Page 31 of Redeemed

What kind of message was that? Something was going on with him and she didn't like it.

Chapter twenty-nine

Déjà Vu

Buzz.Buzz.Hefoldedthe pillow over his head. More buzzing. He cracked an eye open and was immediately assaulted by a shaft of light escaping through his blinds to stab him in his brain. "Aaarrgh," he grunted and rolled away from the light. He tried to pull the covers over his head and realized he was on top of the quilt. Still in his clothes. Boots on. The buzzing started again. Phone. His phone was vibrating on the bedside table. He groped for it and brought the offending technology to his one open eye and tried to focus. Two calls and multiple texts. All from Sofia. The last one got his attention.

Sofia:

Shit. What time was it? He searched his phone. 11 o'clock. Fuck, he was supposed to be over at Mrs. Benevides' in an hour. He groaned again. He didn't want Sofia over here seeing him like this. He couldn't figure out how he was going to handle this shit. And he wasn't going to figure it out today, that was for sure.

JT:

Crisis averted. For now. He hoped. He dragged himself up to a sitting position on the side of the bed and massaged his hands through his hair trying to rub the pain away. Nope. Not even close. Jose Cuervo was never a friend to him the next morning. He knew that well enough, but last night, he had seemed like just the buddy JT had needed to hang out with after leaving Sofia's place. After seeing that fucker put his hands on Sofia. After seeing that intimate little dinner set up.

"Fuck!" he cursed aloud, then winced. Too loud. His head pounded and his stomach lurched. He grabbed the edge of the bed and held on, breathing through his nose. His stomach slowly settled back into place. His phone buzzed again.

Sofia:

JT:

Shower. He had to make it to the shower, wash the funk off himself, and try to get presentable for Sofia's mom. Not that it really mattered anymore what she thought of him. Impressing her was no longer something he had to do, was it? He still needed to learn to make tamales. He did have a job to do even if being in that kitchen with Sofia and Jesse's picture staring at him was the last place he wanted to be today.Suck it up, buttercup. You don't have a choice. You can't let everyone down because your life is a shitshow right now.

He carefully stood up and made his way to the bathroom, praying the hot spray would revive him and help him get through the day.

Sofia studied the text messages from JT. Something was wrong. She could feel it. He was barely responding to her. That wasn't at all like him. Normally, he would go ahead and call her back to avoid texting altogether. Had something happened yesterday with her mom? Was he mad at her for some reason? She couldn't think of why that would be. They were fine when they parted yesterday. Better than fine. She thought they were in a great place. No, something was definitely off. She'd let him get what he needed to get done today and go see him tonight. She did still owe him a dinner, even if he hadn't known about the one she'd had planned last night.

She decided to call her mom before JT got there. "Hola, Mamá. How was church?"

"Good, but you'd know that if you came." Her mom seemed never to miss an opportunity to needle her about something. She rolled her eyes, thankful the call was audio and not video.

Sofia pushed ahead. "So, Mamá, how was the lesson with JT yesterday?"

Her mother was quiet for a moment. "Bien. He is a good cook, I think."

Sofia blew out a breath. Thank God for small favors. "He is an excellent chef," Sofia agreed. "He was very excited to learn. Are you doing tamales today?"

"Sí. With the pork," her mother confirmed. "I will send some for you."

"Gracias, Mamá," Sofia said. She was always happy to have tamales. "I'll let you go. I know JT will be there soon."

"Adiós, mija."

"Adiós, Mamá."

Well, that was both good news and bad news. Sofia was glad that her mother had actually given JT a compliment, so it had gone well, but she was no closer to figuring out what was going on with him. She'd have to wait until he was finished and find out at dinner. She didn't want to end up with a ruined dinner like last night, so she decided she was going to have to invite him instead of trying to surprise him this time.

Sofia:

She waited and watched for the bubbles that would show her he was answering. Nothing. She loaded the dishwasher then looked again. Still nothing. Maybe he was driving? On the way to her mom's house and hadn't looked at her text yet? She'd give it a few more minutes. She made her bed and straightened the pillows on her couch trying to distract herself. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer and looked at her phone again. He had seen the message. Her phone told her in no uncertain terms – Read: 11:56 am. No response. What the hell was going on?

JT sat in his truck in Mrs. Benevides' driveway with a sense of déjà vu. He'd sat here exactly like this only yesterday. But yesterday, he'd been nervous about impressing Sofia's mom. Today, he was overcome by a feeling of impending doom. Sofia had texted him again, wanting to cook for him. Before yesterday, he would have thought the gesture incredibly sweet. Now, he didn't want to be anywhere near that apartment. The place where he had seen Jesse and Sofia together. What was she planning anyway? Would this be the night she tried to let him down easy? Tell him she still had feelings for Jesse and their little 'fling' was over? But it wasn't a fling for him, and before last night, he would have said it wasn't for her either.

He scrubbed his hands up and down his face in frustration. He had to get in there and learn to make the best damn tamales in the county no matter what chaos was going on in his personal life. He couldn't let down his sister and the business. He rested his forehead on the steering wheel, promising himself just one more calming breath, when a loud knock came at his window. He jumped so high he almost hit his head on the roof of the Jeep. There stood Mrs. Benevides, hands on hips, looking at him like…he wasn't sure like what. The woman was so damn inscrutable! She tapped an imaginary watch on her wrist then turned and marched herself back into the house.

Fuck me!The general had spoken. He'd better get to it. His personal life was going to have to wait.

Chapter thirty