The Apple Tree

by Kara Jimenez

  He stood and grabbed a deck of cards off the mantel. “Rummy it is then.” When he sat back down, he’d moved a few inches closer.

  This level of attraction was completely new to her. The fantasies of crawling on top of him and ripping his clothes off invaded her brain until she couldn’t focus on anything else.

  He shuffled the cards on the coffee table.

  Every other man she’d dated had wanted to push the physical relationship before she was ready and she’d been attracted to them, but not like this. Not like a magnet, not like a deep sea diver out of oxygen would yearn for the surface.

  But he didn’t seem to be making any moves. After everything he’d told her, maybe he wasn’t interested in her as anything more than a friend? He did have more than a hundred years on her and tons of experience. She bit the inside of her cheek. Why would she think he’d be interested in her? Sure, he’d said she was ‘hot’ before, but he’d been drunk. You couldn’t trust anything people say when their drunk. Most likely, he just wanted a friend, someone he could be himself with.

  He placed the cards into two piles and handed her a stack. “Count and make sure you have ten.”

  Her fingers brushed against his and the innocent contact ignited her hand. She glanced up at the painting over the mantel, trying to distract herself. On the canvas, a deer stood peacefully in the woods, almost like it was mocking her. She took a deep breath and began counting the cards.

  As they played, the tension in her body continued to escalate. Maybe it was the fire, maybe it was the way the sun had drifted down the horizon outside or their new closeness since she learned his secret, but every movement between them sent an electric current through her. Their easy banter dissipated, replaced by an awkward silence.

  She jumped when the timer on the dryer went off.

  “Sounds like your clothes are ready,” he said.

  Did that mean she had to leave? She hardly remembered the outside world and she had no desire to do so. She wanted to stay in this little cabin. Stay the night. She glanced toward his bedroom down the hallway. Stay the week, stay the month, forever.

  Levi’s chest plummeted when the dryer buzzer went off. She’d probably want to go home now. It was getting late and she’d had a long day, but everything felt so right with her there.

  “I’ll get your clothes.” He walked to the bathroom where the washer and dryer stood opposite the shower. Damn dryer buzzer, ruining his night. He opened the machine and pulled out her jeans. The warm fabric would soon be hugging her thighs. He ran his hand over the soft threads and then tossed them over his arm and grabbed her green knitted sweater. The color had looked beautiful against her skin, when she’d been wearing it before.

  He slammed the dryer shut and walked back into the living room.

  “Here you go, they’re nice and warm.”

  “Thank you.” She took her clothes and walked toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”

  Levi plopped on the couch and waited. He tried to focus on the fireplace but his mind kept drifting to Bianca, undressing in the next room. If he was a bolder man, he’d slam the door open and throw her against the wall, kissing every freckle on her smooth skin. He’d lift her hips and place her on the counter. Stand between her open legs and push her against the mirror, devouring her body like the flames on the logs.

  He groaned and buried his head in his hands. His thoughts were completely inexcusable. She was a respectable woman and he had no right to her. After all, she was not his wife.

  She came out of the bathroom, dressed in her own clothes again. The sweater had shrunk slightly and it clung to her body, the way he wanted to cling to her. So, he was jealous of a sweater now, marvelous.

  He stood and grabbed his jacket from the hook by the door. “I’ll drive you home.”

  “Okay.” Her face dropped. Was she disappointed to leave? She had to be tired. “Wait, you don’t have to drive me. I have my bike.”

  Oh, he’d just hurt her pride by offering a ride. He rolled his eyes. “It’s dark outside. I’m not letting you ride down these pitch black country roads. We’ll throw your bike in the back of the truck, it’s no big deal.” He nodded toward the door.

  The ride home in the tiny pickup cab did nothing to calm the electricity running through him, but it added something new, sadness, because the night was over and they’d soon have to separate.

  He gripped the steering wheel. “So, this probably goes without saying, but don’t tell anyone about the curse.”

  She turned to face him. “Oh, I know. I wouldn’t. It’s not my secret to tell.”

  He nodded. He could trust her. “And whatever you do, don’t tell Peter that the apples are what started it. Please, that’s the most important thing.”

  “I won’t.”

  He wanted to add that she shouldn’t see Peter again at all, but he knew he had no right to ask that of her. His teeth gritted at the memory of Peter’s hands on her at the farmer’s market, of his mouth on hers.

  “I hope I can see you again soon,” she said.

  A huge grin spread across his face. “I want the same.”

  “Come over in the morning and I’ll make you breakfast. I have to work at eleven, but… I want to see you again before that.”

  After everything he’d told her tonight, she still wanted to see him again! “It’s a date.” He turned away from the road and held her eyes. “I can’t wait.”

  She shifted in the seat as they pulled up to her apartment. He pulled along the curb and hopped out of the car, lifting her bike out of the truck and setting it gently on the ground.

  They walked together in silence down the dark stone pathway leading to her door, Levi rolling her bike along. When they reached the porch, he leaned it against the support beam and turned to her.

  “Thanks for not freaking out too much about… me.” He shoved his hands into his pockets.

  She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “I was freaked out, but I’m growing used to the idea.”

  “Okay, well… I’ll see you tomorrow morning then,” he said.

  Her neighbor’s cat approached them and meowed for someone to pet it. He ignored the cat, unable to take his eyes off Bianca’s lips.

  “Okay, tomorrow.” She stood rooted in place.

  “Okay…” He swallowed. “Bye.” Turning, he walked quickly back to the truck.

  Bianca stepped inside the apartment, leaned against the door and sighed. She’d wanted to touch him desperately. She wanted him to touch her. She wanted him to push her against the door and kiss her until her knees became weak.

  Did he like her in that way at all or did she only imagine his flirting before? She stepped over to the window and peeked out the curtain. His blue pickup still sat on the curb under the streetlight, the engine running. Levi sat in the driver’s seat for an entire minute, until he suddenly opened his door.

  Her breath caught as he jogged up the path toward her apartment. She ran to the front door, her fingers struggling with the lock. The knob turned and she yanked it open just as he reached the porch. Her chest thumped erratically as she stepped outside.

  He scooped her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers.

  Her entire body reacted with burning fire. She reached her hands up to his face, clutching his jaw as the stubble scratched her hand. Her fantasies of kissing him had been nothing compared to the real thing.

  His lips moved with hers. Softly at first, but built until they both gasped for breath. It’d taken him so long to touch her that all she expected was a chaste peck and the intensity caught her by surprise. He pushed her backwards, against the cold wall until the length of his body pressed into hers and his fingers moved around the back of her neck, sliding through the roots of her hair.

  She groaned and clutched him tighter as the woodsy scent of him filled her senses. This was definitely better than a peck.

  He echoed her with a deep husky groan of his own.

  As their lips moved against each
other, she knew that this was it. That she would never be as hopelessly in love with anyone else.

  His mouth left and he pressed his forehead on hers, catching his breath. When he pulled away enough to look at her, his eyes were smoldering liquid silver.

  “Goodnight,” he whispered.

  Peter sat in the driver’s seat of the generic Honda civic he’d borrowed to be less conspicuous. As Levi and Bianca embraced under the glow of her porch light, Peter’s hands squeezed the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. He clenched his jaw, shut his eyes and took a deep breath, unable to watch Levi stealing his only hope. That bastard had once been his best friend. Someone he trusted.

  “Why is there a goofy grin all over your face?” Levi had asked. He stood by the woodshed outside the elder Cabrera’s home, where Peter’s parents and sister lived.

  Peter laughed. “Clara doesn’t want to tell anyone yet, says it’s early, but I’m going to be a father.”

  Levi smiled and slapped him on the back. “Congratulations! I’m happy for you.”

  Peter laughed, the grin still spread across his face. “Thanks. When are you going to get yourself a woman?”

  “I don’t know. Mama is still trying to get me to ask Edith.” He shoved his hands into his pockets.

  Peter shrugged. “She’s a fine girl. It’s not like you got many to choose from out here in Oregon territory.”

  Clara stuck her head out the door. “Come in you two. Anna is bringing out the apple pie.”

  Levi rubbed his stomach and then turned to Peter. “I found an apple tree on my land, brought some over to share.”

  Peter raised a brow. “Delicious. We just planted a tree on the side of our house, but it will be several years before it produces.”

  Levi gave him another pat on the back and headed out to the small wooden house, grinning as he passed Clara.

  She walked out to where Peter stood by the edge of the woods, her eyes narrowed.

  Peter laughed. “I couldn’t help it. I had to tell someone.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Come on, darling. Let’s have some pie.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her inside.

  She shook her head, holding her hands over her beige cotton dress. “I can’t. You go eat. I’ll stay here.”

  He pulled her closer, facing her. “You’re still feeling sick? Are you sure this is normal?”

  She nodded. “Mama says it will pass in a couple months.”

  “So, you can tell your mama but I can’t tell my best friend?” Peter laughed and brought his lips to hers.

  Levi knew what Peter had lost. He knew how he’d suffered and now he wanted to sabotage the only chance he had at a small piece of happiness. True, Levi had met Bianca first, but she was the only thing that made Peter feel alive again after more than a hundred years of torture. Levi was not going to get away with this.

  Bianca lay awake in her bed, clutching a quilt around her shoulders. Her lips tingled and a giddy smile filled her face. How could she sleep after a night like that? Her toes fidgeted beneath the blankets and every time she closed her eyes, her head replayed the kiss on the porch.

  But so many questions remained unanswered. Where did the apple tree come from? How did Levi know about it and not Peter? How was it all even possible? She sighed and flopped over, facing the wall.

  He would always be beautiful. The idea was comforting, that he’d always be here on this earth, forever. But, she only had a few years before she out aged him. How could he possibly still want her when wrinkles formed around her eyes and her hair grayed? She took a deep breath and ran her hand over face, imagining what it would look like in a couple of decades.

  A few short years, that’s all she had before she’d start to disgust him. Unless she ate an apple also… but then someone would die. She groaned. Life was so unfair, not that she’d ever thought it was.

  She pushed the thought from her mind and glanced up at the clock, twelve-thirty. Sleep needed to take her soon or she’d be exhausted tomorrow. She closed her eyes, relieved she’d had the foresight to invite him for breakfast. There was no way she wanted to wait any longer to see him again.

  Levi tossed and turned under the cotton sheets on his bed. Every cell in his body wanted to drive back over to Bianca’s apartment right then. She knew about him, and she still wanted to see him again. And she’d kissed him— really kissed him.

  He sighed and flopped over, his thoughts still lingering on the way her lips had responded to his. How had he gotten through the last one hundred and eighty years without her? The problem was, she’d only be around for a short time, maybe seventy years, before her body succumbed to the natural forces that his never would.

  He rubbed his hand over his chin, cursing the perma-stubble. The evening he’d eaten the apple, it’d been a couple of days since he’d shaved. And now, if he took a razor to it, the hair would immediately grow back to the same length it’d been since that fateful day. Really inconvenient for special occasions… and making out.

  The pillow grew flat beneath his head. He sat up and fluffed it before flopping back down. If he only had seventy years with Bianca, then he had to make the best of it. He’d take care of her, until she took her last breath and then he’d probably become a shell of a man, like Peter. But there’d be time to think about that later. Today, tomorrow, he’d live in the moment and make as many memories as he could.

  When Peter found out they were together, (Were they actually together?) he’d be angry and probably tell his father they had a bargaining chip. He bit the inside of his cheek. The only way to protect her would be to take away the thing his uncle Charles wanted.

  The apple tree.

  He’d debated cutting it down many times over the years, but uncertainty always stopped him. Was his life connected to the branches? Although, if there was anything worth dying for, it was Bianca. He’d pray about it.

  Early the next morning, Bianca immediately hopped out of bed and took a shower. She put on a pretty floral dress and then stood in front of the bathroom mirror blow drying and curling her long hair. Her stomach fluttered as she applied lip-gloss and then took a long look in the mirror. It was silly to get fancied up when she had to change into her ugly work uniform in just a few hours, but she wanted to look her absolute best when she saw Levi again.

  Skipping downstairs, she found her mother in the kitchen already making breakfast.

  “Bee, wow. You look great. What are you doing so dressed up this early in the morning?”

  Bianca pulled an apron out of the drawer, wrapping it around her dress. “Levi’s coming over. I’m making him breakfast.”

  Her mother raised her eyebrows. “That’s adorable.” She smiled, pulling a piece of bread out of the toaster. “I suppose you want me to clear out so you can get busy?”

  Actually, she’d been surprised her mother had been up this early cooking at all, she didn’t think she’d had done that for years.

  “Yeah, mom. That’d be great. I have a big spread planned. I need to get to work.”

  “Okay. Hey, I took an extra shift today and I know you’re working too, so I’m taking Owen over to the neighbors.”

  Bianca dropped the frying pan she held with a clatter. She bent to retrieve it, keeping her eyes on her mother. Had she heard her right? She’d picked up an extra shift? Bianca nodded and set the pan on the stove top. “That’s great mom, thanks for letting me know.”

  Just as the smell of bacon and warm pancakes began to drift through the air, there was a knock at the door. She yanked off her apron and ran her hands through her hair, glancing in the mirror before swinging the door open.

  Levi stared at Bianca, unable to speak. He’d never seem a more beautiful woman. A delicate, vintage rose pattern covered her dress, the skirt ending mid-thigh. His gaze traveled over her long legs down to her bare feet, her toes painted a soft pink color. Her hair fell in soft curls down to her elbows and her honey eyes twinkled as she looked at him.

>   Before he could think, he stepped across the threshold and kissed her, sliding his hands through her hair. The memory of her lips hadn’t done them justice, kissing her was so much better than the weak vision he’s replayed so many times the night before.

  She groaned, clutching the fabric of his t-shirt.

  They stepped backward, into the house, their lips moving furiously. He reached behind him, slamming the door shut and then grabbed her hips, lifting her. They needed to slow down before things got carried away, but it was impossible to think straight.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, kissing him like he was the only man on earth.

  “Ah-hem,” Lisa said from behind them.

  They separated and Bianca set her feet back on the floor, but his arms remained wrapped around her waist.

  “I’m sorry about that, Lisa.” He couldn’t take his eyes off Bianca. Her lips were swollen and begged for him to take them again.

  Lisa smiled and grabbed a coat off the hook. “It’s good to see you again, Levi.” Her gaze shifted toward Bianca. “I’m leaving for my shift and taking Owen to the neighbor’s. Don’t forget that you have to be at work in a couple hours.”

  Bianca narrowed her eyes. “I won’t forget.”

  Lisa scooped Owen into her arms, squeezed past them, and opened the door. She turned and gave Bianca a meaningful look. “Be safe.” The door closed behind her.

  Bianca turned back to him. “Since when does my mom actually act like a mom?”

  “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” He ran his hand along her shoulder.

  “Yeah, it’s a great thing. I’m just confused.”

  “Maybe the other night knocked some sense into her.” He stepped back, admiring her from head to toe. “You look gorgeous. Did you dress up for me?”

  Her cheeks turned pink, making him want to kiss them. “I was excited to see you.”