Not wanting to leave her seat next to Beatrice, Anna pretended for as long as she could that she hadn’t seen Alexander’s arrival. She stared out onto the field with her binoculars, hoping that the race would start and she could go deal with him afterward. It seemed like some draconian form of punishment that she would be expected to tend to her boyfriend-in-name-only while her true love was about to try and clear seven hurdles on an unfamiliar horse.

She grabbed Bea’s hand and gave it a nervous squeeze.

“Just breathe,” Bea whispered to her friend. “Adaka’s little brother is competing today and he’s only eleven. Vronsky’ll be fine.” Bea sat contentedly, relishing the tension of the moment, always composed in high stress situations.

Anna lowered her binoculars and saw her brother standing in front of the bleachers. She wanted to signal him that danger was nearby, but before she could, she watched as Lolly rushed over and whispered something in his ear. Anna could tell by Steven’s face that Lolly had just informed him that Alexander and Eleanor were in attendance. He looked up at Anna and she gave a quick nod to tell him she knew. Steven grabbed Lolly’s hand, and the two of them started making their way into the bleachers. They only made it up two steps before Eleanor was behind them, tapping Lolly on her back. Poor Lolly had no choice but to turn around and play nice. Anna lowered her binoculars and put on her sunglasses, thankful it was a sunny day and no one would be able to make eye contact through her Oliver Peoples Benedict aviators.

Lolly pointed up at Anna and Beatrice, and Eleanor waved up at them enthusiastically. “Anna!” she yelled out, her high-pitched voice an arrow shooting straight through Anna’s nerves. “Come down! Alexander’s here.”

“Do you think I can pretend I didn’t hear her?” Anna asked through gritted teeth, trying to wave Eleanor to come up to them.

“Sorry, babe,” Bea replied. “I think you have to go down there because I’m not gonna sit next to that dumb thot with a hat.”

Anna knew Bea was right. The crowd waited for her to make a move. She stood up and began to make her way down. When she passed Steven and Lolly, she offered them her seat, and Steven gave her hand a quick sympathetic squeeze. Alexander was back in his wheelchair, and someone had brought over a bale of hay for him to prop up his leg, which was encased in a fiberglass boot. He was wearing a Harvard baseball cap and a placid smile on his face that Anna recognized as his opioid grin. By the time she reached his chair she was seething, but greeted him with a smile, knowing everyone was watching.

“Hey you,” Anna said. “I thought you decided this was too much trouble for your first public appearance.”