"Did she spend the night at the condo?" Lindsey prodded. "I swear, if he's sleeping with that bitch with my kids present, I'll have his visitation rights taken away."
Hayley gave her mother a look of disgust. "Seriously, Mom? Come on, it's not like Casey and I are toddlers. But, no, she did not spend the night. Dad dropped her off wherever it is she lives, some old house in the city. And before you ask, no. We did not see her again today."
Hayley turned her attention back to her phone, busily tapping out yet another text, but Lindsey was far from finished in her quest for information about this mystery woman.
"She's a yoga teacher?" she inquired in disbelief. "Where the hell did Matt meet someone like that? And if you tell me he's started taking yoga classes, I will not believe you!"
"I truly doubt that," replied Hayley dryly. "Dad is one of the clumsiest people I've ever seen, so I really can't see him doing yoga. He is eating differently, though. At dinner last night he actually ordered some sort of gross vegetarian entrée. Probably because she's a vegetarian. And he had herbal tea with dessert instead of coffee. Weird."
Weird wasn't the word Lindsey would have used to describe the situation. More like troubling. Matt should be miserable right about now, missing his wife and kids and house, and wanting nothing more but to resume his old life. Instead, he looked younger and happier than he had in a long time, and perfectly content with his current lifestyle.
"Your father looks good," she admitted grudgingly. "A little thinner. Is he - does he seem happy to you?"
Hayley sighed again, obviously growing impatient with this persistent line of questioning. "I guess, yeah. He's not all mopey and depressed or anything. Oh, and I think maybe he met Sasha through some friend of hers. Tessa or Tess, someone like that."
"Tessa Gregson." Lindsey almost spat out the name. She had heartily disliked the beautiful blonde the first time Ian had proudly introduced her to all of his friends at a benefit ball a year and a half ago. Ian, who had coldly rebuffed any of Lindsey's attempts to flirt with him over the years, hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he was completely infatuated with Tessa. And every time she and Matt had socialized with the Gregsons, Tessa had always been polite to her but never friendly. It was little wonder, thought Lindsey angrily, that the snooty Mrs. Gregson hadn't wasted any time in fixing poor, lonely Matt up with one of her friends. Tessa and Ian, in fact, were probably rejoicing in the fact that Matt had filed for divorce, had even encouraged him to do so.
'Well, it's not going to be that easy,' she thought angrily. 'I'm not about to sign those stupid divorce papers. Not now, not ever! And I'll be damned if I'm going to let some funky yoga teacher steal my husband. But I will have to figure out a way to get Matt to come back to me. And sooner than later, by the sound of it.'
"Do you like her?" ventured Lindsey. "I mean, is she a nice person?"
Irritably, Hayley tossed her phone onto her bed and glared at her mother. "I guess she's nice enough. And I have no idea if I like her since I barely know her. Are you finished asking me dumb questions now? I want to call Sierra and find out more about this awesome party I missed last night."
Lindsey sniffled, and made a little show out of brushing a nonexistent tear from her eye. "I - I guess so. It just upset me to learn about your father's new girlfriend. It hurts to realize he's moved on so easily."
"Oh, brother." Hayley shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not buying the fake tears and hurt feelings, Mom, so save it. Look, if it makes you feel any better, even if Dad wasn't seeing someone, I don't think it would make any difference in terms of the divorce. One way or the other, he's not coming back."
Lindsey lifted her chin stubbornly. "Then I guess I'll need to find a way to make him change his mind, won't I? I don't suppose you'd care to help me? It might be worth your while, Hayley. Like, for example, that Piaget watch you've been wanting. With a two week trip to Ibiza next summer thrown in as a bonus."
"Hmm." Hayley tapped her index finger against her lip. "Maybe. What did you have in mind?"
Triumphantly, Lindsey plopped down on the bed. "That's the problem. I haven't been able to think up anything just yet. But I'll bet if the two of us work together, we can dream something up. So put your thinking cap on, sweetie. Between the two of us, we'll figure out a way to get your father to move back in. And ditch the yoga teacher in the process."