The Apple Tree by Kara Jimenez Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t date. It wasn’t worth the risk to get close to anyone and he wasn’t a one night stand kind of guy.
    So why couldn’t he stop thinking about Bianca?
    A guitar player stood at the corner and he threw a few bucks in the open case, then found a bench to sit and eat a slice of the sour bread. A middle aged couple strolled past, holding several baskets of groceries.
    “ I can’t believe you paid seventeen dollars for a dead chicken!” The man huffed and shook his balding head.
    The woman rolled her brown eyes. “It’s pastured and organic. Besides, you’ll thank me when you smell it roasting in the oven.”
    Levi chuckled to himself and the memory of his arguments with Edith streamed through his head. Of course, his wife hadn’t wasted money on practical things like food. Her favorite splurges had been expensive bolts of cloth and exotic concoctions from the apothecary. They never had gotten along very well.
    Levi, you don’t understand me. Levi, can’t you do anything right? Levi, leave me alone. I don’t want you to touch me. Edith’s cold, calculated voice still rang in head accompanied by the familiar sinking of his stomach. No matter how hard he tried, he’d never been a good enough husband for her.
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing the flashbacks from his mind. Time for him to check up on Bianca and find out once and for all if the curse had taken hold. Her apartment was close enough he could probably walk, but it made him uncomfortable to leave his truck so far away. He strolled back to the parking lot, climbed inside the cab and drove to Lilly Avenue.
    Levi sat on the same bench he’d used the morning after he’d met her. The breeze blew past his face, chilling his ears and he pinched his arm hair while he waited for her to leave the apartment.
    If she’d eaten a red apple, the changes would be apparent by now. The person she loved most would grow rapidly older until they died in just a couple of weeks. Grief would overwhelm her and she wouldn’t notice at first she’d stopped aging completely. She’d be young forever, like him.
    The front door swung open and Bianca came out wearing a knitted sweater that hugged her curves and carrying a large plastic bowl. She seemed…fine. Not distressed at all as she gathered tomatoes from the pots on the porch. The boy should have gray hair and wrinkles. He may have arthritis. They would be taking him to the hospital. Yet, she moved as if everything was normal.
    The little boy ran through the front door and started digging in the dirt from the pots. She smiled and ruffled his hair.
    Relief washed through him. Surely, she loved the little boy most and yet, he was okay. Could there be someone she loved more that the curse affected?
    No, she must not have eaten a red apple. Maybe she ate another color, but not a red one. She hadn’t activated the curse. His lungs pulled in a deep breath. He’d been getting all worked up this last week for nothing.
    Now, he’d walk away and let her live her life. He couldn’t move. Although he rejoiced because she was okay, not seeing her again seemed incomprehensible. He’d been so sure she’d been cursed that the idea of not seeing her again caught him off guard. How could he leave and never see her tender brown eyes or her sweet smile? But he couldn’t stay either. She would never accept him and this stagnant body. He’d learned that lesson the hard way with Edith.
    A dark cloud moved over the street, dimming the sun’s bright rays. Bianca looked up, scanning the road. She seemed to focus on the park bench.
    His heart pounded. Did she recognize him? He bent his head, hoping to hide his face.
    She set the bowl on the concrete, then took the boy by the shoulders and led him back in the apartment, reaching in and pulling the door shut so he stayed inside. Turning, she walked toward the park, a small smile on her face.
    How could he explain this? Surely, she wouldn’t believe he’d just happened to