Page 67 of Just a Heartbeat Away

Matty was doing his best electric-shock-part-two impression. “Dad, can we stay for dinner?” He leaned in very close to Seb’s face, all hummus breath and bits of pretzel flying everywhere. “There’s usually cake on a birthday,” he whispered loud enough to make Via burst out laughing.

Seb was glad that someone was laughing. Because to him? This was mortifying. “We’re having dinner with Tyler and Mary, remember? To celebrate your grandparents leav—because we haven’t gotten to see them in a while.”

“They can come,” Via said, in that quiet, calm, easy way that justslayedSeb. “I obviously have plenty of food.”

“Oh. Are you sure? You’re going to cook for all of us on your birthday?”

She leaned forward, her voice low and conspiratorial. “Don’t you kind of want to see Fin and Tyler in the same room again?”

Seb grinned. Well, she made a good point.

She turned and let Matty capture her attention as they chatted about the hummus and the potential for birthday cake. Seb just watched her. Her color was back and the dullness in her eyes had faded almost completely. Maybe they were overstaying their welcome, he wasn’t sure. He was just glad they got to stay.

FINARRIVEDAT5:30 with a backpack full of cheap wine and fancy grape juice for Matty. She’d kissed both Seb and Matty full on the mouth, smelling like sage and lavender, and whisked through the house in a skirt that went to the floor.

She was blindingly beautiful, but Seb found himself completely comfortable around her now that she was simply his friend.

Mary and Tyler arrived together at six, when they would have arrived at Seb’s. Mary had a small gift in tow, and Tyler had delighted Via with a handful of pink carnations. Seb wished he had something to give to Via that would make her whole face go long and open and lit up like that.

He’d settled for being her sous chef while she cooked for everyone. Though he had to admit that it was probably more of a gift for himself than it was for her, standing hip-to-hip at the counter, his elbow brushing hers every so often. Seb held his breath and butchered some tomatoes he was supposed to be dicing when she laid one hand on his shoulder to boost herself up to an overhead cabinet.

He studied his handiwork. “I really can’t tell if I’m making this easier or harder on you by offering my cooking skills.”

She gave up on reaching the spice she’d been grappling for and bit her smile back as she peered at his gelatinous mess of tomato on the cutting board. She looked up at Seb, her eyebrows raised and her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Well, it’ll still taste the same, won’t it?” he asked anxiously.

Via burst out laughing. Seb couldn’t help but drop his eyes to her mouth. “You’re doing fine, Seb.”

He laughed with her but a truth had just come crashing down around his ears. He liked her so much he waswillingto torture himself by being around her. His mother-in-law’s advice echoed in his head. Her voice was spooky and ominous, and he knew Muriel would have rolled her eyes at how melodramatic he was being. But he wondered if she was right. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, the adult thing to do here would be to respectfully tell Via of his feelings. No pressure, just information.

He nearly jolted at that treacherous line of thought. So what if she dumped Evan? Would that matter, really? Even if she fell into Seb’s arms, his arms would still be forty-two years old. With a kid and a baggage claim full of issues. He tersely reminded himself Evan wasn’t in the way of him and Via. Everything was in the way of him and Via.

She tapped his shoulder and he turned, looking down at her.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t mind her kicking her boyfriend to the curb, though.

“Mind grabbing that lemon pepper?”

He easily reached up into the cabinet and handed it down to her.

“Thanks.” She grinned up at him, all golden skin and amber-brown eyes and crooked teeth and damn. Just. Damn.

He cleared his throat. “Can’t believe you got Matty to eat that hummus earlier today.”

“Sometimes kids just need you to make the choice for them.”

He nodded, in total agreement on that front. “You’re really good with kids. Did you always know that you wanted to work with them?”

“Mmm, since I was twenty or so. At that point, I’d had two years of college under my belt and I was far enough away from the system to feel a little less...haunted by it. And that was around the time that Jetty passed. Fin and I had to go through her house, her belongings, and I saw physical evidence of all the ways she’d supported me through the years. Trophies, photos, letters from me to her. It made me realize how much she’d done for me. Made me want to do the same for other kids.”

“Made you want to foster?”

“Maybe someday,” she said as she weighed her head from side to side. “I think I’d be a good mom. But I’ll need a lot more money for that.” She grinned at him. “And a much larger apartment.”

He turned away from her quickly, momentarily stunned by that easy smile of hers. She wanted to be a mom but wasn’t ready...for circumstantial reasons. Did that mean that if she suddenly had more money and a bigger place, she was emotionally ready to be a mom?

His stomach churned as she moved around next to him, sliding his tomato mush into a pot and then placing some onions to dice on his cutting board.

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