Read Online A Second Bite at the Apple by Dana Bate - Free Book Online

heap. “And this one?”
    Drew reaches out and delicately takes the apple from my hand. “This is a Smokehouse, an antique Pennsylvania Dutch variety. You can pretty much use it for anything—pies, cooking, sauce. It tastes like fresh cider. Really good. So are the Mutsus and Pink Ladies.”
    â€œAnd these are all for us?” I ask.
    â€œSure. In exchange for some bread and muffins—assuming you get the okay from Rick.”
    At the mention of his name, Rick trundles over to our corner of the tent. “What’s going on over here? We still have forty-five minutes left. This isn’t playtime.”
    â€œMaggie and I were hoping to do a little swap,” Drew says. “Some apples for some of your olive bread and millet muffins. What do you think?”
    â€œYou know I can’t resist Maggie’s apples.” He winks. “And her fruit ain’t half-bad either.” He waves Drew over to the truck. “Come on. I’ll hook you up with a bag of goodies.”
    Drew follows Rick over to the truck, and they disappear behind the loading area.
    â€œSo Drew is pretty hot, huh?” Heidi says.
    â€œHe is definitely easy on the eyes.”
    â€œAnd very sweet. You should go for a drink with him.”
    â€œMe?”
    â€œNo, the other Sydney.”
    â€œYou’re the one who should go for a drink with him. You were like a dog in heat as soon as he came over.”
    Heidi cackles. “Been there, done that.”
    â€œOh, so I get your sloppy seconds? No, thanks.”
    â€œHe isn’t my sloppy seconds. We went on one date, had a drunken smooch, and realized it would never work out between us, so we’re just friends. But he’s a sweetheart. I think you’d like him.”
    â€œMaybe. Mentally I’m not really in a place to date right now.”
    Heidi moans. “Because of Zach? That was years ago, Sydney. We’ve been over this. It’s time to move on.”
    â€œIt isn’t because of Zach,” I say, even though we both know it is. “I should be devoting my mental energies to finding a job, not to finding my way into someone’s bed.”
    â€œWhatever. Just promise you’ll think about it. We could go on a double date. It would be really low-key.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll think about it.”
    Drew and Rick emerge from behind the truck, and Drew hands me and Heidi a white plastic bag filled with apples. “Enjoy, ladies,” he says with a smile. Then he turns to me. “It’s Sydney, right?”
    I nod.
    â€œGreat seeing you again,” he says. “You’ll have to let me know what you think of the Smokehouses next time you see me—which I hope will be soon?”
    â€œSure. I’m here every weekend.”
    Heidi clears her throat as if she is about to say something, but I kick her beneath the table.
    â€œCool,” Drew says. “I’ll see you next weekend, then.”
    He grabs his brown bag filled with bread and pastries and turns to leave, then turns back quickly, as if he has forgotten something. His big brown eyes run up and down my face and land on the top of my head. He breaks into a broad smile. “By the way,” he says, “sweet hat.”
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    When I get back to my apartment that afternoon, I flip open my laptop and log on to A Perpetual Feast, the food blog I started freshman year of college. It was a mix of personal essays, recipes, and trend reporting, an extension of the column I began in high school while working on the school paper. I’d worked on the paper for four years at that point, but once we were high school seniors, Zach encouraged me to start a food column, and with his help, I launched “Zest,” which ran articles on everything from our cafeteria food to restaurants around town. One of my first pieces blasted our cafeteria staff and launched an investigation into their hygienic practices after I found a dirty