“Mmm, okay, come and help me.” He held out a hand to her for her to pull him up, but when she took it, he tugged and pulled her back down into the bed with him.
“Hey!” She burst out laughing. “Come on, get up.”
“You look too good in that dress. I can’t.”
“Yes you can,” she insisted. “We have places to be today. Things to do.”
She squirmed out of his arms and got back to her feet, dancing away from the edge of the bed so he wouldn’t be able to pull her back down. Elijah groaned theatrically and sat up, stretching his arms overhead, watching as she combed out her mess of curls. Her morning hair entranced him.
“What do I need to wear for this?” he asked. “You look gorgeous, but you always look good, so I can’t take any cues from that.”
“Anything,” she said. “Shorts and a T-shirt is just fine. We’re going to be outside.”
“Okay, now I’m really curious.” He got up and went to his dresser, fishing out clothes that matched her instructions.
“Don’t worry,” she grinned. “We’re going to have a great day.”
Both sides of the street were lined with hand-painted stalls, and there were barriers at either end blocking it off to traffic. The sound of excited chatter filled Elijah’s ears. He turned this way and that, taking it all in. “What is all this?”
“It’s a farmers’ market.” Stephanie was bouncing up and down on her toes with excitement. “You’ve never been to one before?”
“I’ve heard of them, but I guess I always pictured them taking place on farms.” Come to think of it, that didn’t make a lot of sense. “I didn’t realize you came to a lot of farmers’ markets.”
“I love them,” she said. “I always end up going home with something I wasn’t expecting to buy. Did you bring cash?”
“No.” He was mystified. “Who carries cash?”
She laughed. “That’s okay. Today’s on me. I kind of thought you might not come prepared. You’ve paid for our last three dates, so anything you want, just let me know.”
“I couldn’t let you buy things for me.”
“Elijah,” she said firmly, “I will be offended if you don’t. Now, come on. Let’s see what there is to see here.”
She took his hand and pulled him down the road, in between the two parallel rows of booths.
Elijah looked back and forth, marveling at the sights. At one booth, he saw bags and bags of fresh apples. Another vendor had the biggest green onions he had ever seen, with massive white bulbs at the ends, and Elijah was tempted to buy some just for the novelty. But it was the next booth that finally caught his attention and pulled him in. “Popcorn!”
“Do you want some?” Stephanie asked, moving closer. It was hot and fresh, and Elijah’s mouth watered. “Yeah, you want some,” she concluded. “Can we get a large bag?”
The vendor scooped some out for them, and money changed hands. Stephanie plucked a kernel off the top and passed the bag to Elijah, who took a big handful. He popped it in his mouth and closed his eyes—the popcorn seemed to dissolve on his tongue, filling his mouth with flavor. It was excellent.
“We should get some of these,” Stephanie said. Elijah opened his eyes to see that she was holding a bag of unpopped kernels. “This is the stuff we’re eating?”
“That’s right,” the vendor said. He was a young man, probably in his very early twenties, and he seemed full of excitement and energy. “Those are our purple kernels. That’s my personal favorite, although the red is also very nice.”
Elijah looked down at the bag in his hand. “This popcorn isn’t purple.”
The kid laughed. “The hulls are purple,” he explained, pointing at the bag Stephanie held. “Not the inside.”
“We’ll take it.” She gave him some more money, and together the two of them walked on down the road.
“What are we going to do with those?” Elijah wondered.
“Pop them,” Stephanie said. She glanced at him. “You do know how to pop popcorn, don’t you?”
“I mean, in the microwave.”
She burst out laughing. “You really have no kitchen skills at all.” Her tone was affectionate. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you. We can do it tonight, and we’ll watch a movie in your screening room.”
