"Hmm." Tessa had looked pensive. "My guess is that the daughter is taking her mother's side in this divorce. Like you said, not all that surprising. When are all the legalities supposed to be finalized anyway?"
Sasha had hesitated a moment before replying. "Lindsey apparently is playing hardball with Matthew and refusing to sign the papers. He's supposed to meet with his lawyer again before the end of the month and see if they can force her hand. But I don't really discuss it all with him very often. Frankly, the whole situation makes me feel a little guilty at times."
Tessa's blue eyes had widened in surprise. "Why on earth would you feel guilty?" she asked in astonishment. "It's not like you broke up their marriage, after all. From what I've been able to figure out, Lindsey sort of destroyed things all by herself."
"He's still legally married, Tessa," Sasha had pointed out quietly.
Tessa had given a shake of her head. "Not in any way that matters. He and Lindsey haven't lived together for almost half a year, and Matthew has told Ian more than once that for all intents and purposes he considers himself a single man. Look at it this way, Sasha. If you weren't in a relationship with him, would Matthew be even thinking of going back to Lindsey?"
"No," Sasha had admitted. "He's told me the same thing several times - that he already considers his marriage to be long over, and that it's simply a matter of Lindsey signing the forms to make it official."
"Then you have nothing to feel guilty about," Tessa had assured her. "Especially since she treated Matthew so horribly. He has a right to find some happiness, you know. And I'm so pleased that the two of you are making each other happy. You both deserve it more than anyone else I know."
Tessa's assurances had made Sasha feel much better about the situation, and appeased the guilt that she still experienced from time to time. Matthew had told her more or less the same things as Tessa, that he considered his marriage as good as over, and that there was zero chance he would ever contemplate reconciling with Lindsey.
"I can't believe that it's already the fourth of December," declared Julia. "And thank goodness Nathan and I don't have to travel very far for Christmas, just down to my parents' place in Carmel. The flight we just took home from Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend is going to be my final one for awhile."
"When are the two of you heading over to England?" Nathan asked Ian.
Ian refilled his wine glass, then passed the bottle to Matthew. "On the seventeenth, I believe, returning about ten days later."
Julia glanced across the table inquiringly at Sasha and Matthew. "What about you two? Any plans for Christmas and New Year's?"
Matthew hesitated before giving a brief shrug. "Still working all that out, I'm afraid. Things are a tad complicated this year under the circumstances. Normally we head back to Wisconsin and spend Christmas with my family, but I'm still, ah, negotiating all that."
Sasha somewhat belatedly realized that she and Matthew had yet to discuss the upcoming holidays, and she told herself sternly that she was being silly to feel even the tiniest bit hurt or left out that he hadn't brought the subject up until now.
"It sounds like both of my parents are coming for a quick visit," she offered up. "At the same time. Which means the decibel level in San Francisco is bound to rise up pretty high. Fortunately, my landlords always host a big open house on Christmas Eve, so that will help diffuse the situation with my parents a bit since there'll be so many other people around. However, I'm afraid on Christmas Day I'll be stuck going out to dinner with them. And playing peacekeeper the entire time, I'm sure."
She smiled reassuringly at Matthew, who was looking a bit guilty, as though he'd just realized the subject of the holidays hadn't been brought up prior to this evening. Ian, who'd undoubtedly picked up on the awkwardness between them, smoothly changed the subject, for which Sasha was overwhelmingly grateful.
But less than five minutes after they left the Gregsons', Matthew broached the matter in a tentative voice.
"I'm sorry if things got a little awkward during dinner," he told her regretfully. "About the holidays, that is. I know we haven't talked about it at all, mostly because I've been busier than usual at work but also because - well, Lindsey is being incredibly difficult about it."
Sasha patted his thigh reassuringly. "It's all right, Matthew," she replied softly. "I know it's not an easy situation with your children, and especially not at the holidays. I wasn't expecting that you and I would be spending Christmas together, if that's what's worrying you. And since I'm definitely not going to be alone then, you don't have to be concerned about that, either."