Serenity (Inevitable #5)(119)

That hadn't been the end of it, however, as he'd fully expected. When he'd announced plans to take Casey back to Wisconsin with him for a week to visit his family, Lindsey had hinted broadly about coming along. Matthew had quite bluntly told her that she wasn't invited, and moreover that she wasn't welcome at his parents' home any longer. She'd stormed off in yet another of her hissy fits, and he had hoped like hell that she had finally gotten the message.

Given her seductive, half-naked appearance in the kitchen this morning, though, he doubted that Lindsey would be giving up anytime soon. Fortunately, he knew exactly what she was trying to do, and resolved to go to even greater lengths than usual to avoid her completely.

He arrived at the baseball field just in time to see the first pitch thrown, and settled in to watch the game. Casey was the centerfielder for his team, and was usually always the leadoff batter given his excellent base running speed. Matthew cheered and clapped with the smattering of other parents watching, especially when Casey got a base hit, stole second, caught a long fly ball on the run, and then capped his game off with a double. His team won the game easily, and Matthew grinned to see how excited all the boys were as they congratulated each other on the win. 

As he waited for Casey to gather up his things, Matthew couldn't help imagining Sasha here at the game with him, cheering his son on even though she wouldn't really understand most of what was going on. He chuckled to himself as he recalled a time when Casey had done his best to explain the basic rules of the game to Sasha, who'd been the first to admit she knew next to nothing about professional sports. Nonetheless, she had listened intently to Casey, asking him a question here and there, and he had been extremely pleased at her attention. Matthew scowled as he thought back to the game Lindsey had shown up at a couple of weeks ago, feigning an interest in her son that she'd never shown before. But instead of watching the game and making an attempt to cheer Casey on, Lindsey had spent almost the entire time checking her email or texting friends or touching up her makeup and hair. Matthew had thought sardonically that it was small wonder Hayley had picked up the same rude habits, considering what sort of a mother she had as a role model.

Dinner was a relaxed affair at a barbeque joint that was one of Casey's favorite places. He licked the sauce off his fingers as he ate a rib, then washed it down with a gulp of lemonade.

"How's your dinner, Dad?" inquired Casey as he speared a forkful of coleslaw. "You aren't eating much."

Matthew offered up an apologetic smile, and forced himself to eat a piece of brisket. "Dinner's great, as usual. Never had a bad meal at this place, have we? But I guess I'm just not all that hungry tonight. Too much stuff going on at work as usual."

Casey swallowed his food, then hesitated before continuing. "You, uh, seem kind of depressed these days, you know. Depressed and sad. Is it just work, or are you maybe missing Sasha?"

Matthew's head jerked up in astonishment. "Jesus, are you really only fourteen years old? Sometimes I feel like you're the adult and I'm the kid."

Casey grinned. "Well, you're the one who keeps telling me that I know way more about math and computers and programming than you did at my age. But it's pretty obvious that you aren't happy, Dad. And I'm sorry that you've got to go through all this. Especially since Hayley was always such a bitch to Sasha."

"Casey," warned Matthew. "What have I told you about using that word? And particularly about your sister. Not cool, buddy."

Casey shrugged, unconcerned. "Sorry, but it's true. And Sasha was always so nice to her. She was nice to everyone, you know? I miss her too, Dad. She was really cool, and I was just getting the hang of some yoga poses she was teaching me. Bummer."

"Yeah, you can say that again." Matthew set his fork down, even though his dinner was barely half-touched. "And you're right. I'm sad because I can't see her anymore. Or even talk to her on the phone. I wanted to keep in touch, maybe see her for lunch once in awhile, but she thought it was best to just call it quits. I asked a lot of her, you know, expected her to always be understanding. And that was wrong of me."

Casey drank down the rest of his lemonade, an uncertain expression on his face. "Uh, would you be mad at me if I told you that I still email Sasha sometimes? Like maybe once or twice a week. You know, just to say hi and all since she was nice to me."

Matthew chucked his son on the chin playfully, his smile warm. "Of course I wouldn't be mad. I think that's great of you to keep in touch. How- how is she?"

"Okay. She doesn't say much, you know, especially when it comes to email. But I think she's okay. Just - well, she sounds kind of sad, too. I'm guessing she misses you as much as you do her."