Imagined Love (28 page)

“Oh, you know what I was wondering? Why does your family call you Juan?”

“My middle name is DeJuan. It’s actually funny because Mama said they were planning to name me Diqwan or some junk like that but when she and my dad saw me they thought my eyes were piercing and he decided to call me Pierce instead. Mama wanted my middle name to just be Juan but they didn’t think it sounded right. I personally don’t care for it, so naturally that’s what everybody in the family calls me. I don’t know how many . . . oh, shoot! I almost forgot about my cake,” Pierce said, as he jumped up from the table. A few minutes later he re-emerged from the kitchen. “Sorry about that. I had to make sure the cake will be perfect. I have to warn you, though, most people melt after one bite of it so watch out. I don’t wanna have to resuscitate you . . . what’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the weird look on Jade’s face.

“Nothing.”

“Nah, something just happened. Those beautiful eyes of yours turned sad and your whole demeanor changed,” Pierce said, as he reached across the table to place his hand on top of hers. “So tell me what’s bothering you. Please.”

“It’s just gonna sound childish.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Well, I thought the people you were referring to were all the women you invite to your house for dinner and dessert.”

“Oooh,” his eyes widened. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I never cooked for a woman before. But in the two years I’ve been living here in this house, I haven’t had a woman over for dinner or anything else. I’ve tried to . . .”

Jade rolled her eyes making it clear she didn’t believe a word he’d said. “So are you from California originally? You never did answer me about that.”

“Wow! I just got dissed. And after I risked my life stealing my mama’s crystal to impress you too.”

“I’m not trying to diss you, Pierce. I just don’t have a lot of confidence in men these days. And it’s hard for me to believe one as wonderful as . . . I mean, you know,” Jade stuttered.

“It’s okay. You can say I’m wonderful,” he teased, giving her that sly grin again. It was only when Jade’s eyes filled with tears that Pierce realized it wasn’t the time for dumb jokes. “I’m sorry. I definitely didn’t mean to upset you. I just want you to trust that what I tell you is the truth. I’m not a liar, Jade. Mommy Dearest put a stop to that when I was eleven and lied about taking three dollars out of her purse. She beat the hell out of me and so did my dad. And I know that was a long time ago, but I got that being dishonest wasn’t what I wanted to do. It’s just not the kind of man I ever wanna be. So I’m hoping you’ll choose to trust me the way I’m choosing to trust you, okay?”

Jade nodded then Pierce led her to the living room and put on some old school music. They entertained each other by breaking out their best moves. Then they spent the next few hours singing along to some of their favorite songs, eating the cake he’d made, and swapping basic information about one another.

Jade learned that Pierce was twenty-seven years old and was born in Mississippi but had been living in various parts of California since he was three. His family was extremely close and had dinner at least once a week as well as getting together for holidays, birthdays, and every other special occasion. Jackie still joined them every week even though he and Luisa had been divorced and married to other people for years. Pierce’s parents still loved each other dearly and enjoyed being together. In fact, Alejandra and Pierce were conceived after the divorce was finalized! Jackie and Luisa made several attempts at reconciling but they just couldn’t make it work. There were several problems in the marriage but the biggest one for Luisa was Jackie’s infidelity and she eventually called it quits.

Having his own business was always something Pierce desired. His parents had several Laundromats and cleaners but those weren’t the type of establishments that interested him. For years Pierce tried to open a nightclub but could never get everything to fall into place. He was completely frustrated and not even thinking about a business when the opportunity to buy Quik Stop presented itself. Pierce honestly wasn’t enthused about it initially because he still wanted the club. However, things fell into place so easily that he believed it was meant to be his store. He was happy and for the past two years had been doing quite well for himself. Pierce was so convinced he was in the right place that the nightclub was no longer an interest.

He was nearly in tears when Jade told him about Young Phillips and her connection to Quik Stop. Pierce found the whole thing incredible, but more than

anything he felt it validated what he already believed to be true. Jade was his soul mate. She actually began to cry when she realized Mr. Phillips had found a way to keep his promise to her. He had let her know when the right guy came along.

Caught up in the emotions of her story, Pierce embraced Jade. She had to let go fairly quickly, though, because the electricity between them had the potential for trouble. Even with all the talk of being soul mates, Jade didn’t want to ruin things by jumping into a sexual relationship. At least that’s what she kept telling herself despite how incredibly attracted she was to him.

It was almost midnight but Pierce and Jade were having such a good time that neither of them wanted the date to end. So he warmed the remainder of the arroz con pollo for her and they sat on the living room floor talking and laughing like old friends.

“What?” Pierce asked when he noticed the smile on Jade’s face. “What are you thinking about?”

“I just remembered the crazy thing that ran through my mind when I first saw you. It won’t really make sense to you but Katrina would’ve known . . .”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Okay, well my very first thought was, see I told Katrina I was gonna marry Bruce Leroy Green! Now I know that probably sounds nuts but . . .”

“Oh no,” Pierce laughed heartily. “My boys called me Bruce Leroy for years! They’re gonna fall out laughing when they hear that. I can’t believe it,” he laughed louder. “I didn’t think I looked anything like him.”

“I wouldn’t say you looked just like him but definitely similar. The goatee and length of your hair makes you a sexier, more mature version of him. Aw, man, you just don’t know how much I used to love me some Bruce Leroy! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched that movie. I still have the tape at home. It was always between Leroy and Ozone from Breakin’. I used to watch that just as . . .”

“Jade, I’ve got a son,” Pierce blurted.

She was caught completely off guard. “You do?”

“Yeah, I do. He’s the four-year-old you almost trampled to death running out of my store that day,” he smirked. “Dane and my nephews came in and I knew my son was gonna be like, Daddy, Daddy, and that’s what I was freaking out about. Even though we hadn’t talked for very long, I knew I wanted you in my life. We definitely had a connection and I was worried you wouldn’t take the time to know me if you found out about Dane right then and there. I mean, Landon mentioned your trouble with Levi’s daughter and I didn’t know if you had decided not to ever date men with kids again,” Pierce said. “Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not ashamed of my son. I love him to death. It’s just that everything was happening so fast. I met you and had all these feelings I’d never felt before. And then my sister and the boys came back early and I just got flustered. I was so

focused on Dane that I never considered what it must have looked like to you. I’m glad I already had your number or I might never have seen you again. Well no, I guess we would’ve met again with you being Hawn’s wedding planner. I keep forgetting that. And to think, I could’ve met you a long time ago if I had let her set us up like she’d tried so hard to do.”

“It seems that fate had it all worked out. And I’m glad.”

“You are?” Pierce smiled, relieved to hear her say that.

“Yes, I am. I had feelings I’d never felt before for you too,” Jade blushed. “And just so you know, I haven’t decided not to ever date men with kids again. I think when the relationship is right everything will fall into place.” They smiled at each other. “So what about Dane’s mother? Do you still love her?”

Pierce seemed horrified by that question. He indicated it was an extremely long story and asked if she had the time or interest to hear it all. When Jade said yes, he refreshed their glasses of lemonade, got comfy on the couch, and started from the beginning. Pierce had never gone into details with anyone about his relationship with Tina and was surprised by how natural and easy it felt to do so with Jade. He truly felt like he could tell her anything and that scared and fascinated him. So he began by sharing with her the fact that he had never loved Dane’s mother and if it weren’t for his son, Pierce would wish he’d never met her!

In his teenage years, Pierce’s mother and sisters tried hard to keep him pure and wholesome. Whenever fast girls or desperate grown women tried to make a play for him, one of them was always there to run interference. Pierce’s first few sexual experiences were in some of the oddest places because he was hardly ever out of the sight of his family. When he wasn’t at school or home Luisa had him in church or participating in sports or other extracurricular activities. And although Pierce knew his family meant well, he was overwhelmed and frustrated not to be able to be young and free to experience women like other boys his age.

The constant supervision was the main reason Pierce chose to attend college in San Diego where his oldest sister Eva lived with her husband. She was strict like the rest of his family but Gerard often intervened on Pierce’s behalf and told them to back off and just let him be a man. Luisa and her daughters feared he would be out sleeping around like Jackie but Pierce wasn’t that kind of guy. Witnessing the pain his father’s philandering and lying caused deterred him from wanting to go down that path. Though, he wasn’t an angel by any stretch of the imagination. Pierce definitely enjoyed the ladies and they enjoyed him too. However, once he was more mature, he preferred dealing with one woman at a time rather than trying to balance several of them. Truthfully, Pierce felt more comfortable being in a relationship and feeling like he really knew the woman as opposed to having casual

sex with strangers. That’s why his family was stunned and devastated to learn about Tina.

“I know it probably sounds crazy considering I was a grown man at the time, but I really wish my mother and sisters had been there to run interference that night. Maybe I wouldn’t have ruined my life,” Pierce said, his pain still evident.

It was a week before Pierce’s graduation from college when his girlfriend of nearly a year informed him she and some of her friends were taking off for Vegas and wouldn’t be coming back. He really had cared for her and was upset by her decision to dump him. That night, Pierce and a group of his buddies went out clubbing. Normally he would have a beer or two for the entire time he was out. However, that night he downed four of them as well as a few shots of something his friends had given him. He’d been buzzed before but never anything like what he felt then. Soon after that last shot, Pierce cut loose. He was all over the dance floor and all over a few women. Tina, however, was the one he ended up with back at her apartment.

The next day he had no idea who she was or how he’d ended up there with her. Pierce felt horrible, both physically and emotionally and promised to take Tina on a real date—a sober one. So they met up a few weeks after his graduation for dinner and a movie. Well, that’s what it was supposed to be but they didn’t even make it through the meal. Pierce and Tina hated each other! Apparently she liked the drunken idiot he’d been on the night they met much more than who he really was. And she was not at all the type of woman he wanted to be associated with. They had a few choice words for one another before parting company, never intending to see each other again. Pierce was shocked when he got a message from Tina about a month later saying she was pregnant and he was the father!

“I honestly didn’t believe her. At that time a lot of girls were scamming dudes for money claiming they were getting an abortion when they were never even pregnant. Tina struck me as the type of person who would do something like that, so I blew her off. But when she was about six or seven months along she showed up on my job with her belly hanging out screaming that I was the father of her baby to get my attention. I still didn’t think it was mine, though. Despite not being able to remember that night to save my life, I couldn’t believe I would sleep with a complete stranger and not use protection. Me and my boys were adamant about wrapping it up. We’d heard too many stories about men getting burnt messing around with the wrong chick. Plus, none of us were trying to be fathers any time soon. So I convinced myself I was probably too drunk to even do anything but if I had, I’d most definitely used a condom. As far as I was concerned there was no way that baby was mine.

“I wasn’t there for her at all. I didn’t go to any of the doctor’s appointments or do anything to prepare for a child. I hadn’t even planned on mentioning it to my

family but Tina took care of that for me. Somehow she found out where I lived and showed up telling Eva and Gerard every little detail about that night. Eva jumped on the phone to my mother and all hell broke loose! She immediately came down to San Diego to meet with Tina and her family to figure out how we were gonna handle the situation. Everybody was acting like I was sixteen years old,” Pierce said, shaking his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt more humiliated in my life. You should’ve seen the way my mother looked at me. It was the worst combination of disappointment and disgust I’ve ever seen. She and my sisters were so hurt that I’d become that type of guy. They expected so much more from me and I felt lower than a dog for letting them and myself down.

“Even still, I thought my mom wouldn’t believe the baby was mine just like I didn’t. But as soon as she saw Tina, despite not wanting her in our family, she told me to prepare to be a father. We had a huge fight because I said I wasn’t doing anything without a paternity test. I didn’t care what kind of women’s intuition she had or what anybody said. I didn’t wanna have a baby, least of all with someone like Tina, and I thought I could just wish it away. I was so convinced she was lying that I chose not to be there when Dane was born. I missed out on the first two weeks of my son’s life because I refused to even look at him until the test results came back,” Pierce choked up, as tears ran down his face. He still felt so ashamed of himself for choosing to be that type of man.