”

“That’s what I’m hoping. In the meantime, I’m pulling a few other strings behind the scene. But I promise you, Jodie, he may be my father, but what he did is unforgivable. It cannot go unpunished.”

“Good. Stephan deserves justice.”

“You’re damn right. He was like a brother to me,” I say, a knot tightening in the back of my throat. “He may have made his share of mistakes, but he didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“What about Emmanuel?” Jodie asks. “Couldn’t you get him to testify against Bill, too? I mean, he was there that night.”

I offer a slight shrug. “We haven’t been able to find him in a long time.

I’ve got a team of analysts already on his case, expanding the search for both a missing person and a body at this point.

We don’t know what happened to him, but something tells me the rot in the Lockwood family runs deeper than I originally thought. ”

“And Margot?”

“Clueless, at this point. I’m keeping this on the down-low until I figure out who knows what. The last thing I need is Margot running her bitter, drunken mouth to our father. If he flees the country before the Feds get to him, we’re screwed.”

Jodie nods slowly. “Oh, poor Clara. Living with this secret for so long. No wonder she was afraid to come back, afraid to stick around, why she vanished the way she did?— ”

“Where is she?” I cut Jodie off again. “I answered your question and then some. Now, you need to answer mine. I have to find her, Jodie. I have to make sure she and my son are safe. Something happened yesterday that made her run. If she didn’t tell you, she will tell me once I find her.”

“I’ll tell you where she is, Carter. And I hope she’ll forgive me. But given the circumstances, given the urgency and the danger that she’s clearly in, I think I’ll have to break more than one promise I made to her.”

“What do you mean?”

While her gaze darts around the room, I measure each breath that I take, trying to keep myself composed. It’s been a challenge, controlling my rage over the past day or so. Clara’s absence has left me somewhat unhinged, prone to letting my dark side take over—and that never ends well for anyone.

“Clara is in Baker City. She said she’s having Matty admitted tomorrow, and that the surgery is set toward the end of the week.

The doctors are confident Matty’s heart valve surgery will go well and that he’ll make a full recovery.

I don’t know which hospital, but I’m sure you can narrow that down. There’s something else, though.”

“What?”

“She’s pregnant, Carter. And if your father had anything to do with the way she left us…”

My heart stops.

For a long minute, I find myself unable to breathe, think, or speak. I can’t move; I’m paralyzed in my seat as the words sink in, as the future I had imagined for us grows bigger and brighter, yet farther away from my grasp .

“She’s pregnant?” I slowly repeat Jodie’s words.

She nods. “Don’t be angry at her, Carter. She’s dealing with so much just trying to save Matty’s life. She’s overwhelmed.”

And she’s on her own again.

I can’t let her go through another second of this alone.