Jayma Jay, The Cool Guy and Sue

Apple Picking
1

The day started out pretty good. It was a warm fall morning and The Cool Guy and his apple picker were going to pick a lot of apples. The girls came along for the ride: One also enthusiastic about apple picking, one not. Lets get this show on the road! cried Jayma Jay. I wanna eat some apples! The Cool Guy chuckled at her eagerness. Sue rolled her eyes as she pulled on first her favorite yellow sweatshirt and then her second favorite fleece vest. It was The Cool Guys favorite, however. He watched her, smiling to himself. Alright, sighed Sue, Lets get this over with. All three piled into The Cool Guys oversized pick up truck, Jayma Jay insisting on riding in the bed. The Cool Guy tried to start a conversation while they drove, but Sue just sat there: ice queen. He glanced over at her at a red light. She had her hands in her lap, her fingers fidgeting with the cuffs of her sweatshirt. Her nervous twitch paired with her cooler than cool expression amused him. Her face might have said I dont care, but her hands said otherwise. He smiled and called out the window to Jayma Jay. You ok? Perfect! she cried back as the truck stared moving again. They pulled into the orchard parking lot (bit of grass where there are no trees) and piled out. The Cool Guy lifted his apple picker from the back and they started in toward the trees. Sue snagged a couple bags from the stand for them to fill and marched along reading the Apple Key. The Apple Key was printed on the bag. It told patrons which paint splotch on the trees trunk indicated which kind of apple. Green meant Macintosh; Purple, Red Delicious; Blue, Cortland and so on. Jayma Jay was like a kid in a candy store, racing from tree to tree trying apples from each color, trying to determine which her favorite would be. When the girls and even The Cool Guy, at six foot two, were unable to reach the apples in the trees, he would use his apple picker to pluck one from the high branches and hand them over. After doing this a few times and other visitors to the orchard awwwing at how cute and paternal it all looked, Sue grumbled loudly, This is ridiculous, and grabbed hold of a low branch. Before Jayma Jay or The Cool Guy could say Macoun, there she was in the tree, picking apples of her own from the highest branches and dropping them to the two below. Jayma Jay whooped and cheered; The Cool Guy just smiled. Hows it going up there? he called to her with a smirk, as she reached for a particularly far fruit. Excellent, she grunted as her fingertips grazed the skin. Jayma Jay and The Cool Guy watched as she pulled back, regrouped and lunged forward, this time grabbing the apple and deftly plucking it from the branch. Look out below! she called as she let that one go. The Cool Guy held out his hands to catch the apple. He looked up at her and smiled. Sue just rolled her eyes and dropped from the branches. Lets go, she said moving on to the next row of trees. Every tree they came to next with no low hanging apples, if she could, Sue was up in the branches picking and dropping to awaiting arms. If she couldnt reach, The Cool Guy used his apple picker. Over the course of the afternoon, the three picked four bags worth of apples equaling two pecks.

We can make apple pie! cried Jayma Jay. And apple sauce! And . . . what else, Sue? Apple crisp, suggested Sue. Whats that? asked Jayma Jay. Sort of like a cobbler only not quite. Yes, lets do that! We can also just eat them, said The Cool Guy handing Jayma Jay an apple he pulled off a nearby tree and tossing it into her hungry hands. Lets take a picture! she cried as she bit into the fruit. Accosting a passing family, Jayma Jay passed off her camera and was back beside the other two ready to pose. Sue sighed loudly. Oh, come on, said The Cool Guy pulling her close for Jayma Jays picture. What? she asked shortly, her arms crossed in front of her. Even you must admit you didnt hate today. Sue shifted her weight and sighed again. But she couldnt deny it, nor could she hide the smile that came to her face.