Page 4 of Single Mom’s Undoing (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems #1)

CLARA

T here’s a café on the south side of town that makes the best lavender scones. It’s also far enough away from the square and the main avenues that I’m able to take my son out without worrying that I might run into familiar faces.

I double-checked the emergency kit in my bag—extra inhaler, meds, and the portable monitor Dr. Patel insisted I carry. Leaving the house without them isn’t an option anymore.

“Your babyccino and pistachio latte,” the waitress says as she brings the order to our table. I check her name tag. Lacey. “And your scones.”

“Thank you, Lacey,” I reply with a warm smile.

“Thanksies!” Matty says with his crooked, sweet little grin.

“You’re most welcome, honey,” Lacey replies.

I watch her head back to the counter as customers come in to pick up their takeaway orders. Folks occupy a couple of other tables, sitting down and enjoying their treats. I’m glad I chose an hour with little foot traffic.

“Go easy, baby, it might be hot,” I tell Matty. “Remember what we do to make sure our drink isn’t too hot?”

Matty thinks about it for a second, looking so cute in his green plaid shirt and jeans, sitting like a miniature grown-up next to me. He gets a hold of his spoon and shows it to me. “We test it.”

“That’s right! Go ahead, test it.”

With a cautious move, Matty tastes his babyccino with the spoon. “Okay, I’ll eat the scone first. My ‘ccino is too hot.”

“Alright, then,” I chuckle, cutting his chocolate scone into smaller pieces, keeping a wet wipe handy to clean him up as needed. “Dig in, buddy.”

It’s nice here. Quiet. No one is staring at us.

Then again, it’s been five years, and the only attention I ever got was when I was hanging out with Stephan, Carter, Jace, and Damon.

They talked about me as though they never really knew me.

I remember the gossip, the rumors. I know what followed after I left.

For now, I revel in the peace.

I hear the bell above the door chime. Carter, Damon, and Jace walk in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter under my breath, but Matty hears me, nonetheless.

“What is it, Momma?” he asks, then follows my gaze and lights up like a firebug when he sees them. “Carter!” he calls out.

Dammit.

“Ah, there they are,” Carter says as soon as he spots us.

“Jodie told you I’d be here, I presume?” I ask, annoyed, as the three men approach our table .

The closer they get, the faster my heart beats.

The feelings are still there, simmering beneath the surface.

The desire, the longing, the memories of what might’ve been if I’d stayed.

Stephan, Margot, and I were the only ones who knew about the way Carter, Jace, and Damon shared their women.

During my teenage rebellion phase, I was curious.

Then I turned eighteen, and I found myself craving it, though nothing ever became of it.

Something could’ve though, after Carter and I broke my brother’s rule.

Once Stephan was gone, I ran. I knew too much.

“She did; just don’t hold it against her,” Damon replies with a soft smile. “We kinda harassed it out of her. Mind if we join you? We just want to talk, Clara.”

“I hope you’re not here for answers again. I don’t have any in stock,” I say.

Carter shakes his head. “Nope, we just want to have coffee with you, if that’s okay. With you and the little man, that is,” he pauses to look at Matty. “How are you doing, big guy?”

“Am I the little man or the big guy?” Matty asks, prompting a laugh from everyone.

“You’re a bit of both,” Carter replies then shakes Matty’s tiny, chocolate-smudged hand. “And I reckon you’re your momma’s best man.”

“I am!” Matty proudly exclaims.

Jace gets coffees from the counter while Damon and Carter pull up extra chairs to join us.

As Carter sits, his gaze lingers on Matty a beat too long again. The way Matty tilts his head when he’s thinking — it’s the same habit I’ve seen Carter do a thousand times. His eyes narrow slightly, like he’s filing that away.

An awkward silence sets in. Matty is too busy working through his chocolate scone to care .

“Have you considered our job offer?” Jace asks me.

I nod slowly. “I assume you’ll agree to a temporary contract.”

“For starters, yes,” Carter says. “We’ll leave the door open for something more permanent, if you decide to stay.”

“I won’t.”

“But it’s there if you do.”

“But I won’t.”

Damon laughs. “Ever the wily spirit. God, Clara, you haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

“I have. In more than one way.”

Nobody responds, but what troubles me the most is the calmness I feel while watching Carter and Matty interact.

They have a natural chemistry, and it brings equal amounts of joy and dread to my heart.

Who’d have thought that the one night we’d surrendered to one another would create my sweet little boy?

“He’s very proper,” Carter remarks, watching Matty as he works hard to eat his scone without making a mess.

“We work every day to develop our manners,” I reply. “He’s a good boy.”

“I am a good boy,” Matty confirms with a mouthful.

“That you definitely are,” Damon confirms, then looks at me.

Matty wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, grinning when I hand him a napkin instead. Damon chuckles. “You’ve got him trained better than I’ve managed with my own.”

I glance at him, curious. “Your own?”

His eyes soften for just a second. “Yeah. Single dad life will do that to you.”

My brows lift, but before I can ask more, he’s already changing the subject.

“It must’ve been hard, raising him on your own.”

I nod slowly. “We managed. Up to a point, anyway.”

I try to keep my naughty thoughts under control while I steal glances at each of these men. They were like gods to me growing up. Now, they’re within my reach, a desire left burning between us, unspoken and never truly expressed.

“Given his heart condition, I’d say you did more than manage,” Jace says.

“Thank you.”

“I wish you’d reached out,” Carter states, giving me a dark look. “I wish you’d said something.”

“I solve my own problems,” I say, raising my chin in a weak attempt at defiance.

“Until you couldn’t anymore and you had to come back here.”

Damon interjects. “Stephan had your best interest in mind when he set up that trust fund,” he says to me.

“But I doubt it’ll be enough to cover Matty’s post-op care and your living expenses, Clara.

No one here is saying that you can’t handle things on your own, but it’s time you accept that you don’t have to. Take the job. It’ll help.”

It’s a hard but true pill to swallow.

I lost a great job because Matty needed me.

His episodes have been getting worse, and his state-appointed medical insurance barely covers his medication, let alone the consultations, checkups, and tests.

The surgery and post-op care are out of the question altogether.

Damon is right. The money that Stephan left me isn’t enough, and Matty’s clock is ticking.

“What’s his life expectancy without the surgery?” Carter whispers while Jace and Damon ask Matty questions about his favorite things.

A knot forms in my throat. “Not good. It will only get worse. ”

“What are we talking about?”

“Six to eight, if he’s lucky.” I fight back tears.

“Then why waste a single second still pondering whether or not you should take our job offer?”

I bite my lower lip. His gaze lingers on it. I can almost hear his thoughts because they echo my own. Sooner or later, we’ll crash into each other again, and I’m terrified of that prospect. I know once it happens, I will have no strength left to pull away.

If I stay, the truth will haunt me until I let it out.

And it will destroy everything.

“Okay,” I finally concede. “I’ll take the job—on a temporary basis.”

“To start,” Carter adds.

I take a moment to gaze upon their faces.

They look so different, yet, in character, they’re so much alike.

Carter is the blond-haired giant with a heart of gold and a will made of steel.

Jace is a shadow that eyes me with the kind of hunger that has me wondering what it would be like to let him in.

And Damon, ever the pacifier, is such a kind man with the strength of a lion.

No wonder Stephan adored them.

No wonder I fell for them long before I was willing to admit that I felt something.

“Jodie, we need some ground rules here,” I tell my friend as I put my coat on .

“For the last time, I’m sorry,” she says, leaning against the living room doorframe. Her arms are crossed, one eye on Matty, who’s half-asleep on the sofa, watching Bluey on TV. “I had your best interest at heart. Plus, they kind of bullied me into it.”

I give her a warm smile. “I know, but I really wasn’t ready to deal with them yet.”

“You did, though. And you got a job.”

“It’s temporary.”

Jodie is a few years older than me. Her brown hair is always pulled into a tight ponytail, and her shirts are always a half size smaller, hugging her hourglass figure in all the right ways.

I wish I had her body confidence—I’m more comfortable in oversized tees—and it’s only gotten worse since I gave birth to Matty.

“Honey, you need to learn to let other people help you,” Jodie says.

“I get it. You were Wonder Woman in Portland. You handled yourself honorably and you provided for Matty. But you need help now. His condition is getting worse,” she adds, lowering her voice so my son doesn’t hear us.

“You’re running out of time, and you can’t let whatever happened in the past stand in the way of your future or Matty’s future. ”

“You’re right. I guess I’ve gotten so used to being in constant survival mode that I no longer recognize the comfort of real friends. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Just let me help. Let Carter and the guys help.”

I give her a terrified look. “He’s going to figure it out, eventually. ”

“And that’s exactly why you should tell him,” she says.