Page 16 of Just a Heartbeat Away

He raised his eyebrows and nodded, offering her a piece of gum that she accepted. “That makes one of us. I had a decidedly bad day at work.” He held up one bandaged arm.

“Oh my God!” Via leaned forward, as if she might be able to see through the bandage. “What happened?”

“Lost a fight with a band saw.”

“I...thought you were an architect?” She racked her memory for all the things she knew about Sebastian Dorner: Thor look-alike, widower, architect, father. She could admit to herself that it wasn’t a very comprehensive list.

“I was. But I quit after, ah, when Matty was in your class, actually. I’m a furniture maker now.” He lifted his ass off the library chair and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He quickly exited out of some messages and then handed his phone over to Via.

Her mouth dropped open when she took in his webpage. “Sebastian, youmadeall this?”

She was floored, utterly floored. There were coffee tables and side tables and dinner tables. Chairs and bookcases and bed sets. All the wood he used was buttery and glowing, rich in tone and cut into interesting shapes. Every piece had some natural feature, like a knot or a live edge. He’d also integrated some sort of copper or steel into each piece in some way. It was utterly stunning.

When she looked up, he was grinning, with just a bit of color staining his cheeks. “Yup, I made all that.”

“You’re an artist.” She stared at his profile as she handed his phone back over. She thought of his rumpled suits from two years ago. For some reason, she’d never thought that he would have a creative side.

He lifted his hips to put his phone away, and the movement pressed his shoulder firmly into Via’s. “I try.”

“Do you have a studio?”

“Yeah. It’s in our backyard, actually. It was part of the reason we moved. I was sick of schlepping over to Red Hook to work in a rented space twice a day.”

“Why would you go twice a day?”

“Well, I’m a lunch monitor, so I always come back here at lunchtime.”

A light clicked on. “Oh, I see, so you take a break in the middle of your day to come do lunch monitor duty.”

He nodded. “And I run the second-grade soccer program on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.”

By her calculations, that meant that Sebastian was with his kid in the mornings, lunchtime and immediately after school. “Matty’s lucky to have his dad around so much.”

He blinked, those light eyes squinting as if he were trying to translate what she’d just said into a different language.

“All right, brilliant people! Palms up for positivity!” The staff meeting started, and thirty minutes later, Via found herself shoulder-to-shoulder with Sebastian, swinging their arms to and fro while Principal Grim led them all in a tight little cha-cha. She couldn’t help but grin up at him, and he grinned right back.

Principal Grim was just about to end the meeting when Sebastian stepped forward, jamming his hands in his pockets in a way that instantly brought Matty to Via’s mind.

“Principal Grim, I was wondering if I could make a quick request?”

“The floor is yours, Mr. Dorner.”

Every eye in the room switched to Sebastian. Via watched in amazement as most of those eyes, young and old, cruised lazily from his face to his body and back again. He was seriously a big-ticket item at this school.

“I’m having a bit of trouble with the second-grade soccer group.”

Via looked up at him in surprise.

“It’s a bigger group than last year and rowdier. I have a few other parent volunteers, but honestly none of us know what the hell we’re doing with the higher-needs kids. So, I was wondering if one of you brilliant, selfless, awe-inspiring trained educators wouldn’t mind observing for a few practices? Maybe teach me some strategies to maintain order?”

For the second time in less than an hour, Via was utterly floored by Sebastian Dorner. He seemed like such a he-man. But here he was, asking for help, like it was no big deal. He was admitting that he’d been struggling, that he wanted to do better, to learn. She looked up at him standing there, such a huge, competent presence. And for the first time, she noticed the gray at his temples and smattered through his dark head of hair. A thought struck her.This is a grown man.

“I’ll help, Sebastian,” Sadie called out from across the room, tossing her chin-length red hair back. A few other ladies scowled, obviously having wanted to help the fabulous Mr. Dorner themselves. “I had most of those kids in my class last year anyway.”

“Great!” His smile transformed his face, squint lines and all those white teeth.

Via shifted in her seat and cleared her throat.

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