But as they pushed the cage to the very rear of the parade, he watched her laugh and tell the story of their harrowing adventure with Estefan. All the jealousy and hurt and anger he felt melted away. He found himself smiling too. He found himself laughing. Until Gabriel’s eyes met his.
Ignacio’s grin turned into a sneer.
Gabriel grimaced. “I’ll go get that costume,” he said to Esmeralda. He spun on his heels and ran toward the horse opera.
Using rope and chain, they hooked the cage up to a float that was as large and intricately fashioned as the carnival’s carousel.
Somehow, in the span of moments after Gabriel returned, Esmeralda had been transformed. Her hair was pinned up, loose curls falling around her face. She had on lip paint and rouge. And she wore a corseted leotard that showed off her thighs and arms.
A lump formed in Ignacio’s throat. He had seen the full beauty of her figure once before. On the night of his eighteenth birthday.
Camila started sticking the soft white feathers from Estefan’s underbelly that littered the bottom of the cage onto Esmeralda’s costume. She had also somehow procured a tiny white mask and handed it to Esmeralda.
The cage lurched forward. The procession was beginning.
“We better scram,” Camila said. “But first, take these. They’ll go perfectly with your look.” Camila yanked off the clip-on earrings she wore before snapping the pearly clusters onto Esmeralda’s earlobes. “You’re the bee’s knees.” She held out her hand to Esmeralda, who beamed. Esmeralda licked her thumb and pressed it into Camila’s palm.
“And you’re the cat’s meow,” Esmeralda said breathily.
“Best of luck!” Gabriel yelled over the clatter of rumbling floats.
Esmeralda thanked her companions. She kissed their cheeks.
She disregarded Ignacio altogether and climbed into the cage. She started to close the door. But she hadn’t kept her part of the bargain. She’d offered to help him. Yet he was no closer to knowing who might have written to his father. They’d barely scratched the surface.
His hand shot out, and he took hold of the door before she could shut it.
Her nose scrunched. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.”
Chapter 15
Esmeralda
“No, you’re not,” Esmeralda said.
Ignacio wasn’t going to destroy the first challenge she had received from Ángel.
She clenched the cage door harder and tried to jerk it from his grasp. He didn’t budge.
“We made a deal,” he said. “Or are you going to go back on your word like always?”
She barked a bitter laugh. “That’s rich coming from you.”
The parade was picking up speed. The carnival was only half a mile or so outside the city limits. Soon, they’d be rolling into the main square amongst the excited crowds that had gathered to see the extravagant floats…and an ostrich cage bouncing on its axles in the very back.
Ignacio started to jog. “Let me in.”
“No. You’ll ruin the look I’m going for.”
“And what’s that? Are you trying to play the part of desperate dingleberry?”
She sneered. “Beat it, Ignacio.”
“Not until you help me like you said you would. You have to hold up your end of the bargain.”
She glared at him. But Esmeralda already knew she’d lost. Ignacio was as stubborn as a mule when he had his mind set on something. It had once been one of her favorite things about him. Like when she’d counted her favorite scarf lost after a strong gust snatched it from her throat. Ignacio wouldn’t give up until he found it, tangled in the limb of a tall tree. He brought it back to her, a little worse for wear, but she didn’t care. In fact, she cherished the scarf even more knowing he’d climbed all the way up to retrieve it for her.
