Page 5 of Secret Santa

“Well since I’ve provided you your entertainment for the night, was there anything else you needed oh, brother of mine?”

“Actually, yes. I wondered if you would come to Chicago for Christmas this year. You’ll really like it.”

I noticed Presley turning in his booth, craning his neck in what usually was the universal signal forwhere the fuck is my waitress.

“I’ll think about it. The holidays are always crazy here. It’s nearly impossible to get away.”

“I know. Just please do actually think about it. I miss you and I really want to show you my life here.”

He came to me nearly every Christmas. Usually, he’d throw on an apron and work the line with me, belting out whatever song came on the jukebox alongside me. Last year Fitzy even tried to get him to commit to being in her annual auction, despite him not living in Fitzpatrick Place.

“I’m so sorry about that. My brother calls around closing time to make sure that I’m safe and no boogie men are after me.”

It was partly true. He did usually call me at night. I was typically at the diner, and he made comments about how I shouldn’t be there alone at night.

“I’m under orders from Coach Kimball,” he began. “He said you make the best coconut cake in three counties, so if you have any left, I’d like a slice of that, as well as your meatloaf.”

“Aw hon, I’m so sorry. We’re clean out of meatloaf for the day. That’s one of my most popular menu items. It barely makes it all the way to the end of supper. Doesn’t matter how much I make, two trays, five trays, I even made seven trays once and I swear the cops went and put out an APB. By six thirty I had a line of angry townies who’d been waiting through supper for my meatloaf.”

I was so distracted by his pursed lips I missed whatever came out of them second later. Gosh I need a nap. I was like a kid with a remote and 200 cable channels. My brain refused to focus on a single moment and jumped from distraction to distraction. He met my gaze and my blood stream felt as if I mainlined caffeine. All strange and hot and jittery.

“Come again?” I asked.

He smirked. Then bit his lip as if holding back a huge laugh. It took me a minute to realize my words could have innuendo.

“I said I’ll take whatever you have left. Coach Kimball will have my hide if I don’t eatsomethingon the menu. Oh and he’d like a banana bread for the road.”

The bell on the door jingled, both Presley and I snapped our head in the door's direction at the same time.

“Good God, you’re still here? Why are you still here?” Fitzy threw open the door and charged right toward us. “You have been here since at least six this morning. And you!”

Fitzy pushed her readers on top of her head, pointing at Presley’s chest.

“You are up and out even earlier than this one. What is it with all you—what are you? Millenials? GenXers? Whatever you are…hasn’t your generation ever heard of stopping and smelling the roses? It’s eight o’clock at night.”

She didn’t wait to be invited, merely slid into the booth across from Presley with little preamble. Presley’s eyebrows had made a comical progression from concerned, to surprised, to confused, and had landed on flat out shock. They practically touched his hairline they’d journeyed so far up his face.

“Why you here so late, sugar?” she asked him. “Coach Kimball workin’ you too hard? I know his mama. We play bridge together. I can have her tell him to back off if you need me to.”

Rather than give him any breadth to answer she turned to me instead. “I need a caramel monkey bread, honey. Can you do it up real nice so I can just hand it off to Penny at Garden Club for the raffle tomorrow?”

“Garden clubs actually exist?”

Presley’s eyebrow raised in nearly a question mark at the same time the right side of his lips pulled up into a smirk. I would’ve sworn on my original collection of Elvis 45s, I would never have thought I’d be the girl who got jelly-legged over a well-placed smirk. Shit. That smirk raised my core temperature up to volcanic and sent all kinds of feelings skittering through my blood stream.

“I’ll have you know the Bluebonnets have been around since the Alamo young man.”

Fitzy had a dessert order, but I really didn’t want to miss watching her feathers getting ruffled about her precious garden club. That was not a thing you insulted to a Texas lady of a certain esteem.

“He’s not from Texas, Fitzy. He doesn’t know about these kinds of things. Where’you from anyway, hon?”

It was the second time the pet name fell off my tongue. The first time, it was just natural to the diner persona. That time it felt different, at least to me. I felt the blush clear up to my hair follicles when he looked up at me.

“I’ve been living near Palo Alto since graduating from college.”

“Be a dear and grab that monkey bread for me?” Fitzy smiled and winked. “I need to get home.The Bacheloris about to start. It’s a new season, you know. My friends and I like to each choose ahorseif you get my drift and bet on how far through the program they’ll go. My girl has been one of the top two, three seasons running!”

Fitzy continued to surprise me every day. I could only laugh and shake my head as I headed back to the kitchen.

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