Page 12 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“And that hair!” Shelly was whispering to Grace. “My God, silkier than a woman’s!”

“I was too busy trying to pry my eyes off his face,” Grace whispered back.

“What’re we discussing?” Seb asked as he handed each of them a stick of gum, their usual routine before one of these meetings.

“The new counselor, Via DeRosa, brought her boyfriend to the end of our happy hour on Friday.”

“Oh.” Seb was surprised. Usually Grace and Shelly were gossiping about someone they’d seen onThe VoiceorDancing with the Stars. Not an actual person.

“And let me tell you,” Shelly continued, “that boy could be on television with that hair.”

“I’ve met him, actually. At the farmers market at Grand Army Plaza a few weeks ago.”

“So you agree then?” Grace asked.

“Oh sure. Totally. Great hair.” He grinned at his two friends and leaned back, letting them continue gossiping without him.

His eyes wandered around the room and he did a double take when he realized that Via was looking at him. Studying him, actually. She jumped a little when he caught her eye. He sent her a little salute and instantly rolled his eyes at himself.

A salute?What the hell was that?

She apparentlydidn’tthink it was the dumbest thing a man had ever done in the history of the world, though, because she sent a wave back his way.

The meeting was more of the same. Updates and policy reminders and handouts and the prerequisite get-up-and-jiggle-around as a full staff. This time, Seb found himself catching Via’s eye and grinning when Principal Grim had them bending forward into a shoulder shimmy, apparently to gear them up for the week. Via just grinned right back.

After the meeting, Seb picked up Matty from the after-school program and started digging through his backpack the second they hit the sidewalk. “You didn’t eat a single one of these apples I cut for you?”

“I tried one!”

Seb identified a single green apple slice with approximately three tooth marks in it. “Right. Well, it doesn’t count as your green thing for the day if you don’t actually eat it.”

“I’ll have my green thing at dinner.” Matty let his dad strap his backpack onto him as he leaned forward. “Wait! Is that Miss DeRosa?”

Seb looked up and sure enough, Via was walking half a block ahead of them. “Yeah. Didn’t I tell you she works at your school now?”

“No way?! Can I run and say hi?”

“Sure.”

Seb crunched into the apples his son hadn’t eaten as he watched him sprint up the block to Via, his backpack bouncing wildly with each step.

“Miss DeRosa! Miss DeRosa!”

Via turned and, when she saw it was Matty, smiled so brightly that Seb coughed on the apple he was swallowing.Damn.Packed a punch.

Right.A twenty-four-year-old punch, he reminded himself.

He swallowed his apple and sauntered up to them as she finally unhanded Matty from the hug she’d wrapped him up into.

“It’s so good to see you, Matty. I heard that you’re in Mrs. Foster’s class this year?”

“Yup. And I just got bumped from the red reading group to the blue one.”

“Wow! Matty, that’s so great.”

“Really?” Seb butted in. It was news to him. “Knuckles, my dude.”

Matty absently knocked fists with his dad, something they often did when one of them had a small victory, before he turned back to Miss DeRosa. “Yeah, the books were easier in the red group, but Joy is in the blue group.”

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