And of course, she got us back to the stable, where Rudolfo waited. “I told you I’d be fine.” I slipped from Tesoro’s back.
The man’s eyes widened and crooked his head. Marco pushed himself off from Diablo’s stall, his face thunderous.
“What? Is something wrong?” Unhitching the girth, I slid the saddle off.
Stepping up with a sigh of impatience, Marco reached for it.
Although the saddle was heavy, I managed to twist away. “So independent,” I heard him mutter behind my back, following me into the tack room.
“Are you over your...tantrum?” he asked, standing in my way when I went out to whisk the blanket from Tesoro’s back.
“Tantrum.” I pivoted to face him. “I was concerned for my daughter’s safety.”
He blew out a breath. “You are safe here. Your daughter is safe here. Gregorio would never do anything to harm her or compromise her.”
“Right. I know. Because your son will be king one day.” His words would burn in my memory a long time. But I hadn’t meant to blurt that out.
“Exactly. So you understand.” He didn’t catch the sarcasm in my voice.
Why did I even bother? Marco was thick-headed when it came to women and so condescending. Maybe all royalty was like that.
But Marco didn’t leave. As I took a brush to Tesoro, he said. “You went out alone?”
“Yes, of course.” His eyes burned into my back.
“Do you think that is…safe?”
I spun around. “Yes, I was perfectly safe with Tesoro.”
Marco pursed his lips. Was he laughing at me? One of his shiny boots brushed at the hay on the floor. “After class today, please come to my office. We must talk about things.”
“Things.” Now, that sounded ominous.
“Yes, you know, as we discussed.”
What in heaven’s name was he talking about? The bright morning faded. Suddenly I felt very tired. “Sure. Yes, of course.” Handing the reins to Rudolfo, who hovered, I took off for the castle, trying to pull my thoughts together for class.
When I walked into the classroom that day, Gregorio and Lexi both seemed subdued. The day had become cloudy. No sunshine fell through the long, narrow windows. So we made our way through a lackluster discussion ofTo Kill a Mockingbird. I would have to come back to this later. I was thinking that the day was lost.
Then Gregorio asked, “Can this really happen in America?”
His innocence and incredulity touched me. “Yes, sadly, this kind of thing can happen in America. We have this racism in our history.” I thought back to what he shared about his own country. “But if you come to America for an education, you’ll hear more about this.” Since I didn’t want to discourage him, I left it there.
Both Gregorio and Lexi seem relieved when our minds turned to math. The wonderful thing about mathematics was that things were so clean. There were no interpretations to be discussed. I liked that about numbers.
Not long after that, I ended the class. Both of them seemed eager to scamper away. I was left alone in a room that was colder than any classroom I’d ever had. And I wasn’t thinking about the temperature. The heat continued. That hadn’t changed. But this room has no character. I could hardly begin decorating it with a bulletin board or anything like that. We were here to study––nothing more.
Yes, Gregorio was coming along nicely. I couldn’t deny that. Soon, I would begin giving him the prep tests for the SAT. I wanted him to be fully prepared and comfortable as he sat for his exam, wherever that might be. But today the life had gone out of what I was teaching. Was I letting my personal life interfere?
Today I couldn’t have lunch in the dining room. Instead, I circled through the kitchen. Giving a smile to Constanza, I grabbed some ham and cheese from the refrigerator. With a knowing smile, she cut off a slab of fresh bread. After a quick “thank you,” I took my picnic outside to the fountain. As I sat there on this cloudy day, my mind went back to the party.
The evening had truly been a successful night for Marco. The gathering had given me a chance to see him with his peers. He hadn’t been the only king there, that much I knew. As my eyes followed Ama through the crowd, I could tell by the way people reacted to her who was royalty. They formed their own community, secure in their entitled worlds. Royalty was a closed society. Oh, we may be invited in to serve them but it was not wise to confuse their friendliness with acceptance. Maybe I should explain that to Lexi.
Marco had made that clear. Lexi was not good enough for Gregorio. She could be a study partner but that was all. If they emailed each other after this summer, those contacts would no doubt fall off after a while. That thought brought a hollowness to my chest.
17
My shoes slid on the pavers where we’d danced last night. The memory slowed my steps. When I squeezed my eyes shut tight, Marco’s arms were around me, his laugh reverberating in my chest. That evening had been magical.
