Sweet Cherry Pie
In honor of National Cherry Pie day, a micro story about one of my characters and a link to a favorite recipe. Enjoy, and if you make the tart, save me a sliver.
Sweet Cherry Pie
Tiffany knew she’d marry William when he showed up on her doorstep. The crescent moon rose behind his hat like some plume in an old-timey men’s fedora, and his hands were shoved deep in his pockets. “I have something of yours,” he said between breaths as if he’d run the entire way. “I thought it might be important.”
Curious, she opened the door a crack.
He pulled a note card from his pocket and waved it awkwardly. It was stained with blotches of red, bent at the edges. “I got this coat at a yard sale and tracked it back to you.”
Under the porch light she saw the missing button, the frayed hem. It had been her father’s, one of the few things she took when she’d left home on her eighteenth birthday. She hated him, but his coat was warmer than hers. She’d promptly sold it and everything she owned at a neighborhood sale. What little money that brought she secreted away into a coffee canister, along with her waitressing tips. A decade later she had enough for a down payment on the diner of her dreams, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
She took the note card from William, read it. “Mom’s Cherry Rhubarb Pie.” She studied the recipe, ran a thumb across it.
He came back the next day, and the next. Months later, they married in a small ceremony. The honeymoon consisted of a road trip, dragging a rusted-out airstream trailer across the state and back. Every second sweet in her memory.
It was a good recipe for cherry pie. Tiffany made one each morning and placed it high on a filigreed silver plate where everyone in the diner could see it. There was never a morsel left by the end of the day, but she was always certain to tuck a slice away for William’s noon time dessert. After he scraped his plate clean, he’d pat his belly as if he’d never had anything better.
Tiffany would only smile.
She’d never laid eyes on the recipe card before William showed up on her doorstep.
What’s your story? Has anything seemingly insignificant ever had a big impact on your life? Or do you have a ‘pat your belly’ recipe you’d like to share?
Tempeste
As promised, a recipe for you to try from The Crepes of Wrath! Rhubarb & Cherry Tart
Image: Brooke Lark via Unsplash cheekykitchen.com
