Page 41 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“Text back, ‘Feel like company? Via and I could bring by some breakfast for you.’”

“I’m not texting that!” Via slid the melon into the bowl and started dicing mango.

“Why?” Fin shouted back, her voice echoing from the bathroom and down the hall. Via’s neighbors probably hated when Fin came over for bath time.

“It’s pushy. I’m sure he doesn’t want guests over right now, and I wasn’t invited along on your...date in the first place. It would be so weird for me to show up.”

“Look, Violetta, either we can take the long way, and I can slowly convince you that it’s fine, or you can just trust yourpsychicfriend that this is all going to be just fine, okay? Text him.”

Via didn’t respond, but she did send the text. Fin could be a pain in the ass, but she was usually right about these things.

It was less than a minute before Fin’s phone vibrated again. Via picked it up and cleared her throat. “He says, ‘Actually, that would be great. I have two friends over to see Matty, and neither of the bums thought to bring anything to eat. Is that too many people to feed?’”

“Text back, ‘Be there in forty-five minutes with breakfast in hand. Feel free to kick us out whenever you want.’”

Via chuckled and sent the text and then picked up her own phone, just as a new text from Evan popped up. She clicked out of the message without reading it and went into her text strand with Seb from last night. She smiled at it. He was funny.

Hey, Fin tells me we’re coming over. Does Matty need anything in particular that we could pick up on the way?

She clicked back and read the text from Evan. He was visiting his parents upstate and obviously very bored.Just got a new high score on QuizUp!She could think of exactly zero things to say back to that.

Seb texted back, and she immediately read it.

His royal highness has requested a Nintendo DS because he’s ‘sick and deserves one anyways.’ Do not get him that. I repeat. Do not come here with a Nintendo DS. Some tissues would be nice.

Sounds like he’s feeling better ;)

Modern medicine, am I right?

Her fingers paused over the keys before she exited out of the text strand and instead called Evan. He answered on her first ring.

“Hey, baby.”

She smiled at his smooth baritone. So familiar. “Hey.” She regretted fighting with him yesterday.

“Whatcha up to?”

She cleared her throat. “Fin and I are visiting a friend from school for breakfast. That guy you met at the farmers market? Sebastian? Well, his kid got sick, so we’re gonna go visit.”

“That’s nice. You knew him from before, right? You had Matty in pre-K?”

She felt a burst of love for Evan. He’d always been a good listener. She had so many students and so many different stories about them. It really was kind of remarkable that he could keep track of all of them.

“Yes. Right before I met you, actually.”

“I remember how worried you were about the kid. His mom had just died?”

“Yeah.” Sadness crept into her voice. “What are you up to this morning?”

She could hear some clicks and pings in the background that indicated he was probably still playing QuizUp while they were talking.

“I’m just hanging out until noon, and then I have a meeting with my dad’s friend from work. Remember, I told you about that?”

“Right!” How could she have forgotten? She’d been wanting to help prepare him for this meeting. It was really important that he got it right. “He’s going to try to pull some strings to get you hired on as a paralegal in BK, right?”

“I guess.”

His noncommittal tone had her stomach sinking. He could come across as very aloof if he wasn’t interested in something. She didn’t want his dad’s friend to think he wasn’t serious about getting a job. “Do you have your résumé with you?”

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