Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 03 - Valentined Read Online Free PDF

This turn in the
conversation seemed to get the other women at the table to stop their artwork
and look over at them.
    “Yes,” said Essie.  “I received a valentine that I’d like
your professional opinion about.”  Essie reached over to her walker and lifted
the seat.  She handed the envelope to Sue.
    “Oh, my!” declared Sue as Essie placed the card in her
hands.  “What’s this?”
    “Just look at it,” Essie encouraged, “and tell me everything
you can about it.”
    Sue’s face revealed her puzzlement.  Even so, with a slight
smile, she gently opened the envelope and carefully removed the card inside. 
By now, not only were the three women at Essie’s table totally focused on what
was happening, other residents at other tables had stopped their artistic
endeavors and were watching Sue Barber open Essie’s card.
    Sue stared at the front of Essie’s valentine.  She carefully
opened the card and perused the inside poem and signature.  Then, she turned it
over and read the back.  She turned the card back to the front.
    “This is quite a card, Essie!” she said with almost a
whistle.  “And a secret admirer!  You are some lady!”  As soon as Sue said the
words ‘secret admirer’ all the women at Essie’s table gasped.  Donna and Velma
repeated the phrase and soon the words ‘secret admirer’ echoed throughout the
rec room.
    “No, no!” said Essie to Sue, “what I need to know is what
can you tell me about the construction of this card?  How was it manufactured? 
You’re the resident art expert here and I was hoping you might enlighten me
about the card itself.  Anything you can tell me I would appreciate.”
    “Why, Essie, if you don’t mind my asking, why do you need to
know about how the card was created or manufactured?  I would just be thrilled
to get such a beautiful card—and from a secret admirer.  Do you have any idea
who it is?”  Sue beamed with excitement.
    “No,” said Essie, “and I thought maybe you could help me
figure out who it is if you could tell me something—anything—about the card
itself.”
    “Oh, I see,” said Sue with a nod.  She looked around at the
other women at the table.  They were waiting for her response—as were
apparently many others in the rec room—with baited breath.   “I guess I’d
better come up with something then.”  She laughed and smiled at Essie and the
other women, and returned to her intense perusal of the card.
    “Essie has a secret admirer!” called a man from a nearby
table.  Essie scowled at him.  Her response was greeted with a few cat calls
from several other men in the room, but they were quickly hushed by a chorus of
women throughout the rec room who piped in about how romantic it was. 
    “I don’t really know, Essie,” said Sue finally.  “There’s
not a lot to tell you about this card.  It’s well made, beautifully made,
actually.  In fact, I’d say the workmanship is far more precise than your
typical store-bought greeting card.  Most cards these days are mass-produced
and don’t have so much detail to them.  I mean, just the front.  Look at the
doily and the delicate ribbon that is woven around the edge.  That would take a
lot of effort.  Also, the stuffed heart in the center.  You just don’t see
cards with little sachets like that anymore.”
    “Do you mean, Miss Barber,” asked Essie, “that this card is
an old card that someone just happened to have lying around and sent me?”
    “I don’t know, Essie,” said Sue.  “That’s possible.  They
did make fancy cards like this years ago when people put more stock in sending
really beautiful valentines.  I remember my grandmother received a similar valentine
from my grandfather once.  She kept it for years.  It had a little heart like
this one too.  It was actually a sachet that could be removed and used to
perfume drawers where you kept sweaters.  I remember my grandmother told me she
had taken off the little heart