SECRETS (2/07)

We arrived at Cypress Creek Cafe earlier than usual this Saturday, and were lucky enough to find Miss Bobby's booth empty. Instead of waiting to be seated, as the sign at the front door requests, we just walked straight over and grabbed the booth adjoining hers. I had barely managed to sneak my little tin Valentine's mailbox up into her window display, and get myself seated again, when she came through the door. There were a few other people in the restaurant at the time, but I don't think anyone saw what I was doing. She didn't notice the addition right away and I could tell that John was getting antsy. I whispered roughly "Don't you dare start nodding your head towards that window, to call her attention to it - you'll give everything away!"

Apparently, I wasn't the only one playing Cupid this week. As soon as Bobby got settled, her favorite waitress came over to the table. We could hear them discussing a beautiful plant that had been added to her window ledge recently. Unlike me, this person had been kind enough to leave a card with a name, although it was one Bobby couldn't pin point. The waitress was in the middle of reminding Miss Bobby that the plant was from Lisa, who just opened that wine bar, and her friend Amy, when suddenly she stopped and pointed to the window. "Miss Bobby!" Did you see that little mailbox in your window?" Bobby said "What?", and turned to look. "Oh my word! Where did that come from? Did you put that there?" The waitress replied "No, it wasn't me", then headed off to place Bobby's breakfast order.

As soon as she was out of sight, Bobby crept out of her booth and over to the wait-station, placed a frilly gift bag on the counter, then scurried as quickly as her frail bones would carry her, back to her seat. The waitress came out of the kitchen and found it, poked around to see what was inside, then started grinning when she read the attached card. She came back to Bobby's table and said "Well, look what I got Miss Bobby! It says it's from my secret elf, but I think it must be from you!" "Oh no! It's not from me!" said Bobby, giggling. "But Miss Bobby, it's full of all those nice bath and beauty things you usually give me, and it even has one of your special decorations on it! If it's not from you, then who?" Bobby giggled again, then said "I don't know, maybe you have another boyfriend", to which the waitress grimaced and said "Lord, let's hope not - I can barely handle the one I have!" Then Bobby said "Well, what about this cute little mailbox? I still think you put it there." Laughing, the waitress replied "I promise, it wasn't me." Then Bobby said "But you know who did, don't you?" The waitress composed her face, raised her right hand, and said "I swear Miss Bobby, I didn't see a thing!"

Later, when she returned carrying Bobby's grilled biscuit and bacon, she glanced at the mailbox again, then frowned and said "Look! That mailbox has a little red flag, and it's sticking up." Bobby's eyes grew wide, and she said "Do you think they left a card inside?" The waitress replied "Well, there's only one way to find out", and then lifted the box down from the ledge. After fumbling around for a bit, she finally got it open, then she said "It's even better than a card Miss Bobby - it's full of pralines, and it looks like they are home-made!" "But who could have done this for me?" asked Bobby. "I don't know. I guess you just have a lot of fans around town." Giggling girlishly, Bobby said "Oh my! This is embarrassing. I don't deserve all this. I'm just a crazy old lady!"

A short while later, a lady named Ruth came in, and wandered over to visit with Bobby for a bit, as she usually does. Bobby showed her the mailbox and accused her of being the secret elf, but Ruth managed to convince her otherwise. Bobby said "I thought it was my waitress at first, but she didn't even know how to get the silly thing open, so it can't be her. What about Elaine? Could she be the one?" Ruth replied "Well Bobby, she moved away a while back." Bobby said "I know, but it's just the kind of thing she would do, isn't it?" As we paid, and headed toward the door, they were in the process of naming just about everyone in town, discussing the likelihood of each being her secret cupid. As soon as we had stepped outside, John said "You know you are probably going to drive her crazy, don't you?" "Yep, I reckon so." And then a moment later he asks "Are we going to do it again?" "Absolutely!"