The Hidden Deep Read Online Free

hours before I need to drive you two over to school,” Jayce said, calling them to order. “Let’s start with a sample, shall we?”
    Prissie lifted her test pie out of its carrier and set it beside the plates and forks. It didn’t look like much on the outside.The plain crust was all lumpy and bumpy from the apples inside, and it was just an ordinary golden-brown. Since Auntie Lou’s pies were real show-stoppers, Prissie was pretty embarrassed that her meager skills were getting so much attention. The woman smiled encouragingly as she handed Prissie a knife.
    “You do the honors, dear.”
    Prissie was very conscious of Ransom’s scrutiny as she lifted out the first piece and placed it on a plate. Mercifully, the pie didn’t fall apart on her. “Pink!” he exclaimed with an odd smile on his face.
    “Such a lovely shade,” cooed Auntie Lou, who passed the slice to Jayce.
    By the time Prissie took a bite, Ransom had already inhaled his piece and was poking through the bushel baskets. “Six kinds of apples?” he asked curiously. “Isn’t that a little much?”
    Jayce shook his head. “This pie is so good because it has depth … complexity. Each variety of apple contributes something the other varieties lack. Sweetness, tartness, flavor, texture.”
    “And color,” Ransom said, eyeing the unusual pink cast.
    The blush of the apples was nothing compared to the color rising in Prissie’s cheeks as she withdrew a folded paper from the pocket of her skirt and clutched it protectively to her heart. This recipe was special to her for a few reasons, and it was hard to give it away. “There’s a secret to the recipe.”
    “One we’ll keep!” her father assured. When Prissie frowned in Ransom’s direction, Jayce patted her shoulder reassuringly. “He’s already agreed to keep trade secrets.”
    “Go on, honey. Tell us how it’s done!” Auntie Lou urged.
    With a tentative smile at her father, Prissie relinquished the recipe. Jayce unfolded the paper and glanced over the instructions with a gleam in his eye. Then, he spread it out on the table so Lou and Ransom could read his daughter’s neatly written instructions.
    The old lady chortled. “I thought the name referred to the
color
!”
    “How long did it take to figure out the proportions for each kind of apple?” asked her father.
    “Koji and I must have tried it ten different ways,” she admitted. “We didn’t get it just right until a couple days before the fair.”
    Ransom had been reading more slowly than the others because his eyebrows didn’t shoot up until right then. “Are you
kidding
?” he asked, pointing to the last line in the recipe. “You actually went a little crazy, didn’t you?”
    Prissie moved to the coat hooks by the back door. Fishing out a heavy paper sack from her purse, she returned and carefully spilled the contents onto the worktable. The dark red wrappers of cinnamon penny candy from the corner store gleamed against the dull silver of stainless steel. “We were out of cinnamon, so I used these instead,” she replied defensively.
    “Oh, don’t get me wrong,” he said, giving her father a sheepish look. “It’s good and all. I’m just surprised.”
    Jayce grinned boyishly. “Some of the best recipes have an unexpected twist.”
    “Let’s get started,” Lou said. “Those apples aren’t going to peel themselves!”
    Moments later, Ransom exclaimed, “Whoa! These are pretty cool!” He’d chosen one of Great-grandmother Mae’sfavorites apples and discovered the distinctive rose-colored flesh under its pale green skin.
    “Aren’t they, though?” Prissie’s father reached for one and showed off his knife skills, creating a long, unbroken spiral of pink and green. “My grandmother had a real fondness for the color pink, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” he said, winking at Prissie. “My grandfather sent for these trees to please her. There’s a whole row in the orchard, and these apples