Page 76 of To Believe In You
She’d completed no work before his last student arrived with Tim close behind.
The manager’s hair lifted and swooped in more disarray than usual, and tired creases feathered beneath his eyes. He studied Matt before he straightened the lapels of his coat and asked if she was ready.
Both Matt and Tim were out of sorts. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
Her hands hovered over her keyboard, hesitating to shut down the computer. Each second she delayed bought her more time to question Tim. “Is everything okay?”
He shifted his arm as if to work a kink out of his shoulder. “Why?”
“Because you and Matt both aren’t yourselves today.” A new possibility occurred to her. “Awestruck didn’t call off the audition, did they? I talked to John, and I’m planning to talk to Gannon too. He hasn’t already decided against Matt, has he?”
“Gannon’s just getting back today. All Awestruck business is on hold until tomorrow, at the earliest.”
“Then what’s bothering Matt?”
Tim swept his fingers down his face. “He’ll have to tell you himself.”
Since when did Tim believe he’d meddled enough in the affairs of others?
She turned her back to the practice room in case Matt could read lips. “He’s all right, though, isn’t he?”
Tim glanced toward their subject. The longer he waited to answer, the harder Lina had to struggle to avoid following suit.
She stepped close enough to smell the spice of Tim’s cologne and dropped her voice so the student on the couch across the room couldn’t hear. “You would know if he started using again, right?”
Tim’s gaze snapped back to her. “Why do you ask?”
“He’s so different today. He …” She moved back to a more normal distance. “I don’t know what else would explain it.”
“I do.” Tim bumped his fists together. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Something happened. You’re worried.”
“It didn’t occur to me that he might … It’s fine.” His hands loosened. “It’ll be fine. He’s been clean over a year. I’ll keep tabs on him and make sure he keeps going to meetings.”
If only Matt hadn’t told her how easily he could buy drugs. Her concern drew her attention back to the practice room.
But he wasn’t there. He’d wrapped up the lesson and was only a few feet behind her, coming for his next student. The square set of his shoulders suggested he was as on guard now as when she’d asked about the drug test over an hour ago. He met her eyes with the intensity of a silent rebuke.
She shouldn’t have asked about his sobriety the way she had. Gentle kindness would’ve been more effective, and a second try could only go better.
“I’d like to work a little longer.” She forced hopefulness she didn’t feel into her expression. “I can stay until Matt finishes his lessons, and he can follow me home.”
Matt barely bothered to shake his head. “I’ve got delivery after this. Go with Tim.” He waved goodbye to one student, then motioned the next to the room. As he closed the door, the glass walls of the classroom were the least of the barriers between them.
21
Longing and dread deadlocked in Matt’s chest when he spotted Lina waiting for him on the couch in the condo’s living room. He’d known he couldn’t delay their conversation forever, but he hadn’t expected to have to face her tonight when he returned from his janitorial shift. It was one thirty in the morning. Tim must’ve let her in and failed to give Matt a heads up.
A lamp crowned her curls with glowing light in the otherwise dim space. She held her phone, as if she might’ve entertained herself with it until she’d heard the door, but as he stepped into the room, her eyes focused on him—dark, but not hard to read.
She’d come for answers, but he couldn’t step into the room knowing where the conversation would lead. Exhausted and with few answers, he’d never manage to tell her about Nadia and the baby in a way that would soothe instead of upset her. If only she weren’t in such a rush for this explanation.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
Why now?would’ve been a more fitting question.
“When Shane got distant with me, I excused it and didn’t push, and look where that got me.” She pulled her feet onto the couch and crossed her legs like an anchor to hold her in place against his objections.
