Page 53 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“I made you some Italian cabbage soup. My mother always made it when I was sick. It’ll keep for a few days so you can eat it whenever you want.”

Sebastian pushed off the blanket and moved to stand.

“Oh! You want some now?” she asked. “I’ll get it.”

“You don’t have to do that, Via.”

“No, no!” She waved her hands in the air and was already darting out of the living room toward the kitchen. “Let me! Please, it’s half the fun of making food for someone.”

She served him a bowl and filled up a tall glass of ice water. She figured he’d feel awkward if she didn’t take some for herself as well, so she put an identical serving on a tray and carried the whole thing out to the living room.

Sebastian’s eyes were closed when she stepped toward the couch but as soon as she set the food down, he was sitting back straight, scraping a hand over his face.

“Are you sure you’re up for eating?”

“Honestly, my throat is killing me, but I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

She tsked and nudged his bowl forward. “I hope you don’t mind that I raided your kitchen to make all this.”

“Mind? Please. I’d been side-eyeing that cabbage since the weekend, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with it.”

She laughed. “You bought it without a recipe in mind?”

Sebastian shrugged, taking a bite of soup and wincing. “My throat,” he told her when he caught her eye. “Tastes so good, though. Yeah, I always try to buy a bunch of vegetables and then figure out what the heck to do with them. Cora used to do all the cooking, so I was pretty lost for a while after she passed. But I can make a fair stir-fry. Smoothies in the morning. Pancakes. Frittata. Tacos. Toward the end of the week, I’ll make a huge kitchen sink omelette and just toss in everything we have left.”

For some reason, that made Via smile around her soupspoon. “Smart.”

He shrugged again, and she could see how sick he really was, purple under his eyes and his face lined.

She glanced at Matty. “Can he hear us?”

Sebastian shook his head. “He’s dead to the world right now. Freaks me out sometimes. Like, I could get murdered by aliens and he wouldn’t even know.”

Via laughed and set her soup aside. Her stomach flipped. Hard.

“Everything all right?” he asked, his voice a little less gritty after the hot soup had loosened up his throat.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you something.” She plunged right in, even though she felt terribly awkward. “While Sadie and I were walking home, Matty told us about, ah, your dating life a bit.” She could feel her color rising. “And he mentioned that he didn’t understand why you couldn’t find someone who wanted to be a mother. And I told him that finding the right person was harder than it sounded and required a little magic. And I just wanted you to know that that was how I handled it, in case you want to talk to him more later. I just didn’t want him to tell you what I said and then feel super weird.”

She was sure her face was bright red by now as Sebastian stared at her, his spoon in the air. After a second, he took another bite of soup.

“As an education professional,” he asked carefully, “did you get the impression that he was talking about it because he feels confused and needed to run it past you?”

“Ah.” Via went even redder. “No. I think he’s pretty clear on most of it.”

“Then why was he talking about it?”

Oh God. Thanks, Sadie, you nosy ass!“Well, Sadie might have been fishing for some details on the Fabulous Mr. Dorner.”

He face-palmed. “Oh, for the love of God, tell me that nobody actually calls me that.”

“You can’t blame the flamingos for being curious about the lion.”

He laughed and then winced, bringing his hand to his throat. He set his soup aside and took a few grateful swigs of ice water. “Can I ask what Matty said?”

Via cleared her throat. “Just that you were always honest with him about your dates, where you were going and who you were going to see. And that you’d had to cancel a few dates because you were sick.”

Sebastian nodded and she wondered if it was the lighting or if his cheeks had gone a little pink. “Yeah.” He traced a hand over his hair. “I’m trying to get back out there.”

---