I breathe in sharply and paste a smile on my face. I will not say anything.
His hand then slides around my shoulder as he turns me away from Ruby.
“Marco never mentioned a girlfriend. Are you sure this is the right one?” he says to me, leaning in close, and I wish his voice was lower because he’s still speaking English and Ruby might hear him. Maybe that’s the point.
“What do you mean?” I whisper.
“She’s wearing yoga pants.”
That’s his issue? “So?”
“You shouldn’t have brought her here.” He sighs, giving me a tepid look. “I guess I should be grateful that Marco didn’t. I can’t imagine what people would say if she was here on his arm.” He glances at Ruby over his shoulder, and she’s looking around, either blissfully unaware or pretending not to listen. “That red lipstick makes her look like a whore.”
“She’s not a whore!” I snap at him in Portuguese. For fuck’s sake. I glance at Ruby again and her face is still blank, looking elsewhere. God, I hope she didn’t hear that.
He pulls back and eyes me discerningly. “I see. Perhaps it was no accident then that she’s with you today.”
I don’t know what my stepfather is insinuating, but before I can question it, he’s straightening up and waving someone over from the crowd, his smile wide and cunning.
I look to see a cameraman with a camera on his shoulder, a reporter beside him.
This is the only reason why I’m ever wanted around my family these days—I’m good for business. I have no doubt Ribeiro Stables would have remained a powerful force on the horse circuit without me, but because I’m Luciano Ribeiro, I give the stables extra flair. It’s like a celebrity endorsement, except I don’t get paid. I just get tolerated.
I glance over at Ruby to signal that I’m going to be awhile, but she’s already at the bar and laughing at something the bartender said. It’s just as well.
So I go and do the things I’m expected to do. I do an interview, I give a tour of the stables, I provide some commentary on the dressage show that’s happening, I smile for photographs and pose with people, all while my mother and Tomás look on. Sometimes I see the pride in my mother’s face, but it can be hard to tell if she’s proud that she’s my mother or she’s just proud to be herself, living this life. But Tomás, well, the smile is fake but the contempt for me in his eyes is very real.
It’s late afternoon when I’m finally done, and I’ve been worried about Ruby this whole time. When I asked her to come with me, I didn’t really think it through, that she’d be on her own for a lot of it. Actually, I don’t even know what I was thinking at all when I asked her to come here.
It was selfish of me.
I was the one who wanted her company, I was the one who didn’t want to be alone.
She would have been better off if she stayed behind.
With that in mind, I walk around the stables, searching the crowds for her. When I don’t see her, I start to get worried.
I go to the bartender and ask him if he’d seen her recently.
Of course he remembers her. Everyone does.
He says she was pretty drunk and last he saw, she was heading toward the road. He looks a bit embarrassed as he says it, probably because he was the one who helped her get drunk.
I exhale loudly, taking a moment to run my hand over my face.
Ruby, Ruby, Ruby.
I stride over to the driveway, checking my car, but I don’t see her around.
Then I glance over at the barn closest to me. Head over there.
That’s where I find her.
Sitting on a bench across from a stall, slumped against the wall, a bottle of champagne in her hand. A shaft of light comes through the barn doors, hitting her just right, illuminating the dust motes that dance around her like fairies.
“Ruby?” I call out gently, walking over to her.
I stand in front of her and to my surprise, she’s not passed out. Her eyes are open and she glares up at me, her eyes glazed.
“You’re in the way,” she says.
I stare at her for a moment, then I turn around to look at a horse with its head poking out of the stall. It’s one of my mother’s favorite broodmares, Venus, a dun with the brightest golden coat and black as coal mane, tail, and muzzle. She’s incredibly sweet, ears pricked forward toward Ruby.
I quickly step out of the way and their staring contest continues. Venus seems completely taken with Ruby, her dark liquid eyes fixed on her with interest.
“Did you want to go inside the stall?” I ask, hoping that perhaps being around Venus would be good therapy for her after her accident. “Get up close?”
Ruby shakes her head. Her lipstick is smudged and I see a red swatch of it on her hand, like she was trying to rub it off. It breaks my heart a little. “I’m fine here.”
“I’m really sorry,” I tell her.
“For what?” she asks lightly, still staring at the horse.
“For leaving you. I didn’t think I would be that long.”
“You did what you had to do. I didn’t expect you to babysit me this entire time. I can take care of myself.”
“I know but you don’t know anyone else here.”
“Nor do I want to,” she says, finally looking at me. She obviously drunk and there’s a glint in her eyes that I don’t recognize. “I heard what your father said.”
My heart sinks. “He’s my stepfather.”
“I heard what he said.”
“He’s…”
“He said the lipstick makes me look like a whore.”
Anger starts to swell up inside me, anger I know I have to put a lid on. There have been many
