Serenity (Inevitable #5)(95)

Fortunately, she was in between massage appointments and picked up his call on the second ring.

"This is a surprise," she told him. "I usually don't hear from you during the day. Is everything okay?"

"No, it's a veritable nightmare, actually," he admitted. "I was already having one of the lousiest days on record when I got a phone call from Lindsey."

Briefly, he filled Sasha in on what had transpired during the call, while she quietly let him vent.

"Knowing Lindsey, she's blowing all of this way out of proportion, but I feel like I need to see for myself what's going on," he explained. "And I really, really hate to do this, especially since it's the one thing that's been keeping me going all day, but I'll have to bow out on dinner tonight. I'm so sorry, Sasha. I feel like a rat for cancelling at practically the last minute like this."

"Don't worry about it," she replied calmly. "It's just dinner, after all. And I agree that you should pay Hayley a visit and try to find out what's wrong."

He was instantly relieved - and deeply grateful - at her easy acceptance, but he'd already known that Sasha would be understanding and supportive. Matthew wondered if she even had an angry bone in her body, or if she was capable of uttering a single nasty word.

"Have I told you lately what an amazing woman you are?" he told her tenderly. "Or how much I love you? I don't deserve you, you know."

She laughed softly. "That debate could go both ways, you know. Honestly, though, I do understand. Besides, Serge and Morgana need someone to substitute one of the classes tonight since the regular teacher has food poisoning. They'll be relieved when I tell them I can do it after all." 

Matthew felt slightly less guilty at canceling their dinner date at this news, since it meant she wouldn't be alone the entire evening. "Would you still be willing to spend the night at the condo? I shouldn't be back too late, especially since the kids have school tomorrow and I know I'm going to be dead on my feet sooner than later. But it would sure mean a lot to know you'd be waiting at home for me after what's probably going to be an ugly scene with Hayley."

"I could do that, yes," Sasha agreed easily. "The class ends at eight-thirty, so I'll just plan on heading over to your place afterwards."

"Use Uber or Lyft," he reminded her. "You know I hate the idea of you taking a bus anywhere at that time of the night."

He had insisted on setting up accounts with both ride services for her so that she didn't have to take the bus home after the evening classes she taught. When he wasn't out of town on business, or having dinner with the kids, he would pick her up himself. But on those occasions when he wasn't available, like tonight, for example, he was able to rest easy knowing she had a ride home.

"I know you do," she replied. "Even though I'd been doing it for years before I met you, and never had any problems. But I know how much you worry, so I promise to use one of the services."

"Okay." He glanced at the clock, realizing that his conference call would be starting any minute now. "Look, I've got to go. But thanks again for being so understanding. And I'll get home just as soon as I can."

"Drive safely. I love you, Matthew."

He replaced the receiver reluctantly, unwilling to end the call. Talking to Sasha for even a few minutes always filled him with a sense of calm, and helped him focus his attention. He hated, really hated, the thought of not spending the evening with her as planned, and thought darkly that Hayley had better get her act together fast. Because he damned sure didn't want to have to re-schedule any other evenings like this anytime soon.





Unfortunately, that evening turned out to be just the beginning of a string of similar such occurrences over the next few weeks. He would give Hayley a stern talking to, telling her that she needed to be more respectful to her mother, stop cutting classes, cease and desist sneaking out of the house, and spend more time studying rather than partying or shopping. Each time Hayley would rather meekly agree, apologizing over and over for her bad behavior, and she would shed a few tears telling him how much she missed him. There were even a couple of instances where Hayley had tearfully begged him to move back home, to reconcile with Lindsey so that they could all be one big happy family again. It had broken Matthew's heart to deny his daughter's requests, telling her gently but firmly that couldn't happen.

"I know it's tough, honey, but you need to accept the fact that your mom and I are over," he'd explained each time. "And while I'm always here for you, Hayley, that doesn't mean I'm going to move back in. Even though your mother hasn't signed the papers yet, I consider the divorce over and done with, and I moved on months ago. Hard as it is, you need to find a way to do the same."