Authors: Cheris Hodges
Betting On Love (27 page)
Jade looked at her and started to say it was her fault, but James walked out of the bathroom and over to the women. “I'm sorry if I caused either of you to worry,” he said calmly.
Maryann hugged her son. “You know, Stephen isn't your father.”
“Ma,” he said.
“Just remember that,” Maryann added.
Customers began trickling into the bakery, asking Maryann why she hadn't been open earlier. She didn't pull any punches and told her loyal customers that her building had been purchased by Stephen Carter.
“The guy who was in the paper this morning?” a woman asked. “I've been to his restaurant, and it's horrible. Why does he want this building?”
Maryann shrugged her shoulders. “We're closing in thirty days,” she said.
“That's a damned shame,” the woman said as she took a huge bite of her pastry. “Do you have a Web site? Because I'd order these all day online.”
Maryann smiled. “That's a great idea.”
The woman continued munching on her pastry as Jade walked over to Maryann. “You know, you could always sell your stuff in the restaurant my friends and I are opening in Charlotte.”
“My sons have been trying to get me to North Carolina for the longest time. I guess this is theâ”
The door to the bakery flung open, and Maurice stormed inside. “Where's James?” he asked when he spotted Jade.
“He's in the back,” Jade said. “Maurice, you really need to talk to him.”
Maurice looked over at his mother and then grabbed Jade's arm. “Is this about Stephen?”
“Yes,” Jade admitted.
“I knew you were trouble. Stephen wasn't worrying about my mother or this place until you and your friends started this war with him,” Maurice stormed.
“Let go of me,” Jade said as she jerked away from him. “I know this is hard on your mother, but I can make it right.”
“What are you going to do? Leave us the hell alone? But you can't do that, since you got yourself knocked up,” Maurice bellowed.
“What did you say?” Maryann asked. She turned and looked at Jade. “Are you pregnant?”
At that moment James walked to the front. “Maurice, what are you doing here?”
Maryann slammed her hand against the counter. “Wait a damned minute. Jade, are you pregnant?”
James glared at Maurice as Jade said, “Yes. That's one of the things that we came here to tell you.”
“Pregnant? Wow,” Maryann said.
“And we're getting married,” James said. “But this is not how I wanted you to find out.”
“Well, this makes what you did even more reprehensible,” Maryann said. “If you're getting ready to start a family, why are you acting like Mike Tyson?”
“What did he do?” Maurice asked.
“Got into a fight with Stephen Carter,” Maryann reported.
“Again?” Maurice said.
“Again?” Maryann asked.
“Stephen came to my office in Charlotte, and we had an altercation,” James explained.
“All because Jade and her friends started this thing with Stephen,” Maurice blurted out.
“That's not fair,” Jade said. “I wanted my money back andâ”
“The only person to blame in this situation is Stephen. Jade's about to be a part of our family, and I don't want any more fighting today,” Maryann said, waving her hands, and then returned to her customers.
Jade turned and walked toward the door.
“Jade!” James called out.
Jade ignored him and walked outside; then she called Kandace to come and pick her up.
CHAPTER 29
By the time Jade got into the car with Kandace, she had cried a bucket of tears. “I can't believe everything is such a mess,” she said in between her sobs.
“I knew Stephen was dirty, but to go after James's mother? That's low even for him.”
“Well, James's brother is trying to put all the blame on me,” Jade said as she wiped her eyes. “And James just stood there, not saying a word. It's as if he agrees with him.”
“Did James say that he blamed you?”
Jade shook her head. “Then,” Kandace continued, “why in the hell are you running away like he told you to go to hell? I wonder about you sometimes.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean you shouldn't have been so quick to run out of there,” Kandace said.
“But James just stood there while Maurice said all those ugly things.”
“Really?” Kandace asked. “Or did you run out of there before you let him say anything? You have to realize that you're carrying his child, and it's not just about your hurt feelings.”
Jade squeezed her eyes shut. “You're right.”
“I know I am. I've always been the smart one.”
“All right. Turn the car around,” Jade said. “It's time for me to stand up to Maurice once and for all.”
Kandace smiled. “And when baby Goings is old enough to understand, Godmommy Kandace is going to tell him or her all about the day she saved his or her family,” she said, then made an illegal U-turn and headed back to the bakery.
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James slammed inside the bakery and grabbed his brother's arm, dragging him to the back while their mother was checking out a line of customers. “What the hell is wrong with you?” James boomed.
“What are you talking about? That biâ” James grabbed Maurice by the collar. “I have beaten one man today. Don't become the second one. Jade is going to be my wife, and you will respect her. She isn't the one who's forcing Ma out of here.”
“Let go of me,” Maurice said, pushing away from his brother. “Stephen wouldn't care about this building if it wasn't for her.”
“And you blaming my pregnant fiancée is going to change matters how?” James demanded.
“All right, all right,” Maurice said, throwing his hands up. “I was mad and lashed out. Jade called me because she was afraid that you were going to kill Stephen or end up in jail. I guess I shouldn't have gone off on her.”
“You think?” James snapped. “Jade is the mother of my child, and I love her more than anything. Maybe I shouldn't have gone over there and beaten the hell out of Stephen, but I won't let you disrespect her. I will not have you making her cry because you have your ass on your shoulders. Stay away from herâusâuntil you can treat her with respect.”
“Look, Jade has got you involved in this crap with Stephen, and you're not even acting like yourself.”
“I'm protecting the woman I love, just like you did when you went after Lauryn.”
“That was different, because Lauryn tried to kill Kenya,” Maurice agreed.
“And Stephen is messing with my future wife and my mother.”
“You need to check yourself, because you're acting like him. How long is it going to be before you're taking your anger out on Jade?”
James dropped his head. “I would never do that.”
“She was scared when she called me.”
“And that's a call I should've never made,” Jade said from the door. “I didn't know you were going to come here and blame me for everything.”
Maurice and James turned to face her. “I'm sorry about that,” Maurice admitted sincerely. “I was wrong, and I shouldn't have said this is your fault. Stephen is the one who's forcing my mother out of here.”
“I'm going to try and end this,” Jade said. “I'm going to call Kenya and have her drop the lawsuit against Stephen, and maybe he will stop harassing your mom.”
“And then he'll own this building!” James blurted. “No, you keep the lawsuit going, and we will figure the rest of this out.”
“Do I get to have a say in what happens?” she asked.
“Yes,” James said and jabbed Maurice in the stomach with his elbow.
“Of course,” Maurice added.
“Then let me do this. Your mother has been nothing but kind to me, unlike some other people.” She looked pointedly at Maurice, who turned away from her glare. “I want to help.”
“All right,” Maurice said. “If you want to help, then help us. Help us find someplace else for Ma to open her bakery, and that's it. Stephen owes you, and Kenya's working hard on the case. We're going to stick behind you on this.”
Jade nodded, but in the back of her mind she wondered if Maurice meant what he'd said.
“All right,” Maryann said from the door. “Have you all cleared up all your drama? I hope you know that I could hear you all up front.”
Maurice walked over to his mother and hugged her. “Sorry,” he said.
“I know I taught you better than this. You're going to be nicer to Jade, because she is family,” Maryann ordered.
Jade smiled brightly. “Mrs. Goings,” she said.
Maryann held up her hand. “Now, Stephen can have this building. It's too small for all the people that come here, and one of my customers had a great idea, I can make a Sweet Auburn Bakery Web site and ship my products all over the world. I don't need this building to keep my dream alive. And with all the grandchildren coming, I'm going to need to be close to them, so you boys have your wish. I'm finally moving to Charlotte, and Stephen can go to hell.”
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Hours later James and Jade were sitting on the sofa in her Buckhead penthouse. She dabbed his swollen knuckles with peroxide while they waited for a delivery of Chinese food for their dinner.
“James,” she said while bandaging his hand with gauze, “why are you so angry?”
“What? Babe, I'm not angry,” he said, snuggling closer to her.
“Your actions today say otherwise. Don't you think the way you went after Stephen and the way you spoke to Maurice were a little over the top?”
“I let my temper get the best of me, but that's only because I don't like people messing with my mother or you, and that's what Stephen is doing.”
“What about your brother?” she asked. “Maurice doesn't like me.”
“Maurice was just overreacting, but he's straight now”
“Because you threatened him.”
“Quiet as it's kept, I'm pretty sure my football-playing brother could beat my ass. So, my threats don't matter much.”
Jade kissed him on the forehead.
He cast his eyes upward at her. “Jade,” he said, “I hope you don't think that I'm violent and that I'm ever going to do something to hurt you.”
“I don't think that, but I don't want you to get hurt or end up in jail because of this. I know Stephen isn't going to let this thing go.”
“He will, if he values ... Let's just say Stephen and I came to an understanding, and he knows what he has to do tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
James grabbed her hand. “Don't worry about it. I know my mother, and she loves Atlanta. She may say she'd be happy with the Web site and moving to Charlotte, but she's going to want to come back to her life here, and I'm going to ensure that she has one.”
“How?” Jade asked, easing her hand out of his.
“By finding her another building. I put in a call this afternoon and found out who holds the loan that Stephen got to get the property. Maurice and I can easily purchase the loan.”
“I thought you two wanted this thing to be over?”
“There are certain things that you don't mess with, and a man's mother is one of them.”
“James,” she intoned, “what am I going to do with you?”
“Love me.”
Jade bent over to kiss him sweetly on the lips. Hungrily, James devoured her lips as they kissed with their faces oriented in opposite directions. Before they got carried away with passion, the doorbell rang. Reluctantly, they broke apart, and James bounded to the door, thinking that it was their dinner. Seconds later Serena, Alicia, and Kandace burst into the living room.
“So,” Alicia said, “are you all right?”
“And what are we going to do about that article?” Serena asked. Her voice was a lot calmer than Jade had expected.
Kandace sat on the sofa, beside her friend, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I'm glad you came to your senses.”
“Why are you all here?” Jade asked, looking at them, confused by their presence.
Moments later James walked into the room with two bags of food. “I didn't order enough for everyone,” he said.
“That's fine,” Alicia replied. “We're not going to be here much longer. I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Where's the ring, James?” Serena asked, with a smile.
“The ring?” he asked.
“Now, you know we know you proposed,” Kandace said.
“I haven't gotten her a ring yet, but it's coming, ladies,” James said, grinning at them.
“Nothing less than two carats,” Alicia said. “And the stone should have exceptional clarity.”
James set the bags of food on the coffee table and folded his arms across his chest. “Do you have a picture of said ring?” he asked, half expecting Alicia to pull a picture from her purse.
“No, but if you need me to go shopping with you, let me know,” Alicia volunteered.
“Hey,” Jade said. “I'm hungry, and I'm tired of you all talking around me. Kenya and I are going to release a statement to rebut Stephen's damned article, and that's all we need to do.”
“When is the work going to get started on the restaurant?” Serena asked. “I can go back to Charlotte with you and have a more hands-on role in the design process.”
Jade looked up at her friend. She wanted to say, “I know what you want to get your hands on,” but she remained silent for a moment. “That's fine,” she finally said. “Now, are we done?”
James took the bags of food and headed into the kitchen, as if he knew the ladies needed some private time to talk.
“You know, it's all over town that James beat the living hell out of Stephen,” Alicia said.
Jade peeked around the corner to make sure James was out of earshot. “Is he going to press charges?”
“Not that I know of, but this is making it really hard to attract some investors for our venture. Thank goodness Devon Harris is still on board,” Alicia said, looking pointedly at Kandace.
“Whatever,” Kandace said, rolling her eyes.
“You can âwhatever' all you want. We have a lot of money tied up in this restaurant, and you threeâincluding you, Serenaâhave seemed to be focused on other things. Can we please get back to business ?” Alicia asked.
“What am I focused on?” Serena asked, pretending to be innocent.
“Please don't play me like I'm stupid,” Alicia said. “There's no way you and that contractor have to talk on the phone that much.”
Serena rolled her eyes and turned to Jade. “We're going to leave now,” she said. “James, we're done talking about you.”
The women laughed at Serena as they headed out the door. They couldn't remember when their friend had been so lighthearted; something was definitely going on.
James walked into the living room with a steaming plate of rice and sesame chicken. “Everything all right in the inner circle?” he asked as he handed Jade the plate.
“As all right as it's going to be. Serena is sleeping with our contractor, and she thinks no one knows.”
“So, is that why she's been so nice lately? I'm all for it,” James joked.
Jade popped him on the shoulder. “Serena could be making a huge mistake. We've got enough problems on this project as it is. She's not going to make things easier if she does what she normally does when it comes to men.”
“And what's that?” James asked as he sat down beside Jade.
“You know that old Hall and Oats song âMan-eater'? That's always been Serena's theme.”
James dipped a fork in the food and held it up to Jade's lips. “How about you eat this and we let Serena do what she does and deal with it later?”
She took a bite of the food and silently agreed not to talk about Serena for the rest of the night. Still, she had to wonder if Serena's relationship with the contractor was going to cause a delay in the restaurant's opening. Taking a look at James, Jade decided that she needed to keep her thoughts to herself and contently eat her dinner.
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