Page 3 of Redeemed

The man in the dress shirt looked her up and down slowly before answering. He gave his friend a calculated look. Both turned to Sofia with smiles that she thought looked more predatory than friendly. She stood still waiting for the man to address her directly.

Dress pants stood and held out a hand. “Sofia, my name is Michael Long and this is my friend, Hector Olivares. I received your name from Magda Flores. She said I should look you up if I was ever in the area, and, well I was in the area.” He chuckled at his own perceived humor giving her a smile with lots of white teeth.

Sofia looked at his hand before reaching out and giving it a perfunctory shake. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy Gladewater, but despite what my aunt may have told you, I’m not looking for a date.”

He gave her a condescending smile. “Ah, well, aren’t we all looking for love, though? It would be a shame to let a woman as beautiful as yourself sit on a shelf.”

Sofia smiled tightly. “Again, gentlemen, I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time. Can I get you some lunch?”

“Woah, this one is wound up tight. I think she needs you to loosen her up, man,” the second man muttered under his breath. They both snickered.

Sofia saw red. She didn’t care what Tia Magda thought of her. She wasn’t going to put up with men treating her this way.

Her voice grew low and menacing. She threw a finger up to point directly at them as she spoke. "Look, assholes. I wouldn’t go out with a sorry excuse for a man like you even if you were the last one on earth. How dare you come in here, to my work, and disrespect me like this! You both get up right now and disappear from my sight and never come back!”

“Now, wait a minute, here,” Michael said, grabbing her around her upper arm. “There’s no need to get all riled up, baby.”

Sofia jerked her arm from his grip. Her voice grew louder. “I am not your baby and don’t touch me!”

At that, JT came barreling out of the kitchen in Jenny’s wake. The young woman hadn’t liked the way the men had been leering at Sofia and had gone to fetch JT.

He arrived just as Sofia jerked her arm away. “What the hell’s going on here?” he asked, his tone hard and menacing.

The man glared at JT and took his measure. Several long moments ticked past before the man spoke. “Nothing,” he finally said. “A misunderstanding. We were just leaving. Come on, Hector.”

The men grabbed their hats and stalked out the door. Michael looked back once and gave Sofia an angry look.

JT stood with Sofia until the bell over the door tinkled and they were gone. “What was that about?” he asked, fists clenching over the way they had grabbed Sofia.

She looked around, suddenly embarrassed that this had happened in front of customers. She was glad it was, at least, near the end of the lunch rush and there weren’t too many people around. “Not here,” she whispered, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

“Jenny, can you please make sure everyone has everything they need?” Sofia requested. The girl just nodded, her eyes wide, and went to do what she was asked.

“I’m so sorry, JT. That never should have happened in front of customers. I totally get your being mad at me.”

“Mad at you? Hell, Sofia, I’m not mad at you but I was about to wipe the floor with that asshole for touching you like that! Who were those guys?”

Sofia blew out a long breath and leaned against the counter, wrapping her arms around herself. “That was apparently supposed to be a ‘blind date’ but no one bothered to tell me I’d been set up on one.”

JT still looked angry but now confusion laced his expression. Sofia sighed again. “Remember I told you about Selena wanting me to contact my Tia Magda to set me up on a dates? Well, apparently, Selena talked to her and Magda started matchmaking without my knowledge. She apparently gave this guy my information and told him he should just ‘drop by’ if he was ever in the area. I think he was given the idea that she had a desperate niece in Gladewater, if you know what I mean.” Sofia could feel the flush rising up to her hairline.

“Your aunt sent those guys all the way out here to check you out?” JT asked incredulously. Sofia nodded. She wouldn’t meet his eyes and that made JT even more upset. Her family was treating her like a piece of meat and had embarrassed her. He ran his hands through his hair and paced in a circle trying to get his temper under control.

Finally, he stopped in front of her, placing a finger under her chin and tipping her head up to meet his eyes. “I’m so sorry they’re doing this to you, Sofia. It’s messed up. Does your mom know about it? I can't see her signing on for sending random men into your work. I mean, my mom is constantly on me about giving her grandkids before she dies but she’s not sending random women to my work.”

He flashed her a grin and for just a moment, she saw a glimpse of the old JT in his mischievous eyes. “Although, I could stand to see a parade of honeys coming through my door.” The grin died a moment later. “Lord knows I’m not doing too well picking them out myself,” he mumbled under his breath. “Anyway, I don’t know why they think you can’t get your own dates – you’re sweet, upbeat, knock out gorgeous – you could have any man you wanted.”

Sofia stood there stunned. He'd said it so matter-of- factly, like he hadn't just spun her whole existence on its axis.He thinks I’m sweet and knock out gorgeous? Breathe, Sofia.

JT suddenly realized what he had said and how much he meant the compliment that had just spilled out of his mouth. By the odd look on Sofia’s face, his confession may have been too much but somehow it felt right.

“Hey, how about we get out of here when we close up and go see if the Hawaiian ice truck is still open?” JT asked, casually reaching up to tuck a wisp of hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear, suddenly needing to touch her in some small way.

“Uh, I’m sorry, what?” Sofia asked, his quick touch bringing her out of her reverie. She’d completely missed what he said.

“I said, how about we go see if Gary has his Hawaiian ice truck opened still after we get done here. Last time I talked to him, he said he was opening this week and, hell, it’s still hot enough for it.”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Sofia agreed, trying to regain her composure. “I’d better go help Jenny get everything finished up then. See you in a few.”

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