Page 38 of Redeemed

Maggie gave him a narrowed look. "I would think you'd know better than me."

Well, fuck. She knew about the break up.JT scrubbed his hands down his face. "Fine, you know about us. But really, she looks bad. It can't just be that."

"You're right," Maggie conceded, softening a bit toward her brother with his concern. "She was just at the house a couple of days ago. She was upset about you but looked fine. I'm not sure what's happened." She poked him in the chest. "You need to get over yourself and talk to her, brother mine. I mean it. You don't have the whole picture."

JT huffed out a frustrated breath. "Yeah, I know. After we get through today, I'll talk to her," JT conceded. He locked eyes with hers. "You, however, need to stay out of it."

Maggie scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean it, Mags. And, today, you sit and supervise. You shouldn't even be going. Dr. McIntyre is going to have a fit when she finds out."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, Warden. Don't worry. Zane will be there monitoring me," she said on an exasperated sigh. "He'd only let me go if he goes with us to make sure I don't overdo it. Really, y'all treat me like a child. It's embarrassing and annoying."

JT kissed the top of her head. "We just know you too well. I'm glad he's going to be there," he admitted. "Y'all watch out for Sofia today, okay? I'm going to be stuck back in the kitchen all day and something is off."

"Of course," Maggie replied, making a shooing motion with her hands. "Now get back to work. We need to be on the road in fifteen minutes."

Sofia chose to drive herself to the venue. She couldn't bear being in anyone's company. If she rode with Maggie and Zane, she knew she'd be questioned unceasingly, and she refused to allow Maggie to worry about her. She needed to keep her blood pressure down for the babies. And she couldn't face riding with JT and the kitchen crew. Their happy faces and good-natured ribbing would be like salt in her wounds knowing she didn't belong in their group.

She knew she looked haggard. Since the confrontation in her office, Jesse had been calling and texting her non-stop, alternating between compliments and begging to see her, and calling her names, and sending veiled threats. She'd blocked his number, but he'd simply started contacting her from others. He was obsessed, and she was scared. She hadn't physically seen him anywhere, but she made sure her doors and windows were locked and was always hyper aware of her surroundings. Even her car doors remained locked at all times. The stress was about to eat her alive.

As she drove up and parked near the back door to the venue kitchen, she was glad to see lots of people around. It was controlled chaos for an event this size and she was happy to dive in and try to forget her troubles for a while. She unloaded the few things she had brought in her car then went to find Maggie so they could begin setting up tables. An inadvertent giggle escaped her lips when she found her. Zane had her sitting in a wing backed chair with an ottoman under her feet in the middle of the dining space. She had no idea where he had gotten it, but it looked like nothing less than Maggie sitting on her throne directing her minions. She heard Maggie arguing as she walked up to them.

"I cannot sit in this ridiculous chair all day," Maggie exclaimed, while Zane hovered over her trying to put pillows behind her back. "I have to organize everyone."

Zane simply handed her an electronic device and flashed the smile he used on recalcitrant patients. Furrows appeared on Maggie's brow as she recognized it. "You can see everything from here and with this," he said, motioning to the headset he'd just handed his annoyed wife, "You can coordinate with Sofia and JT." He turned his smile on Sofia and handed her a matching headset before turning back to Maggie. "And, my darling," he continued, "if you refuse to sit in this chair and coordinate from here, I will simply pick you and the girls up and take you home." He flashed her his brilliant smile with his threat and rubbed her belly affectionately.

"Fine. I'll sit in the stupid chair," Maggie huffed at him, rolling her eyes. He knew she could never resist that smile. "Sofia, let's make sure these silly things work. Mama loved them when she catered big parties, but I've never used them."

They spent a couple of minutes making sure the headsets were working and going over the seating plans before Sofia hopped up to find Jenny and the rest of their staff for the day to get started dressing the tables. She reviewed the flower placements with the florist and made sure everyone understood the place setting and seating arrangements before confirming the gift table was where it was supposed to be. Sofia glanced at her watch. Two hours to go. She knew she needed to go check with the kitchen and make sure everything was running on time, but she was putting it off. As soon as the thought went through her head, her headset squawked, and she jumped.

"Hey, Sofia. Can you go check on the kitchen? I've been trying to get JT but he's either not got his headset on or has it turned off," Maggie said. Sofia could hear the exasperation in her voice. "I want to make sure they are going to be ready to go with the first of the hors d'oeuvres as soon as the people start arriving."

Sofia tried to put all the positivity in her voice she could manage. "Sure thing. I'll go right now. The tables should be completed in the next few minutes." She turned to smile at Maggie and give her a little wave where she sat on her 'throne' across the room.C'mon, Sofia. You can do this.

She squared her shoulders as she pushed through the kitchen doors and ran straight into Julio carrying a large pan with something very green in it. The fragrant sauce splashed Sofia all down her white Common Grounds polo shirt and pants.

"Qué diablos?"Sofia exclaimed, wiping at the warm green sauce on her shirt.

"Ah, shit, Sofia, I'm sorry!" Julio blurted. He quickly placed the pan on a counter and started swiping at her with a kitchen towel. As the green goo was all over her chest, Sofia took the towel from him and tried to wipe the mess off herself.

"It's okay," she assured him as she wiped. "I should have come in more carefully. I know how crazy the kitchen gets at events." She brought a finger to her lips to taste some of the sauce. "Basil?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Julio confirmed. "Enchiladas with basil cream sauce. They're one of the vegetarian options along with portobello 'steaks'."

Sofia licked her finger again. "It's really good, anyway. Doesn't do anything for my shirt though."

Julio looked pained. She gave him a smile and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, really. I have a change of clothes. Maggie insists we always bring extras for just such an accident."

As she dropped her hand from Julio's shoulder, she looked up to find JT scrutinizing her from across the kitchen. He looked like he had frozen mid-chop on something on the board in front of him. She tried to read his expression but wasn't sure what to make of it.

Since she had his attention at the moment, she cleared her throat and addressed him, trying desperately to make her voice sound confident. She pointed to her own head and then to JT's noting the lack of headset. "You don't have your headset on. Maggie's been trying to reach you to make sure everything is going to be ready to go out as soon as the first guests start arriving."

JT blinked then seemed to realize he needed to answer her. "I can't work in that stupid thing. Tell my sister if I think something is running behind, I'll send someone to let her know," he grumbled to her. "Otherwise, she should assume I can do my job."

Their eyes stayed locked on each other's for a long beat before JT's ran up and down the length of her. Sofia swallowed. She'd really missed him looking at her like that, then she remembered she was covered in green sauce. That was probably what he was looking at. She suppressed a disappointed sigh. "Okay then, I'll let her know everything is running to plan," Sofia offered. "I'm going to go change."

JT watched her swing around and push back through the doors. No one should be able to make uniform pants look so good. Fingers snapped in front of his face. "You're going to lop off a finger if you don't watch what you're doing," Cassie admonished him and he realized he was still doing the chiffonade of cilantro without paying attention. He stopped abruptly.

"Well, shit! Thanks, Cassie. Don't know what I was thinking," JT said, chagrined.