Page 34 of Redeemed

Sofia grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. "JT, wait! It's not what you think."

JT turned and removed her hand from his arm. He noticed for a second it was ice cold. Or maybe it only felt that way because he was burning up. He met her eyes for a moment before dropping her hand. "Good-bye, Sofia."

Sofia gasped at the pain she saw in his eyes. It shocked her so much she stood frozen with her hand in mid-air where he had left it. Without another word, he was gone, down the sidewalk and was climbing in his Jeep, burning rubber against the asphalt.

"Well, that was unpleasant," Jesse commented sardonically.

Sofia's eyes blazed. She poked him hard in the middle of his chest. "Shut up, Jesse. You did this on purpose. You could see us through the window. You knew he was here. How dare you? Get out!"

"I only wanted to apologize for being an ass last night. How was I to know your little farm boy would get so upset about me visiting you?" Jesse said, derogatorily.

Sofia pushed him. "Get out, I said!" she yelled again. "I will call the police if you don't leave right now. And don't come back!"

Jesse threw his hands up in surrender and took a step out the door. "Fine. I'll go. No need to be so dramatic, baby."

An animalistic sound left Sofia's lips as she hurled the roses at him. She was so furious she had no more words to spare for him. She slammed the door in his face. Her chest heaved with her angry breathing until she felt she was going to pass out. She dropped into an armchair. Her hands balled into fists on her lap. Santo Padre! She couldn't decide who she was more infuriated with – Jesse for showing up uninvited and giving JT the impression that they had been seeing each other, or JT for not listening to her explanation of what he had actually seen last night. At least now she knew why he had been avoiding her. She had to figure out a way to make him listen and believe that she didn't want Jesse. She only wanted him.

Chapter thirty-two

A Tsunami of Tension

JThadn'tbeenableto sleep after the confrontation at Sofia's. He had friends coming to help him start prepping for the wedding the next morning so he figured he and Jose Cuervo shouldn't buddy up that night either but man, he had missed him. He'd worked out in his home gym until his arms and legs were shaking but still couldn't relax enough to sleep. Instead, he decided to go in extra early and try some cleaning therapy instead.

JT's mind was whirling as he scrubbed the flat top in the kitchen for the third time. The kitchen sparkled like it was brand new, but still his mind wouldn't settle. He'd thought he and Sofia had something special going on. He hadn't been worried so much about his crazy meter being off as they'd known each other and been friends for years. He would have never believed in a million years that she would cheat on him. She'd even had an out but didn't take it. Instead, she'd been seeing the giant mountain fucker behind his back.

This was exactly why he'd sworn off women. He'd been right all along. Being alone was better than this gut-wrenching anger and sadness he was feeling. There wasn't enough bleach in the world to scrub these feelings away, but he kept trying. He had this wedding to get through.More happy fucking people to deal with. Once it was done, he was taking some time off. He'd find someone to fill in for him for a while and go somewhere to get his head sorted out. Get out of this little town and lose himself somewhere for a while. Yeah, that was a good plan. But first he had to get through the next week with Sofia in front of him all the time. He'd just have to keep his head down and concentrate on the café and this wedding and try to keep his sister from getting wind of what had gone down with him and Sofia. That may actually be the hardest part.

He was about to clean out the walk in again when Julio and Ramon Garza came knocking on the back door. They were twins and friends he'd made in culinary school. They had been trying to find a permanent place in Dallas or Tyler but had been moving around working as sous chefs for the last year. Luckily, they'd had some time to come help him get this crazy wedding together.

"Hey, Jefe! Nice place!" Julio said, shaking JT's hand and pulling him in for a bro hug.

"You got the inspector from hell coming or what, man?" Ramon said, giving him a fist bump as he looked around the sparkling kitchen.

JT rubbed his jaw. "Naw, couldn't sleep so thought I'd come down to clean a while."

The brothers looked at each other knowingly then back at JT. "Woman trouble," they said in unison.

JT scowled. "Can't a guy just want a clean place? I'm an insomniac. I needed something to do."

"Whatever you say, bro," Julio said, smirking at him. "But only time I've ever seen a dude not sleeping and doing shit like this is when he's got woman trouble." He raised an eyebrow at JT. "But, if you say that's not it, then okay."

"I say," JT announced. "And have y'all heard from Cassie?"

"Yeah, she'll be here any time," Ramon answered. "She's staying with her grandma in Kerens while she's working here so she's just up the road."

"Good. Now let's get to work. We've got a million things to do before I have to open for breakfast," JT told them.

The brothers washed their hands and threw on aprons ready to slice and dice. They nodded at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. Cassie would get whatever was eating their buddy out of him once she got there. Girls were good at that kind of shit, and she was a master. They couldn't hide anything from her when they were in school. Julio and Ramon merely had to sit back and wait for Cassie to pry the answers out of him.

JT looked at the brothers with a frown. He hated that weird twin communication shit. He could always tell when they were doing it and it freaked him out a little. They did it all the time when they were in school. Super handy in the kitchen, but he was sure this one was about him. Damn. And they'd let Cassie know something was up as soon as she got here, and he'd never get a bit of peace over the next week. Having his friends come help out had seemed like such a good idea at the time. He sighed and pulled out the recipes they were going to start with.

Sofia made it a point to get to work early that morning, hoping to catch JT alone. She had to make him listen to her and explain what had really gone on. Much to her chagrin, she found three other people in the kitchen with him that she didn't recognize. She stood in the doorway watching all the activity until one of the guys, with his long, black hair pulled back in a manbun, elbowed JT. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Sofia in the doorway.

His eyes slid from hers almost immediately and he practically turned his back to her before he spoke. He motioned back and forth with his knife. "Hey, Sofia. Meet Julio, Cassie, and Ramon. They're going to be helping me in the kitchen and prepping for the wedding. Everybody, this is Sofia. She's our front of house manager and does sales for the event side."

Cassie and the Garza brothers looked back and forth between Sofia in the doorway and JT who had gone back to dicing up onions. "Hey, nice to meet you Sofia," they chorused as they felt the tension jack up to tsunami levels in the room.

Sofia tried to smile at the newcomers. "Nice to meet y'all. Please let me know if you need anything," she managed before returning to the dining room to get ready for the breakfast crowd. It seemed she wouldn't be able to get JT to talk to her any time soon.