Page 6 of Redeemed

He chuckled a bit at the memory of the men's shocked faces as Sofia dressed them down. He had missed most of what she had said but seeing her standing there, one finger right in the man’s face and the other on her hip had been a sight to see. “She was magnificent, actually. She gave them what for, that’s for sure.”

Dani gave him a little side-eye, catching the appreciation in JT’s tone.Hmmmm, that’s interesting.

“She's hopeful it's over. Her mom was going to talk to her sister about stopping the crazy matchmaking efforts but that doesn't mean they don't still want her married off." He sliced another couple of pieces of wood off the main stick. "Mama likes to get a dig in at me now and again about how she’s going to be too old to enjoy her grandchildren if I don’t get with the program, though I guess Maggie has given me a break from that for a while, but she’d never be sending random women to work that she picked out for me!”

“Yeah, your mama is over the moon over these babies. Those are going to be a couple of spoiled kids,” Dani said. “But damn, I hate that Sofia is going through that. There must be some solution.”

JT picked his stick and knife up and held them up. “And that’s why I’m whittling.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the people go about their business on Main Street, lost in their own thoughts. Dani suddenly sat up straight. “I may have thought of something.”

JT stopped whittling. “What?”

“What if...” she said slowly. “You were dating Sofia.”

He gaped at her. “I can’t date Sofia. That wouldn’t be right.”

“Not really date her,” she explained. “Be her pretend boyfriend. That way her family would have to back off. Sure, you might not be their first pick for her, but you are good looking.” She paused when he gave her a side-eye. "So people tell me. I can’t see it because eww, you’re practically my brother, but anyway…” She huffed out a breath in exasperation before she continued. “You’re also a successful businessman and popular in the community. What could they say against you?”

JT started to protest again but Dani stopped him with a hand. “No, listen. It’s diabolically perfect. You’ve been telling us you’ve sworn off women," she started with an eye roll. You and Sofia have been friends and coworkers forever, and she needs a honey to get her family to back off. Voila! Fake boyfriend to the rescue!”

He started to open his mouth again to tell her why it wouldn't work but then shut it and thought. It actually was a plausible idea, but he couldn’t imagine Sofia agreeing to it. “I see what you’re saying, and it could work, but I doubt Sofia would go for it. How would she find a real boyfriend if she was pretending with me?”

Dani looked at him like he was a bit slow. “When is the last time you saw Sofia with a boyfriend? She’s been devoted to the café and y’all. Look at her. If she wanted a man in her life right now, don’t you think she’d have one? She’s a real beauty and sharp as a whip besides.”

Thinking about it, JT had to agree. She was gorgeous with that shiny, raven's wing black hair, and dark brown eyes. Full red lips, even without a stitch of make-up on.Stop it, idiot. You’re just feeling deprived. It’s Sofia for God’s sake!He shook himself and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I could talk to her about it. See what she says.”

“What’s the worst that could happen? She tells you no and you’re insane,” Dani quipped. “You can always blame me for the idea. Feel free to throw me under the bus if she has an aversion to it.” She grinned at him. “Though something tells me, she’ll jump at the offer.”

JT shrugged. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow and see what she thinks. Thanks, Dani.”

“I hope it works out for you, bud. Now, I’m off to drag my husband away from the damn cows so he can take me to a fancy dinner in Tyler.” She sighed wistfully. “God, I love saying that- my husband.” With that she was off, and JT went back to whittling. This time, he had to figure out if this little plan of Dani’s could really work.

Chapter six

The Fake Boyfriend

Laterintheweek,JT caught Sofia pacing in the back hallway. Her face was tight and her eyes red like she’d been crying.

“What’s wrong, Sof?” He asked, putting a hand to her shoulder to stop the back and forth.

Sofia wiped a stray tear that had slid from her eye. “I’m just so mad, I could spit,” she said. “Tia Magda is at it again.”

JT rubbed a hand up and down her arm to try to offer comfort. “What did she pull this time?”

“My phone has been blowing up all morning with calls from random guys who said they got my info off of some dating site. I called Selena to try to figure out what was going on and she found me on Love4UDallas! Magda posted a picture of me and statistics without my permission! I’m going to have to change my phone number now.” Her face turned red, and JT could tell she was about to blow.

“Hold on a minute,” he said and walked toward the dining room calling for Jenny. “Hey, Jen. You okay with everything for a few minutes? I need to go over a couple of things with Sofia.”

“Sure, JT. Everyone has their orders for now. No worries.” She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes over her baby blue eyes, but he was oblivious.

“Great. Thanks,” he said and went back to Sofia. He ushered her out the back door and motioned for her to take a seat in his Jeep.

They sat in silence for several long moments. "Did you call her about it?" JT asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"No, I was too mad. If possible, Mamá was even madder. She's going to call her and let her have it." Sofia tried to smile but failed miserably. "Who knew Tia Magda could do something so crazy?"

Finally, he looked at her and started to speak. “So, I was talking to Dani the other day about what your family is putting you through. I know Magda has obviously taken things to the extreme, but I know they still talk a lot about you getting married.”

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