"I think I'm the native here," he shot back. She shrugged and chewed. "Fuckin' New Yorkers," he teased, taking his own bite. They ate for a while in silence and Heath enjoyed watching her appreciate her sandwich. He'd always liked a healthy appetite in a woman.
"It's good?" he asked after a moment. Drew gave an enthusiastic nod, unable to speak due to the monstrous bite she'd just taken.
She swallowed. "Possibly the best thing I've eaten here besides my mother's cooking."
"Your mom's a good cook?" he asked, thinking of his own mother. Before she'd gotten sick, she'd decided she wanted to get into cooking. Heath smiled inwardly at the memory of her awful meals that he'd eaten and pretended to like to preserve her feelings.
"The best," Drew replied, pulling a piece of bread off her sandwich and swiping up a bit of cheese whiz. "She grew up in my Nonna's kitchen. Sunday dinner is a staple in our family and she always makes enough for an army. Although, there's almost that many people in her and my father's apartment every Sunday."
"You got a big family?" Heath asked.
"Pretty big," Drew replied. "I have two older sisters. They're both married and have two kids apiece. Then there's Uncle Gino. So it's pretty crowded in there." She smiled. "But that's what makes it so much fun."
"You close to your sisters?"
Drew nodded. "Very close. My oldest sister, Nik, is thirty-two. My older sister Toni is thirty. I'm the baby at twenty-seven. Being that close in age, we've always been close. Had a lot fights growing up," she added, "but we've always been close."
"Drew…Nik…and Toni," Heath repeated with a chuckle.
Drew laughed too. "My dad, he always knew he was going to have boys. No girls. Well, when Nik was born, he decided to name her after his own father anyway because he didn't want the name to go to waste. Then when Toni came along, he decided he didn't want his grandfather's name to go to waste either, so he named her that anyway. Then when I came along, he gave up on the idea of boys and gave me my mother's father's name." She shrugged and smiled. "What's funny is that our names aren't short for anything. Nik is named after my grandfather Dominic, but everyone called him Nic for short. Same thing with Toni and me. My mother insisted on 'feminine' spellings if we were going to have boys' names."
Heath chuckled again. "That's pretty funny. The three o' you sound like a bunch of 'wise guys'."
"Nik and Toni definitely act like it sometimes," Drew agreed. "Their poor husbands."
"So your whole family lives in Pittsburgh now?" he asked.
"Yes," Drew replied. "We were all born and raised in New York. Toni came out here with her husband first. The rest of us were in New York. Then when we came out here, Nik joined a law firm and her husband's a doctor. So they were able to get jobs relatively easy. My parents invested in the apartment complex and then the bakery. They always wanted a couple family businesses."
"And what about you?"
"Me?" Drew replied. "Well. I already told you I was a dancer. I want to open my own studio one day. I'm getting closer. Not having to pay rent helps, living in the family building. Just saving my money. There's a spot downtown, an old studio that hasn't been claimed yet. That's what I really want. I'm saving enough money until the bank will grant me the loan for the space. They won't give me the whole amount so I have to have enough for a down payment. I'm just scared someone will snap it up before me."
"I hope you get it," Heath said sincerely. "Teaching dance at the Y getting old?"
"Thanks," Drew replied quietly, smiling at him slightly. "And I love teaching at the Y. I just wish it was my place. But at least this way, I have a rehearsal space for myself instead of my living room."
"Rehearsal space?" Heath repeated.
Drew rolled her eyes and shook her head, but smiled still. "My friend Bunz, she forced me to enter this talent showcase. It's a community thing, they want all kinds of artists, musicians, poets, dancers. I haven't danced in front of a crowd in years. But it's coming up in a couple months, so I've been using my studio space at the Y to work on it. She doesn't know that yet though, I don't want her getting all excited. I might back out."
"Don't do that," Heath said automatically. "Don't back out. You should do it. I'd like to see it."
Drew gaped at him. "You want to see me dance?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? I bet you're really talented. People without talent don't usually grow up and want to have their own dance studios."
Drew smiled down at her sandwich. "Well. Thank you. I don't know if you'll ever get to see me dance, but the fact that you want to is nice."