Page 60 of Just a Heartbeat Away

Knowing his in-laws enough to realize that neither of them actually expected an answer, Seb hiked his bag over his shoulder, took Crabby’s leash in one hand and Matty’s hand in the other.

He was halfway past the bleachers when he saw her. Hair dusting her shoulders as she leaned forward to tie one shoe and then the other. Those mid-length sweatpants hugged her in some very interesting places, and her team T-shirt was a size too large, which for some reason, Sebastian found adorable. She straightened up and was pulling her hair into a bun when she looked around and saw him staring at her.

He looked like a dope, he was sure, standing there with his arms overflowing with bags and kids and dogs and that look on his face like he thought she was just about the cutest thing to ever walk the Earth. But there was nothing he could do about that. Not really. It was just who he was. This was what he had going for him.

She waved a little, and Seb realized that he’d stopped walking in his tracks. He attempted a little wave back and ended up tangling Crabby’s leash with his softball bag. When he’d finally sat Matty down on the lowest bleacher, tied Crabby to one of the crossbars and re-slung his bag over his back, Muriel’s eyebrow was raised so far up her forehead her plastic surgeon would have fainted on the spot.

Seb chose not to acknowledge it and instead nodded to his in-laws. “See you after the game.”

“Ice cream!” Matty flashed him a double thumbs-up and then turned to his grandparents with an expression so contrived it was almost comical. “Shall I show you where I play?”

Seb was laughing to himself as he stepped down into the dugout.

“What’s so funny?” Sadie asked him from where she stood next to Via and Rachel.

He made a feeble attempt at not immediately drinking Via in like a glass of ice water on a hot day.

“I told Matty to put on a good show for his grandparents in exchange for Ample Hills and I’m pretty sure he just used the wordshall.”

The three women burst out laughing, and Seb took the unguarded moment to study Via’s face. Looking at her hurt. Or it felt so good it hurt. Either way. His chest clamped down like a dog’s mouth on a hand trying to take its food away. She looked like she’d been crying again, but she was also here, in her softball stuff, laughing and talking. So that was a good sign. He wondered, for the millionth time that week, what the heck was going on with her.

“Ample Hills ice cream is definitely worth pulling out ashall,” Sadie agreed. “Are those your parents? They don’t look anything like you.”

“No, those are his grandparents on his mother’s side.” He was well out of earshot so he allowed himself a single sigh. “They’ve been here a week.”

“A week!” Sadie screeched and then threw a hand over her mouth when her voice carried. “Sorry.”

Seb laughed. “It’s okay. It’s not as bad as it sounds, really. They’re super helpful people.”

He couldn’t help but notice that Via was inching away from the conversation and that Rachel was inching in.

“How is that big project you’ve been working on?” Rachel asked, blinking those sweet blue eyes at him. Seb wondered how she planned on playing softball in clothes that tight.

“Project?”

“You mentioned last week that you were thinking of starting a new furniture project.”

“Right.” Seb’s gaze shot over toward Via before glancing away. She was practically standing behind Rachel now, facing out toward the field. “Yeah, I’ve started it. It’s turning out really well. A coffee table and two matching side tables. My typical copper and oak. I’m thinking I might work on a dining table to go with it as well.”

“Wow,” Rachel breathed, and it was then that Seb realized just how close she was standing to him.

Okay.So.That had apparently become a thing while he’d been too busy crushing on Via to notice. He liked Rachel. She was cute, too. Young thirties, sweet face, always had a nice manicure. But he didn’t think about her when she wasn’t around. She didn’t make him want to tuck an afghan around her feet. Maybe he couldn’t explain it that well. Either way, he took a decent-size step to one side and caught Rae up in conversation until the game started.

Halfway through the fifth inning, Seb determined that Via truly was avoiding talking to him. He sidled up to one side of her as she leaned against the chain-link fence, watching Sadie steal second base. He left a healthy two feet between them.

“Hi.”

She jolted and gave him the fastest glance of all times. Her cheeks were pink. “Hi.”

“Uh, are you wanting me to leave you alone? I’m wondering if I should apologize for the way I acted that night last week. I know we’ve just started becoming friends, and maybe I pushed the limits too fast.”

“No! Seb!” She turned then, one shoulder on the fence and her cap pushed high off her forehead. “Of course you don’t have to apologize for that. That was an incredible moment. I was grateful to be there with you through that.”

He mirrored her pose and the movement brought them closer. He looked down at her, a solid foot between their heights. He noticed, for the first time, that he’d always just thought of her eyes asdark, but they were almost amber around her pupil. She’d taken off her gold studs to play softball, but there was a light purple stone on a silver chain around her neck.

“All right,” he conceded. “Are you okay, then? You’ve been MIA.”

“Yeah. Yes.” She flicked her eyes out toward the field again and her hand came up to absently brush against the purple stone. “I took a few days off to go upstate.”

---