“That’s where you’re wrong.” Gerry took a calming breath, raked a hand through his wavy brown hair. “Look, Ellie, you know what Whitfield’s like. The man will take you to bed, brag about his conquest and never look back. He’s only interested in one thing.”
“I don’t care. I’m sick and tired of being a puritan. I want to live a little. Why can’t I be like everyone else?”
“Because you’re not like everyone else. You’re...well, you’re different. You deserve someone a whole lot better than Whitfield.”
“What’s wrong with Clay?”
“Nothing a good punch in the mouth wouldn’t cure. He’s arrogant, conceited. He’s a real prick, Ellie. He’s not the man for you.”
Ellie felt the wetness on her cheek before she realized she was crying. “Then why do I feel like he is?”
Gerry pulled her against his shoulder and smoothed her hair. “You’re infatuated with him, that’s all. Clay’s a good-looking man. He knows how to handle women, and you’re inexperienced. He’s playing on your trust, the sonofabitch.”
Gerry handed her his handkerchief. “You better stop crying,” he teased. “Your mascara’s beginning to run.”
“It’s supposed to be waterproof.” She blew her nose. “I’ll sue them if it runs.”
They both laughed. “Come on.” Gerry draped an arm across her shoulder. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”
Ellie didn’t see Clay until the following day at the airport. The horses were being transported by van while the riders were flying on ahead. Ellie was worried about leaving Jube, but Gerry would be with him, so she knew he’d be okay. On the plane, Clay barely spoke. Ellie took a seat beside Maggie Delaine and her little girl, Sarah. Ignoring Clay’s broad back, she spoke to the little blond girl.
“How did you like Paris, Sarah?”
“It was really great. Mama took me to see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way to the top.”
“I saw it from the ground, but I didn’t get to go up.”
“You were marvelous on Sunday,” Maggie said to her. “Until you started having problems in the jump-off, I thought you were going to beat Clay.”
“Sometimes I think that’s the impossible dream.”
“I heard you beat him at the Gardens.”
Ellie grinned. “Oh, I’ll beat him again. The way Jube’s been taking the fences, it’s only a matter of time.”
“Maybe Rotterdam’s the place.”
“I hope so. I intend to give it my best shot.”
“Did you ever ride against Jake?” Sarah asked. “I bet he was the best rider in the whole world.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ellie agreed, seeing the hero worship in the little girl’s eyes. “Jake coached me a few years back and then again before we left the States. He’s a terrific rider, but I’ve never competed against him.”
Ellie glanced at Maggie. Her relaxed smile had tightened. Everyone knew about the love affair between Jake and Maggie. In the show jumping world, it had been a foregone conclusion the two of them would marry.
Then some months back, the relationship had come to an unexpected end. Neither Maggie nor Jake would discuss it. It was obvious little Sarah hadn’t wanted to lose him. Ellie’s intuition told her Jake hadn’t been happy about it either. Ellie wondered how Maggie felt.
They landed in Rotterdam and headed through the bustling traffic by bus. At everyone’s urging, Maggie instructed the driver to take the roundabout route from the airport, circle through town and give them a tour of the city.
“Rotterdam is the largest seaport in the world,” the narrow-faced driver told them in his heavy broken English. “It straddles the Rhine River and the Maas. The Germans almost destroyed the city in World War II,” he said as they passed the War Memorial in front of the Town Hall. “Today it has been restored to one of the most modern cities in the world.”
They passed the Laurenskerk, a splendid Gothic cathedral rebuilt in the nineteen fifties. From the Maas Tunnel, the driver pointed out the Euromast, an observation tower with a terrace three hundred feet off the ground. Just across the Maas, the largest oil refinery in Europe glowed like a beacon over an army of supertankers.
They were staying nearer the show grounds this time, at a small hotel called the Steinberger Rotterdam. After lunching near the harbor, the team and crew checked in. Phil Marshall, Prissy’s fiancé, was flying in, so Ellie had a room to herself.
That night she joined Flex and Jake for dinner, but Jake seemed distracted.
“You’re not worried about what happened to Caesar on the plane?” Ellie asked him as the waiter at In Den Rustwat served herRodekool metRolpens,red cabbage and rolled spice meat with slices of apple.
