“I couldn’t find a closet, so I left her here,” Tasha said.
“I’m going to speak to her. Would you give us a moment? And Tasha, please. I’m counting on you not to breathe a word of this to anyone.”
Tasha left the office, and Embeth sat on the love seat next to the girl.
“We’re wearing the same sneakers,” Embeth said.
The girl took off her headphones. “What?” she said.
“We’re wearing the same sneakers,” Embeth said.
“Yours are black,” she said. “Mine are the pink ones, which I had to wait two extra weeks to get. Some people I know don’t like pink.”
“It’s not my favorite color,” Embeth admitted. She would love to die without ever having to see another pink ribbon for breast cancer, for instance.
“Me neither,” she said. “It’s my second favorite color. Mrs. Morgan says that not liking pink is a way of saying you don’t like women. Because women are so associated with pink.”
“I see Mrs. Morgan’s point,” Embeth said. “But, it’s worth remembering that pink is forced on women from a young age—the ubiquity of pink for girls and blue for boys in baby stores, for example. So to resist the wearing of pink is to reject old-fashioned ideas about what it means to be a woman.”
“Hmm,” the girl said. “But it’s not pink’s fault that people do that. And no one feels about blue the same way they do about pink. And the blue is forced on the boys as much as the pink is forced on the girls, so I think the issue is complicated. I think the issue is nuanced, which is one of my new favorite words. Nuanced means—”
“I’m Embeth,” Embeth managed to interject. “Embeth,” she repeated. “The congressman’s wife.”
“I know. I googled the congressman. I’m Ruby. I’m here to meet the congressman, but Tasha told you that when she called. Sorry, I heard her side. And I’m also sorry I didn’t make an appointment,” she said.
“Yes, you probably should have made an appointment, but we are where we are. Let us not be Lot’s wife, looking back toward Sodom.”
“You’re hilarious,” Ruby said.
This comment momentarily disarmed Embeth. She hadn’t meant to be funny, and also, no one had ever thought Embeth was hilarious. Occasionally, Embeth’s dry wit was noted. “I can possibly arrange a meeting for you with the congressman, but you need to answer a few questions first.”
Ruby nodded.
“Your mother is Aviva?” Embeth asked.
“Yes. She calls herself Jane now,” Ruby said.
“Why does she do that?” Embeth said.
“Because she’s a liar,” Ruby said.
Embeth had to admit that the girl had an appealing directness.
“Because she’s ashamed of herself, I think,” Ruby said in a gentler tone. “And because she’s scared people will judge her because of what she did with your husb —— congressman.”
“She’s probably right. Why are you here?” Embeth said.
“I want to meet my father. I’m not sure if the congressman is him, but I want to know if he is,” Ruby said.
“And no one’s encouraged you to come here this week, of all weeks?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Ruby said.
“For instance, your mother? Might she have put you up to this?”
“My mom doesn’t know where I am,” Ruby said. “I left her a note.”
“You seem rather young to travel alone,” Embeth said.
“I am, but I’m very mature for my age. I’ve always had a lot of responsibility. My mom is an event planner, and I’ve been working for her for years.”
Embeth sighed. “You seem like a good person, Ruby—”
“I’m not,” Ruby said. “I’ve done terrible things.”
Embeth paused. “What have you done?”
“I don’t want to say. It wasn’t illegal, but it was possibly immoral,” Ruby said. “Maybe it wasn’t immoral, but it was definitely disloyal. Maybe—”
“Never mind, this seems terribly complicated,” said Embeth. “Let’s put a pin in that. You must admit, the timing of your visit is somewhat suspicious. Do you know what an election is?”
“Yes, of course I do,” Ruby said.
Embeth could tell she had insulted her. In her defense, it was difficult to know what any given child knew. “Congressman Levin is up for reelection next week, and your presence could be less than ideal for him. Whether you turn out to be the congressman’s daughter or not, there are many people who would love to dredge up the ancient scandal between him and your mother. I don’t know how much you know about that?”
Ruby averted her eyes.
“Well, yes. Well, my point is it could be very bad for the congressman the week before an election.”
Ruby considered this. She took off her glasses and she wiped them on her T-shirt. “It’s so hot here,” she said. “My hair has never in my whole life been this frizzy.”
“Tell me about it,” said Embeth. “This can’t be your first time in Florida?”
“It is,” Ruby said. “We live in Maine, which is the Pine Tree State.”
Maine. For whatever reason, the thought of Aviva Grossman in Maine amused Embeth. Damned to eternal winter.
“Did you have cancer?” Ruby asked casually.
“Why? Do I look like I have cancer?”
“My mom does a lot of benefits for people with cancer. You look like you have cancer, or you had cancer, I guess. You don’t have any eyebrows,” said Ruby. “You might have overplucked them. That sometimes happens with brides.”
“No, I’m not a bride. I haven’t been a bride for a very long time. I do have cancer,” Embeth said. “Usually I draw my brows on, if I think of it. They say they’ll grow back, but mine seem determined not to.”
“It’s weird that you call your husband ‘the congressman,’ ” Ruby said.
“It probably is,” Embeth said. “But I’ve been doing it so long, I don’t even know I’m doing it. He is my husband, but he is also the representative for my district. So he is actually my congressman and my husband.” There had been times when Aaron had let her down as a husband, but she could honestly say he had never let her down as a congressman. As a politician, he was honest and he never made promises he couldn’t keep.
“I never thought about it that way,” said Ruby. “Have you voted for him every time he ran?”
“Yes,” said Embeth.
“Would you ever not vote for him?”
“Probably not,” said Embeth. “We feel the same way on all of the most important issues, and I believe in his judgment and his vision.”
“What do you mean by ‘judgment’?”
What did Embeth mean by ‘judgment’? She had been saying the same lines for so long she barely knew what she meant. “He’s careful about who he takes money from, and he cares about his constituents more than his donors, and he cares about his conscience even more than his constituents. This is to say, he cares about doing the right thing more than getting elected. That’s what I mean by judgment.”
Ruby nodded slowly, but she did not look convinced.