Right by Jana Aston

Author:Jana Aston [Aston, Jana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rutherford Press
Published: 2016-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Three

We exit the parking garage hand in hand and walk past City Hall heading for the Reading Terminal Market. It’s less than half a mile away, just a couple of city blocks. It’s just cold enough to put a little hustle in our steps, but not enough to make it unpleasant.

The moment we enter through the 12th Street entrance, we’re assaulted with the usual market pandemonium. Crowds of people, both tourists and locals alike. Smells competing from all corners of the large space. Shopkeepers offering samples lined up in front of their stalls. It’s bedlam and I love it.

“Let’s get ice cream.” I tug on Sawyer’s hand and nod my head towards Bassett’s, rolling up on my toes in excitement.

“Ice cream? It’s noon, we haven’t even had lunch.”

I stop dead and look at him in disbelief. “You buzzkill.”

“We can get a pint to go later,” he suggests and I take a step back.

“Whoa, buddy. I’m not sure this”—I point between us—“is going to work out.”

He rolls his eyes and lets me drag him to the Bassett’s line. We’re jostled by the crowd as we shuffle our way forward and I examine the menu. I bounce on my toes again, peering over people’s heads at my choices. Cherry vanilla, maybe. Mango, no. Not in the mood for mint chocolate chip. “Raspberry truffle,” I tell the kid behind the counter with confidence when we get to the head of the line. “Sawyer?” I look over my shoulder. “What do you want?”

“I want coffee,” he replies. I just shake my head and after grabbing my cone we backtrack to Old City Coffee and get Sawyer a coffee.

“Happy now?” I ask as he takes a sip and I swipe my tongue around the ice cream where it meets the cone. “Got your boring coffee.”

His eyes follow the path of my tongue before he answers. “Not boring. This is quality small-batch coffee. You’re the one missing out.”

“Am I?” I ask, and now that I know he’s so fascinated with the path of my tongue I make a dramatic sweep across the top of the cone while tilting my head back to look him straight in the eye.

“Cute, Boots. Real cute.” He taps the tip of my nose with a fingertip and then grabs the hand not holding the cone and we set off into the crowded market.

We wind our way up and down the aisles, starting on the Filbert Street side and working our way towards Arch. I find a cookbook and a kitchen timer my mom will love for Christmas while Sawyer picks up a piece of pottery for his mom. We stop for cheesesteaks at Sparto’s: Provolone for him, Whiz for me. Table space is limited so we find a corner and eat them standing up, Sawyer wiping a dab of Whiz from my cheek with his thumb.

After we’ve eaten, we continue shopping. Sawyer picks up steaks for dinner, with a final stop at Beiler’s Bakery to pick up fresh-baked pastries and bread.

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