Just a Heartbeat Away

by Cara Bastone

  That was the majority of the reason Sebastian had even downloaded the damn dating app in the first place. Tyler had insisted it was a good idea.

  “Hand it over,” Tyler demanded, holding his hand out for the phone.

  Sebastian complied and chuckled as Crabby, their two-year-old poodle mix, immediately bolted over the second he saw Sebastian’s hand moving. Crabby blinked up at his owner, poofy tail wagging furiously, like, got any ear scratches you might wanna distribute?

  Sebastian obliged and scratched behind the dog’s one white ear. “I really don’t think this is the way I find somebody.” He nodded toward the phone.

  Tyler scoffed. “Seb, this is how everybody finds somebody. Here, what about her?” He flipped the phone around and showed a picture of a very pretty girl on a beach.

  Sebastian lifted a dark eyebrow. “Tyler, I’m forty-two. With a kid. And enough gray hairs to prove both. I’m not dating some twenty-five-year-old cupcake in a thong bikini.”

  “You don’t have to make a life with this woman. Just take her to some bar, buy her a drink and then let her remind you why God gave us opposable thumbs.”

  “You’re a moron.”

  “Actually, I’m a genius. You’re just too pedestrian to recognize my brilliance. How about her?”

  He tossed the phone over and Sebastian flipped through the profile of a professional-looking woman with chin-length blond hair and a very white smile. Apparently, she was a wine connoisseur. Sebastian clicked the phone off and needled one corner of it into his brow.

  “What if I’m just not ready for this? I mean, what if I get to some date with some woman and I’m just...lost? Or thinking about Cora.”

  Tyler swept a hand out. “Then you get there and you’re lost and thinking about Cora, and you come home. And then I come over, and we have a beer.”

  “I used to be good at this.”

  “I remember. Used to steal chicks out from under me all the time. I was relieved when you got married.”

  Sebastian scoffed. Tyler had not been relieved when he’d gotten married. He’d actively lobbied against it. He’d never particularly gotten along with Cora. Cora was a perfectionist who had planned out every single second of her days; Tyler was a contrarian who enjoyed throwing everyone’s rhythm off. Not exactly a match made in friendship heaven.

  More than that, though, Tyler had never understood why Sebastian’s response to Cora’s unexpected pregnancy was marriage. In fact, he’d thought it was downright batshit. “Father and husband don’t have to go hand in hand, Seb,” he’d pleaded. “Come on, man. You’ll be a good dad no matter what. Don’t walk the plank!”

  Sebastian hadn’t seen another way. He figured life moved at a breakneck pace whether you were there for it or not. He was determined to be there for it. So, he and Cora had gotten hitched, barely knowing one another. Seb figured that they’d muddled their way through well enough.

  Even if things between Ty and Cora were always relatively tense, it was definitely true that Tyler’s luck with women had increased once Sebastian was off the market.

  “I just don’t want to go online shopping for a woman,” Sebastian said as he clicked back into the app to scroll through a few more profiles. He tossed the phone back over to Tyler. “I just met Cora and liked her. And that was that. None of this swiping left or right bullshit.”

  “Seb, you gotta try something. You never leave your house long enough to meet anyone. You’re either in your workshop or at Matty’s school, or you’re right here in your damn living room. Not exactly a swinging singles scene.”

  That was true. Unfortunately. He played his last card. “I like things just me and Matty. Why complicate it?”

  “Because as much as I enjoy being your platonic life partner, I am a wolf, and you, my friend, are a swan.”

  Sebastian laughed, swinging his head to one side to eye his friend. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means I prefer to operate alone, taking a mate on a seasonal basis. But you? You mate for life. Like a damn swan.”

  “And you really think I’m gonna find a lady swan on that hookup app?”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “No, I think you’re gonna find a hookup on this hookup app. It’ll just be a little dessert to tide you over while you wait for your lady swan.”

  Sebastian laughed and groaned at the same time. “Just delete it.”

  “Too late. I messaged the cupcake for you.”

  * * *

  SEBASTIAN IGNORED THE vibration of the phone in his pocket. Cupcake wouldn’t stop messaging him, and it was driving him up the wall. Fucking Tyler.

  “Sit,” he said sternly to Crabby, who hovered his booty about an inch off the ground while his front feet danced. It was the closest they could get to a real sit. Better than nothing.

  Sebastian leaned forward over the crates of produce at the Grand Army Plaza farmers market and picked up two eggplants, comparing them. This was one of those times when he really lived by the old adage fake it ’til you make it. He had no idea what to look for in an eggplant, so he chose the purpler one and set the other back.

  Now he just had to Google eggplant recipes. And then find some way to trick his son into eating it.

  He chose some kale and lettuce, bypassed the bok choy and snatched up the last good bunch of carrots. He paid the vendor, pushed everything into the tote bag over his shoulder and checked his watch. He had approximately nine minutes before Matty’s karate class was over. Just enough time to pick up a cup of coffee. Perfect. Sebastian clicked his tongue at Crabby and the dog sprang forward like he’d been born to prance through that farmers market.

  Sebastian sidestepped a loudly arguing couple and tossed some change into a hardworking saxophonist’s case. Traffic whizzed by on all sides of the plaza and it seemed like every driver was extra appreciative of their car horns and middle fingers today. Ah, the soothing sounds of Brooklyn.

  He stopped at the coffee truck on the other side of the plaza and was grabbing his cup of coffee when a soft, familiar voice spoke from just over his shoulder.

  “Oh, hi!”

  Sebastian looked back and immediately bobbled his coffee. “Miss DeRosa! Damn. Hot. The coffee, I mean.”

  She pulled a napkin from her purse and handed it over so he could mop the coffee off his hand. “Via.”

  “Sorry?” He looked up at her and blinked.

  “Via. You can call me Via, now that Matty’s not in my class anymore.”

  “Oh right. Then you can, of course, call me Sebastian, Seb, whatever.” Brilliant, Sebastian, a real wordsmith. He balled up the napkin and tossed it, thanking God when it banked into a trashcan. At least he didn’t look like a complete doof. “Via’s a pretty name.”

  “Short for Violetta.” She crossed her arms and smiled down at the dog who was once again hovering his butt above the ground, his tail thumping with the regularity of a windmill. “And who’s this?”

  “This is Crabby.”

  She chuckled, flashing slightly crooked teeth at him. “Matty named him?”

  Sebastian nodded. “He put his foot down, said it was either Crabby or Sebastian. I think I chose wisely.”

  That made her really laugh; her head tipped to one side, her hair dusting her shoulder. Had she been this pretty when Matty had been in her pre-K class? Her glossy, dark hair was shorter now. It was in a blunt cut just above her shoulders, still just as wavy, though. She wore a bit more makeup than she used to, making her look a touch older. Her dark eyes took up nearly half her face, and her small, slightly squished nose was just like he remembered. He hadn’t remembered that mouth, though. Small and plump, her lips were a lovely mauve against her golden skin.

  “Sounds like Matty. How’s he doing? How’re both of you doing?”

  For a second, that day in her classroom lanced through Sebastian and he fought the urge to visibly
wince. The white-hot shame of being told he was neglecting his son had never quite subsided. No matter how good a father he was now. But he swallowed hard and pushed the feeling down. She hadn’t been judgmental then, and she didn’t seem judgmental now.

  “We’re doing really well. Got our hands full with this guy.” He nodded down at Crabby. “And we moved a few months ago, so we’re still settling into the new place.”

  “Where are you living now?”

  “Still in Bensonhurst. I didn’t want him to have to change districts, so we found a spot not too far from our old place.”

  “Oh!” Her eyes lit up. “I’m in Bensonhurst now, too. I actually just got a job at an elementary school there. Matty would be going into second grade already?”

  “Good memory. Yeah. I can’t believe it, honestly. Second grade already. So, you’re not in pre-K anymore?” His phone buzzed in his pocket, another message from Cupcake, he was sure. It reminded him how much he didn’t want to do things that way. And here, right in front of him, was this pretty woman who’d helped him out of one of the darkest moments in his life. Plus, she was looking very cute in a summery dress and her perfect little sneakers.

  This was the kind of woman he’d like to go out with. He didn’t have to squint at a profile pic or read between the lines of the two-hundred-word description of her life. He could just absorb the heat of her sunshine on a perfectly good late summer Saturday. Live. In person. Ask her. Just do it.

  “Pre-K was what paid the bills while I got my certificate, but I knew I wanted to be in the counseling department of an elementary school somewhere.”

  “So you won’t lead a classroom?”

  She shook her head.

  Just do it.

  “Via, you know I never really took the chance to truly thank you. For what you did for me and Matty. I’m not sure I know how to really express it... Ah, I was wondering if you’d let me buy you d—”

  “Hey, babe, you wanted me to get olive oil and what else?”

  Sebastian’s attention focused immediately on the extremely good-looking man who’d just walked up to them. Like, stupid good-looking. He had a model’s face and a swatch of long, carefully unruly black hair. This was Brooklyn, so of course the kid was way too hip for mankind. He wore suspenders over a flannel shirt. Seb tried hard not to raise his eyebrows.

  “Oh, Evan, this is my friend Sebastian. Sebastian, this is my boyfriend, Evan.”

  Of course she had a boyfriend. She was pretty as heck, sweet and accomplished. Just of course.

  Evan was a few inches shorter than Seb and leaner, like a runner. Seb was built more like a tank. Barrel-chested and wide stanced. Both of them towered over the very slight Miss DeRosa.

  “Nice to meet you.” Sebastian made himself hold a hand out for a shake. The kid’s grip was as limp as any twentysomething’s hand Seb had ever shaken. With a small start, he realized that Via and Evan were probably the same age. His eyes tracked over to study her face again. He hadn’t ever really thought about her age before. He’d just seen a pretty woman and thought, Yes, okay, yes, please. But now that he looked, he guessed she was in her midtwenties.

  And he’d been about to ask her out.

  Yikes. That put them at somewhere around a fifteen-year age gap. Not a huge deal, he supposed, but he got a quick, horrifying visual of himself with saggy skin and white hair, while Via still looked young and golden and gorgeous. Yeah. No way.

  Bullet dodged. He was sure she hadn’t come to this farmers market to get cruised by forty-two-year-old dads.

  “Well, Via, it was really nice to see you again. But I’ve gotta get Matty from karate. And then we’ve got a date at the park with this maniac.” He nodded down to Crabby who, not receiving enough attention, had rolled to his back and continued to wag.

  “Okay. It was really nice to see you, too.” She reached out and took one of his hands in both of hers. She gave a small squeeze.

  A hand hug.

  He liked that.

  He waved to them both and was just stepping away when she reached out and grabbed his arm. “What school did you say Matty attends now?”

  “PS 128.”

  That calm-bright, crooked-toothed smile broke out over her face again. “That’s where I just got hired.”

  “You’re kidding!” Now he was extra glad he hadn’t asked her out. Although, she’d already seen him at his most humiliated. What was a little dollop of embarrassment to add to that?

  “I’ll be seeing you around then.”

  “Definitely. I’m actually technically on staff there as well.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded proudly. “Lunch monitor.” He ignored Evan’s surprised snort. Dads can be lunch monitors, too, dumbass. “Plus, I coach the soccer team for Matty’s year.”

  “Well, I’m glad I’ll know at least one person on the first day of school.”

  She looked genuinely relieved, with just a hint of nervousness, and it surprised Sebastian. He’d had the impression that she was completely put together, professional and prepared.

  He opened his mouth to say something, tracked his eyes over to Evan and clapped his mouth back closed. “Well, ah, can’t be late for Matty.” He tossed a thumb over his shoulder.

  “See you on the first day of school,” she called, and Sebastian waved over his shoulder.

  He didn’t look back as he strolled across the plaza.

  She was way too pretty for him to do anything but walk away.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “YOU’RE OUT OF soy milk.”

  Via jumped about a foot in the air and banged her elbow into the side of her fridge as she whirled around to see who the intruder in her kitchen was. “God. Fin. You just about scared me into my next life.”

  Serafine St. Romain, Via’s foster sister and best friend for the last decade, sat with her feet up on Via’s breakfast table, a bowl of cereal in her hands.

  “No, sister. I’ve seen your next life. It’s not for a long time.” Serafine was from Louisiana and had spent the first thirteen years of her life in the bayou, surrounded by a little bit of voodoo, hoodoo and everything in between. She wasn’t magic, per se. But she was occasionally spookily right about the comings and goings of the world. Her messy dark hair tumbled over her pale shoulders and her eyes were way too alert for 6:00 a.m. “Did you hear me about the soy milk?”

  “Yeah, I was gonna go grocery shopping tonight after work anyways.” Via’s stomach flipped. Work. Oh Lordy. Was there anything more nerve-racking than the first day of school? “Are you still up from last night?”

  Serafine wasn’t a good sleeper. “Yeah. Weird vibes floating around Brooklyn last night. Just couldn’t drift off.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Fin.” Via waggled the coffeepot toward her friend and got a nod. Via poured two cups, tossed some cinnamon in one of them for Serafine and pulled up a chair next to her. “Just coming by to eat my cereal?”

  They’d lived together up until four months ago when Via had finally saved up enough to live on her own. A personal dream of hers ever since she’d been shuffled into the foster system at age twelve. She loved her new little one-bedroom in Bensonhurst. It had peeling paint, sure, but good light and a real kitchen. And if she was lonely now and again, she figured that was just her body’s way of getting used to a new normal. Nothing to see here, folks.

  Besides, Serafine stopped by a few times a week anyhow.

  “I came to wish you luck, sister. On your very first day in a real public elementary.” Fin’s eyes took in Via’s outfit in a critical yet not judgmental way. “You look good.”

  Via suspected she was a little dressier than she had to be in her emerald tailored pants and her ivory silk blouse, but she’d wanted to look a little older this morning. She’d wanted to look put-together in every possible way. God, she couldn’t wait until she hit thirty. She was
twenty-seven and sick of it. Maybe it was her small stature or her young face, but she felt like she’d spent her entire life just shy of being taken seriously. She’d left her hair kissing her shoulders and added some small gold earrings that she’d splurged on when she’d been hired.

  She teased at one of the earrings. She still couldn’t believe she could afford things like this. Shiny things. Superfluous things. Extras. Frosting, Jetty, her foster mother and Serafine’s aunt, had used to call things like that. Frosting on the cake of life. Well, Via had spent pretty much all of her twenties baking the cake, and now she was learning how to add a little frosting.

  “Thanks.” She looked up at Serafine and told the truth, the way they always did with one another. “God, I’m nervous.”

  Serafine nodded once. Then set her cereal aside and held up three fingers one at a time. “You’re qualified. You’re hardworking. You’re naturally gifted at working with children.”

  Via nodded, too. “Thanks. I know you’re right.” She rose and grabbed a protein bar from her fridge and poured her coffee into a travel cup for the walk to school. “And you’re getting crumbs on my kitchen floor.”

  “Adds character,” Serafine insisted through a mouthful of dry cereal.

  Via chuckled and kissed her friend on the top of the head. A puff of lavender and bergamot came off of Serafine’s wild hair. Via grabbed her keys off the hook and took a deep breath.

  “Wait!” Serafine called, pulling her feet off the table and setting her bowl aside. “I brought something for you.”

  “Oh, Fin.” Via’s whole face warmed as she saw the pendant swinging from Serafine’s fingers. “It’s stunning. Did you make it?”

  “Of course. Special for you. Cleansed the crystal myself. It’s garnet. For career success.”

  It was a rough-hewn stone of deep red, small and interesting. It rolled across the small gold swatch of Via’s chest and settled perfectly on her breastbone. Though Via had always been a little skeptical of tarot cards and tea leaves, something in her had always bought in to Serafine’s crystal work. The woman prescribed crystals the way other people did ibuprofen, chicken soup, a pint of rocky road and a rom-com. Via felt like she could almost feel it working already, bringing her success even as it warmed against her chest. And it was gorgeous to boot.