Quilts, Tacos & Tattoos

The Bluebonnet Cafe

Mom woke me up early the next morning. "Good morning! Rise and shine," she said cheerfully, as she opened my curtains and let in the bright light. I rubbed my eyes and rolled over. She sat on the edge of my bed, and rubbed my back, whispering, "Want to go get a Bluebonnet Café blue breakfast?"

It was another of Mom's family traditions. Almost every Sunday morning we used to go to the Bluebonnet Café and order blueberry pancakes for me and a blueberry muffin for her. As a kid, I thought it was the funniest thing - having a blue breakfast at the Bluebonnet. She rubbed my back a little harder, tucked her head on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Come on kiddo, let's get moving."

I rolled over and sat up. We had not gone for a blue breakfast in a long time. I think it was her way of trying to make up for the night before.

"Could you hand me my shorts?"

She tossed me my shorts and went out of the room. I slowly pulled on my walking boot and shorts, then walked to the bathroom. When I came out, she was standing at the door with the car keys in her hand and her arms crossed.

"I'll drive," she said.

"Thanks." I rolled my eyes as I walked past her. I knew she was trying to be nice, but it felt forced.

She caught my arm, turned me around and then put her hand under my chin. "Come on," she said with a smile. "Let's start the day with our sweet faces."

"Our sweet faces?" I smarted off, then forced a grin and got into the passenger seat. I heard the screen door slam after she locked the front door. She climbed in, buckled up and off we went up the bumpy road.

The Bluebonnet Café was packed. Mom greeted Dolly, the hostess, "Hi Dolly. Got a booth for us?"

"It'll be five minutes. How's your daddy? He was cracking us up Friday with the boys."

"I'm sure he was."

I was busy studying the candy display at the cash register, when Mom came and stood beside me. One of the best parts of the Bluebonnet Café was their candy selection at the checkout register. I liked the restaurant because I knew exactly what to expect when we got there and who to expect to see on Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday crowd is much more formal than the Saturday crowd. They are all dressed in their Sunday finest and are using their best manners due to just leaving church. The Saturday crowd is a mix of people who just got out of bed or are in their exercise clothes or still in their clothes from the night before! Some come from Austin after partying all night and then drive all the way to the cafe for breakfast. Then, there are the old-timers who are there every Saturday and those who sit at the counter with the paper, drink coffee and eat out of the bottomless muffin basket.

The four waitresses have been the same for years, with big hair, tight shirts and too much makeup. Conrad, the cook, always comes out and says "Hi" to Mom, I think he is still a little sweet on her from high school.

After waiting a few minutes, we were seated in our favorite booth, number four. We ordered breakfast and then Mom spied someone across the restaurant and handed her menu to me. "Oh look there is Rick. I am going to go say hello to him."

It all made sense then. She wanted to get breakfast because she was hoping to see Rick, not because she was making up for our argument.

Rick was our banker and I am sure she wanted to tell him about her situation. She was not gone long before she returned and huffed, "He said I would have to wait and make an appointment on Monday. He said he was trying to keep his weekends for family and not discuss business things around his wife and kids. Can you imagine? Doesn't he know how important this is to me? Well, I can take my business somewhere else. He doesn't know who he is messing with."