Page 29 of Redeemed

"Horchata," the woman pronounced. "Agua fresca with rice and cinnamon. It's good."

JT nodded as he lifted the glass to his mouth. He'd heard of Horchata before but had never tried it. It was light, creamy, and sweet, with hints of cinnamon and vanilla. He licked his lips appreciatively. "This really is good," he said, taking another sip. "Did you make this too?"

"Sí, it's very easy. I bet even you can make it." JT glanced up at the perceived slight but saw a hint of a smile playing on the woman's lips.

"I'd love to make it for the café," he told her. "I bet it would be really popular. Especially in the summer."

Mrs. Benevides nodded in satisfaction. "Agua frescas are popular always. You should have them."

They sipped in silence for a few more moments and JT had a chance to look around. There was a small, built-in desk in the corner of the kitchen that looked like a place to pay bills and store recipe books. He saw another picture of Sofia there. This time, it was Sofia and a boy with exceptionally broad shoulders that JT recognized. They were dressed up like they were going to church. He was in a sports coat and tie and Sofia was in a beautiful blue sundress. Sofia's mother saw him looking at it.

"That's Jesse and Sofia the night they got engaged," she said, a note of wistfulness in her voice.

JT's head snapped back to the small woman. His throat was suddenly tight. He swallowed hard. "Engaged?" he croaked.

"Sí, right before Jesse left for college." Mrs. Benevides went to the picture and picked it up. JT could see longing and sadness on her face. "We were so happy," she said. "He is a good boy. And very successful now." The woman nodded her head, seemingly agreeing with her own conclusions. "Ah, but Sofia didn't want to leave Gladewater and Jesse only wanted to be in the city. He had many big dreams."

JT simply stared. Sofia and Jesse had been engaged. And she hadn't told him. And now the man mountain was back sniffing around Sofia.HisSofia. He rubbed his chest where a dull ache had taken up residence. Why hadn't she told him?

"Uh, thanks, Mrs. Benevides for all this. I look forward to tasting the menudo tomorrow and starting the tamales," JT managed to say politely but his head was swimming. He had to get out of there.

"Twelve-thirty tomorrow," the woman instructed, and JT nodded his consent. "See you then."

Chapter twenty-seven

A Tale of Two Boys

Hehadnomemoryof getting back to his house, but he found himself sitting on the side of his bed in the dark. His thoughts were swirling out of control. One taking up most of the real estate – she had kept their engagement a secret. She'd had plenty of opportunities to mention it. It wasn't like they were kids. They were aware they'd both had other relationships. But she'd stayed silent about such a major thing. Why?

Was she scared to tell him? He knew he had a temper, but he'd never even had an argument with Sofia. He'd worked hard to keep his jealous streak where it came to her under control. And damn, it had been hard sometimes. He'd like to lock her in his bedroom and keep her there. Protect her from anything that would hurt her. But she was a strong, independent woman and he wanted her to be that, so he fought these new instincts to try and keep her only for himself. Had she felt it anyway? No, he couldn't believe that Sofia would ever think he would hurt her or try to control her. They'd known each other too long for that to be the case.

Maybe she did really want to be with Jesse and didn't want to hurt him? They'd had an agreement to let each other go if they found someone they wanted to be with…But that had been when they'd been pretending. Did she want Jesse and didn't know how to let him down now that they had declared themselves a 'real' relationship? They had more of a history than he'd been led to believe, and the man was obviously still interested in her. Could that be it? She wanted him still?

He opened the side table drawer and fished under papers and detritus until he found the black velvet jewelry box hidden there. He opened it and looked at the infinity necklace. Had it only been a few days ago that he had been planning a special night for Sofia to give her this? It now seemed so juvenile and wholly inadequate.

His chest ached to think about it, but should he let her go? Let her have Jesse and the life they had planned so long ago? If he was honest with himself, he knew she deserved a man like that. Asshole was successful, handsome and her family obviously loved him. They were fucking perfect for each other really. What did she have with him? Someone who'd never had a long-term relationship in his life. Someone who wasn't ever going to be anything but a cook in a small town. Yeah, technically he owned the business, but he had never really seen himself as a business owner, that was Maggie. He'd been fine with that, until now. He was just a small-town guy who got lucky and had the woman of his dreams for a little while. Now his dream was about to go up in smoke.

Sofia glanced at her watch. She was surprised she hadn't heard from JT yet about the afternoon cooking with her mom. Hopefully, that was a good sign and they were still working. She looked around her small apartment. The bistro table in the window was set. Salad was made and waiting to be dressed. The chicken breasts were stuffed with cheese and spinach and ready to go in the oven. She gave herself a little mental pat on the back. She had decided to make dinner for JT tonight as a surprise. He was always cooking for her and since he'd been cooking all day, she wanted to do this for him tonight. She was no chef but she had a few good recipes under her belt.

She had just put the stuffed chicken breasts in the oven when the doorbell rang.Talk about good timing!Her smile grew as she went to answer the door. "Boy, you can really time…" she started, opening the door, but it wasn't JT, it was Jesse.

"Oh, it's you," she said, surprised to see him.

"Yep, it's me," Jesse answered, a smug smile on his face. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, of course not, come on in," Sofia motioned him into the apartment. She had no idea what he could be doing there. "How did you know where I live?"

"Stopped by your parents' place," Jesse said, sitting on her sofa and crossing an ankle over his knee casually. Tonight, he was all in black – black leather jacket, black Henly that showed he was definitely still working out, black jeans and black boots. Somehow, he made jeans and a t-shirt look dressy.

"When?" Sofia asked. She hoped JT hadn't been there.

"Oh, about an hour ago," Jesse replied. "They invited me to dinner, but I declined. Selena was there with the kids, and I didn't need rugrats crawling all over me while I tried to eat. Selena's expecting another one, huh?"

Sofia frowned. JT had been finished for over an hour and hadn't called her yet? Had it gone badly? She should probably call Mamá and check before she called JT.

"Earth to Sofia." Jesse waved a hand in front of her face. She realized he'd still been talking, and she hadn't heard a thing.

"Sorry," she said on a breath. "A lot on my mind. What did you say?"

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